Day 20: Mataranka/Bitter Springs

 Unlike yesterday, there were no horses to greet us this morning, but we get a visit from a few peacocks.

 

Facilities here at the park are good, so Carole takes the opportunity to get a load of washing on. One adventurous camper near us headed off with a fishing rod this morning, but returned empty handed.

Our plan this morning is to go and investigate the other thermal springs in the area, Bitter Springs, which is at the North end of town. We also had a look at the caravan park which was our other alternative to here.

The springs are a good walk from the caravan park, but there is a visitor car park about 250m from the springs.

A well defined track leads to the springs

they cover a much larger area than the thermal pool near our park, and the spring flow is a bit over double the supply to the spring where we are staying. You can float downstream with the current for a limited distance. The setting is also very natural, and there appear to less people here, but there are a few snags in the water and a bit of agal growth around the shoreline. The water itself is crystal clear.

We didn't go in for a swim as we intend to do so this afternoon back at the thermal pool. Both springs run at the same temperature which is around 34 C.

On our way back to our van, we divert down John Hauser Drive, another major road in the National Park, which follows the Roper River. There was shallow water over the road in a number spots reflecting the heavy rain that this area has had. At least the underneath of the car is now clean.

One place we stopped and went for a short walk was 4th Mile, supposedly a good fishing spot on the Roper River, and a place you can launch a boat. Recent fish scales on the shore backed up this claim. 

Roper River at 4th mile

Looks like I should start getting the fishing gear ready.

Late afternoon we went for another dip in the thermal pool for 30 mins or so, and decided we might go down to the bar/restaurant tonight to enjoy the live entertainment and someone else cooking. We went down at 5.30 pm. still happy hour. The crowd was building as the entertainment started at 5.50pm and happy hour ended at 6pm. A lot of people decided to stay on for dinner, and when we left at 8 pm, the entertainment was still going. A far bit of country and western music/ blues , but as a one man band with a six string guitar he did pretty well.

Tomorrow we have avery short drive to Katherine. We need to do a fair bit on replenishing of our pantry, so we will arrive around lunch time and go shopping.