REST DAY
Mataranka - Northern Territory
Rest Day – 13th September 2017
How good it was to get up and have a leisurely shower, a leisurely breakfast, a leisurely coffee and leave the bike locked to its pole! After getting “caught up” with things that needed to be attended to – like checking the oil and water in the van and numerous other things, we went for a drive around Mataranka.
Our first stop was at the Mataranka Homestead Springs – and enjoyed a walk to firstly see the spring – the source of the warm water – and then the swimming part. There were some little wild pigs burrowing away nearby, which while damaging to the surrounds – looked quite cute. Hosing and scrubbing the walkway of “bat-poo” was one of the staff. On a stinking hot and humid day – what a job!!!! Apparently the bats had only been there a couple of days – but what a mess!!
The old replica Never Never Homestead was interesting – wonderful wide verandah right around it. The camp which I believe is very busy in the high season was rather quiet, and the Adelaide / Darwin Greyhound bus was just pulling through when we were there. We have actually seen the Greyhound buses frequently on this trip, and while I initially thought they pulled a trailer for passengers luggage - it appears they do a lot of the mail and freight deliveries along the way.
Back into the main road of shops and we put more petrol in the van, and went into the “Friendly Grocer” to buy something for dinner. Water was also purchased to ensure we will be OK for the next day until we get to Katherine where we will have the luxury of a supermarket to shop at!!
On our way "home" we went out to Bitter Springs which were very attractive and more “natural” I felt than the Homestead ones. However I was a bit alarmed to hear they had been closed a week earlier due to the appearance of a crocodile!!!! I think for that reason I would chose to swim at the Homestead as they appeared to have better fences .............. but on second thoughts - the pool at the Territory Manor Caravan Park is clean, well fenced and a perfect temperature to cool down in these temperatures!
When we got back to the Territory Manor Motel and Caravan Park I had a message from Julie Walling – (now resident of Bunbury WA, but earlier a biking buddy in Brisbane) – who happened to be spending a holiday with her daughter who manages a station 70 kms west of Katherine!! The message was – she would come to the camp to see us at 2:00 pm. How good was that!!!
We spent a nice afternoon chatting – trying to keep cool – and eventually with Annie and Julie ending up in the pool at the complex. Julie – huge thanks for making the trip to see us – (I suspect about a 350 km round trip) - hope you get back home safely!! Also a HUGE thanks for your generous donation to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Biking Buddies rock!!!!
Pat and I cooked dinner in the great camp kitchen here, while the others went to the on-site restaurant for pizza night. I believe the pizza's only came in one size and were HUGE and TASTY!!
How good it was to get up and have a leisurely shower, a leisurely breakfast, a leisurely coffee and leave the bike locked to its pole! After getting “caught up” with things that needed to be attended to – like checking the oil and water in the van and numerous other things, we went for a drive around Mataranka.
Our first stop was at the Mataranka Homestead Springs – and enjoyed a walk to firstly see the spring – the source of the warm water – and then the swimming part. There were some little wild pigs burrowing away nearby, which while damaging to the surrounds – looked quite cute. Hosing and scrubbing the walkway of “bat-poo” was one of the staff. On a stinking hot and humid day – what a job!!!! Apparently the bats had only been there a couple of days – but what a mess!!
The old replica Never Never Homestead was interesting – wonderful wide verandah right around it. The camp which I believe is very busy in the high season was rather quiet, and the Adelaide / Darwin Greyhound bus was just pulling through when we were there. We have actually seen the Greyhound buses frequently on this trip, and while I initially thought they pulled a trailer for passengers luggage - it appears they do a lot of the mail and freight deliveries along the way.
Back into the main road of shops and we put more petrol in the van, and went into the “Friendly Grocer” to buy something for dinner. Water was also purchased to ensure we will be OK for the next day until we get to Katherine where we will have the luxury of a supermarket to shop at!!
On our way "home" we went out to Bitter Springs which were very attractive and more “natural” I felt than the Homestead ones. However I was a bit alarmed to hear they had been closed a week earlier due to the appearance of a crocodile!!!! I think for that reason I would chose to swim at the Homestead as they appeared to have better fences .............. but on second thoughts - the pool at the Territory Manor Caravan Park is clean, well fenced and a perfect temperature to cool down in these temperatures!
When we got back to the Territory Manor Motel and Caravan Park I had a message from Julie Walling – (now resident of Bunbury WA, but earlier a biking buddy in Brisbane) – who happened to be spending a holiday with her daughter who manages a station 70 kms west of Katherine!! The message was – she would come to the camp to see us at 2:00 pm. How good was that!!!
We spent a nice afternoon chatting – trying to keep cool – and eventually with Annie and Julie ending up in the pool at the complex. Julie – huge thanks for making the trip to see us – (I suspect about a 350 km round trip) - hope you get back home safely!! Also a HUGE thanks for your generous donation to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Biking Buddies rock!!!!
Pat and I cooked dinner in the great camp kitchen here, while the others went to the on-site restaurant for pizza night. I believe the pizza's only came in one size and were HUGE and TASTY!!