Living Life: KATHERINE

We arrived at Katherine late yesterday afternoon. I will fill you in on our adventures since our last blog.

Saturday 28/5/11 Still at Tennant Creek. Didn't do much today at all. Filled up with fuel ($1.74 per litre or thereabouts) and filled up one of our gas bottles ($40.50!!)

Sunday 29/5/11 We packed up and left Tennant Creek. We stopped at Three Ways and decided to have a coffee and a muffin. The muffin was nice but the coffee was pretty ordinary - we haven't had a good coffee since leaving SA! We misssed the turn off to Lake Mary-Ann and the turn off to The Pebbles - neither had warning signs so the turn offs were there and we couldn't slow down in time to take them and there weren't too many places we could turn around. Never mind - we can have a look at them the next time through. About 5km south of Elliott we had to slow down for a goanna which was casually sauntering across the road. We had thought of camping at Longreach Waters which is just north of Elliott but it is about 12km of dirt road and we were told it was too rough to take a caravan. We travelled on to Newcastle Waters Rest Area and it was packed. We managed to get the last parking area and that was at 2.30pm. There were quite a lot of people coming through after that but they had to move on. We met two nice people from WA and had an enjoyable happy hour with them.

Monday 30/5/11 Left the Rest Area and had planned to visit the historic Newcastle Waters township (now apparently a ghost town) but the road was closed because of flood damage. Just near the Newcastle Creek we saw a Jabiru (at least that is what we think it was). A wedgetail eagle took off right next to us but we hadn't seen it before hand (it was in long grass by the side of the road) so no photo opportunity. We saw another wedgetail eagle a bit later on. It was sitting by the road but again we couldn't slow or stop because we had a road train sitting on our tail! There seems to be a lot of water on the ground on this stretch of road. We arrived at Daly Waters and booked in at the camp ground by the Daly Waters Pub. This pub is very well known for the bras, nickers, jocks and all sorts of other stuff hanging from the ceiling. People from all over the world have left articles of clothing (including t-shirts) and money. There was a small bird (which looked similar to a magpie and about the same size as a magpie but it definitely wasn't a magpie) sitting on the counter of the Pub singing away. It was very cute. I didn't have my camera with me but took a couple of photos with my phone. I will post a photo once I transfer it from my phone. We headed back to the caravan just as a herd of cattle were being brought into the yards. They appeared to be young cattle and we suspect they are being brought in for the rodeo to be held at Daly Waters on the coming weekend. We went on a walk to Daly Waters creek/river(?), then on to the historic Stuart Tree, WWII flying fox and WWII hangar and airstrip. The creek/river currently consists of a number of large pools of water. While there a crane like bird (which may or may not have been a jabiru) took off and flew past us. There was no noise at all - it was like a ghost. We went to the Pub for tea and we both had the half n half - beef and barra. It was the most beautifully cooked piece of beef we have ever had and the barra was to die for! A really good salad bar was available as well. A camp show was put on by "Chilli" which was quite fun - some jokes and songs. I finished reading "Nothing Prepared Me" by Edna Eckford Quilty and highly recommend it. I probably found it particularly interesting because she refers to a lot of the places we have visited and others we will be visiting. But even aside from that it is well worth reading.

Tuesday 31/5/11 I had some pretty bad back spasms this morning. I have no idea what I did but they were quite crippling. Luckily they settled down during the day. We decided to stop at Fran's Devonshire Tea House at Larrimah and have coffee and scones. What a waste of time and money! It cost $26 all up and the coffee was very ordinary (notwithstanding it was advertised as the best in NT) and the scones were dry and crumbly! We drove past the Warloch Rest Area about 40km south of Mataranka and have noted it as a good camp area (with toilets) for future reference. We decided to stay at 12-mile Yard in the Elsey National Park. Cost is $6.60 per person per night so pretty reasonable. It is a bush setting right by the Roper River. Once we were settled in we drove to the Mataranka Homestead and spent about 2 hours relaxing in the thermal pool - simply wonderful! Walking back from the pool we encountered a little wallaby eating the palm fronds and while we stopped and watched a joey emerged from her pouch. She was only a couple of feet away from us and wasn't fussed about us being there at all. Just as we got to the carpark another little wallaby came running across the car park towards us and it stopped right at (on) my feet! I guess it was looking for food but we didn't have any for it. Driving back to 12-mile Yard we saw 7 wallabies / kangaroos. We have been told that wild donkeys roam the park (we saw lots of donkey poo everywhere), that dingoes will visit and there is a water buffalo as well.

Wednesday 1/6/11 The mozzies are quite bad here so we can't sit outside much, even during the day. They are even attacking Royce. I heard dingoes howling in the distance early this morning. I have mouth ulcers again (this is what happened last time I gave up smoking). It was very painful through the night. We walked to Mataranka Falls today. It is sign posted as 4.2km away (but we think this is as the crow flies) and takes 1.5 to 2.5 hours one way. It was hard going in parts - deep soft river sand, rocks, climbing up, climbing down etc. Lots of termite mounds as well - some pretty big. It took us just over 4 hours all up and that includes stopping to have a snack and drinks on the way, so overall not too bad. My left hip started getting very sore on the way back so had to rest pretty frequently. There were several creek crossings (most with flowing water), some small waterfalls and lots of butterflies. Royce also managed to spot a cobra swimming in the Roper River! (see photo) We were both pretty tired when we got back but it was good.

Thursday 2/6/11 I had to get up to take an antihistamine tablet through the night because of all the bites! The itching was driving me crazy. My tongue was extremely sore through the night and still very painful this morning. The ulcer is very large and I don't having anything I can use to help. I was hardly able to eat or drink anything today and talking is very difficult. The pain was severe. I couldn't chew my nicorettes so had a lot of trouble with nicotine cravings. We stopped at Bitter Creek (just a few kilometres out of Mataranka) and had a swim in the thermal pool. This is a very natural bush pool and quite large. It would have to be at least 10 foot deep - if not more. We then drove on to Katherine and called in to the chemist and bought some ointment for me to use on the ulcer. We then found a caravan park outside Katherine - Manbulloo Station and set up. I have been in tears most of the day because of the pain of the ulcer and unfortunately I gave in to the cravings and bought some cigarettes. Once I can get this ulcer cleared up I will try stopping again and try to work out a strategy to manage the ulcers if they flare up again (which is likely).

Friday 3/6/11 My mouth feels marginally improved this morning but it may well take another day or two for it to clear up properly. We have decided to stay here tonight and get out washing done and do some shopping later today. I am still having trouble eating and drinking but this is a particularly nasty ulcer! We had thought to head out to Katherine Gorge and do some other tourist type things tomorrow but we may have to wait and see how I am feeling.

Daly Waters Pub