Driving to Mataranka

With as much packing up done the night before we managed to get away around 8am (after the girls gave the camels some left over salad we had plus a few photos around the place).

We stopped at Renner Springs about half an hour up the road. It also looked like a good place to stop while travelling. The first few hours were a little trying with the wind blowing a gale which doesn't make towing a full van easy! Once the wind died down a bit we made pretty good time. We stopped for an early lunch at the Daly Waters Pub and left one of Tom's memorial badges on the wall.

It took us about two hours to get to Mataranka Homestead. Jon left us here and continued on to Darwin and will catch up with us in a few days. We found our spot then headed down to the hot springs. The water was by no means hot but a beautiful walk in temperature. You would think the girls had never seen me swim before! We easily spent two hours in the water before we decided to come back to reality and have dinner. While we were drying off we got a visit from a local peacock which the girls were able to feed some bread by hand. Meanwhile I was watching what I think was a kyte (or hawk) who was patiently watching us. Joe decided to grab a little ham and threw it up and the bird grabbed it mid air!! Joe came in to get a little more. As soon as he went back out the bird had called a few friends for the feed. It was amazing watching these stunning birds swoop and grab the meat right out of the air! We were careful not to give them much but it was really something else to see!

We walked over to the bar and grabbed some ice creams after dinner and are now just chill out in the van listening to the band. We could easily spend a couple of days here! But we are off to Darwin in the morning and looking forward to the things we have planned there before heading to Kakadu! Two weeks in and still so much to look forward to!!Read more