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Woke up at 5am after our night in a cabin which neighboured the Emu enclosure at the park, initially we were woke by the sound of the mobile phone alarm, however the local cockerel didn't seem to think that was sufficient enough and decided to contribute his own chime. That being said it was quite nice to hear, however it was accompanied by another cockerel which sounded 'a little bit special'. It made more of a gurgling noise than a traditional cock-a-doodle—doo which was pretty hilarious. On getting up we checked for any critters that may have felt the need to bunk up with us during the night and without finding anything to amazing we went for a wash and breakfast in the camp kitchen. Leaving the cabin it was still dark but there was enough light to see a gecko which struck a familiar pose against our cabin door. No signs of any red backs as I survived another trip to a bush toilet. The plan for the morning was to have breakfast and then around 6 am make our way to Mataranka for an early morning dip in the thermal pools. When we were having our breakfast we were joined by a small Cain toad which had crawled in and climbed up the pole in the centre of the room to get up to the flies that were attracted to the light, these toads are really poisonous and since they have been introduced into Australia they have been a pest. They have killed a lot of the native wildlife such as crocodile this is due to its venom, the crocodile digests them but also digests the poison which to the crocodile is fatal. The Toad would die of suffocation too of course so the whole thing kind of serves no purpose to the cycle of life in the wild. Apparently they were introduced from Southern America to manage Cane Beetles, these beetles were a pest to farmers of sugar cane as they would eat the crop.
We arrived at Bitter Springs at around 0715 and as we stepped off the bus we were hit by the humidity of the rainforest. We were then directed to the track which would take us down to the creek where we could bathe in the thermal pools. On arriving at the start of the swimming area we were met by some metal steps that had been put there for the purpose of making getting in and out of the water easier with many of the rocks covered over with slippery algae. We were told how the thermal pools were caused by the water source flowing under the ground through hot rocks before returning to the surface to create the water system visible to us on land. I was the first to take the plunge closely followed by everyone else. It was like stepping into a bath and the water was really clear. We swam with the current as a group as far as we could which was about 500m or so and then just sat at the bridge for a while talking and taking it all in. It was really peaceful and relaxing, that was until we realised there was a huge spider web hanging above us with the owner and creator sat in the centre of it surrounded by a feast of various insects which had flown accidentally into it. We all sat nervously and curiously watching it for a while before I jumped out thinking I've got to get a picture of this, I ran back barefoot along the stony path and grabbed Amy's camera, and as I ran back I was met by everyone else returning. I got some really cool snaps of the spider once I had the camera set right and even got into the water up to my chest with the camera to get a different angle of it, felt a little like being on a David Attenborough set or something as I snapped away in the warm water, pretty cool but I was obviously still slightly concerned that I could drop Amy's camera in the water and contemplated plans if that was to happen. The most popular being to take my chances with the spiders, snakes and dingoes of the outback rather than return with a soggy camera to an angry Amy who was at this point back at the start point of the creek.
I returned to the start point and on my journey heard plenty of rustling in the bushes and saw a lizard that made its way out of the undergrowth and around the bottom of a tree trunk before posing for a picture then shooting off back into the bushes. Amy and I had a few snaps taken in the pools and did one last swim up to the bridge, and on this occasion we spotted plenty more webs and 8 legged inhabitants which was really cool and slightly unnerving as neither one of us were really sure which ones were dangerous and which weren't, definitely a noted homework project, but this did not prevent it from being an awesome experience.
Tarrant gave us the signal that it was time to move on and we headed back on to the bus for an hour and a half journey to Katherine where we would get to see the Gorge.
After about an hour and a half of driving through endless outback we arrived in Katherine and our location of Nitmiluk National Park, home of the Nitmiluk Gorge. We went into the visitors centre and paid the cost of hiring a double canoe and then made our way down to the canoe docking area. On the way down we saw a load of wallabies some of which were carrying Joeys in their pouch. We had been told that the river system that flowed through the gorge was home to freshwater crocodiles and maybe a few 'salties' salt water crocodiles which were also known to inhabit the area. We all got our life jackets and paddling awes and jumped into our canoes. Amy and I jumped into our double canoe with Amy at the back as we decided that after her triumph in our kayaking race in Kangaroo Island she would be better at steering than I would be. Well that was what we thought anyway. We started making our way towards the gorge as a group keeping our eyes open for crocodiles. The Gorge was epic and it completely dwarfed us in our canoes. We paddled passed a few beaches that had signs on them stating that you could not canoe onto them as they were crocodile nesting areas. This just made me feel more excited and I really hoped that we would get a glimpse of a freshwater crocodile in the wild. At one point I thought we had seen one when out of the corner of my eye I saw something on the surface of the water dive down, as we waited for it to surface once again the camera was poised at the ready but it turned out it was a river creature of the feathered variety, as a dark coloured bird with a long neck and beak came up to the surface. An image did flash through my mind of a crocodile coming up out of the water and eating it but no such luck. Unfortunately because of the time of year the river level was pretty low so we could only go so far as were met by a wall of boulders that prevented you from going any further in the canoes, but seeing as how we had spent a lot of time going side-ways with Amy's steering I didn't mind not going to much further. On our river journey we didn't see any crocodiles but they were definitely there as there were parts of the river where you would see bubbles coming up to the surface. Our guide confirmed that these bubbles were more than likely crocodiles. He said that as we left him at the dock there were a few crocodiles surfacing at the side of the water. The Gorge was amazing even without the sighting of any crocodiles and we got some great photos in the canoes and we also managed to get some snaps (excuse the pun) on the top of a rock which was sticking out of the water towards the end of the route where we turned around and made our way back. When we took our pictures and turned around to make our way back we found that it was a lot easier when Amy was at the front and I was at the back steering, so with some of my man pride that I lost at Kangaroo Island restored we went up to the picnic area.
We tucked into a buffet of salad and cold meats, although nothing stayed cold for very long as it was boiling hot. For dessert Tarrant took us to a nearby tree where on the trunk there were hundreds of quite large green ants. He told us that if you grab one and bite the bottom of it off that it tasted like lime. After a demonstration I gave it a go and although difficult to grab they did taste just like citrus. I had quite a few while everyone else gave it a go. It's fair to say Amy wasn't too keen but she gave it a go as I managed to grab one for her to try. She bit into it and let out a bit of a scream, which was hilarious but she agreed it tasted pretty good. The only thing was that these ants could also bite and as we all stood around the tree the ants we making their way onto our feet and as we ate their mates they attempted to do the same to us. It was definitely a great last stop before we set off to complete the rest of our journey to Darwin. The journey would take us a few hours and on the way it started to rain with the wet season certainly living up to its name. We had a few stops at Pine Creek and Adelaide River before arriving in Darwin.
It took a while but we finally arrived in the city of the Darwin, we were dropped off at our hostel Banyan View Lodge and then sorted all the necessary documents for check in. We were given our keys and directions to the room. It has to be said that the room was pretty nice although after bush showers and toilets a clean hostel was always going to be a welcome sight. The most welcomed sight of all however was the shower after the humid bus ride, air conditioning is good but it can only do so much. Amy & I both got ourselves showered and sorted and headed out to meet Tarrant and the rest of the guys from our tour for a meal. It was just up the road at a place called Monsoons. The food was good and the beer was cheap, the place then ticked all the boxes with some live music. The band played a variety of songs including 'Sweet Home Alabama', the Kid Rock version of it anyway. A definite favourite of mine & Amy's from previous holidays in Cornwall. After some good banter and questionable dancing we made our way back to the lodge and called it a night.
It was a great end to the tour and a great bunch of people to spend it with.
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