Katherine to Mataranka
As we still had some problems with our car we had to see another mechanic in the afternoon (after eating Hazel’s fabulous chicken-pasta-onion-soup). Fortunately the car was fixed after about hours (which we killed with reading).
Despite being late afternoon we wanted to leave Katherine (there is only so much swimming in hot springs you can do…) and drove to Mataranak about 100 km south. On the way we saw again heaps of termite mounds. The campground at Mataranka was nicely maintained (as most campgrounds were so far) and we spent a relaxed evening near our portable home from home.
The next day was a busy day. After breakfast we treated ourselves with a splendid swim in the nearby Bitter Springs. This time the springs were all natural and the water which had a sulphure smell was crystal clear. After this nice morning SPA we watched the Barramundi feeding at the campground. The owner was hand-feeding the impressive fishes and even hand-caught one of them (see pictures).
As Australia is by all means huge we needed to get some kilometers done. And so we drove 570 km to Tennant Creek. It is really like everybody says – you can drive for hours in Australia and see only a handful of cars. However what we saw were bush fires. Impressed and a bit scared we passed at least a dozen of them. Apparently they are either caused by a lightning or sometimes intentionally started by Aborigines or rangers to burn down old crops and prepare the soil for need plants. In any case it was so dry a single spark could have started an inferno. Outback Caravan Park was our home for the night. Interestingly night temperature started to drop to about 20 degrees (in contrast to Katherine were nights were almost as warm as the days) which was very welcomed.
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