On to Mataranka, we stayed at a place called Bitter Springs.  Far  from bitter, it was a magical place, and we had a lovely 3 days here.  The caravan park was a bit dusty, but there is so much water around that they are continual running the sprinklers to keep the dust down.  Just a short walk from where we were camping is the springs, warm and flowing and crystal clear, we just “hired” a couple of noodles and floated down stream, through the rich green surroundings, watching the wild life, lizards (of a small and unassuming size) and butterflies, and a variety of birds.  As I said, magical!

We are learning heaps about the earlier days of Australia while travelling, and really starting to appreciate those early pioneers and what they achieved, the hardships they endured.  While here we went out to an old cemetery that has a few of those old pioneers buried there – you can read their story in the famous book ‘We of the Never Never’.  These are such typical Australian characters and we wondered around and read their stories at each grave site.

And I tried to get a few ‘interesting’ pictures too, of an old sheep dip station…why not!

Over the last few weeks of travel, say from Cloncurry maybe, the termite mounds are everywhere! We have seen hundreds, but apparently, to break up a long journey, these days its quite ok to stop and ‘dress a mound’ if you feel inclined!  We have passed them dressed in hi-vis, footy jumpers – and even one with a Broncos flag, a family, mum in a dress, dad a tie and a little girl and boy (would have liked a picture of these but we were on the road and no where to pull over).  Finally, at Mataranka we were able to stop and get a couple of pictures of two mounds.

The nights are now so pleasant, starry starry skies, a full moon and a tepid breeze, that we are able to spend pleasant hours outside, sometimes playing Sequence…and finally I have beaten Jack 3-zip !!! (Had to record this win on our blog – more for my own recollection down the track, than of any interest!)

Katherine is our next stop…see you there.

God bless, Chris and Jack