On the Road Again..

 Good-bye to our little Alice home.

Day 1

We left Alice on Tuesday and got back on the Stuart Hwy and headed North towards Darwin, it was a great feeling to be on the road again, although we weren’t sure how the car would go, it had only driven short distances in Alice!

We aimed to get to the Devil’s Marbles  (which is about 400 kms from Alice) to stay the night , we were excited that Megan and Stuart were on the road with us because we got to use our UHF radio to talk to them, although they did overtake us early on.

We stopped for lunch with them at Barrow Creek which is a very small town on the side of the highway,they have a heap of memorabilia, pictures, notes and clothes stuck on the walls, it's a pub with a lot of character!

I asked if we could write on the wall and the local bar man/comedian was happy to lend us a red texta so we could leave our mark, it did feel a little naughty writing on the wall, but we are glad we left our mark!

After a beer and a quick bite to eat it was off to the Devil’s Marbles for sunset.

We were surprised how close the marbles were to the freeway, it was a great sight driving in to see massive round rocks just stacked on top of each other!

We had passed the tropic of capricorn earlier in the day and it was much hotter than Alice already, when we arrived at the marbles in the afternoon it was 32 degrees, so we set up camp and paid our $7.00 fee, (to the honesty box) which we thought was pretty good and after the boy’s collected some firewood for dinner we headed off to get some sunset pictures!

The views here are amazing and we got a bit snap happy, although trying to get the perfect shot whilst having locusts flying into you is a little annoying!

Our favourite photo so far:

When we were all pictured out Stuart and Megan cooked an amazing stir fry for tea, and again it was another great night around the camp fire, we even had marshmallows. 

We are noticing a lot more bugs here and we are sure we ate a few in our dinner, for a couple who usually hates bugs I think we have come to realize that we have to put up with them or  we will go crazy!

Be aware there is only one toilet at the devils marbles and there were a heap of people there including a school group that managed to stink out the already stinky hole in the ground, it was vomit worthy!

Day 2

We got up extremely early today to see the sunrise and even Brenton managed to get up for 15 minutes to watch it, it was great to see the rocks change colour so quickly, there were lots of others up early including a heap of rock wallabies.

Brenton tried to go back to sleep but we annoyed him enough that he got up and we were on the road by 8 am.

The car playing tricks on us!

Our aim for the day was to find water so we could swim and when we looked on the map and thought Daly waters sounded inviting so that was our aim. It was about 490 kms from the devils marbles and after a quick stop in Tennant Creek to get some meat it was straight to Daly Waters.

We got there in the afternoon and realized very quickly it’s not called Daly Waters for the abundance of water around in fact there was none, besides a pool that we were very grateful for as it was pushing 39 degrees when we got there.

It is well worth stopping in very small town of only 12 people, you can check out the old post office, swim in the pool or wander around the huge pub that is attached to the camp ground. The pub, like many in small towns is covered in photo’s, writing, bra’s and other pieces of clothing, even a thong (flip-flop) shrine in the beer garden.

We decided to have the famous Beef and Barra meal that they offer and after being in the pool for 3 hours we were hanging for a big feed, and it was great, the barramundi was amazing!

After that we moved out the front and chatted with the locals, Brenton played a bit of guitar with other travellers, everyone here is so friendly, Daly Waters has very relaxed vibe and we found out you can get a house and land here on a huge block for $30,000, maybe it is worth living in the middle of no where!

Brenton entertaining the locals!

Day 3

Once again due to the heat and squawking birds we were up early and looking forward to our short drive to Mataranka, which is famous for it’s thermal pools and springs.

We got there about 10:30am and checked into a powered site next to Megan and Stuart at 'The Mataranka Homestead Resort', which is off to the right just before you enter the town.

We so were so excited, the place was a tropical paradise in the middle of the desert!

We ate our big breakfast, settled in and headed to the thermal pool that is in the resorts backyard!

So amazing, I know I use that word a lot but it is, the water was so clear and fresh, only problem was that the water temperature is about 30 degrees all year round, and when it’s 38 degrees outside you prefer something a bit cooler to jump into!

We sat for ages amongst the shade of the palm trees, we had it to ourselves in the morning because we were there early after a short drive, but by mid afternoon the place was as busy as bourke st!

We headed back for some chips and dips and noticed all the wildlife that had come out since we left! There were peacocks out the back of our van, the male one even had his tail open!! I was in awe at the colour of him, although the females didn’t seem too impressed with him. A wallaby also came out at the same time and was looking for a pat and no doubt some food, we have been making sure not to feed the animals but after a lady threw a piece of bread at Brenton he couldn’t resist!

This one is for you Mum, the spiders over the pool! xx

There are birds galore here and as great as it is the downfall is the ants!!
 They are very tiny and get into anything and everything, they took over Megan and Stuarts tent and there was no food in it at all, they also attacked our peanut butter but didn’t want the jam or the honey!? It did take us a while to get them under control and as long as you have a nice big can of flyspray you will be fine!

The boys had big plans of catching barra and after going to the resort pub to watch the footy they made there way through the forest area to drop in a nest to catch some bait, us girls decided to stay back as we had seen a croc earlier that day on the riverbed across from where they were putting the net in.

We are very glad we stayed behind because apparently the place was full of cane toads, frogs, bugs and a heap of spiders!!

Day 4

We loved Mataranka so much we booked for 2 days, thank god, there is a lot to see and do here, plus the doggies were playing Sydney in the finals so the boys were keen to stay somewhere with a big TV!

We went back to get the trap in the morning to have a swim but they only had one little cherobin, like  a yabby in the net.

We swam in the thermal pool, it was so early we had it all to ourselves, so lovely. Then we got dressed and headed out to Bitter springs which is only 15 minutes away from town and another sort  of thermal stream but more natural than our pool, no concrete sides!

Us at bitter springs.

It was  a bit cooler at bitter springs but still a bit too warm to say it was  a relief from the heat, still it was better in than out!

After that it was into town for a few supplies and then dinner before the game.

We sat with about 30 others watching the football and most were following Sydney so we were very happy that the bulldogs won! 

Went to have a quick shower before bed to get all the sweat off and found a heap of frogs living in the showers! Toads and green tree frogs so I grabbed one to show everyone else, he was so cute!

Passing my new friend to Stu.

Much cuter than the cane toad this local happily showed us:

We had a big brekkie and said goodbye to Mataranka the next day, although it was sad to leave this little paradise, can definitely recommend the Mataranka homestead, toilets and showers are not 5 star but it makes up for it in other ways, about $30 a night and you have the thermal spring right out your backyard!

Next stop Katherine!

xxxxxx