Daly Waters to Mataranka

Only a short drive – we arrived by 10.30 and stayed at a pretty camp ground near Bitter Springs, rather than the very touristy main area at Rainbow Spring. We keep seeing many of the same people, and have some interesting talks with some... quite a few have dogs with them, and we thought of Geoff & Jean.

We had a general look at the area, then in the afternoon we walked to the thermal pool which is amazing – very warm, 33degrees , and crystal clear, (although a slight smell of rotten egg gas at times) quite fast flowing water. It‘s average flow is 300L per second – amazing! We got a noodle from the kiosk, attached a thong each end, as advised, and then floated down the pool which is about 200m long. The setting is divine, with huge Paperbarks and Palms, and a vertical ladder where you have to climb out, then walk back to the start. The weather is absolutely idyllic – warm, not hot, days and cool nights, no flies or mozzies. We had a magnificent view of an Azure Kingfisher as we floated past.

We bought a book about where to find birds in the N.T. before we left home, and that was fantastic...lots of new birds! On the road to see a cemetery where there are graves of people from the book and film “We of the Never Never”, my highlight was great views of Red-winged parrots. Then when we reached the wetland, two Blue-winged Kookaburras flew into a tree near me! They make a weird call, not like our Kookas at all. Also there were lots of Rainbow birds – magnificent. Rob’s highlights were Burdekin Ducks, Arafura Fantail (like our Rufous fantail), and a Yellow-breasted Honey-eater