Oz Trip - Day 54

Day 54 – 24/6/2012 – Mataranka still

We decided top stay an extra day in Mataranka so that we could have another swim at Bitter Springs. But before we did we went back to the Mataranka homestead to do a short bush walk to “Stevie's Hole” and the Rainbow Pool.

At the start of the walk we saw a fresh water croc not all that far from the Mataranka pool. They have a bit of a gate at the downstream end of the Mataranka spring that stops the crocks swimming up into the pool, but there is nothing to stop them walking over land!

Our first croc in the wild

Oz Trip - Day 53

Day 53 – 23/6/2012 – Bitter Springs and Mataranka

After being pretty worn out from the day before we had a bit of a sleep in. After breakfast we headed off to Bitter Springs for a swim. The water in Bitter Springs is a constant 34deg. So no where near as hot as Lightening Ridge and not as cool as at Coward Springs.

Also at Bitter Springs there is a bit of a current so that you can lazily float down stream. The best way to do this is with a pool noodle which can be rented for a massive $1 from the Bitter Springs van park. The experience was fantastic. The water was so clear it was unbelievable. Luckily there weren't that many people in the springs. Unfortunately you had to get out of the warm water and run back up the path for a 100m or so which was pretty chilly in the wind.

Bitter Springs

Oz Trip - Day 52

Day 52 – 22/6/2012 – Mataranka

The wind blew up during the night. It was so strong that it was rocking the van even without the awning up. There was one good thing about the wind, it was a strong southerly, so that meant we had a good tail wind for the rest of the day.

We took pitty on a couple of people that we saw during the day. They were riding old postie bikes loaded up to the max. Picture long distance mountain bike riders that have all of their gear strapped all over their bikes with the saddles etc. These two little postie bikes were pretty much loaded up the same way and heading up a hill into a stiff head wind. I think peddling a mountain bike would have been faster.

We couldn't believe how many vans and campers were on the road. Since we hit the main highway from Alice Springs north it was unbelievable. I am sure from a plane it must look like those long lines of hairy caterpillars that you see following each other nose to tail. It was basically the same but with vehicles towing things of all shapes and sizes. There should come a point when people should ask themselves, do I really have room to that that with me.

It was held on by ratchet straps!!

Oz Trip - Day 36

Day 36 – 6/6/2012 – Palm Valley

We packed up and left Glen Helen. We had to do a bit of back tracking to Hermannsburg to access the Palm Valley camp ground in the Finke Gorge National Park. It was a 4WD only camp ground. We ended up choosing Palm Valley because it sounded a lot easier to get into then the Boggy Hole section of the Finke National Park.

Good thing we are making an early start!