Firstly thanks for all the wonderful messages we have received to date, really appreciate the communication from home and apologies if we are making some people a little jealous.

It has been a busy week since our last Blog entry. We have travelled from Alice Springs to Mataranka. We caught up with Nic's parents at Alice Springs and have been traveling with them and now also with Nic's sister and family who have travelled from Yepoon in QLD. We will be travelling with them for the next 3 or so weeks.

Spend a great day at the West MacDonald Ranges out of Alice Springs, did a quite challenging walk at Ormiston Gorge , this walk is normally quite easy however with the large volumes of recent rain the Gorge had a lot of water in it which meant the water was high and we were unable to follow the creek bed back to the car park. We had to head over a rock face and lower Lyla down a small cliff face in the Back pack to someone waiting below ( we then climbed down the small cliff to the river bank below). Also saw Simpson Gap later that day just before dusk and managed to see the Black Footed Rock Wallabies.

Had some work done on the Prado to resolve some suspension issues, should see the car now looks like a hot rod with the rasied rear suspension ( towing is much better now). The van was also serviced in Alice Springs and had some warranty work done on a faulty pump system that would not pump from both storage tanks (appears to be a common issue with new Jayco's).

Had our 1st Road side stop as we headed north staying at the Taylors Creek rest area, nice quiet spot apart from the Road Trains and the traveller who decided to arrive at 3am !!

Finally arrived at Banka Banka station where we caught up with Nic's Sister and family from Yeppoon. Banka Banka is a great little spot with a big lawn area crammed packed with travellers on their way North.

Next stop was the Daly Waters Pub, arrived nice and early and got a nice spot in the Pub Camp ground and prepared for the night entertainment, Locky enjoyed the Chook Man ( see the photo) he is actually from Paringa in SA and spends the Dry Season at Daly Waters. Lyla was the star of the show dancing away on my lap and smiling for all the Travelling Grey Nomads to get all soppy about.

So far we have been doing a string of 1 night stops but next we went to Mataranka and decided to spend 3 nights so we can have a good rest and soak in the Thermal Springs. Staying at the Mataranka Homestead which is at the Mataranka Thermal Springs, have been enjoying a nice warm dip in the springs along with the many other people staying or passing through. The Mataranka Springs flow into the Roper River, each night we have wandered down to the river to watch 2 Freshwater Crocs enjoying the warm water from the springs meet the river. Lachlan was quite freaked out to think there are crocs less than 50mtrs from where he has been swimming. Saltwater crocs are rare in these parts but a couple were caught futher down the Roper river towards the end of the wet season. Bitter springs are the other thermal springs in the area and you can drift down these crystal clear warm waters for about 200mtrs ( take your goggles and snorkel and you will see a completely new world underwater).

Called into the Historic Elsey Cemetary, best known for "We of the Never Never" written by Jeannie Gunn. The Homestead ( now demolished) and cemetery are about 20km before Mataranka and quite an interesting spot ( must now read this book )

Decided to have a crack at Barramundi fishing today with Locky & Brother in Law Jamie further down the Roper River, as expected no success. Actually quite concerning when you arrive at a known fishing spot to see a Croc Trap set at your feet (luckily nothing was in there when we got there or when we left) Locky has partially got over his fear of Croc's, although the Salt water variety still make him go white, will be interesting how he goes as we head further North.

Next Stop Douglass Hot Springs and Litchfield National Park. Next Blog will be about a week away when we arrive in Darwin.

Bye for now Trent