Litchfield National Park is quite far from Darwin; consider that before you book. We spent hours (each direction) in odd vehicle- front: big truck -- back: small bus. The set up looked curious to start with, but after sitting in it for hours, it was not very comfortable. Bumpy ride and also difficult to ask questions of the guide because distance between us and divider of sorts.
Adam (?), our guide, was a nice guy from Southern US having been in Australia ~a year. He certainly tried to impart info, but with his background, we couldn't ask him about growing up in Australia, etc. After traveling 17 times zones-would have been preferable to have a native or a long-time transplant as a guide.
The tour was LONG. Finally arriving at the park, we met an Aborigine woman who gave us an informative talk for ~10 mins. This was the highlight of the day and could have spent a lot more time with her (Tess? might have been her name). The waterfalls are pretty, but it wasn't an overly appealing place to swim; 2-3 people in our group took a very short dip. Lunch was fine. Day was hot, hot, hot and air full of gnat-like bugs. Neither of these were the fault of OffRoad, but the heat should have been taken into consideration. We drove to 3 different swimming holes, one which was very small. Noone swam at all after the 1st one, and it seemed obvious that most of us were going through the motions and weren't swimmers. Boardwalk/falls bushwalk was blocked off. Yet we drove to the other end of the it, got out and walked quite a ways in the heat to the other end of blockade.The blockage wasn't OffRoad's fault, but pointless to drive to the other end and walk to the blockade that was obviously going to be there. Much of the time@ Litchfield Natl. Park felt like killing time. Our group was middle-aged or older and many looked exhausted in the heat; yet, we keep stopping to make these walks to see either a small pond of a swimming hole or nothing much at all. There was a thermos of water/cups in the back, but no bottled water provided, and in the heat, I was concerned, especially at stops where the 'hiking' was not flat and the guide didn't always go with us. 2nd highlight: snack of tasty watermelon.The termite mounds were interesting, but not worth the drive. Designated as a NATIONAL park, we expected something with a WOW factor, and there was none. On the way back to port, we stopped at a dreary tourist store and that dragged out for at least 1/2 hour vs. a pit stop. We, and at least 2 other couples that we knew, couldn't wait for the day to end. I have no idea what the other 8-10 people thought, but everyone had a scowl on by the time we got back to ship.
I guess someone should or could have told the driver that all were not having a good time, but ...At one of the last stops when guide said 'it's a short walk' and pointed. I said "How short is short?" which was met with groans and laughs, as I think most of us were disappointed in the day.
What could OffRoad have done differently? In tour description, state the time & distance not 'travel south along the Stuart Highway.' Use guides that are Australian; have the guide be aware and ask if the group is looking bored. Such as no one swimming, maybe adjust the itinerary and skip the next several swimming holes. Or at least ask. Provide bottled water when it is so hot it could be dangerous. This was not an inexpensive tour by anyone's standards, so besides being hot, bored, and disappointed, we felt like it was worth at most, half of what we paid.
I'm not attacking guide or company owners, as I'm sure all are hard-working, nice people. They were punctual; there was no fraud or dishonesty or rudeness. I did not contact them before this review as I am not asking for any refund nor do I want to engage in disagreement. My only aim is an honest review (from our experience) for other travelers and what to expect if taking a tour out of Darwin to Litchfield Park.
