Daly River - Katherine - Mataranka
Northern Territory

After a week at Daly River and a lousy cherabin harvest on Monday morning (May 27^th), we decided it would be a good day to go shopping. We needed to top up basic supplies, get more box monster and I wanted to make sure I had plenty of coffee before we headed away from a Gloria Jean’s shop, so we took a leisurely 220km trip into Palmerston. Mind you, cruising along at 140kph is not exactly 'leisurely'.

About 20 km short of Adelaide River we stopped at Robin Falls and the three of us did the half hour, easy round walk to the top of the falls. James had a ball clambering over the rocks and paddling in the crystal clear waters of the stream. It is a really pretty spot with a two-tiered set of cascading falls at the top. We were surprised to find half a dozen small areas where you could camp along the stream on the way into the falls. There appears to be no mention of this spot in any of our free camp books. By the time we had done all our shopping and stopped for James to have a run on the way home it was about 4.30 when we got back to the van. We are wondering if that 440km round trip will be the longest drive to the shops that we do while on our travels.

Just before dark Brian dropped over to see how Doug and Dione had settled in and took Doug out with him to do the cherabin pots. It was a learning experience for Doug. We then settled into a few pre-dinner drinks and swapped stories before being joined by our new next door neighbours, Graham and Sue. They had been on the road for eight years and were full of information. They told us about King Ash Bay on the Gulf of Carpentaria about 3 or 4 day’s travel south to Daly Waters, then east to Borroloola. It sounded great. After dinner we pulled out the maps and camp books, and decided we might head in that direction when we leave Daly River. How exciting!

Brian and Doug did the cherabin pots together first thing next morning. There were plenty of the little fellas - and most a pretty good size. We had two sessions on the water for the day; the first was not too bad with me pulling in few littlies and a 53cm Barra and Brian a 45cm Oxeye. No keepers yet again however. The Daly, if anything, seems to be getting quieter as far as Barra fishing is concerned, and the Banyan Farm is certainly getting emptier every day.

Wednesday was our last day on the Daly and it started with a really poor haul of bait as a result of some ratbag raiding our pots. We thought it had happened on a couple of occasions prior, but this time there was little doubt - the fresh boat indentations clearly visible on the muddy banks adjacent to the empty pots. A conversation with a visiting fisheries inspector later that day confirmed our assumption. The practice was rife. Apparently some people were even putting cable ties on their pots and coming back in the morning to find them cut.

With a meagre few cherabin our only bait, we knew our last session on the river would most likely be a short one, so we joined in convoy with Doug, Dione and their dog Jess to go downstream 10km or so to Bamboo. Normally boats vie for space at Bamboo (which is a little creek inlet) as it usually delivers a good haul. We wanted to make the most of our cherabin, while at the same time show Doug and Dione one of Brian's favourite spots. We were the only two tinnies there and managed to get some good bites and pull in a couple of small ones in the hour that our bait lasted. On the way back to camp we threw lures at heaps of snags and trolled. Brian threw a lure at the base of a dead tree near the bank landed a 50cm Barra. We were sooo hoping for a keeper on our last day, but it was not to be.

The rest of the day was spent preparing to leave. I did a couple of loads of washing and a full clean of the inside of the van while Brian packed up the boat and all the fishing paraphernalia. Late in the afternoon we headed over to the pub to get network connectivity. My computer was playing up and I was concerned it had been hacked. I wanted to change passwords on some of my bank accounts using Brian's Ipad. When Doug and Dione came over for drinks before dinner that night Dione had a play with my computer to see if she could fix the problem, but without success. Given I use the laptop every day to record our trip details on Nomads Notes, we decided we should go to Katherine Thursday instead of our planned overnight at Edith Falls, and see if we could find a computer tech to fix it.

We departed Daly at 9am next morning making a fuel stop at Pine Creek before arriving at Katherine, some 250km south, in time for lunch. Our first priority was to drop off my laptop for repair at one of the three computer shops before having a cappuccino. We had both been hanging out for one.

There are plenty of caravan park options at Katherine, but the one I wanted to stay at was Springvale Homestead, which is where I stayed with Shelley and Emma (my daughters) when we visited the area some ten years before. The camping at Springvale is more "rustic" than most of the other parks - more like bush camping, which is my preference. Being the end of the month Brian had a heap of work to do, so once set up he got stuck into it while I took James for a walk around the park, which sits on the banks of the Katherine River. It is a pretty, bushy spot with a big lagoon in the centre that is home to a freshie, who comes up for hand feeding every day at 3pm. Later in the afternoon I went back into town to find out about the status of my laptop. The tech was not optimistic. He was trying a few more things so would need to keep it overnight.

On our pre-dinner walk we met a family nearby feeding a group of ducks and guinea fowl-type birds some bread, so we made James sit right in the midst of the activity. The birds were cool with James but he was pretty toey. Later in our stay the ducks came visiting us at our van. James had to work really hard to maintain his composure while surrounded by them. It was pretty funny. He was very good though, and despite his little body quivering all over, he did resist the temptation to chase.

One of the nice things about staying at Springvale Homestead is the homestead itself, around which the caravan park has been established. It was built in 1879 by Alfred Giles who bought sheep and cattle from Adelaide to stock the station. It is the oldest original homestead in the Top End. One of the most remarkable features of it is the four gigantic South American Raintrees which were planted by Giles' wife, Mary - one for each of the children she bore. The Homestead is in surprisingly good condition given it sits right on the banks of the Katherine River which, as we know, is prone to flood. It is really is a lovely, rustic spot. 

Given we had to do a second overnight at Katherine because of the laptop, we tossed up on Friday whether to spend our day sightseeing Edith Falls or Katherine Gorge. We chose the latter and arrived out there around midday. The canoe hire (our preferred activity) wasn't operating so we opted for a walk of around 4km up to a lookout above gorge one and back through the bush to the carpark. It was a lovely way to view the Gorge, although an hour plus of sometimes strenuous activity in 30 plus degrees in the midday sun left us red-faced and sweaty.

 

There are other options for exploring the Gorge aside from on foot, but the only way to see all 13 gorges is from the air. There are several operators who run helicopter flights so we investigated pricing and found the best value was Helimuster. For $170 each we would get 20 minutes and a flight over all gorges - and they could do it straight away. Excellent! Brian jumped in the front and I had the back seat to myself. Aside from the great view of the landscape we loved just being in the air...Brian is definitely suffering from aviation deprivation. Three months is probably the longest he's ever gone without having a fly...if only we could travel with the van, boat, bike AND an aeroplane life would be bliss! 

Back at Katherine we called into the computer shop. The tech had done his best but could not fix my laptop. Bugger! It still had limited use, including Nomads Notes, but no network connectivity capability, so a problem for emails, blogging and research. I wasn’t too keen to buy a new one before considering all my options. Not only that, but Katherine probably doesn’t have the most competitive computer pricing.  What to do?

Saturday morning we packed up camp, stopping off to do a spot of shopping before leaving Katherine to head 100km south to Mataranka (only a short distance because I was really keen to experience the iconic Mataranka Hot Springs). The supermarket at Katherine is something else. I have never seen such long checkout queues in my life. I am not exaggerating when I say that every queue had at least 20 people in it. The lines of customers extended down aisles and completely choked the store. I stood in line for close to half an hour. How frustrating!

By midday we arrived at Mataranka Homestead, which is a caravan park located right at the Mataranka Hot Springs. Because of James we were allocated an area to camp away from all other vans on a large, red gravel and dirt area with a few trees for shade. We were the only ones there so we didn't mind. As soon as we were set up we took the short walk to the springs. The thermal pool is located in the Elsey National Park beside the Roper River among lush palms. The crystal clear pool, which has a slight sulphury smell, has an aquamarine colour to it. About 2 meters deep, the water that flows through it is a constant 34 degrees. It looked so inviting. We went back to the van, changed into our bathers and had a dip. Mmm....sooo lovely!

Late afternoon we drove the 7km into Mataranka, which consists of an Aboriginal Community, historic pub, general store, museum, gallery and Ginty's Airfield. I wanted to see the pub. That was an experience. The inside of the very old, small, shabby building had a tiny bar area and two dark and dingy gaming rooms with about 10 poker machines, half of which were not working. There were queues of aboriginals waiting for each machine. In the outdoor drinking area (to call it a beer garden would be something of an overstatement) the aboriginal-only clientele had clearly been there for some time. We had one drink before exploring Ginty's, then drove back toward the Homestead to check out fishing potential of the Roper River. There had apparently been some good sized barra caught since the end of the wet. We would have to try our luck!

Before dinner we had a walk around the Homestead Resort. There is an adjacent airstrip (which Brian has flown into on a couple of occasions) and the Elsey Homestead Replica. The cypress pine building which was constructed for the film "We of the Never Never" is an authentic copy of the original home of Aeneas and Jeanie Gunn. Jeanie wrote about Elsey Station in her book on which the film was based. The Resort also has a nice outdoor dining area and beer garden, so we sat with the other grey nomads and enjoyed the beautiful balmy evening. 

Today we fiddled around with our combined IT equipment and knowledge and "voila" - we have managed to post a blog....amazing! We also had a fish in the river (no luck), a tour through the gallery (some nice stuff) and a swim at Bitter Springs hot pool just up the road. Very nice. Tomorrow we will head to Daly Waters for an overnight at the back of the historic old pub - and probably a pub meal. 

It could be a while before we get back to you with a trip update.