Mataranka to Katherine

Beside the thermal spring
pool at Mataranka

How different our life has become. We are in a most beautiful part of Australia, harsh but full of surprises. We have spent a relaxing time at both Mataranka and Katherine, and it has given us some time to reflect on how different our life has become, away from the stress and bustle of working, and city life. We are two of a lucky few, travelling this enormous country, sharing in its amazing rich history, and the countless natural wonders. And, would you believe, there is still almost half the continent to see!

The drive up to Mataranka from Daly Waters is only a couple of hours, so we leave late and stop in at Larrimah for morning tea. Carolyn spotted a sign for a place called Fran's, advertising great coffee and home made goodies. We pulled up out the front of an old shack, surrounded by the oddest collection of outdoor furniture and shade structures. We found Fran in the kitchen and were met with "G'Day Darlin, sit yourself anywhere, I'll be with yous in a minute, I've got scones with cream and jam, and beautiful apple and mango pie, and one slice of my fantastic apple and blackberry pie!"

Relaxing at Fran's Place.

We found a seat, and Fran took our order of Scones for

Delicious!!

Carolyn and the last slice of apple & blackberry pie for John. Meanwhile new customers arrived, and Fran shouted "Be with ya in a second, sit with them other folks over there, they won't bite ya! Yous all might learn something!" So we were soon sitting with  two other couples, learning something! There was a shout from the kitchen "OK pies up,come and get it. I ain't got time to serve ya." So up we got and collected our big serve of pie and cream and a scone that came with jam and cream plus an extra fruit tart! It was delicious. One of those fantastic "bush" experiences. The classic line  from Fran came when someone asked for a weak coffee, and Fran replied "don't worry luv, it's nice whichever way it comes!"

Mataranka is set in the Elsey National Park. Many of you will be familiar with the classic Australian novel, "We of the Never Never", which was written in the early 1900's and made into a movie in 1982. It is an autobiography written by Jeannie Gunn who accompanied her husband to Elsey Station where he was to become the station manager. The story tells of her struggles as the first white woman in a hostile land. So we are in the true Never Never Land, and the replica of the Homestead, built for the movie, is here at the Mataranka Homestead Resort & Campground.

Our neighbours Shirley & Bob.

The campgrounds are dry and dusty, and we drive around and around, trying to find a site that will give us shade, and of course allow us a satellite signal through the trees. We have our soon to be neighbours, in fits, as we try a dozen or more positions on two different sites, before we get it right! Our neighbours are Shirley and Bob, farmers from Moruya on the NSW south coast, and within a few hours it is as if we have known them all our life! We spend hours day and night talking about life, family and travels. They have been to this area many times, having camped and caravanned for many years, so I am like a sponge, collecting information, and making notes on things to see and do, and caravan and campgrounds to stay at. This kind of information from kindred spirits is worth a million brochures. Our Happy Hour went for hours every night, and Carolyn & Shirley were off walking or plunging into the springs, several times a day. I've never seen Carolyn spend so much time in the water!!

Thermal Pool at Mataranka.

Carolyn & Shirley take
an early morning dip

The campgrounds are just a short walk from the thermal springs they are famous for today. They are naturally occurring, and the main pool has been made user friendly, to save both the site and the users, from damage. The water runs at some incredible volume per minute, and is crystal clear. The water temperature is around 32 to 34 degrees celcius, and given that the air temperature varies from around 12 degrees at night to 35 degrees during the day, it can be both a warming start to the day, and a cooling afternoon dip! Carolyn and Shirley are early risers, and often first to the pool in the morning. Bob and I are much more respectful of the night, and join in at a more respectable hour. One thing for sure, there are a lot of swims for all.

Apostle birds.

Can I have some too??

The campground is full of wild life. The chirpy little Apostle birds chasing scraps and water, several peacocks, and some very friendly little grey kangaroos. With Carolyn's constant supply of fruit and veggie scraps, we are usually surrounded by an expectant throng! Each night up at the main building which is a pub, restaurant and general store, there is entertainment. All of us went up for the concert, which was good. They lit the campfire, and it was a pleasant evening except for the loud, tipsy group in the middle. After a few complaints, and a bit of push and shove from people old enough to know better, peace was restored, and the show went on!

Driving in Elsey National Park.

Termite mounds everywhere.

We drove out around the area and through the Elsey National Park. It is situated on the Little Roper River, and as we are now well and truly in crocodile country, you take a little extra care when standing by the river bank! There are some lovely spots along the river. Fishing is popular, however there was a very late and dry "wet season", so the rivers are very low, and fishing difficult. The town of Mataranka itself, is small with a large aboriginal population. There are lots of "Never Never Land" things in the park, and a short drive out of town are the other two caravan parks, which access the other thermal spring known as Bitter

Bitter Springs thermal pool.

Springs. We did the short walk to the main

Dressing up the termite mounds.

swimming hole, and immediately regretted not bringing our swimming gear. What a beautiful spot. It is much more "natural" than at Mataranka, so next time we may choose to stay at the nearby caravan park instead. The other natural phenomenon  of this area, and in fact for much of outback Northern Territory and Queensland, are the giant termite mounds. You definitely want to build in brick or steel around these parts!  One of the funny sights we see, are the termite mounds all dressed up. Some of the creativity is unbelievable. You can't imagine what some people carry in their car!!

Our time at Mataranka came to a close. It was sad to say goodbye to our new friends Shirley and Bob. They are on their way home after several weeks in Western Australia, so are going the opposite direction to us, otherwise I'm sure we would have travelled together for a while. We'll keep in touch, and who knows where we might meet up. One thing's for certain, we have a free camp at their farm in Moruya whenever we want it.

Carolyn with Sabu Peter Sing.

Our next stop is only 100 kilometres up the road, at Katherine, the largest regional town and therefore business centre, of the central north of the Northern Territory. The population here is around 11,000, many of them Aboriginal. There is a real Woolworths supermarket, so we get to top up supplies again, though prices are still high, except fuel has come down to a manageable $1.64 per litre before discount! The surrounding area has a rich history in cattle, and at the entrance to the town is a magnificent bronze statue of the famous Aboriginal stockman with the unusual name of Sabu Peter Sing, and whilst it is a statue of one man, it is a tribute to the thousands of drovers and stockmen who have worked this country. These days, in addition to the cattle, there is a rich agricultural industry, so it is likely at some stage you have eaten melons and mango from this region. We are staying at the Shady Lane Top Tourist Park, which is a lovely tropical park full of mango, gum and palm trees. It has a great swimming pool, which will get a lot of use.

The entrance to the park.

On the edge of Katherine is the Nitmiluk National Park, home to the world famous Katherine Gorge. These days, the only way to see the gorge is to book a cruise or kayak trip through the traditional owners, the Jawoyn people. The popular cruises are booked out well ahead, so it is a priority to get our booking, which we can do at our Caravan Park Office. We have decided to do a Sunset Dinner Cruise, and have booked for Saturday night 4 days away. We take it easy and do a leisurely walk around town, and drive out to see the old lower bridge area, Knott's Crossing, and the Katherine Thermal Springs. Here, the weather is hot, 35 degrees every day. It is now several weeks since we've even seen a cloud, let alone rain!

On the way to the
Upper Pools at Edith Falls.

The waterfall and Upper Pools.

To whet our appetites for the gorge, we decide to take a drive to the other side of the National Park to see Edith Falls. It sounds like a nice place to have a swim in a cool waterhole at the base of the falls. When we arrive, we find it has a really nice campground with unpowered sites, and it is almost full. We read the map, and decide that before going to the main pool, we will take the steep 1.2 kilometre walk to the Upper Pools. What a great decision! We arrived at the pools soaked in sweat, and breathless at the beauty of the waterfall and deep green pool surrounded by red and black rocks. We found the best way into the water and all our heat exhaustion was washed

After our swim at the Upper Pools.

away as we swam around the huge pool with a handful of

The main pool at Edith Falls.

others who had made the trek. It was like we were in one of those travel brochure photographs, ticking off another Bucket List item, a swim in one of the Territories iconic waterfall pools. We just didn't want to leave. There were huge water monitor lizards sunning themselves on the rocks, and pink and red German, English and American tourists sunning themselves on the rocks as well! We finally dragged ourselves away, and headed down to the main pool for a picnic lunch. The main pool is enormous, and equally as clear and fresh. When you look around, there are a lot of people, but the area is so large it still looks secluded. We've just had another of those great days.

Is the Ghan coming??

So, is it safe??

On the drive back, we stopped at a railway crossing to take one of those crazy "standing on the railway tracks" photographs. I said to Carolyn, "isn't today the day the Ghan comes through?" I kid you not, within 3 minutes of the photo being snapped, the Ghan came roaring past!! You are probably wondering about crocodiles. Well, they do inhabit these areas, so you have to take notice of the signs. At the main pool at Edith Falls, you aren't allowed to swim at night from 7.00pm to 7.00am, as this is when the non man eating Freshwater Crocodiles feed! I guess it's hard to tell the difference at night! Personally, I wouldn't be hanging around to check his snout any bloody time of the day. I'd be doing my best JC impression, taking big strides!

Freshwater or Johnson Crocodile

Katherine Markets.

Saturday morning we headed off bright and early to the markets. It was only quite small, but beautifully set under the shade trees in the park. We topped up with beautiful fresh fruit and veggies from a local guy who just does the markets. The lettuce and other green veggies, as well as all the fresh herbs, were magnificent. They'll be put to good use by the caravan chef. We also did a walk through the shops of town. We love the "Emporiums" that exist in these big country towns. Katherine has a beauty, menswear, kitchenware, toy shop, sports store, homewares etc. The range is enormous!

Sheers cliffs at Jeddas Rock.

Katherine Gorge, the second gorge.

Late afternoon we headed off for our highlight in Katherine, a boat trip up the gorge. We are doing a two gorge tour, followed by dinner on another boat, on the water of the first gorge. Some things you dream about seeing all your life, and when you actually get there it is underwhelming. Katherine Gorge is all we expected and more. The sheer size and majesty of the gorges just blows you away, and when the guide explains that during the wet season the water level is 9 metres above where we sit in the boat, and the water flows at a rate equivalent to the volume of Sydney Harbour, every hour, you can only wonder what it must look and sound like. In the late afternoon sunlight, the contrast of the red cliffs in sun and shade is quite simply, just beautiful. 

Sunset in the gorge.

Boarding the dinner boat.

In total there are 13 gorges. The further up you go, the narrower they become, and at this time, nearing the end of the dry season, the water level is pretty low. On our tour, we do the first gorge, then disembark and walk across 600 metres of path, to reach the second gorge, where another boat is ready to take us up the second gorge. We see freshwater crocodiles, and traps for the dangerous saltwater crocodiles, and lots of bird life. On the walk we see some Aboriginal Rock Art, dated at 10,000 years old! As the sun sets, we return to the first gorge to be met by our Dinner Boat, complete with white linen table cloths and waiters in long black

Sunset in Katherine Gorge.

aprons. The tables are set with fine china and glassware, and

Ready for dinner.

you think, hang on, we are in the middle of nowhere, how can this be happening! There is an on board chef, and the main course choice is wild barramundi with a pesto sauce, or BBQ'd fillet steak, served with a beautiful fresh salad. We are handed a glass of bubbly and shown to our table and meet Mark & Jenny, a couple of Darwin locals away for the weekend, and we spend a wonderful evening of excellent food, wine and company, as the sun slowly sets on the gorge. Would you believe that David and Jenny came from Leichhardt, about 2 kilometeres from where we lived in Lilyfield! David is a doctor, working in the Darwin Hospital casualty dept. as well as for Care Flight. They have been in Darwin for 18 months, and love it. We shared life stories, and as the gorge became dark, the spot lights were turned on and the gorge came to life again. The lemon ginger creme broule for dessert was a wonderful finish to an amazing experience that will last with us forever.

Springvale Station.

The local Flying Doctor's first plane.

For our last day we took in a little of the history of the area, at the wonderful little museum, and at nearby Springvale Station, one of the first cattle properties in the district, which is now a rustic caravan park and tourist attraction. We were a little taken back by the presence of a saltwater crocodile trap in the lake in the middle of the caravan park. The caretaker nonchalantly told us that they think the croc has gone back to the river. I wonder what they told all those backpackers camped along the bank of the lake!!!

We've had a wonderful time at Katherine. Darwin is firmly in our sights now, but first we head to Kakadu National Park.