Day 181. Edith Falls to Mataranka

Swimming in a fish bowl

This morning we woke up, packed up, and headed south towards Katherine. Although we visited this thriving country metropolis on our way north to Kakadu and Darwin a couple of weeks ago, we still needed to pass through this town to pick up some supplies before striking south into new territory!

On the way into town we noticed that the Katherine Markets were on; so we found somewhere to park the van and headed over to check it out. Bec ended up commenting that it was smaller than she would of imagined for what is probably the biggest town within 300kms, and that might be the case; but Bec still found things to buy! She found a stall that sold all types of rocks and minerals; and ended up buying 3 or 4 rocks for Scarlett's ever increasing rock collection. (Admittedly they were very cheap compared to rocks we have seen in shops along our travels). We also bought some fresh Asian cuisine that was super delicious!

We also stopped in at Woolworths to pick up some last minute supplies; and ended up running into our newest friends we met back in Darwin. You might remember us mentioning them earlier as they are over from Spain visiting their parents who are presently on the road also. It's such a a small world!

We got talking for quite some time, while Scarlett and their kids had a blast playing and catching up on what each other had been up to since our last encounter. Unfortunately we had to eventually say goodbye as they were off to Daly Waters today; and we were continuing our journey down to Mataranka. I must say that it was great to see them again, and we ended up exchanging contact details so we can catch up via email etc, some time down the track. (I have a special interest as the kids dad - sorry but I never did actually catch his name - he is a racing car driver back in Spain; and I hope to follow how he goes once he returns. We ended up talking about F1 quite a bit - namely Alonso and Webber, so we had a common interest).

We ended up getting our supplies, including diesel, and used the remaining time in town to download our last two days worth of blogs before hitting the road again.

Bec and Scarlett 'floating' in Bitter Springs

An hour or so later and we pulled into Mataranka. We headed straight out to 'Bitter Springs'; to get our bearings, and to have a quick look around before finding somewhere to camp for the night. Only 500mtrs from 'Bitter Springs' is 'Mataranka Cabins and Camping'; where we decided to stay the night. It was an easy set up, as I left the van connected to the pajero. I literally only had to connect up power and water. It was then straight down to the springs for a relaxing dip.

Bitter Springs are truly amazing! When we first slid into the water, it was crystal clear and we found it mind blowing how far we could see under water. It was almost like looking through thin air; except for the thousands of tropical fish swimming everywhere and the green weed that covered almost everything. Here, the water is a constant 32 deg celsius which we think is a little too warm to be a perfect relaxing temperature; but it was a nice change from the cold waters we recently experienced back in the deep plunge pools of Litchfield National Park.

We really weren't the adventuresome trio that you have all come to know! Bitter Springs for us mainly consisted of wading into the warm waters of the Spring and drifting with the flow down along the stream that connects the two swimming areas. This Aquatrail drifts a couple of hundred metres down through the Springs. The water is incredibly clear, and wearing a mask and snorkel, numerous tropical fish could be seen swimming amongst the reed beds. At the end of the gentle drift, a ladder leads out of the water where we would climb out and return to the main pool for another go round. It was a really beautiful experience!

In 1902, Jeannie Gunn described Bitter Springs in her book; We of the Never Never - 'A chain of clear crystal pools with emerald-green mossy banks and everywhere sunflecked, warm, dry shade'.

How true!

This evening we have been sitting back and relaxing. Scarlett went straight to sleep after such a big day, and Bec watched a movie in bed, before drifting off to sleep herself.

I plan on watching the F1 qualifications live on the computer straight after finishing this blog and uploading it!

Good night....