Daly Waters, Mataranka and Katherine Gorge

We left the mar-balls as Charlie called them by 8 and drove to Tennant Creek. We stopped to check out a problem with the water pump which Michael solved and to refuel. There is nothing to see in Tennant Creek so we kept going, aiming to get to Daly Waters pub for the night.

When we got the map out last night we couldn't believe how far north we have come in less than 3 weeks. We are now as far north as Cairns.

We spent the night at the Daly Waters pub which was a very interesting place. Lots of memorabilia hanging everywhere including loads of undies for some reason. We had the famous "beef and barra" dinner which was great then listened to the resident comedian Chilli's act. I had heard that he was ordinary but the boys enjoyed it so much they even bought his CD. We are learning quickly that you can't believe everything people tell you about things to see. Better to check things out and then make your own judgement.










Charlie trying out a bit of whip cracking.

The next morning we had a short drive to a place called Mataranka which is known for it's hot springs and also the place where they filmed the movie We of the Never Never.

The hot springs were fantastic. The temperature was so perfect even I dusted off my bathers and got in!





The kids pretty much spent the whole day in the springs.

The next morning we had a quick look around the replica of the Elsey Homestead and drove to some more hot springs called Bitter Springs. These were a lot more natural than the ones at Mataranka and the boys really enjoyed snorkeling around looking at the fish.



We stopped about 30km south of Katherine to have a look at the Cutta Cutta Caves. These are 350 million year old limestone caves. The word cutta means stars in the local aboriginal dialect and cutta cutta means many stars due to the sparkling calcium carbonate deposits in the caves. The caves are home to snakes and bats and we saw both!






Back in the car again and onto Katherine Gorge for the night. I have to confess I was not very impressed with Katherine Gorge. There is not a lot to see when you get down to the water from the Visitor Centre. I think to appreciate it you need to take a boat trip. That would have cost over $200 for the 5 of us so we decided to save it for a boat trip in Kakadu.
There were lots of fruit bats to look at!


There was a beautiful pool at the caravan park and the weather has really warmed up so we had a lovely evening sitting around the pool.