On arrival back to Howard Springs after our trip to Dundee Beach and Litchfield NP, we met up with Keith & Wendy's grandson, Zander and his girlfriend Lily. Two other visitors had arrived, Ian & Danielle from Rye.

After nearly six weeks in Darwin it was time to move on. Ian & Danielle had already been at the Daly River for about a week and we decided to catch up with them and go fishing. Keith & Wendy decided to join us and take Banjo on his first roadtrip, which he absolutly loved.

We spent three days at Lee & Jenny's bush camp on the Daly River. First morning out and I bagged a 68cm Barra, thanks to Ian for his knowledge and experience.

Laurie and Mirriam joined us with Laurie's new trailerboat. They shared dinners and chats around the campfire. A great time was had with great company.

On Friday 21st July we drove out of the Daly River and our first stop was a Hayes Creek, where we asked for directions to Butterfly Gap. This was an interesting find, we drove through the Caravan Park, passed two cabins and then onto a track that lead us to the local swimming hole. We parked the DABUS here and had to walk through the Hayes Creek and down the track a further 300m. As we walked into this tropical gorge the first thing we noticed was the drop in the temperature, a stream is flowing through the gorge. On the rocky walls were thousands of butterflies and as we approached they flutter up around you, we were so lucky to find this place and to experience with no-one else in the gorge.

We then pulled up for the day beside the Ferguson River where we decided to spend two nights, as we had the campsite to ourselves. A quite restful day, we went for a walk and explored the area, put the opera house in the river and ended up with three cherabin. They have gone into the freezer for another day.

Sunday we moved onto Edith Falls, were we went swimming in the top pools and then camped out near the highway for the night.

We arrived in Katherine on Monday morning, did some shopping and a dip in the hot springs before driving down to Stirling Mill campsite, 10km north of Mataranka. We have camped at Stirling Mill several times, but it was a pleasant surprise to see the council has installed rubbish bins and the campsite was the cleanist we have seen it. On sunset about a dozen quail came towards us out of the long grass. It was the first time either of us had seen quail their natural environment.

We had replaced our house batteries in Darwin and since being off 240volt Alan is concerned about the fridge draining the new batteries. Whilst at Stirling Mill it was very frustrating for Alan, I would stress if the food was going off. So the next morning we didn't leave camp until after lunch, still not understanding what was going on the fridge. It will be something to get checked out once in Mt Isa.

Spent the afternoon floating down one of our favourate places, Bitters Springs. Stopped for the night at Elsey free camp and have decided to stop here for two nights and enjoy what Mataranka has to offer, the thermal springs. The days are still a sunny 34 degress with a gental breeze and overnight temps of 14.