Venomous Snakes and Monstrous Hairy Spiders

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We think our motel room’s supposed to be cleaned and made up each day, but it’s hard to be sure. When we got back yesterday the beds looked fairly similar to the way we’d left them; we had to remake them before we went to sleep. We decide to find out for sure. We pull all the bedclothes half off and leave the dirt from our shoes in a neat pile in the middle of the floor. If today’s tourist attractions prove to be a fizzer at least now we’ll have some detective work to amuse ourselves with when we get back here later this afternoon.

We head south along The Track to our first stop for the day, the Cutta Cutta Caves. We’re questioned at the ticket counter as to whether or not we’re both wearing fully enclosed shoes. Issy is, but I’m just wearing sandals. The very nice young lady tells us very politely that I can’t go into the caves as I am. She says that it’s a safety precaution against being bitten by the cave's venomous snakes. I’m starting to lose a bit of enthusiasm for this venture, whilst at the same time wondering how a pair of shoes is going to save me. Are bites on the ankle perhaps less likely to be fatal. I put on my very best disappointed look, and she responds by offering to lend me a pair of her own shoes. They’re about five sizes too small, but I manage a smile as I force my feet into them. “Yes, they fit perfectly” I announce happily. She looks a bit skeptical. My toes are curled around completely under the rest of my feet. Oh well. I‘ll only have to wear them for an hour or so so I’m sure I can’t do too much permanent damage in that time. I should be grateful. A family wearing thongs comes in a few minutes after us. Ticket lady’s lent me her only spare pair of shoes, so they’re turned away.

We take a short hike through the scrub to the cave’s mouth, where we’re given a safety briefing. We’re pointed to a sign picturing the many types of critters that live down there. One of the photos is a very enlarged depiction of a hairy and very menacing looking spider. Well we assumed the picture was enlarged until our young guidess tells us that it's actual size. Venomous snakes and monstrous hairy spiders, what else, I wonder. Well bats apparently. I think it’s only pride that’s stopping me from making a bee line for the carpark.

The cave is massive with all the usual offerings of stalactites, stalagmites, columns and shawls. It’s very warm and humid inside. We’re told that one thing that really differentiates this from other caves we might have seen down south is that it dries out at this time of the year, and all the activity that creates the formations stops. It seems that it more than makes up for this in the wet season when you’d apparently need scuba gear to get into most of it. We’re told that in the massive Katherine flood of 1998, when most of the town was under metres of water, the cave filled right up to the top of the steps at the entrance. We’re told that during World War 2, soldiers who were stationed nearby used to think it was good sport to come down here shooting bats. We’re shown some examples of the collateral damage - broken formations that took millions of years to form. Good one boys….

We get chatting to a lady who looks to be about our age .... well it’s a bit more like she gets chatting to us. It seems that people who travel by themselves fall into two categories - extreme introverts who just want to be left alone, and extreme extroverts who talk continuously to anyone within earshot. Jane's definitely in the latter category. She says she’s effectively homeless after selling up north of Sydney five years ago, and she’s been house sitting and travelling ever since. She says she usually sleeps in her car. She says she was recently woken in the middle of the night from a deep slumber by an indigenous man who saw her car windows open and assumed she’d be easy pickings. She tells us that she's a photographer, so managed to chase him away with her tripod. I guess living dangerously must just appeal to some people….

We pass thousands of termite mounds on the side of the road. This wouldn’t normally be worthy of comment as there are probably millions of these up here, but someone’s decided to dress up some of those closest to the road in human clothes - tee shirts, dresses, even underwear and caps. "Why” is probably the thought that most quickly comes to mind.

Next stop is Mataranka where we head for the hot springs. We have a bite to eat at the pub, where the 1982 movie “We of the Never Never” is playing on the TV. It's based on the iconic Jeannie Gunn novel of the same name which is supposedly set in these parts. We’re in Elsey National Park, which was named for the million acre cattle station in the book. There’s a re-creation of the homestead next to the pub.

We bought pool noodles yesterday so we’d look like locals when we came here; when we went swimming at Berry Springs a few days ago we seemed to be the only people there who didn’t have them. I thought I was doing the right thing by buying a pink one for Issy and a blue one for me, but the look Issy gave me when she saw them suggested that it’ll be me who'll be using the pink one. The springs are set in a full blown palm forest and it feels very tropical. The swimming hole has a man-made rim to make access a bit easier, or I assume that’s the reason - if it wasn't there I suspect the pool would probably fill up with mud fairly quickly which might detract from the spectacle just a tad. The bottom is however natural - sand and rocks. The water’s warm - somewhere around 34/35 degrees. There’s a fair current flowing through it, and swimming upstream requires a fair degree of effort, although this could just be because we’re still struggling with the concept of swimming with noodles stuck between our legs. I assume we’re supposed to have them between our legs. It's all very pleasant and relaxing. We walk a short distance upstream to the actual spring where a strong flow of warm clear water is bubbling steadily up out of the ground.

We return to find our motel room in about the same state that we found it when we came back yesterday. The bed clothes are sort of pulled up much as a six year old might do, and our carefully placed pile of dirt is still undisturbed in the middle of the floor. Our room's got quite a few slightly "interesting" features. The light in the bathroom doesn’t work, which isn’t all that surprising when we realise that its fluorescent tube is missing. The crockery set comprises one saucer and three cups. There are no light switches anywhere near the bed, so to make the room dark before you go to sleep you need to make your way to the front door and turn off the room light from there. But that's only the start of the fun - the wall fan is missing its front guard, so you then have to hope that you don’t manage to insert your fingers into the blades as you navigate your way back to bed in the pitch black. At least the room was cheap….

On the recommendation of one of our cruising companions from last night we head off to the Katherine Country Club in search of tonight's dinner. Issy’s mislaid her driver's licence somewhere between Melbourne and Darwin. She was asked to show photo ID at the Darwin Airport COVID check, but when she couldn’t they were happy to accept two other cards with her name on them, but no photo. It seems that the rules of the Katherine Country Club are somewhat more strict than those of its Territory's Government. A gent at the door with an almost impossible to understand Irish accent tells us in no uncertain terms that we can’t come in without photo ID. He asks Issy if she’s got a copy of her passport with her. Yeah right, we’d always carry that around with us for a trip around our own country. I'm fairly sure he isn't an Aussie, so if he wasn't bigger than me I might be tempted to ask him to show us his passport. Photo ID to get into a restaurant? Who do these guys think they are? Issy’s sensing I want to hurt someone and I mightn’t be too fussy about who it is. She pushes me gently towards the door. We head for the local Chinese, where, surprise surprise, they seem happy to let anyone in, ID or not. In keeping with all our other experiences about staff shortages up here our waitress looks like she's about fourteen and our waiter‘s voice is yet to break. The food is however excellent….

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Hot Springs
Looks like great fun.

[DaveandIssy]

Hot Springs
Indeed, very pleasant!