Mataranka

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10th November 2012,

Enjoyed a well earned sleep in this morning since it was a lot cooler. After a leisurely breakfast, we met two fantastic ladies at the Daly Waters campsite. They too have been travelling around Australia and have been for the past 2 years. I thoroughly enjoyed swapping travel experiences with them. Departed Daly Waters and headed towards Mataranka, a town 420 km south east of Darwin. Stopped in Mataranka town centre for the famous Mataranka pies (They were Yum!!). Mataranka Homestead is built around the hot springs or thermal pools as they call it. We arrived at Mataranka Homestead and headed straight for the hot springs. There were hundreds of bats literally just hanging from the palm trees. The odour they expelled was definitely an "original" scent if you know what I mean. Bats aside, the hot springs (about 32 degrees in temperature) was amazing and refreshing. After a cool dip we set up camp and watched a magnificent display of the bats as they flew away for the night. We relaxed with a good bottle of red (adults of course!) and lamb curry. We met Barb and Glenda again. They were also staying at the Mataranka Homestead. We enjoyed their lovely company before retiring to a muggy night in our tents.

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Photos

The Girls
Sasha and Alyssa at the famous Mataranka pie shop (They were really good, had to get in early to get some!)

The girls
Sasha and Alyssa at Elsey National Park in Mataranka

Mataranka Homestead
The bats hanging around in the trees at Mataranka Hot Springs (There were literally thousands of them!!!)

The Girls
The girls at the Mataranka hot springs

Daniel and Naeshka
Relaxing with my beautiful husband

Mataranka Hot Springs
A beautiful view of the Hot Springs

Sasha and "Skippy"
Sasha and Skippy (I know very original, but Sasha named him!)

Alyssa and "Skippy"
Alyssa feeding Skippy

Cane Toad
A close up of a cane toad visiting us at night