The last two days have been exactly what we've needed. To be camped in one spot for two nights has made all the difference. I think we all needed to slow down and relax a little instead of going full pelt all the time.
After having a better nights sleep at Daly Waters, the electric blankets lasting most of the night before the inverter alarmed that the battery was going a bit flat. Having been warm for most the night meant we woke a little better and with a bit more bounce in our step. We decided to have showers before we left as it was only a short drive to our next camp and could afford to leave a little later. The showers were no more than a drizzle, glad we didn't have one last night when it was colder. At least we were clean though right?! We were on the road by 9:30am, not too bad considering we took our time getting ready. A little down the road Marty decided to take a small detour off to a side road so we could collect some wood for a camp fire that night. We were heading to Elsey National Park and we figured that like most parks, we would have to bring our own wood in. We found an area with some scrap wood lying around that had recently had a burn off through the area, within literally two minutes both the girls were covered in soot and dirt. So much for being clean hey? Marty cranked the chainsaw up and we had all the wood we could fit on the Nissan and Jayco loaded up. I saw a sign hinting there was a pub up the road so we thought we'd go have a gander. A few minutes up the dirt road we came to a pink pub called Larramah Pub. It was pretty cool, was done up using pink panther as the theme. There was a huge pink panther statue that the girls immediately started climbing up on and sat on its lap. There was also a pink panther in a helicopter structured up in the air. There was a sign saying 'free zoo out the back' so we decided to go have a look. I then remembered someone at the Devils Marbles mentioning this place so l knew what to expect. It was really cool actually. There were exotic tropical birds, emus, huge pythons and even an enormous saltwater crocodile. The girls loved it and were quite amazed at how big a crocodile is in real life! We took a peak in the pub, nicely decorated with quirky outback items. The guy behind the bar was rough and ragged, speaking a tad harsh to the aboriginal bloke wanting some grog, but l presume he's had a bit to do with them? Anyway, Marty and l eye off the pies and decide why not. So glad too cause that was a bloody delicious homemade chunky meat pie!! The girls loved their sausage rolls too. It was great we enjoyed it so much as the pies were $8.50 each!! So after filling our bellies having an early lunch we head off, next stop Elsey National
Park at Mataranka.
We were only in the car for another hour and a half or do when we took the right hand turn down to Elsey National Park. It was to be our central place to explore Mataranka and Bitter Springs. We drove in expecting a pit toilet and scrub bush, but we found large well spaced sites on gravel, shower and septic toilets, fire pits in every camp site and even firewood supplied!! All for $15.40 per night! Based on this we decided two nights would be great. We found a brilliant spot, close to the amenities, and set up camp. Then we got changed and took a short drive down the road to Mataranka Homestead where the springs where. We had a nice dip in the heated springs, the girls had a ball. Took
Meg a while to remember she could swim its been that long since we've been near a pool. The Mataranka Springs were just as Marty and l remembered the ten years ago we were here, however there was no bats or there odor around. Last time we were here all l can recall was the smell of bat s*** around, this time l couldn't smell any thank god! The girls found a couple of girls and played a bit, which left Marty and l a small window of time to relax in the warm water! After an hour or so we got out, which was a tad cool and grabbed an icecream before heading back to camp. On the way back Marty suddenly braked and turned the car around. There on the side of the road was a bloody three meter (or there abouts) snake. It had its head arched up in attack mode. It was so aggressive, at first we thought it was a python, but after such aggression we reckon it must have been a brown snake. I went to wind down my window to get a better photo and the b****** stood up higher looking like it was gonna take flight. The window was back up in no time, stuff the photo, l hate snakes. I told Marty it was time to go, as l said, l hate snakes. Coming across the snakes quickly reminded me where we were and when we got back to camp l couldn't relax knowing there was a bloody huge snake out there!! Took me a while to settle down abd not get startled at every sound!
Marty and the girls went to get some wood and stumbled on a couple that were our next door neighbor three weeks ago in Alice. Jill and John are a lovely couple that are genuinely nice people. You know those kind of people you meet that are just easy to be around, well that's them. Again, the girls adored them and over the time at the camp were over chatting and playing games with them. Was nice to run into them again, a welcomed surprise. After catching up, we started our fire and had some much needed veggies for tea then settled down for the night, all a bit b*****ed.
On our last day, we got up and had pancakes cooked over the fire. Oh how I've missed cooking over the camp fire. Anyway, after breaky we headed into Mataranka for for a look around the town. There was a market on, l was excited, then we pulled up to see three stalls! Bit smaller than the Todd markets in Alice, that's all l got to say! After the five minutes it took to have a look at the markets we went and took a few picks of the enormous termite mound on display. It was probably three times the height of Boo, fairly impressive. We then took a walk around the memorial park that was full of statues in relation to the story of 'The Never Never'. This was a book written about the early 1900's on the Elsey Homestead Cattle Station. I don't know much about the story but l am now intrigued to go buy it and read. After lunch we got in our bathers and headed to the Bitter Springs. It was such a great afternoon! The springs are all natural and not man made like Mataranka Springs. The water is crystal clear and the bottom of the creek is full of color with sand and rocks. We eagerly jumped in with our boogie boards (two of them we borrowed from Jill and John). We floated down the springs which took up down in a semi circular direction. There were lush palms surrounding the creeks edges and water lilies throughout the water, all in flower. It was so beautiful and tranquil, totally relaxing. The girls had an absolute ball!! Once we got to the end, we got up the steps and walked down the short gravel track back to the start were we did it all over again. We did this for a few hours, we had a fantastic time. The best thing to do to finish up our time in Mataranka.
Tomorrow we were packing up and heading to Kakadu National Park where we are going to spend a week or so exploring around. We were so excited to find out that majority of the roads were open, it meant that we could see it in its prime time. Very excited.....

Bell Xxx