Dr.Unk's Office... in the Territory

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June 10, 2007

Couple days off....roadtrip!

So after a month of working 7 day weeks, Nat and I finally got a few days off. We had originally planned for just a day off, but in this part of the world, one day won't get you very far unless you're flyin'....literally.

After a relaxing morning knowing there was no work ahead, we piled some clothes and the swag into the back of the ute and headed for Katherine. It's the nearest town of any size and we had a list of provisions to pick up for the staff (mostly hair products and a few other nessecities). After an afternoon spent in civilization, we headed south again to spend the night at Mataranka.

Mataranka is home to a series of thermal springs which are located just a few kilometres out of town. Nat and I headed to Bitter Springs in Elsey National Park, to catch a warm swim at sunset. The water was pleasantly warm and perfectly clear, with a bluish tinge that hinted at something mystical. We swam for awhile, watching the light disappear and the first stars come out to shine. It was at this point that I began regretting the fact that I had left my towel in Daly Waters. Although the springs were quite warm, the night-time air was not. Getting out of the pools was painfully chilling and drying off was done with a floormat/blanket, the only thing that we'd brought resembling a towel.

Moving on, we headed to the Mataranka homestead, a caravan park/resort that provided access to some more thermal springs (ones that we avoided as usually full of families with little runts splashing around). There we grabbed a meal from the bistro counter and a few beers from the bar. Some good times were had as we met up with a couple that we'd shared drinks with at Daly Waters the morning before.

We swagged out that night and packed up the next morning and headed to Roper Bar. The drive out was pretty cruisy, with the single lane bitumen lasting until the last 40km. The road turned a bit corrugated at that point but flying 110km/h in the 'cruiser eliminates most of those bumps.

We lunched at Roper Bar and then headed down the Nathan River Rd through the proposed Limmen National Park. I'm not sure what was still proposed about it as it had all the signs of a real park. Nat reckoned that it was just paperwork or a bill to pass legislation so it will probably be a proposed park for a while if the parliament here is anything like back home.

As we headed east along the Roper River, we were surprised to turn a corner here and there and find a fishing camp. It's a very popular spot for Barra fishing which was evident as anywhere you could drop a boat into the river there were 15-20 camping trailers, motorhomes or vehicles. These camps disappeared once the road turned south away from Roper River and loosely followed the coastline of the Gulf of Carpenteria (no scenic views though, we were still 30-50km inland).

Travelling south we came across controlled bushfires - set to reduce buildups of fuel that would allow natural bushfires to wreak havoc. There were also plenty of creek crossings and a few river crossings, all complete with crocodile warning signs. Alas, none were in view despite the warm afternoon sun (morning sun is preferred, I guess). By mid afternoon we'd made it to the turnoff for the Limmen Blight fishing camp. Dropping in crossed our minds but we had a tight schedule to maintain as we were both back to work the next day and at that point there was still 500-600km of road back to Daly. We pressed on, and stopped in at Butterfly Springs late in the afternoon. Pulling in to the campgrounds we were surprised to find a tour bus and a caravan. 'Twas popular place considering we'd only passed two vehicles on the 200km of road leading up to it.

Butterfly Springs is the one place in the park where they reckon that you can swim as it's not connected to any waterways that crocs inhabit. It's formed from water running off the ranges that surround it. It's also plainly evident why it's named as such - the rock walls surrounding the water were coated with thousands of butterflys soaking up the afternoon sunlight. The air was chilly and so was the water so we opted out of the only swimming opportunity (although an older couple braved the temperatures).

From there we continued on, turning off to check out the Southern Lost City. The Lost Cities are sandstone formations where erosion has left towers of rock whose silhouettes eerily resemble the products of a lost civilization. Up close, they are impressive towers reminiscent of Easter island's statues, their half-faces glowing in the last bits of light from the setting sun.

By this point we were getting thirsty and according to the maps, were only 130km from Cape Crawford and the Heartbreak Hotel. We hopped back in the ute and drove on as the last light disappeared and the 'roos and wallabies came out to play. The spotlights (sorry, spotlight - still need to replace one) worked and we managed not to run over any marsupials that bounded along the road.

We made camp at Cape Crawford and enjoyed a warm meal and cold beers. Supposedly the Heartbreak Hotel was built by a bloke who'd given up living when his missus died. He was convinced by a mate to hold on to life and build something beautiful. So he built the pub. Of course, immediately after hearing that story another local reckons the story he'd heard was a little different where instead the bloke's missus had run away with his mate and the pub was built so old man would have a place to drown his sorrows.

A quick snack in the morning and we turned onto the Carpenteria Highway and headed west for Daly Waters and back to work. Another successful roadtrip.

Posted by Dr.Unk at June 10, 2007 8:48 PM

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