Just keep swimming

We did a quick tour through Mataranka the next day to visit the other hot springs in town. It was certainly a different approach, more structured like a pool and with the additional construction work going back on it just didn't have the same feel as bitter springs.   This didn't stop the boys jumping though, for something different. 

It seems that though that even when paradise is found and we move into find another one. So we left Mataranka in record time at 8:40 the next morning. Shame that we were only travelling an hour up the road to Katherine!  Griff proclaimed that if felt like we had only been in the car for a minute or two on our arrival!

We hooked into the busiest information centre carpark, clearly the grey nomads are in the move. Got some details of a culural tour just out of town, called TopDiji. 

Once we had some immediate food stocks replaced we headed off to the first Big 4 caravan park of the trip.  Unfortunately the pool had to wait after setup as the tour started at 2:30. 

The tour was a great experience with Manuel our teacher for the day we did listened to his story, did traditional artwork, spear throwing and fire lighting. We think he boys appreciated it on a different level, maybe the cultural issues Manuel raised about of lack of country connection for the young and alcoholism for the grown up may have been lost on them but we tried to explain later in that evening. 

Partial artwork complete. 

This is what it "should"look like

Griff was the only one to hit the cardboard kangaroo out all the Ross family. 

We returned to the van to whoops and yelps of boys jumping into their first non thermal pools in many days. They spread their time between the spa and the big pool to balance things out. 

Certainly lots of people about and the kids had a ball with the other families camping around us. 

The next morning we ventured to the hot springs in town, something different. These ones were a good mixture of the previous ones we have been to further south. It has a good set of stairs balanced with natural growth on the other side. The boys has a ball in the waterfall area. 

Before long it was time to head out for the mai show of the day being a half day canoeing up Katherine Gorge. A new experience for many of us meant that it wasn't as much fun initially as we were expecting. The gorge was stunning with the red rock towering above you more than 70 metres in parts. 

There are actually a number of gorges, with the first one being off limits to canoeing due to the water levels we had to get a ferry to gorge 2 and we started from there. Still don't understand why we couldn't canoe but a massive flat bottomed motor boat could but we went with it. 

The paddle went better towards the end of gorge 2 and we had a bite to eat and a swim in gorge 3 before making our way back. 

Once we returned at a little earlier than the agreed time with a number of others things went a little south. It turns out the Ghan goes through town on a Wednesday and they get priory for all the ferry to get the 400 odd people up the gorges and back again. Meant us lowly canoeists had to wait an extra hour before returning home. We weren't too badly effected, just a slightly hiccup not seeing Bob Magor, a bush poet back at the caravan park at happy hour. The others on the canoe session were less than impressed, they missed a helicopter ride around Katherine! The pros and cons of tours that pack it in!

We headed ho e somewhat exhausted from the sun and exercise during the day. Only Andy volunteered for another swim back at camp that night!