Date 12th August - 18th August
We packed up, said our goodbyes to Kununurra, and headed East. We quickly crossed the WA/NT border, and clocks went forward 1.5 hours, meaning we lost time. We weren’t sure where our next stop was going to be, but Timber Creek & Victoria River roadhouse seemed too close, so we continued on. There wasn’t really much to see from the main road, lots of side-tracks into national parks, but we were staying on the bitumen today. We eventually decided to push on for Katherine, so we booked ahead and arrived at the Big4 around 4pm. Not much in photos today, it was just a driving day - we covered around 500km, one of our bigger driving days with camper in tow.
Katherine, Northern Territory
Weather - 15℃ to 33℃, blue skies
Total Distance Travelled - 16,800 km
Staying 2 Nights, Big 4 Breeze Katherine
In Katherine over the weekend there were a couple of big events on - a horse race meeting, and an indigenous festival somewhere out of town. The place looked a bit deserted as we walked/drove through town. We looked for some aboriginal art studios, finding one open on the road to the gorge. Although we had a look around, nothing really jumped out at us, so we left empty-handed.
Back to Big4, for some admin etc (blog, lunch, washing), before we headed down to the
Katherine Hot Springs later in the afternoon. Beautifully warm water, but refreshing all the same compared to the air temperature of 33C - which wasn't surprising that the pool was popular with locals and tourist.
The next day we drove down to the gorge, about half an hour away, for a boat trip a long Katherine Gorge. The open sided boat allowed everyone to get a good view of the first gorge, which we traversed for about 30 minutes. We then had to walk about 600 metres, past some indigenous art high on the gorge wall, to a second, smaller boat which could fit in the narrower 2nd gorge. As water levels were down, we could not get a boat into the 3rd gorge.
We heard some interesting stories from our indigenous guide/skipper. Saw a few freshwater crocs in the first gorge, and were assured any saltwater crocs had been removed at the end of the wet season.
That afternoon we were on the road again, a short trip of just over 100km down the Stuart Highway to Mataranka. We had booked into the Territory Manor CP, as we could book a powered site there, and we were arriving late after the gorge tour.
Mataranka, Northern Territory
Weather - 11℃ to 33℃, blue skies
Total Distance Travelled - 17,100 km
Staying 2 Nights, Territory Manor CP
Mataranka was not as we remembered it, having visited with the kids some 13 years ago. We were mainly here for the hot springs, and we visited the Mataranka Thermal Pool late afternoon, for a relaxing warm bath. Here the water rises from deep underground, at a rate of 30.5 million litres per day.
We had dinner at the restaurant in the CP, with live entertainment (a folksy singer, with her dog on stage) - something we hadn’t seen for a while.
On Tuesday, whilst in Mataranka, we decided to do some exploring of the local area. First stop was the Elsey national park, where we drove down to the Roper river (swimming not allowed due to possible salties), visited the Old Mataranka Sheep Dip (can’t believe they tried to raise sheep in this environment), and the Botanic Walk, where there are indigenous descriptions/uses of the trees displayed next to them - very interesting to see what was medicinal and what was edible.
Even though the area had grids to stop cattle entering the park, we still came across some whilst driving down the road.
Later that afternoon, we visited another thermal pool - Bitter Springs, which was only a few kms down from our campsite. Plenty of people enjoying the warm water (34C year round). Here you are able to swim about 100 metres upstream within the warm water, and float back down.
Our visitors at the caravan park :
After Mataranka, our next must-see destination is Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria, which is a long distance away. Australia is so vast, and the centre is so thinly populated that there can be days where all you can do is drive. This was us for the next few days. There was little wildlife to see, few birds.
From Mataranka, we drove south on the Stuart Highway, stopping at Daly Waters. This is home to one of the most (in)famous pubs in Australia - the Daly Waters Hotel. We arrived before midday, and the caravans were already streaming in, as you are unable to book there.
We took a look around the pub & town, which was very eccentric Oz, with lots of memorabilia posted everywhere - people sign their hats & thongs and nail them in to the pub inside. Shirtless beer drinkers at 11am!
Tennant Creek, Northern Territory
Weather - 13℃ to 28℃, blue skies
Total Distance Travelled - 17,650 km
Staying 1 Nights, Territory Manor CP
We decided to continue on to Tennant Creek, some 567km (6 hours) for the day. The town has recently had a bad reputation for trouble/crime, but it appears to have been improved a lot recently, from all reports. We didn't see much of the town as we arrived late and we were only doing an overnighter.
Wednesday morning and another long day of driving was ahead of us. Originally, we had planned to drive about 400 km to Camooweal, just across the Queensland/NT border, but that was a tiny town of 200 or so people.
Once we had refuelled there, we decided to make lunch and press on, eventually arriving in Mount Isa late afternoon. The day’s driving was about 660km, our longest driving day to date on the trip.
Mt Isa, Queensland
Weather - 3℃ to 26℃, blue skies
Total Distance Travelled - 18,300 km
Staying 1 Nights, AAOK Moondarra Village
We had setup in a CP on the edge of town, after having checked out the Discovery CP in town (no thanks). Later we went for a drive up to a lookout over the huge Mount Isa Mine site, for some sunset photos. It is definitely not a pretty town, but it’s industrial nature makes it an attractive tourist destination (just lock up your valuables apparently). Takeaway for dinner, after 2 long days.
We are off to FNQ - see you there.
Cheers,
Mike & Michelle
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