MATARANKA-BITTER SPRINGS-KATHERINE- NITMILUK NATIONAL PARK

From Devils Marbles we headed north toward Katherine. Over night we heard about the thermal Roper River and swimming hole at Bitter Springs just east of Mataranka- which was well worth the visit.
Mataranka itself has a more commercialized thermal pools set up at the Homestead campground- for those townies that aren't too keen on swimming with all the natural elements. We on the other hand, hot footed it to the Campground at the end of Martin road, swiftly set up camp, donned the togs, grabbed the snorkel and wandered the 500m down the road to the most spectacular natural springs we have experienced so far!!
A semi paved area, plus steps and railing have been constructed to allow for safe and easy access to the top pool ( good idea, so the bank doesn't get destroyed). And there are steps half way down the river course and at the end where you get out, walk across the bridge, return a 100m then plonk yourself in the top pool to float your way down again and again!!! No swimming effort required! For those who were a little timid in the water a noodle floating device made the experience far more enjoyable. Crystal clear water, reeds and Lillies lined the banks, vibrant green moss/ algae covered rocks and tree branches. Well shaded by large gums and Pandana Palms, which ment no yucky sunscreen scumming up the water for the native residents!
At 32 degrees, this was the ultimate bath experience!!! We spent hours completely surrendering our bodies and control to the gentle current. It's actually quite difficult, even whilst floating to completely let go of any tension or need to guide and 'hold' your self in the water. It was a great experiment and really required me to be totally present in my body- feeling, noticing when I tried to take over, and letting go. I eventually, had one run of total surrender...so much so that an elderly lady and her husband were concerned I was dead!!!! They obviously didn't see the snorkel!!!

We went back later that evening, just before sunset. As we suspected, there was only one other person there, and the wild life obviously felt it was safe to show themselves- the hordes of noisey people have vacated. This was magic- quietly, gliding along, peering above and below the water, and were fortunate to see to beautiful fresh water turtles- they were much larger than I thought they would be. Its so exciting when you swim along with creatures like these.

It was then time to move further north to Katherine- we are going to admit now there was an ulterior motive for being in a town with mobile reception and possibly TV coverage- Tuesday night was the final episode of Packed to the Rafters!!! Okay, so we are still yet to feel into that addiction!!! But guess what, we arrived and NO RECEPTION!!! Devastation and grumpiness galore ( I know, it's only a TV show- and normally I don't really care about TV, but something about Rafters obviously hooks us deeper emotionally than we realized- namely family). Clearly, we have some releasing to do, as the next day our last resort, before departing for never never land, was to watch it online before we lost coverage. Next issue- the week before we down graded the Internet data knowing we would be out of range for most of the next 3mths- 'a- oh', we only have 400MB...how much do you think an episode of Rafters will require??? So taking deep breathes, we pull over to the side of the road, load it all up and watch ever so intently as the Megabites tick over. "Ads! What the bloody hell are Ads doing on the online version?? This is wasting precious download!!!" Both busting to go to the toilet, but couldn't afford to pause, as the re-load was gonna be costly, we scraped through the tear jerker of an episode, with 32MB to spare!!! That's pretty desperate eh! All I can say is Thank God it's finished for the season- I couldn't cope going through that ordeal again!!

NITMILUK National Park is home to Katherine Gorge. We set up in the campground, and we're surprised at the facilities available there. Half expecting a pit dunny and a bush shower similar to the Grampians, there were powered sites, safari tents, cabins, nice amenities and wait for it an icy pool with spa jets for aching legs and weary walkers! Here we plopped for 3days- with plenty to investigate- walks, chopper flights and canoeing, we were keen to get started!
We hope to post some of the footage from the walks to the first and second sections of the Gorge, and the chopper flight that took us over the entire length of the Gorge and dropped us a waterfall pool that is completely isolated and only accessible via helicopter. Here we had the opportunity, just the two of us to swim and sit being pummeled by the waterfall- agh, what a way to pound out those aching fibres after our 5 hr hike that morning!!! We maybe eating hummous and rice crackers for the next month, but it was totally worth it. Whats the point of coming all this way and not experiencing the full beauty of the Gorge- we may never pass this way again!
Still no croc sightings, fresh or salty, we head west now to the Kimberley Region and Kununurra.