Days 322-324 – Mataranka, NT (1-3 August) Week 48 - Month 12

Drove another 400kms to get to Mataranka.  Along the way we stopped at Daly Waters which is a historic town known for its quirky outback pub.  Mataranka has a population of 250 and edges the Elsey National Park which is known for its thermal spring pools which remain a constant 34 degrees.  From our campsite we can walk 500m to Bitter Springs thermal pool. The pool is crystal clear and you can drift with the current for 200m to the end.  This area is also known as the “We of the Never Never” land as the author, Jeannie Gunn, of the well known book stayed here for a year in the early 1900s and the story is based on some of the local characters she came into contact with during that time.  The book was made into a movie in 1981 and a replica of the author’s house that was used in the movie remains as a tourist attraction.  We had a wonderful couple of days kayaking on the Little Roper River and Roper River.  The Little Roper River backs onto the campground we are staying and flows into the Roper River in the nearby Elsey National Park.  It is a beautiful river lined with palm trees and gum trees it is very very pretty and the riverbank shubbery is so green.  Barramundi is supposed to be in the river but John has had no luck catching any. There are some really nice fishing spots and a couple of kayaking spots in the national park.  Whilst we had a lovely time kayaking on the river I was a little cautious in case crocs are around.  Parks and Wildlife say this area and the national park are free from saltwater crocs however they can come into the river undetected and people should be on alert at all times. They have croc cages strategically placed in the river.  Freshwater crocs are around but they are apparently very shy and it would be unusual to see one.  The ranger does regular surveys checking for croc activity and remove saltwater crocs as soon as they are detected.  We then went to compare Mataranka Thermal Pool with Bitter Springs (the one near our campsite).  Mataranka pool is more popular and was chocca with people and no room to really swim or move. The one near our campsite is much nicer although we didn’t tell anyone at Mataranka pool, keeping that to ourselves.  Floating with the current is fantastic, we took our snorkel and mask and saw turtles.  It is quite deep and crystal clear. The current is surprisingly strong and trying to swim against it is good exercise! The water that flows into the thermal pools has its origin thousands of kilometres away in Papua New Guinea and bubbles to the surface at an incredible 30.5 million litres per day.  There are heaps of wallabies around and they come into the park, so nice to see.  One night John got up at 3.00am to go to the loo and Coco charged past him at the door to get outside and chase wallabies.  She went hurtling past some people in a tent waking them up while chasing at least two wallabies but luckily she came back very quickly. Bit hard to yell after her at that time of morning.  Early one evening we were walking her near the river and she disturbed a wild pig that went charging into the bush - luckily she had the sense not to chase that! It was at least twice her size! There are heaps of caravanners around and lots of WA licence plates – we aren’t the novelty anymore.  It is the busy time of year up here, although we have been told it is starting to slow down so hopefully we will catch the tail end from now on.   The manager of the park was telling us that this area has on average 160,000 visitors each year and last year they had 170,000 (they were expected less due to the downturn) and it is unknown at this time what this year’s number is but she thinks it will be more than last year.  Amazing when you think about it.  Unfortunately there are cane toads around.  Dead ones but still here.  We had one die overnight right in front of the car wheel.  It was huge.  Its such as shame they are invading all Australian states they are very destructive.