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Hellllllllllllllooooooooooooo from the upside of down under

Well here we are at the end of week three and what a week of fun it’s been....

We left you at Daly Waters and as you know from our previous blog we had a great time there. We departed at approx 10.30am and made our way to Mataranka which is a short and leisurely drive of 160kms up the road. With this being a short trip we meandered our way along and arrived at 12.30pm. The park was a little off the main road and the facilities were nice enough but the park was lovely. They had a restaurant and cafe which was quite upmarket for us (those in the know are quite aware of Grahams’ aversion to staying at high end places- think of Thailand).

We set up camp at Mataranka Manor and after going through our normal quick routine of unloading the van we noticed that there were sprinklers running on the lawn sites next to ours. The girls were hot from the car journey and decided to go for a run through fully clothed, can’t say I blame them and I gave it a go myself (no wet t-shirt comp as bra was still on). It’s funny to think that as a child we would spend so much time on the front lawn after school with all the kids in the neighbourhood running through the sprinkler that mum would set up. Our kids have had the luxury of doing this only twice before in their life. How sad!!!!
We noticed some very friendly peacocks roaming around the grounds, with the males strutting around, chest puffed out, showing off their beautiful brightly coloured tails, while the females just stood on the sideline (sounds just like family gatherings with my cousins). After the girls had a few photos with the birds and feeding them some bread crusts we decided to go to the barramundi feeding which is held at the dam in the caravan park. Scarlett decided she has no interest in fishing so we toddled over to the Donkeys and had an Eyore moment with a quick photo and wandered back to the van where they slipped into their togs.

We had heard about the local springs in the area and decided to investigate one. It was about 2.30pm when we arrived at the Bitter Springs just down the road. It was nice but there was quite a strong current downstream. People were using noodles to travel down and to stay afloat and then they would all walk back and start all over again (funny to watch how many people don’t know how to use a noodle). We decided to park our butts there for the rest of the afternoon; chatting to all the grey nomads and watching them climb in and out of the springs with a huge variety of swimming gear on display. Our favourites include but are not limited to: the budgie smugglers (nothing like seeing an assortment of crown jewels), boardies that were see-through and the ever so popular Warwick Capper footy shorts from 20 years ago. Along with these tasteful clothing decisions were some of the most disturbing hair pieces or weaves, the odd comb over and many unnatural shades of male hair colour that come out of a box (lovely). Obviously there were very few that appeared to be our age or younger but all were happy to chat and our girls were a great hit with the Grannies. (I think some were getting their kiddie fix by oohing and aahing over our girls).

After a long and restful afternoon and the girls were on a high having experienced the hot springs some time was spent playing a range of ball games. The girls and I played tunnel ball, hide and seek, chasey and too many others to name. Later a decision was made to extend our visit and stay another night (we are currently running 3 days ahead of schedule, having altered our plans to stay longer at Wycliffe Well, ooh what a shame...... FYI a “you were right, this is a shithole” was received later that night from a certain male and then we didn’t bother to stay two nights at Tennant Creek as expected).

The second day at Mataranka was pretty much the same. We heard reports of the second spring being a better spot for the kids. This one had no current and the girls were able to stand up in parts and swim instead of needing to hang on to something just to stay afloat. We pretty much spent all day there with a walk through the forest of palms, a few photos of the croc lounging in the sunshine on a log, a turtle hiding in the river and a kookaburra watching us from a tree. Lunch was at the cafe in the springs...yum and then we had a walk through an old homestead that was used in the movie “We of the Never Never”.
After drying off we realised that there were a few items we needed from the grocers. This has always been an experience in the NT. Before the four of us had even walked through the door there were at least 3 slabs of VB being carried out by the “locals”. VB seems to be the drink of choice up here as there are huge volumes of it in the bottle shops and supermarkets compared to the 4 slabs on offer of other varieties. While at the Grocers/Bottleshop the local Police called in to get their supplies of Jack D and red wine. For dinner I went all out to prepare a beautiful gourmet meal of baked beans on toast with cheese for us and mac cheese with flavoured tins of tuna mixed in for the girls. Watch out Curtis Stone, competition is on its way.....Afterwards we had some interesting games of charades to keep us amused and then showers before bed.

We left Mataranka on Saturday at our usual 9.30am timeslot. This would appear to be our shortest trip so far with us arriving at Katherine by 10.30. Yay!!!!! We found our caravan park (Katherine Low Level) quite a way from the hustle and bustle of town. It is in a lovely setting near the Katherine River where there are a lot of little areas to sit and admire the scenery. We found a lovely pool/spa combo with beautiful palm trees waiting for us and saw some little girls that our girls had befriended back in Alice. A quick trip into town for some breakfast/lunch was needed (thanks Mc D’s cafe, as other options were too expensive), a quick purchase at the local stationary store (like Officeworks) and a visit into the local Salvo’s for Charlize to purchase some books as she finished all her books within 10 days on the road. One thing we have noticed is there are no book stores . Obviously reading is not required up here. We have only found one and that was the Underground Bookstore in Coober Pedy more than two weeks and one thousand kms ago.

We sat by the pool for the afternoon and got talking to some other campers who invited us to the show in the evening at the cafe in the park. We had a lovely night chatting to these interesting folk; a couple in the NSW Police force and a couple from Rosebud who are living on the road. The girls ate dessert and then played hide and seek til the show finished while we had a few drinks. We had one night here and are really looking forward to going back to the same park on our return.

I am writing this while we are on our way to Darwin. Graham is having a meltdown driving coz the road laws as known in Melbourne don’t seem to apply here. It’s a free for all....When you get a chance to overtake it doesn’t matter where in the queue you are you just close your eyes, floor it and pray for a happy ending. We are sitting in a row of about 4 vans in front of us and an assortment of 15 vehicles behind. No one in front wants to make a move to overtake or pull over as a courtesy and the 15 behind are flooring it on hills, bends , solid white lines, etc. Madness......Have they not heard of overtaking lanes!!!! Best invention ever (Hey NT, you should investigate this!!!)

GS – As soon as we bought a van I was made aware of the RV code;
1 – always share stories about your tow vehicle
2 – always refer to a caravan, motorhomes, etc as an RV
3 – always pull over when there are several cars banked up behind you

I’m ashamed to say that on at least two occasions today two fellow RVer’s broke the third code. On the second occasion there were another three RV’s plus six cars banked back yet this moron did not pull over. I think I may have to report him (LVS- Hey GS.....you Go Girl)

We just stopped at Adelaide River for some gas. Nice country town ship which looked pretty as a picture. Across the road from the BP was a Sunday Market. I looked across to see a stand with a sign stating ”HOMEBAKED” . What’s that I thought, we can’t remember what that means. So as Graham filled up the car I ran across to purchase some goodies for our morning tea. The girls got a Smartie Cookie each and we had a chocolate slice (GS – Lisa had mine) (LVS- only coz you cried like a baby and screwed your nose up like a 5yo). These were received with shouts of glee.

It’s hot, steamy and uncomfortable in the car but quite pleasant when out. We are using my T-shirt as a window covering for Charlize (although we did say we would use some nana knickers , easily stolen from the clothes line), as the sun is beaming through her window. Girls are red faced and puffy and looking forward to getting some fresh air and using the pool.

Graham just got back into the car and made a really BOLD statement. ’When we arrive in Darwin, I may celebrate by having a shave”. The girls are not too keen on the bearded one usually known as “Daddy”. I personally hope he sheds all facial hair including the porno star moustache that he usually keeps when he is on holidays and in return I hope to do the same. I’m getting desperate coz two caterpillars are growing above my eyes. An eyebrow wax is urgently required so I hope that this common facial treatment has been made available and is in this capital city.

Music on our travels has been interesting....The Best of radio stations appear to be playing hits from about 20 years ago. So far we have experienced “Island in the stream”, and Rod Stewart ‘s, “You’re in my heart.”(Apparently these are in the top 20 in the Darwin hit parade). No doof doof music played by hoons with sub-whoofers has been experienced yet, like when visiting Melbourne. Our only noise is the distant but loud chatter or yelling of the “locals” til 2am.

We arrived at Free Spirit Resort and Holiday Park. It ain’t free as it states in the name, I can tell you that much. So far it looks really nice and well maintained. We shall see if the resort lives up to its name, like Oasis in Coober Pedy (Ha). While setting up the van, guess who should arrive....Mr Whippy!!!!! Yep the girls were in the van working away on odd jobs and I looked up and spotted the bright pink endangered species “Mista Whippis”. After flagging him down, we managed to get the girls an iced snow cone. They were very happy indeed with this latest purchase.

About 30 mins after turning up a lady we had met in Coober Pedy and again in Erldunda gave us a wave. She and her husband are travelling with their three boys in a minivan with a tent. They are a lovely couple and are both teachers from Tahiti. The family is on a four week holiday through Oz and are ending in Sydney shortly . Their English is good but limited. We arranged to meet for a drink by the pool (as you do)around the same time as the toad races (the girls chose dud toads) and ended up chatting to them like long lost friends for a few hours in broken English (mostly ours). We have arranged to meet again tomorrow night for happy hour. Lisa even swapped email addresses so now we have somewhere to stay when we go to Tahiti.......(LVS-better learn French)

Well we hope to catch up soon and will give you a lowdown on our hair free facial status, along with any other interesting situations we may come across. We hope those of you reading these blogs are enjoying them as we are enjoying writing them. Any questions you have for us, please feel free to connect with our Blog message and we shall reply asap.

Take care and stay safe...Hugs, kisses and love to all xxxx

NB – As we write this at 9.30pm it’s a pleasant 20 degrees...................

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