Day 202 / 2014 - On the Road Again

 We have finally left Darwin and back on the road again and making our way back south again... SLOWLY. The weather here is quite cool at nights and we're only 300km from the top so we can imagine how cold it must be further south.  We are camped at Mataranka homestead beside the natural hot springs of Elsey National Park soaking up the warm water soothing our aching dusty body's. 

Well the intro sounded good a bit of a stretch though well the part about aching dusty body's is anyway the water is still warm. The rest is about right. We left Darwin on the 18th August a few days after finishing work. The company I worked for (Thrifty Northern Territory) were really great and were sorry to see me go which was very kind of them to say. They said when I am back in Darwin to look them up they were happy to offer me a job again if one was available. So for all those coming to the territory "Think Thrifty"

Carley and Blake also stayed in Darwin at the same van park while Mike went off on his 3 week swing in the Timor sea. We were very happy to have some bonding time with Carley and Blake and gave Oma something to do and someone to spend time with while I was at work.

We tried to fit in some tourist activities before we left. We did another sunset harbour dinner cruise which we enjoyed once again. Slowly motoring across the harbour in the evening with a gentle warm brease blowing across our faces. We were given a rare treat of a super moon that night with the boat following its glowing golden trail laid out across the water. The evenings are just fantastic in Darwin where else can you sit outside in shorts and a bluey at 10pm at night enjoying a beer and conversation with someone new who just moved in next door.

We took in Crocodylus Park which is a crocodile farm and zoo. They have a major breading program of salt water crocodiles. There is a pond called attack lagoon with masses of baby crocs just parked on top of each other. There is also a zoo which has a number of different species of animals both indigenious such as Emus, Wallabie's and Dingo's and non indigenious to Australia such as Monkey's, Tigers and Lions. We took a boat cruise on a constructed river system which have a number of good sized salt water crocodiles just lying on the banks or patrolling their patch of waterway.

On our last day we took in the Jumping Croc cruise. We wern't sure if it was second time blues but it didn't seem to be as exciting as the first time we did this in 2008. We put it down to not as many crocs jumping up to take the food maybe it was just too cold for them at that time of year. The best part was right at the end where a big old croc came up called Michael we could tell he was a monster just from the size of his head and at that point I felt glad to be in the boat and not in the water with him. We said goodbye to Mike, Carley and Blake here as they were heading off south. 

Packing up our site which had been home for 3 months was more effort than we realised we had setup a little nest and spread out a little. Everything had to be cleaned such as the annexe, mats and tarps before being put away then finally washing the car and caravan from top to bottom. We managed to get it all done within 2 days and set off almost on time. We left with mixed feelings of sad to be leaving but excited to be moving onto the next stage of the trip and most importantly not having to go home yet but we both agreed we will most likely be back in Darwin once again.

The trip out was fairly slow we didn't want to rush only travelling 150km for the day pulling up at a free camp spot. Darwin was an expensive place to stay so we deicided to take it as slow as possible and stay in as many free camp sites as we could. So far our record is 4 nights in a row and we want to beat that by doing 5. Our first night stop was Bridge Creek rest area were we managed to find a shady spot before it got to busy. There was smoke not to far away and by evening I could see the flames and they appeared to be getting closer. We wern't sure if we should pack up and get out of here but nobody around us seem to be to worried. There were cars coming from the fire direction and pulling into the campspot for the night so I guessed they wouldn't be stopping here if there was a problem anyway by morning the smoke had gone and we were still ok.

Second day we headed south again and stopped at Katherine for shopping and refuelling. Anne had seen this 12 volt swing fan by Companion and since we would be free camping a bit there is no power for the airconditioner during hot days. This fan has its own battery and can last up to 4 hours (not tested by us as yet) on one charge. It works quite well at moving the air around the van and is very quiet with less noise than a conventional fan and definately quieter than the airconditioner. We also weighted the caravan and car at the public weight bridge on the way out of Katherine. We had gained a few kilos so looks like the car and van will need to go on a diet.

Leaving Katherine we stopped at another free overnight spot about 59 Km north of Mataranka called King River Rest Area. This was well setup with plenty of quiet spots a toilet, water and dump point. Unfortunatley there was no phone or internet reception otherwised we would have considered staying a few days. Again we were thankful to arriving early allowing us to choose another shady spot but it did fill up quickly during the rest of the day. It was a large area though and it did appear to accomodate everyone who came in.

Next day we were off to Mataranka Homestead home of the Mataranka Hotsprings we though a nice dip in the soothing warm waters were just what the doctor ordered. There are 2 areas for hot springs in Mataranka, here at the Homestead or Bitter Springs on the North side of town. We had only planned to stop for the day then move onto the next free site but this place looked so inviting we decided to stop for the night which thus ended our first run of free nights at 2.

The homestead caravan area is quite cheap at $29.00 a night. The sites are all dust but as they say this is the Northern Territory and dust is part of its charm. The amenities is a bit run down but okay. The area is prone to flooding each wet season so it is not really worth putting in million dollar facilities just to have them washed away. There is water and powered sites available very important for the coffee machine to run. There is a Bistro area which has live music each night for entertainment as well as the Australian whip cracking champion. He gave us a demonstration of his skill which is quite impresive he is only 21 and plans to become world champion.

Mataranka was imortallised in the Jeannie Gunn novel "We of the Never Never" as well as in a feature film of the same name. The movie is played in the bar area each day at 12pm or you can buy your own copy in reception for $29.00. There is also the replica of the homestead, which was used in the movie, relocated from its original site about 20km from here.

But the real draw card is the hot springs located in Elsey National Park which is about a 200 metre walk from the caravan park area. People spend many hours just floating in the water soothing away the aches and pains. One fella had told us it made him feel 10 years younger "right" I said "i'm not comming out untill i'm 21 again".

There is a mass exodus of vans in the morning with equally as many vans coming back in by the afternoon but there are also a number of people who stay here for weeks at a time one couple told us they had been here 8 weeks. We were quite amazed but after thinking about it this would be no different for for those who travel north on the west coast to 80 mile beach for months at a time and at least here you don't need to travel 250km to the nearest town. There is a 10% discount for thos who stay 3 days or more and for those who stay for 7 you only need to pay for 6 getting the 7th day free not really sure what arrangement is for the long stayers.

Mike, Carley and Blake also caught up with here it was good to see them again. It was fun to watch Blake get use to this huge bath of warm water. Later we had a few drinks and shared a meal at the Bistro.

I think we will be staying just 1 more night.