TOD Tour 2.0 Day 61 - Darwin to Mataranka

Plugging on down the Stuart Highway

 First of eleven days to take us 3600kms home.

Early start, which is the intention.

Emerald Springs was the first stop, where despite just being a point on the map road house, we received a spanking good hot chocolate. Very clean, very tidy place and friendly service.

Our second stop was at Katherine to visit a friend who has found herself unwell and confined to a hospital. A really tough time for her. We tried to plug her into some positives or as my father would say, blow a little sunshine. Can't imagine how lonely she feels.

End of the day beers at
Mataranka Homestead

The last leg to Mataranka passed quickly. Because of the quicker nature of our return trip, the van stays connected and we set up less infrastructure so it didn't take long to be as settled as we needed to be. Given the heat, we waited until about 5pm and then retired to the Thermal Pool for an hours or so of floating and relaxing. Met a lovely couple from north of Melbourne who were on their way to Darwin so we swapped some of our most recently acquired info about things to see and places to stay. I must admit, I marveled at their resilience, living in such a fire prone part of Australia and having stared down a fire just a few years ago.

Continuing south again tomorrow.

TOD Tour 2.0 Day 43 - Mataranka Thermal Pool

During the late morning we went for a dip in the thermal pool at Mataranka Homestead, also part of the Elsey National Park.

The source of the pool, Rainbow Springs, is uncovered less than 100 metres away and just constantly churns up warm water which flushes through a more formerly constituted pool. When we visited in '95, the pool only had a formed structure on the entry side but now it has three entry points and is bricked and concreted on all parts of its elongated banana shape. The water was just as warm and as clear as ever and with the aid of the noodles, we floated for an hour or so, with palms swaying above us.

In the afternoon, we returned to Bitter Springs and the warm lap. Sue went around twice but having dried all my wet bits from the morning, I was loathe to subject them to wringing out again. Instead, I sat near the end of the course with my iPad, making alterations to our trip planning.

Click for today's photos

On to Nitmiluk National Park (Katherine Gorge) for a different type of visit. This time we will stay outside the park and we won't be going on a gorge tour. Having done five gorges last time and two when we toured with the kids, the current cost is prohibitive for something we have had the extreme pleasure of seeing twice already. They have priced us out of the market.