28 September

We had thought that there would be a few interesting things to see along the Stuart Highway between Renner Springs  and Alice Springs.  However, most of the things along the road side are monuments of one kind or the other.  Mostly in memory of the early explores that found these places, after the Aboriginals had obviously lost them!  Also, there numerous ruins from the Second World War, mostly abandoned air strips and ruins of army camps. 

From Renner Springs we drove to Tenant Creek and managed to find a place to get a decent breakfast.   After parking the car and walking to the Café, a man came up to me and said “It would be a good idea to use the indicator when you pull into the car park mate!”.  I just said “Yep” and the man walked ahead of us into the Café.  I then realized that it was an NT police officer.  He had been following us as we located the Cafe and parked the car!  At least this proves that we were in the Café the locals frequent!  

From there we drove another 110km to see just about the only nature attraction along this section of the Stuart Highway, the Devils Marbles.  They are a wonder of nature.  The Aboriginals claim that they are the eggs of the rainbow serpent that created the land, whereas geologists have a slightly different explanation!   

In the distant past a volcanic eruption created this massive granite block that was then pushed close to the surface.  The water seeped in and began to erode the top layer away.  Add to that surface erosion that stripped the top layer of earth from the top of eroded granite block and you have what we see today.  As always, you only need a few hundred million years of time to add to the equation!  We wandered around the granite boulders to see the different variations.  

Then we headed for Alice Springs.  We stopped at the Ti Tree roadhouse for some cold water.  Sibba asked me if we needed more diesel as our auxiliary tank was empty and the main one was getting low.  I checked the distance to Alice and figured we would have plenty.  I didn't want to buy the more expensive Diesel there as it would be a lot cheaper in Alice.  We then continued to Alice.  I then got worried about the fuel as the needle on the main tank fell rapidly.  I then realized that we had a heavy wind going against us, so the car was consuming more than normal.  I slowed down to about 80km and turned off any unnecessary gadget to reduce the fuel consumption as much as possible.  When we were about 50km out from Alice, the “I’m Hungry” fuel light came on.  You could say we were pretty tense about making it all the way!  However, we did make it to the first Shell station in Town!.  The main tank takes 95 liters and I only managed to cram 84 liters into it when filling up, so we did have some left!!

We then found a motel and checked in for a couple of nights so we could relax and avoid the rain and cold.  Yes it’s been raining here in Alice and it’s pretty cold!  Not really camping weather, more like a perfect summers day in Iceland!!

The Devils Marbles.

Sibba and Kylie trying to split one of the Marbles!!

Some are big as houses!

Can you spot Kylie in the photo?

This one is ready to roll off!

This is called a cheese stack by the geologists.

Fantastic rock formations of all kind.

Interesting fracture being held together by the rock on top.

Honest, we didn't brake it!!

The two amigos, fat and skinny!!

You can easily hide the car inside these rocks!

27 September

As we didn't get much sleep until early morning, we didn't leave the motel until around 10am, or just before the cleaners arrived to throw us out!  We drove around the corner and stopped for some breakfast and then headed out of Katherine.  The first stop on the way was at the Cutta Cutta caves.  They are just off the Stuart Highway.  We arrived at the visitor car par just before 11am.  There were a few cars around, but otherwise nothing else to be seen.  We went up to the information display and the ranger quarters.  They were closed with a sign indicating that there was a tour in progress and the next one would be at 11am.   Following that another tour would be at 1pm.  We thought we had missed the 11am tour, so we headed back to the car.  We didn't want to wait two hours!  On the way I noticed a number of people coming out of the woods towards the rangers quarters.   After some investigation, it turned out that this was the 10am tour, returning. 
The ranger came and asked us if we wanted to do the 11am tour, which we happily accepted!

As it turned out, it was us two and the ranger.  The ranger then dispensed with her normal talk and we got a private tour through the cave.  The Cutta Cutta caves are limestone caves that have been formed over a long time (600 Million Years).  They are classified as Dry Caves, i.e. normally there is very little water due to the dry season.  They do occasionally flood during the wet, so that makes the formation of Stalactites (Grow Down) and Stalagmites (Grow Up) harder.  There are still a lot of Stalactites and Stalagmites in the cave.  There are some very pretty formations.  The ranger told us that there were a number of wild animals in the cave as well.  She had encountered snakes, even a large python while conducting tours.  If the python is there, she has to usher everyone out and cancel the tour!  Yet in the previous tour group, one of the tourists was complaining that she hadn't seen any snakes as promised in some of the marketing material on the caves.  The ranger told us the marketing material only contained a reference to the fact that the caves had wildlife in it, no promises or guarantees that they could be seen!  She said perhaps a python would have been a blessing as it could have consumed the complaining tourist! 

After spending about half an hour in the caves, it was back on the road.  We drove onward to Mataranka.  We first went to Bitter Springs.  This is one of two places on the Roper River where this crystal clear warm water trickles out of the ground.  The water is around 32 degrees warm and is therefore the most ideal place to go for a swim.  You may see the word Thermal Springs in the marketing material, but that is not true.  There is no geothermal heat involved!  The wet seasons simply provide a lot of water that filters down the sandstone layers and then the water surfaces at Mataranka after having been filtered and warmed by the sandstone layers deeper down.  They are simply slightly warmer than the upper layers!  

We then went to the other place, Mataranka Hot Springs.  They are much better known and obviously much more visited.  To get to the Hot Springs from the visitor car park, one has to go through a private caravan park.  This means walking past the Caravan Park bar/restaurant where the locals are drinking and having their usual spars!

The Hot Springs are in an area with lots of trees.  All the trees seem to house numerous bats.  There must be thousands of them.  This huge number of bats is destroying the trees and also affecting all the tourists coming to see the hot spring.  This is through noise and also the huge amount of bat crap flying about!   Thus the rangers have resorted to setting up water sprinklers that extend high into the tree foliage.  They are then used to spray water on the bats.  The idea is to drive them out of the trees above and around the springs.   So, now when you visit the springs, you get wet just by walking along the path to the spring, plus if you are unlucky enough, hit by bat poo as well!! 

I can’t say that this water spraying was effective at all.  The bats seemed to love the showers!  If anything it simply causes more noise, plus all the visitors are sprayed with water even if they are not intending to swim in the spring.  I had to run and cover my camera, so it wouldn't get wet!  If you want to swim in the warm springs, go to Bitter Springs!

Next we stopped at a place called Larrimah.  The only petrol station in town had been a victim of recent bush fires   It is on the Stuart Highway, so things can get out of control at times!

We then went to Daly Waters.  We wanted to visit the Daly Waters pub, which has been operating since 1930.  It is a popular place for the 4WD crowd as they either start or commence trips from there.  It’s a very quirky pub.  They have lots of bras, money, stubby holders and other silly things hanging in the rafters of the pub.  One section contained signed national flags and to my amazement the Icelandic flag was there as well!  You can see in the photo who signed it!  Kylie had lots of fun there, playing pool and drinking with the locals.   She had to be rescued though, when her curiosity got her caught in one of the bras!  Opposite the pub is the petrol station and this funny looking fake helicopter scenic flight operation!

From Daly Waters we went to Renner Springs and booked a motel room.  Renner Springs has a pub and a restaurant as well, so we headed there after settling into our room.  The restaurant had all these stuffed animals in the back of the room!  Kylie was thrilled to meet other stuffed beings.  She was especially happy to have met Shrek the star from the movie!  Kylie then finished of our bottle of red wine.

At the Cutta Cutta caves.

Some of the limestone formations are quite perplexing at Cutta Cutta caves.

Just inside the Cutta Cutta cave.

Cutta Cutta cave.

Strange Stalagmite, only partially supported.

Some of the Stalactites had been broken off and new ones are being formed.

Heading deep into the Cutta Cutta cave.

Lots of pretty formations of limestone.

This one was broken, but look how the floor has shifted away from the ceiling.

This must be the nursery for the Stalactites and Stalagmites.

Glowing crystal formation.

Kylie inspecting the Stalactites.

Millions of years worth of flow!

Outside the cave entrance after the trip.

The very scenic Bitter Springs.

The Mataranka Hot Springs.

Sibba among the bats, trying not to be hit with bat crap.

This is like bat central!

Spraying underway without any effect!

The burned out  petrol station in Larrimah.

At the Daly Waters pub.

Kylie wanted to play pool at the Daly Waters Pub.

Kylie had a drink with the locals!

Kylie in trouble!!

National flags and I spotted the Icelandic one.

No idea who this guy is??

On the way to the gents, no you didn't have to give them your license plate!

The Daly Waters beer garden, with a water feature and a flower garden, plus the thongs!

Opposite Daly Waters, the fake helicopter scenic flight operation!

Me and Kylie in front of the Daly Waters Pub.

Sibba in front of the Daly Waters Pub.  Do you see the traffic light and what the sign says?

Kylie with Shrek at Renner Spring.

Kylie playing with other stuffed friends at Renner Springs.

Kylie finished off our wine bottled.

26^th of September

Once packed we got our gas bottled filled and then headed out from Yellow Waters, back to the Kakadu highway.  The first attraction of the day was the Maguk waterfall and pool.  The turn off into the 4wd track is only around 48km from Yellow Waters.  Then it’s another 9km along a sandy 4wd track to the visitor car park.  Once we arrived there were a fair few vehicles already parked, plus a big tour bus.  Thus, we expected a large crowd of people at the waterfall, all swimming in the pool!

We kitted up and then headed for the 2km return walk to the falls.  The first part is pretty nice and shady as you walk in the rain forest that grows along the creek.  The last bit is in the open, without any shade and requires a bit of rock hopping as usual.  As we arrived at the end of the walk, most of the tour bus travelers and others left!  We must have smelled badly!! Thus when we finally got there and I went for a swim, there were only four others swimming in the pool!  

This waterfall isn't very big, but had quite a lot of water still running so it was very pretty.  The pool below it is quite deep and is a fantastic pool to swim in.  According to our guide book, above the waterfall is another pool that one can swim in.  Also, about a couple of meters away is a hole in the rock that has water as well that is about one meter below the surface.  If you jump into it, there is no way for you to crawl back up without a rope.  However, if you dive there is a tunnel connecting into the first pool.  I don’t know how many people are willing to do this, but apparently quite a few!  As we arrived I did notice a couple of young blokes running about up above the waterfall.  So I’m not sure if they were doing the underwater swim or not.  At least I wasn't game enough to do it!  I certainly didn't want to do another much longer walk to get up there, just to risk my life!!

While I was cooling down and swimming, Sibba sat down in the shade and interrogated a couple of unsuspecting backpackers that were travelling together.  So when I got back from swimming, she knew everything about their life!!

On the way back I spotted one of the red dragon flies and managed to snap a photo of it.  They are also very pretty.

The next stop on the Kakadu Highway was the Bukbukluk Lookout.  This lookout offers a view to the north of the park, mostly over an area that used to be a pastoral station.  As we headed south and approached the turn off for the lookout, we could see bush fire smoke on the horizon.  We initially assumed that it was far away and would not affect us as it seemed to be far to the west and south of the highway.  The turn off is a short drive to the east and then doubles back a bit north.  From there it’s a 200m walk to the lookout.  We stopped at the turn off to take some bush fire smoke photos and then headed to the lookout.  Once we got there we realized that the bush fire was spreading pretty fast and was heading our way!.  The lookout was in an area with pretty dense foliage and the bush fire was just on the other side of the highway a few hundred meters away.  Sibba headed straight for the car, but I lingered on to take some photos.  At least until I could see and hear the bush fire front roaring like a hungry tiger ahead as it chewed up the crispy dry foliage.  The noise it makes is about 100 times more powerful than you hear when you have a camp fire.  Plus, it was coming our way!!

I headed straight for the car again as we were pretty exposed if it jumped across the highway.  Nowhere to run!  We headed back to the highway quickly and turned south again.  As we drove further south, we came across areas where the bush fire was burning on both sides of the road!.  Fortunately it was in areas that were not with dense foliage, like we had just left behind so it was not that bad, apart from the smoke!

We drove a further 8km south away from the fires and headed into another 4wd track, which is around 36km long.  At the end of it is the Gunlom Creek Falls and pool.  This is where one of the main creeks comes off the Arnhem Land escarpment and joins the South Alligator river.  Although this is a corrugated 4WD  track, there was an old Holden Station Wagon very slowly making its way along the track!.  We passed it half way and wondered if they would make it all the way!

At Gunlom Creek Falls, we walked the short walk to the pool and falls.  Unfortunately there was only a small trickle of water coming down.  Below the falls is a very large pool that people swim in.  This fall must look much better when there is more water in it.  We spent some time enjoying the view and taking photos before heading back to the main road.  On the way we came across the Holden, still slowly making its way along the corrugated track!

Back on the Kakadu highway we drove to the Stuart Highway, so we could get to Katherine and stay there overnight in a Motel.  As we approached the Stuart Highway, we also encountered bush fires, just a few meters from the road.  All these bush fires caused a lot of smoke, so back on the Stuart Highway, where the southern Kakadu Highway joins it at Pine Creek there was a smoke haze. 

We had already stopped at Pine Creek on our way up to Darwin, so we drove to Katherine without stopping.  Once there we checked into a Motel so we could get an early start the following morning.  After coming back from dinner we realized that some locals occupied the next motel room.  They were drinking and arguing most of the night, so we didn't get much sleep!

Crossing a creek on the way to Maguk Falls.

Some minor rock hopping was required as well!

Maguk falls and the scenic pool.

Maguk Falls.

Finally, caught a red dragon fly on film!

The bush fire smoke at the turn off to the Bukbukluk lookout.

At the lookout the fire seemed to be drawing near us. 

The fire front was rapidly advancing towards us so we left in a hurry!

Snapshot off the black box video recorder showing the fires near the road.

The Gunlom Falls and pool.

Gunlom falls, with hardly any water.

At Gunlom falls.

This was obviously a popular tree to jump from into the pool!

The afternoon sun creates this stunning color effect after a recent bush fire swept through.

At the Stuart Highway near Pine Creek with the bush fire sun.