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| Marty at Devils Marbles |
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| Devils Marbles |
After saying thanks and farewell to Frapper and Curls we headed north up the Stuart Highway. The first stop was the Devil’s Marbles. We had visited them on the way south but his time camped there overnight and got a visit from a friendly dingo.
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| Visiting Dingo |
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| A very relaxed dingo |
The Marbles at sunrise were a fantastic sight.
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Early morning sunrise at Devils Marbles
On the trip a lot of fellow travellers had told us about the Daly Waters pub and it lived up to expectations.The live acts were great and the grub was good.It is a custom at the pub for visitors to leave an item of signed underwear behind so that it can be displayed in the pub, but we declined. |
Next stop was Daly Waters where we stayed at the pub.
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Daly Waters Pub
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Next stop was Mataranka site of the film “We of the Never Never”. Again traveller’s goss proved invaluable. We had intended to stay at the Mataranka Homestead which has thermal pools and which Marty had visited during his Army travels many years ago. However, the goss was that the thermal springs at Bitter Springs at Mataranka were superior, so that it is where we stayed. It was wonderful. A short walk from the caravan park brought us to the thermal springs. With the help of noodles we floated with the current from one end of the springs to the other and just kept on repeating it. It was lovely: the temperature of the water was nice and warm, the water was amazingly clear and inhabited by fish and turtles with many birds nesting in the surrounding wetlands and lily pads. We checked out the pools at the Homestead and found them to be concreted and very commercial just like a warm indoor swimming pool.
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| The very peaceful Bitter Springs |
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| Thats me in the midst of the water lillies at Bitter Springs |
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| Marty just passing by - Bitter Springs |
We had three very relaxing days at Bitter Springs and then went to Darwin and stayed with our friends Chris and Lyn with whom we celebrated my birthday.
Then it was off to Litchfield National Park. We took Chris’ advice and camped in the park. What a wonderful place it is, a mixture if tremendous and varied scenery and natural pools. Enjoying the park’s many attractions is a lot about timing. As it is only 90 minutes from Darwin it is visited by busloads of tourists. We learnt it was important to go to the various falls and pools before the buses arrived. We started at Wangi Falls at the base of two waterfalls.
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| Thats me in the background after climbing up the rock at Wangi Falls |
The Cascades were next, where we did the 3km loop walk which included the upper and lower cascades (waterfalls). The initial part of the walk was very hot but it was worth it as the pools were wonderfully refreshing. The water was clear and cool and we shared with only one other family.
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| Cascades Litchfield NP |
We also swam at Florence Falls another double waterfall cascade into a plunge pool, set in a pocket of monsoon forest. Once again we took a refreshing dip in the crystal clear waters of the plunge pool, then enjoy a scenic walk to the viewing platform high above the falls, on our way back to the car we Spotted some local wallabies.
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| Florance Falls and plung pool |
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| A Wallaby |
and at Buley Waterhole where we were overrun by 3 busloads of tourists and had to leave quickly. The best spot was probably Walker Creek. The Walker Creek Walk is a 3.5 kilometre 2 hour return walk, starting from the car park.
The trail leads to a shared picnic area and there are eight camping sites available along the trail you can swim in the crystal clear Walker Creek shared camping and swimming hole at the end of the walk, it is a refreshing dip in any of the pristine waterholes and enjoy the tranquillity of this amazing. each only accessible by foot. Each campsite has its own waterhole. We visited all 8 waterholes and on each occasion had them to ourselves.
We also visited the very verdant town of Batchelor and the unique magnetic termite mounds that all face the same direction so as to maximise the benefits of the sun. We didn’t want to leave, it was so relaxing.
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| Magnetic Termite Mounds |
However, we returned to Darwin and Chris and Lyn so that we could get some basic servicing of the trailer and car. We caught up with two of Marty’s Duntroon classmates, Pullthrough and Tiger and one of his Army colleagues from Pucka, Mooka.
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| Black Cockatoos at Litchfield NP |
Then it was off to Kakadu and places west.
