Blogs from Mataranka, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania

Reluctantly, we left Kakadu National Park and headed south to visit Edith (Leliyn) Falls. Leliyn is part of Nitmiluk National Park, which has as its key attraction Katherine Gorge. We had booked a campsite in Leliyn for our caravan, to enable us to enjoy an afternoon swim in one of the largest croc-managed plunge pools in the NT. The waterfall that cascades into the plunge pool is a long swim across the dark, foreboding pool, with reedy banks just like we had seen in Kakadu, potentially hiding fearsome saltwater crocodiles. With some hesitance, I ended up swimming across to the waterfall twice, taking the opportunity of a massage under the falls. After an overnight stay at Leliyn, we drove to Mataranka for a two night stay. We had unfinished business at Mataranka, as the renowned Bitter ... read more

Geo: -14.925, 133.072Arrived here about 11am and booked into Bitter Springs CP. Great sites surrounded by palms and trees. Feels really tropical. So does the heat. Set up camp and did some washing. Whoopee guess you all wanted to know that. Jen & Nat finally have time to put on the annexe so they are happy. First swim in the thermal pool was darn good. Bit murky compared to 2013 but we don't care. Not much wild life seen on our travels but the countryside is so green they don't need to come near the roads to eat. Lots of eagles and hawks. Heaps of small lizards around our camp and some small frogs. We went to see the barramundi get fed today with Nat being brave enough to get in the pond and feed them. ... read more

Mataranka to Roper Bar The Savannah Way is the 3700km stretch from Broome in the West via Katherine to Cairns in the East. The route traversees some of the country's most rugged and spectacular scenery, including five world heritage listed areas and more than 15 national parks. We are attracted to touring the Savannah Way because of its remoteness and lack of development, as it passes through Savannah woodlands, historic mining towns, aboriginal communities, cattle stations and the ever-changing geological wonders. The days travel began 0928hrs, odometer 92322, temperature 18 degrees celsius, at Bitter Springs. A wallaby hopping under our awning, eating Corn Flakes with us for breakfast. We travelled into the Mataranka township and topped up our supplies and fuel, 1.325 cents per litre, odometer 92526, for our trek along the Savannah Way. We then ... read more

We travelled south on the Stuart Highway, thinking that we would make a bush camp somewhere south of Mataranka. In the end, because we did some shopping in Katherine and stopped to tour Cutta Cutta Caves, we only managed to make it to Mataranka. Cutta Cutta Caves is somewhat different to most other caves in Australia for two reasons; it is much much older (about 350 million years) and is a "warm" cave. It is the only sub-tropical cave that is accessible to the public in Australia. Whereas most caves are quite cool, Cutta Cutta remains a similar temperature to that above and sometimes feels a little stuffy. There are guided tours throughout the day. Ethan was our guide and he was very knowledgeable. After touring Cutta Cutta, we made a late plan to go to ... read more

Hi travel followers. Our latest travel update sees us at Mataranka and the Bitter Springs Thermal Pools. The van park we are staying at is just a short walk from the springs so we are heading down to take a dip (and soak) a couple of times a day. It helps wash away the red dust picked up from further south and thaw out the bones. What a spot. 14C over night and 28C during the day. Perfect for getting out the T-shirts and shorts and sitting back with a cold ale in the late afternoons. Gotta love the Northern Territory this time of year. So much so we are going to spend 6 weeks or so just slowly getting around to see as much as possible around Litchfield, Darwin and Kakadu etc. before we begin ... read more