Mataranka, NT.
We now start to head further East in to the Northern Territory. John is heading to Mataranka with us and Zara and Elsie took it in turns to ride in Pop's car. We stopped at Katherine to do some shopping and Kylie had to wear a mask for the first time since entering WA 3 months ago. We then drove 1 hour further south to one of our most recommended camp spots - Little Roper Stock Camp. Multiple people had recommended it to us along the road and before leaving home Kylie asked the Travelling Mum's Facebook group for good camps for kids to interact with animals and this was the most recommended place. We were so glad to lived up to all the hype.
It is a little family run campground and the married couple who run it are both teachers and they obviously understand what makes kids tick - food and animals!! The office is full of reptiles - blue tongue lizards, multiple snakes, crocodiles and 2 turtles and once a day they bring the reptiles out to be handled by the kids. Luckily on our first day, the camp was slightly quieter than it has been, so the kids got a good chance to hold everything. The next day Kylie was excited to hold the snake as well.
Each evening after sunset, the kids are allowed to go in and feed the Squirrel Gliders. The timing of this made it slightly difficult for the kids to get there - Bridie feel asleep every night before feeding time, and Zara and Elsie only managed to make it once to feed them. It was quite busy that night so we didn't get too close.
The larger animals in the yards where always good for a pat too, especially if you had some hay in your hand. There were chickens and a rooster that liked to crow at un-god-ly hours, such as 3am. There were 2 pigs, 3 water buffalo, and Brahman Bull and a cow named Elsey - named after the local national park. Elsie loved patting and feeding Elsey the cow!!
Each morning (except Sundays) the owner, Des makes "Johnny Cakes" for breakfast/smoko. There are a little ball of deep fried bread and they taste like a cross between donuts and scones, and you eat them with butter and jam or whatever you like. At $1.50 each, these were a huge hit. Des also make bread daily that you can purchase. We bought one on our last day and wished we bought more to take on the road with us.
A few nights a week, Des makes a selection of curries and the quests gather around the fire for curry night with rice and fresh bread, and maybe some Johnny Cakes from the morning if there were any left over. The curries ranged from buffulo meat to beef to chicken, with the type of curry changing reguarly - but the bum burning beef and beans is a staple on the menu. You could smell them curries cooking throughout the day and they were amazing. The depth of the flavour in each different dish was impressive and every mouthful was delicous. A highlight of the trip so far.
Due to the reputation this place holds, it was kid central with every van having at least 1 or multiple kids running around. Bikes going everywhere and kids running around and making new friends. There were a few bales of hay near the animal yards that had a slide sitting on top. Simle but effective - the kids made their own dun. The owners have a young 3 year old boy that Bridie made friends with, his nanny lived in a van near us and the kids enjoyed looking at her pet guinea pigs. One day I lost track of where Bridie was (not uncommon these days..) and I found her following the young boy up towards the main house. Luckily the boy's mum was outside so I apologised and asked Bridie to come back to the campground. The boy and Bridie were not happy about their fun being stopped so they both sat down next to each on the house step and kept asking to play. So cute.
We stayed in Mataranka for 4 nights and easily filled in our time. We went to the Bitter Springs and floated down the springs with the kids. The water was warm and it was like floating through a rain forest. We did this 3 times the first day and then came back the next day to have another go.
We went to the Mataranka Homestead once during the day to swim in the Mataranka Thermal Pools. These springs have had more human interferance with walls and step and hand rails etc, and we enjoyed the Bitter Springs a lot more. The homestead is also the home of the "We of the Never Never"replica homestead. We had a good look inside and read about some of the History of the area.
One day we also drove to the Elsey Cemetery which is the place where a lot of the people from the We of the Never Never Book are buried. Jeannie Gunn wrote the book and moved from Melbourne to the Elsey station to be with her husband. She tells the story of the people she met and places she saw, and it was later make into a movie.
We returned to the Mataranka Homestead one evening to watch Nathan Whippy Griggs, the world record holding whip cracker. He put on a great show, with fluro coloured whips, music requests (including the kids current favourite - Old Town Road) and a grand finale complete with flaming whips. It was a very loud and entertaining night. This is one time I really wish I could upload video to the blog, so please go to social media if you can and watch the video.
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