Day 8 - Daly Waters to Katherine
Wowee yesterday was a big day. None of that today, couple hours on the bike and otherwise relaxing in springs.
Quick Stats
- 2.5 hours on bike
- 295 km
- 3477 km total
We pick up today with more of the same, but as where yesterday evolved from open grassland to scrubby bushland, today evolves quite quickly into actual trees.
No longer able to see the horizon in all directions, but the road is just as flat all the same, so I assume everywhere else is.
It almost feels like routine at this point. Cruise at 130 km/h, overtake a roadtrain, overtake a caravan, overtake another caravan, and another and... anyway I arrive at Mataranka.
Mataranka is a lot of fun to say, go on, give it a go. Best Okka accent you can summon.
It's also butts up to the Roper River. A real river, with actual water in it, not like the last thousand kilometres. So I head to the Mataranka Thermal Pools for a hike and a dip.
Weirdly they've paved and bricked this natural beauty. The pools are fed by the nearby Rainbow Spring, which you can see bubbling up its 30 million litres a day in front of you.
Anyway did I mention Mataranka means land of the snake? I lovely brown Mulga snake decided to swim over and say hello. Locals warned me afterwards the mulgas love biting in water. Oops.
Back on the bike, not far though, around the corner to Bitter Springs. The original name for the town before early tourism operators of the 1910s though better of it.
There's around 200 metres of crystal clear water to float down here and ‘au naturel’. Much better than the Thermal Pools. So I jump in and float some more.
Back on the bike, better finish the ride to Katherine. Check into my motel for the next two nights, grab some lunch, a short nap (that backpackers last night was rough) and then, you guessed it, off to another spring.
The Katherine Hot Springs aren't really hot, but a temperature I'd feel comfortable at no matter the climate. I spend the next 2 hours here floating down the natural spring fed creek.
Sitting under the rapids is almost as good as a massage to these sore bones.
Early to bed, early to rise, going for a sunrise cruise up Nitmulik (Katherine) Gorge and then a couple big hikes.