20 June 2013
As mentioned in the last post, we arrived in Mataranka around lunch time and headed to the Mataranka Homestead where we had planned to stay for 3 or 4 nights.
As the picture above states, Mataranka is known as the Capital of the Never Never. The area is the setting for Jeanie Gunn's autobiography 'We of the Never Never' which details her experiences living on Elsey Station in 1902 with her husband Aeneas Gunn, known as the Maluka. The aboriginal translation of Maluka is 'old man' or 'old mate'.
Below is a replica of the old homestead from Elsey Station.
The Mataranka Homestead is built right next to one of the entrances to Elsey National Park. The campground was well maintained and shady, though on arrival we were more excited to see there was a bar with very reasonably priced drinks and live music scheduled for the night. Time to sit back and relax with a few rums and listen to some live music. It turned out to be a great night.
We managed to score a campsite right across the road from the entrance to Elsey National park and more importantly the thermal hot springs.
Beautiful croc free spot for a swim in the warm crystal clear waters of the Mataranka Thermal pools.
From Mataranka we head north along the Stuart Highway towards Darwin. On the way we stop off to explore Litchfield National Park for 3 nights.
First stop in Litchfield was the Bluey Rock pools. As you can see from the photo below, it's a very popular swimming hole. We decided not to fight the crowds and headed to the Florence Falls for a swim instead, hoping there might be a few less people there.
Veiw of Florence falls from the car park.
By the time we'd gotten to Florence falls and had a swim it was pretty late in the afternoon, we thought we should probably try and find somewhere to sleep for the night. Unfortunately all three campsites around the Bluey Rock pools and Florence falls were full. Uh oh!! Luckily we were able to find a free car park in the 'day use only area' of the Florence Falls 4x4 campsite. We had a very basis set up that night. Dinner out of a packet on the picnic rug, then off to bed, hoping the ranger wouldn't come by and kick us out.
The next morning we were up early with Wangi Falls as our next destination. We had heard that it was full too but thought we'd give it a try anyway. Luckily we must of arrived just at the right time and were able to grab a spot that had just been vacated.
Our campsite at Wangi Falls. Not too much going for this site. Luckily Wangi Falls was only a few hundred metres away.
Wangi Falls (below) is a wicked swimming hole with apparently no salt water crocs. The water was crystal clear, which at times made it a bit eerie, especially when swimming over the deepest parts which are up to 14 metres deep.
We stayed at Wangi falls for 2 days and pretty much just chiiled out, swam and read books in the picnic area in front of the falls. Perfect spot for some R and R.
From Litchfield we headed to Darwin where we spoilt ourselves and booked an apartment for 3 nights. Yippee! I'm not going to lie, I (kristy) was super excited about sleeping in a real bed, being able to watch TV in bed and most of all not having to venture out in the dark at night to find a toilet.
Back in civilisation. We didn't do a lot in Darwin apart from eating out (a lot), doing a bit of shopping and like I mentioned earlier, watching TV in bed.
The main thing on our list of to do's in Darwin was the Mindil Beach Markets as we had heard a lot of good reports. And yes it lived up to the reviews. There were lots of unique food stalls, a very good Chinese massage tent and some very talented street performers, plus a whole heap of souvenir and handy craft stalls. The sunset on the beach was beautiful and the markets were conveniently located right next to the casino. So as we always do when there's a casino near by, had a punt at the Black Jack tables.
Our fitst night in Darwin first was the second state of origin and the casino had a huge screen on the front lawn with a temporary bar. Great night!
Next stop Kakadu National Park.
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