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We have made the trip from Alice Springs to Mataranka, via a night of free camping at Attack Creek and a night at Daly Waters historic pub. Daly Waters pub was heaps of fun, it was as Aussie as you can get! All that's there is basically a tin shed and heaps of room to camp. We enjoyed the pub's world famous Beef and Barra feast, it was incredibly yummy and got the seal of approval from the teenage food disposal machine! The entertainment provided by their resident comedian, singer and bush poet, Chilli kept us chuckling and basically a brilliant night was had by all.
The next morning we headed off to Mataranka, where we had been given the hot tip by fellow travelers to stay at Elsey National Park. It was absolutely beautiful there and the facilities were as good as you would find in a caravan park, for a third of the price...sweet! They even provided us with free firewood, very happy campers! The campgrounds were right on the Roper River so we had a go at launching the tinnie and having a fish. No luck with the fishing but the trip up the river was beautiful, didn't dangle our hands in the water when we spotted the croc trap though!
No trip to Mataranka is complete without a trip to the thermal springs, which flow at a rate of 30 million litres per day and stay at a temperature of about 32 degrees. The thermal pools at Mataranka Homestead were really well set out and very tourist-orientated but we loved the Bitter Springs pools. Here, you enter the water at one point and the current drifts you along down the stream for about 200 metres, then you exit the waters and walk a short path and do it all again! Brilliant fun, especially if you have something floaty to relax on (for the lazy ones). All of this was completely free too, love it!
The weather has been perfect, about 28 degrees during the day and dropping to about 9 overnight. Smiley and Adam have been cooking every day on the campfire and we have been sitting around the fire at night just stargazing, the sky is HUGE out here, no cloud so stars as far as you can see.
Don't really want to leave here but we have more to see, so next stop is Katherine.
- comments
Pooky Sounds fabulous sandows!!!! Xo
luke awesome can tag along
kim we swam in the river at Elsey NP, running off the little pier - no elliotts got eaten and I'm sure we tastier than Sandows...
sandows-do-oz-2012 Lol, Kim we dipped our toes into the Roper River but it was chilly! Those thermal pools made us soft, Sandows need to harden up!