John n Sonia's Coasting Oz Tour: 10/06/10

Hi to everyone
As we are getting a bit closer to home I had better get my act together and try to catch up. I think I mentioned before that the roads in NT are not really great but the overall feeling about this state is that it is the poor relation to the rest of Australia. I don't know if its because there is a lot of welfare and agencies to cater for certain populations but there is certainly an overall lack of any thing special. But having said that the NT does have a lot of interesting places to see. After Katherine we headed south and stopped at a little place called Mataranka for a swim. Like Katherine it too was the home of a hot natural spring and once again the water was astonishing. Crystal clear and even warmer than Katherine one. They have done a little more to this one and have cement seat around the edge for you to sit and relax however as there is a constant gentle current you really have to work at just staying still. I wish there was something like this near Perth. There were quite a few people here for this tiny town in the middle of the bush.

Warm as toast. Crystal clear again

See the current

Surprise

Like an oasis all around the spring

Hi everyone

It wasnt long before we were at a place called Daly Waters. This little town is famous as part of the overland telegraph line but even more famous for being the place where Christine and Ian met. You will have to ask Chris the full story of this but it is a quirky little place with a pub in the middle.

At this airport during world war 2 there were planes in and out every 15 minutes

The old hangar at the disused airport

Stuarts tree

The pub at Daly Waters where Chris and Ian met

Free helicopter rides across the road

Cans and bottles hanging at the side of the pub

We stayed at a little roadhouse then on to Tennent Creek. That night we were entertained at the park by a bush bloke called Jimmy who is part aboriginal and talked about bush tucker (with samples) bush medicine and spun yarns and poems about his life. He was a terrific bloke and apparently has featured on Australian story. He is a funny but sincere fellow and we really enjoyed his show. There were a group of schoolkids there who were also mesmerized and a good time was had by all. He does these shows every night and asks for a donation only.

Jimmy chats to the kids

and with yours truly

Our next stop was to play with the Devils Marbles. This is a stunning place to visit and if we come back this way again we will camp out here for a few days as there is several rock formations to see and you need to spend days just looking. There is also 24 hr free parking.

Holding up the rocks

This is a pushover

A snake in the grass (Look close)

The marbles are stunning and we will be back one day.
Soon we were at a place called Gemtree. This is a place where you can go out and fossick for garnets or zircons. After a day of fossicking we had quite a few garnets to show and after the gem man assesses them there were 7 that were suitable for cutting.

Lizzy found about 50 garnets

Although Gemtree caravan park is very basic we found it very relaxing as there was hardly anyone else there and we had everything to ourselves to enjoy. There are creeks close by to explore and lots of rocks to look through. We enjoyed our time here and especially the fossicking.

On to Alice Springs for a bit of a break :)
After climbing the steps to the lookout to see the sunset I looked over the other side to find there was a car park that brings you right up to it. It seems that everything involves either climbing or descending (or both). But it was well worth it as the view is terrific and the sunset lovely.

A town like Alice

The sun sets over Alice

It was a cool night and there were probably about another 100 people there too. Anzac Hill is a very popular spot.
We caught up on some shopping here but John had to wait until after 2pm to buy some alcohol (something to do with their regulations) and also show ID. Apparently you cant buy alcohol twice in any one day there.