The road was primarily single lane again, with a fair number of hills and turns. This road is also frequented by Road Trains servicing the area. Not a great drive and not one we would recommend! We had a couple of stops for small breaks and to check our tyre pressures.
The trip took us just over 4 hours to complete and we arrived at the Stuart Highway Junction at lunch time. We had a quick picnic lunch at the Fuel station while Stephen made flight arrangements etc on the Internet. From there we turned North on the Stuart Highway towards Darwin. The road was considerably better with two lanes and long straight stretches. Speed limit increased to 130 Km although Sandra assured me that I didn't need to achieve this speed! Took us about 2 hours to travel the 170 Km to Mataranka. We said our goodbyes to Carol and Stephen here as they were continuing on to Katherine so they could make their Saturday afternoon flights from Darwin to Sydney. Sadly they received news from home shortly after they had left us, that Stephen's Mum had passed away. Our sympathies go out to both of them, and the extended Ransley family.
We had planned to stay at Bitter Springs in Mataranka as we preferred them to the Mataranka Springs on our last trip through in 2011. However as we were about to turn into the Bitter Springs road we noticed heavy smoke and a procession of several caravans heading out of the area. We quickly decided to reroute to the Mataranka Homestead for the night. We booked in to a powered site for $30/night. Our site was quite large and there were good shade trees. The sites were dry and dusty however. They did have a ute going up and down the roads spraying water but I think it was fighting a losing battle. The amenity block was not up to standard. Although fairly modern was poorly maintained and not clean. Only 1 Star for this one. Once we got setup we went down to the Thermal Springs for a quick swim. It was fairly busy and as per our previous visit we found the Springs commercial feeling and quite run down/dirty. We had a quick cool down before returning to the caravan. We decided we would only stay the night and then relocate to one of the caravan parks at Bitter Spring. Really a shame with the Mataranka Homestead, as has a lot of potential that is certainly not being capitalized on.
We passed through the Mataranka township and turned into the Bitter Springs road. We decided to give the Bitter Springs Cabin and Camping park a try. We had stayed at the Territory Manor near the highway last trip which had been good, but decided to try the one closer to the Springs. Quite a nice caravan park with large individual sites surrounded by trees. Power and water is supplied in clusters so you need to make sure you are within reach of a Power supply and water tap. We got setup in a nice large shaded site with both power and water tap at the back of caravan. For those campers not requiring power there are some beautiful secluded sites down near the river at the back of the property. Pricing was $35/night although we got a 10% discount for a 3 night stay. Amenities are rustic en suite style out of corrugated iron. That being said they are large and some of the cleanest we have seen during our trip. 3.5 Stars for these!
Once we were setup we went into town to pickup a few basic supplies and fill up with Diesel. Diesel was reasonable at $1.26 with a discount we received from the Homestead caravan park. There is a large Aboriginal population that appears to hangout in the Park across from the stores. The grocery store/bottle shop was full at 11 in the morning but I think we were the only two people buying groceries. There appears to be no restrictions on the sale of alcohol and for the first time Sandra and I felt uncomfortable with the Aboriginal community. Huge amount of alcohol being sold and no doubt being consumed in short order in the Park across the road. Very sad as on both days there were large numbers of Aboriginal children that were part of the groups.
We returned to the caravan park for lunch. I did a bit of computer catch up while Sandra started in on the laundry that has accumulated over the last week. We walked the 500 Metres down to the Bitter Spings in mid afternoon. There wasn't many people there and we enjoyed a lovely refreshing swim. Beautiful natural setting where you float down the creek before climbing a ladder and walking back to the start. We took turns with our snorkel mask as we floated down the stream. Incredible amount of colour in the clear water. Sandra was lucky enough to follow a turtle downstream with her turn on the snorkle mask. This is really a great experience that any travelers in the area should take advantage of.
We returned to the caravan refreshed and upbeat where we enjoyed an easy afternoon. We made a lovely roasted pumpkin salad to enjoy with our BBQ Chicken skewers. Delicious!
Sunday was a quiet day at home, with lots of computer work and cleaning. I got a couple of Blog entries completed for our last few stops while Sandra gave the inside of the caravan a good clean and continued with the laundry. After lunch we went for another swim at the Springs. Unfortunately, it was a lot busier but we still enjoyed a nice hour of relaxation. Upon our return to the caravan I helped Sandra with giving the outside of the caravan a hand wash. We got both sides and the back done. Not a perfect job but it certainly looks a 100% better than it did. Only the front left to go, but this is by far the worst! We enjoyed another BBQ Steak dinner in the evening.
Monday morning saw us up early to be at the 6 AM ANZAC service in Mataranka. Was a really good turnout (100+) for such a small town and we noticed a few other people from our caravan park there as well. So good to see the large turnouts with lots of kids. About a dozen Aboriginals joined in the service which was nice to see.
Had a late breakfast and Sandra got back into the caravan cleaning while I worked on the Mataranka Blog entry. Here is my darling hard at work!
I gave Sandra a hand and we had the front of the van done before lunch. Not perfect but a lot nicer than it was. Got the WD-40 out and gave all the hinges, locks, and latches a bit of a spray. We walked down for another swim at the Springs just before lunch. A bit quieter today and saw some Turtles again with the Snorkle Mask. Beautiful clear water!
An easy afternoon is planned with some Skype catch ups with the girls. Really peaceful time here at Bitter Springs. We are on the road to Katherine in the morning.
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