Sat/Sun 23 - 24 June 12 Daly Waters to Mataranka

Trip Meter Reading Start – 4247            Trip Meter Reading Finish – 4425
Total Km Travelled – 173 km

Fuel Costs & Consumption

Zero

Comments -  Luke Baker

Today I swam in Bitter Springs which are thermal springs which are thirty four degrees celceus all year round.  I rode my bike around with Erin and Jake.  I also played cards with lleyton.

Comments – Mum and Dad

OMG...its 3 green monsters, Bitter Springs thermal pool

Another small township with mostly an aboriginal population.  Restocked our pantry before booking into the Mataranka cabins and campground, north of the town centre and 500 metres from the Bitter Springs thermal pools.  Although they give you the thumbs up for swimming in some parts of the Roper River, there are no guarantees salties aren’t around (Salties are the bad ones that eat you up; fresh crocs won’t hurt you, just don’t step on one).  The National Parks mob set traps to capture any stray salties; and if there are any citings or captures, then they put the ‘No Swimming’ sign up....comforting hey?.  Well we weren’t going to let our dubious minds stop us from entering the thermal pools which were absolutely awesome, warm and clear.  We got the kids to jump in swim down and run back 50 times to wear them out....I think we just wore ourselves out;  my head hit the pillow at 8pm (OMG!)...the kids enjoyed an Austin Powers movie, so did the big kid who was laughing the loudest while I tried to get some early z’s.
Second day in we explored the southern part of town and found a great camp spot on the Roper River where people had been swimming and canoeing (no way you would get us in there); the camp is part of the Elsey national park and is $6.50 per adult and has hot showers and loos.  Its a great spot and if we had known more about it at the time, we would have stopped here; up the road we called into Rainbow Springs at the Mataranka Homestead and had another swim in a thermal pool.  The homestead has a great pub and facilities.