Darwin to Alice Springs Day 2

Thursday, May 21st Hiked to a lookout over Katherine Gorge- unfortunately we couldn't go swimming or canoeing because the rangers hadn't gotten all the crocodiles out of the water! We did get to go swimming in Bitter Springs in Mataranka at lunch. Because of the geothermal activity underground, the water is warm but also smells like sulphur (rotten eggs). It was amazingly clear and there was tons of tropical vegetation in and surrounding it- including chunks of floating algae and enormous spider webs. The rocks and logs at the bottom of the spring were also covered in slimy algae. About 6 of us floated down together- there is also a current, so it is hard to swim in the opposite direction. It was an interesting game of trying not to bump into everyone else, to not touch anything on the bottom, to dodge the floating algae, and especially to keep your face well away from the spider webs. Definitely an interesting experience, but I'm not in a hurry to try it again.

Further down the road we stopped in Daly Waters which supposedly has the oldest pub in the outback. We met our "guide" for the town, 9 year old Baily who showed us around an abandoned house, an old jail cell, a tree with a bower bird nest under it, and the "community center" which is essentially a covered concrete block, and took us to the pub. And that was essentially about it! We had a drink in the pub which was good fun. People that come through can staple anything to the walls, so the place is covered in money from all over the world, photos and old IDs, hats, socks, and bras. Our tour guide Michelle had us all sign her bra and stapled it to one of the rafters. Our last stop of the day was at a road house that had an quite the reptile collection. We got to hold an impressive boa constrictor who was pretty friendly.

We finally got into our camp at Tennant Creek 12:30 am! The stars were incredible- you can see the Milky Way really clearly, I learned what the Southern Cross looks like (now I'll be able to navigate my way out of Arnhem Land!). It was FREEZING at night- I woke up with a numb face. We were were in tent cabins again, but this was on a horse farm. I was up at 6:30 and got to pet some of the horses and see a flock of Gullahs!