We spend 4 nights in Mataranka at Territory Manor Motel & Caravan Park and love every moment of it. Emily is finally recovering from her sickness so it is time to move on.

William has been out making friends. A lady called Nicky camps next to us in a van and William and her talk about birds, go for walks and watch the barramundi feeding. She is 61 (William asked!) and he is sad when she leaves.
We are meeting lots of people on this trip. This morning we were packing up our tent when our camping neighbour offers to take the kids. William proceeds to sing every AFL club song to her and Emily sleeps on her shoulder!

William has been feeding the peacocks unpopped popcorn and occasionally the guinea fowl come to visit. Emily on the other hand says 'hello' to the peacock and peahens each time she sees them. In fact she says 'hello' and 'ta ta' to every person she meets/sees which is a lot!

The Bitter Springs are awesome. The temperature is a constant 32 degrees and the water is crystal. We all enjoy a swim there. There is no charge to visit them and a constant flow of visitors. Fortunately we pick a quiet time for our swim. The following day we go for a dip in the pool at the campground which is not heated. Due to the extreme heat up here Mark says he prefers the cold pool to the hot springs!

We walk into town which is pretty much around the corner from the campsite and swelter in the heat. There are 3 service stations, a pub, a grocer and post office/museum. We take photos with the worlds largest man made termite mound (bit of a hoot really as some of the real termite mounds would be close to this size!). The only way to tolerate this heat is with an ice cream so off to the grocers before returning to camp. William is determined to try every flavour of paddle pop on this trip!
The sign at the grocer advertises 'No cask wine before 2 pm'. In Coober Pedy you can only buy 1 bottle of wine per day. At every bottle shop the scan your ID into the system. Keeps the police busy! Signs at the servo advise that you have to deposit you photo ID at the counter before pumping fuel.

The Elsey National park beckons on the last day of our stay. Mark has been wanting to do a walk and there is an 8 km return trip to Mataranka falls. We load up on water and snacks, pop Emily in the Tula and off we go. The path is soft sand and the going tough and it is hot. The scenery is a bit boring with the only exciting thing being the wild cotton trees! So, after 2 kms we call it quits and head back to the air conditioned car!

We are getting used to the cane toads, they pop out of their holes around dusk and just sit and stare. If they feel vibrations on the ground they scatter. It can be quite unnerving when you are trying to do the dishes in the outdoor kitchen and 10 pop out of the drain.

We eat dinner at the camp restaurant on our last night. The barramundi is really yummy. They also make a fantastic mango smoothie and we have several of them during our stay.