Exploring Elsey National Park

Today Chris and I walked and walked till we could walk no more. We walked down most of the tracks that Elsey National park has to offer and I believe we did about 10 or so kilometers. We were pooped in the end. The last walk we did (which was the longest at 8kms round trip) was at 2:30pm and unfortunately was not a shady track, so we had to turn back at 3.5kms because we didn't have enough water and it was just too hot to walk on the sandy track. We were so close, but knowing we still had to walk back over some rough terrain we decided it was not a good idea to go on. Anyway here are some of the things we saw on our travels. The camera died halfway, but you get the picture :)

Mataranka was made famous by Jeannie Gunn who arrived here in 1902 to live on the cattle station with her husband. She wrote the book "We of the Never Never" that explained her experiences here on the station and her book was made into a movie.

The replica of Elsey Homested which was used for the movie "We of the Never Never"

Not a very comfortable looking saddle for doing months of cattle mustering in!!!

Mataranka Thermal Pools

 This pool is a little more maintained and there is good access to get in, whereas Bitter Springs was more untouched. It is still just a creek that runs into the river (fed by the spring), but they have concreted the sides. This was a lovely place to relax after our walks :)

The water is so inviting!!!

"I don't care how much "Crocodile Management" they have done, I'm not swimming here"!!! Says Chris who is very close to the waters edge!!!

Rainbow Spring was amazing! It is a spring that is crystal clear and sooo blue. It produces 30.5 Million litres of water PER DAY!!! The water comes up at 34C and bubbles as it comes up. It was mesmerising.

Preety!!!

Hmm don't think we will go for a swim here?

We walked pretty much the whole riverside walk today and it was really cool, there were so many changes in scenery. We had to stop at Mataranka falls and go back though due to the heat of the day.

 I love how my husband is so comfortable at the waters edge after reading the crocodile sign. We actually did see a crocodile today. We came within 5 metres from it but it ran back into the river by the time I got the camera out.

This guy was so cute chirping away and fltting between branches.

Some lovely cascades that we walked past

This creek is where we saw the crocodile. He was in the mouth of the creek where it ran into the river, catching fish. I was a little nervous crossing the bridge after that!

The termite mounds are EVERYWHERE in NT. They can be tiny or really huge.

This is where our camera goes flat :(