Wed 15th – People were making noises until about 10pm local time but then quieten down. Springvale Homestead is in a lovely spot, very friendly people but the amenities are very old and starting to fall apart. The hot water for the showers was solar, don’t know if it was supplemented or not but our showers were only luke warm this morning and that was hot on only. Bit too crowded for us, since it’s cheaper it gets crowded but if you have kids it would workout a lot cheaper than a caravan park so might be worth while.
First on the agenda today was to head to Katherine Gorge and do a 2hr tour up the gorge. $73 each this does 2 gorges. There is a 4 hr one that does 3 gorges and allows 30 min for a swim costs over $90.
The first gorge isn’t too exciting, at the end of the first gorge you have to get out and do a 500m walk to the start of the 2nd gorge and hop on another boat. Each gorge had rock dams at the end of them stoping the boats going further. The second gorge was much nicer, with higher cliffs and more like a gorge.
We saw a couple of fresh water crocs, small compared to their cousins. There were several people canoeing up the gorges and others going for a swim. All up it was a pleasant trip.
After lunch it was pick up a few supplies as not sure where the next shop will be and head down to Mataranka for another dip. 🙂 we quite like Katherine as a town, be nice to spend more time there next time we are up this way.
There are 2 thermal pools in Mataranka, one at the Mataranka Homestead, which maybe the more well known one as its been there a long time. Bitter Springs in the newer springs not far from town which is the springs we went to.
