It's now a week since we left Gunnedah, so we decided we needed some excitement! We pulled into the Daly Waters Pub for the night. We've been there before but it's a bit of fun. The pub's full of bras, hats, badges, all sorts of memorabilia. There's a set of traffic lights out the front, everything you look at is funny.
 

They have entertainment every night; last time it was the 'chook man', this time it was a guy called "Chilli" who played the guitar, recited original poems & sang some great songs. He's a bushman from remote regions who has some great stories to tell & a unique way of looking at the world. One of the couples who we'd met along the road the other day was there too so we had happy hour & went over to the show with them. It was a good night.

We went to another place we've been to before today too; Bitter Springs in the Elsey National Park at Mataranka. They're beautiful. The spring fed water is  32 degrees; so warm & so incredibly clear. You can see right to the bottom. There's a slight current so you just drift from the first pool along the waterway for about 200 meters down to the next pool.  All the way you're surrounded by palms, green mossy edges, birds & gorgeous bushland. There's no way I'd ever just drive past; it's a little slice of heaven!

When we got into Katherine we went straight to the Information Centre. The plan was to go to Katherine Gorge tonight & spend a couple of days there, then on to Litchfield & Kakadu before going on to Darwin but the girl told us they're not all open yet. During the wet season the rivers overflow which means the crocs get into the waterways. So before they can open each year, they have to survey all of the pools, waterfalls & rivers etc to make sure there aren't any salties in them. That was enough information for both of us to decide we'll head for Darwin first:)

 

So tonight we're at the Springvale Homestead in Katherine. It's the oldest original homestead in the Northern Territory that's still standing. It was built in 1878 by a drover who took 18 months to drive his cattle & sheep all the way from South Australia. When I hear what the pioneers of this country did, it just baffles me.  Just imagine what it would have been like. They built them tough in those days.

The property is alongside the Katherine River & the bird life is incredible; there's a spring fed swimming pool, barbecues, cafe & four of the most incredible trees I've ever seen. They're South American Raintrees; they planted one for each of  their children. Their canopies are now each over 30 meters wide, just beautiful.

So tomorrow it's off to Darwin!