It’s hard to believe it is possible, but it got even hotter on our last week in the Northern Territory as we returned to Darwin, ventured east to Mary River then south back through Katherine, Mataranka and Tennant Creek. This was our last week in the Territory which was proving to be a tad too hot for us. We re-planned a way to get back to our beloved coast, ocean breezes and endless clear blue water but still managed to sneak in a few last delights (Corrobboree Billabong and Devil’s Marbles) on our way out the Territory door. Watch our Week 20 OzLap video for all our adventures.

Monday 23^rd– Wednesday 25^th Crazy Crocs at Mary River

Monday morning, we drove 90 minutes east out of Palmerston to Mary River National Park to stay a couple of nights at the Mary River Wilderness Retreat. The park was blissfully empty and we were able to set up in the shade and run the A/C as it was scorching hot – 37c and 85% humidity with no breeze. We relaxed by the small pool until it was time for our 4.30 WildLands Corroboree Billabong cruise 30 minutes down the road. This 40 km billabong has the highest concentration of saltwater crocodiles in the world and we were lucky to have Croc expert Josh fill our heads with amazing facts about these ancient creatures and get us up super close (safely) to over a dozen big crocs. We were also lucky enough to have a private tour (the competitor ‘Wetlands’ had a packed boat leave shortly after us). In addition to crocs we  saw Jabiru and white breasted eagles up close and discovered many uses for the large water lilies in the billabong which ranged from sun hats to fishing line to water carriers!  We relived the tour back at the Park as we cooked our own pizzas at the café and ate them on the deck in the twilight.

Tuesday we were up early to do the Bamboo-River walk which wound through dense  bamboo stands and along the river which had warnings to keep 5 metres back from the edge to keep safe from Crocodiles! We took the wallaby walk over the swing bridge after breakfast up to the pool where we stayed until afternoon as we re-planned our trip to escape the oppressive heat. We decided not to go back in to Kakadu but instead head south to Mataranka where the nights were cool. Ironically, Tuesday night, just after dinner, the heavens opened up and the rain came down which provided some relief. Apparently, it was the first time it had rained in August in the Darwin area for 30 years.

Three things to tick in Mary River NP are: 1. WildLands Corroboree Billabong 1 hour cruise (ask for Josh and pick the 4.30 slot) 2. Mary River Wilderness Retreat for killer DIY pizzas and Happy Hour on the deck and 3. Relaxing by the pool or walks around the Park and along the Mary River.

Wednesday 25^th – Friday 27^th Cooling down in Katherine and Mataranka

After stocking up in Humpty Doo Wednesday morning, we headed south 4hrs to Katherine for the night. We were pleasantly surprised to find Les Huddleston playing didgeridoo at happy hour in the van park (he played at the opening ceremony of the Brisbane Commonwealth games) and we cooked our BBQ as he played. He switched to karaoke in a bid to get the crowd involved and promised to give away one of his Jabiru paintings to the best singer/performer. Keen for a painting, I plied my husband with red wine until he had the Dutch courage to sing ‘These boots are made for walking’ and happily for me, scored the painting!  

Thursday, the perfect recovery was a run down to the thermal springs for a swim followed by a killer breakfast roll from the Pop Rocket food truck.  Still hot, we headed another hour down the road to the small, sleepy town of Mataranka and set up camp in nearby Elsy National Park at the lovely shady Jalmurark campground. We had a picnic lunch and swim at Bitter Springs just north of Mataranka. These springs are more like a river that meanders through the Livistonia Palms and the popular thing to do is to jump in at the top end and float down on noodles to the bottom end. The water was incredibly clear and about 27c and there was enough room for people to spread out. This was not the case at the smaller, crowded Mataranka thermal pool which we headed to next, so we opted for a walk instead, although I had a quick dip on our way back while Jamie chose to cool off with a Ginger Beer at the bar. Back at our campsite, later that night, we discovered why there was wire fencing around the toilet block as we saw huge wild pigs running through the bush and heard donkeys hee-hawing and cattle roaming all through the night.

Three things to tick on a trip to Mataranka and Elsey N.P  are 1. The Bitter Springs thermal pools (go early to avoid the crowds). 2.Stay in the Jalmururk campground in Elsey National Park for starry nights and hot solar powered showers. 3. Take one of the many walks in Elsey NP (the river walk goes for 16km but can be done in sections)

Friday 27^th Eclectic Daly Waters and sleepy Tennant Creek

Friday was a big driving day clocking up nearly 600km as we tried to make it to Tennant Creek for a family FaceTime call with our daughters. This flat, scrubby section of the Stuart Highway has almost no mobile coverage (or anything really) except for Daly Waters where there is an iconic, eclectic, sprawling pub with free wifi! We stopped for an early lunch and to admire the collection of bras behind the bar, thongs, hats and licence plates in the beer garden and crashed planes and helicopters lining the road outside. From there it was another 3 hours south to Tennant Creek where we pulled in just after 5pm and set up to catch up with family over a video call before an early night as we planned to get up before dawn to visit the Devil’s Marbles.

Three things to tick on a trip to Daly Waters are 1.Walk around the eclectic range of planes, helicopters, machinery, info boards surrounding the Daly Waters Pub. 2. Explore the collections at the pub in the bar and beer garden 3. Stay the night in the campground to catch the nightly entertainment.

Saturday 28^th Dawn at Devils Marbles

A 5am start saw us driving 100km south to see the sun rise over Karlu Karlu (the Devils Marbles. This collection of granite rocks have been worn down and shaped by rain and wind into extraordinary round boulders. Many have split clean in half and look like cleaved watermelons or potatoes. Others balance precariously on top of each other or gather in haphazard bunches like giant grapes. The rising sun made them glow gold against the deep blue sky and we walked to the lookout to see how they tumbled out across the land. We enjoyed a pancake breakfast at the picnic tables before heading back to Tennant Creek to fill up and head off on our big day’s drive east along the Barkly highway and in to Queensland.

Three things to tick on a trip to the Devil’s Marbles: 1. Visit at Dawn or Dusk to see the rocks capture the golden light.  2. Take the three walks to see the full range of rocks from all angles  3. Stay the night in the campground to be able to do both Dusk and Dawn walks.

Saturday 28th – Sunday 29^th  Crossing in to Queensland: Camooweal to Mt. Isa and Cloncurry

After a spectacular sunrise at Devil’s marbles we drove 500km east across a long, dusty stretch of absolutely nothing. No Fuel, no road side stops, no radio, no mobile coverage all the way from Devil’s Marbles to Camooweal. We crossed the border and lost half an hour and pulled into the campground behind the petrol station close to 5pm. We had few supplies so walked up to check out the pub for dinner – only to find out it was closed for the ‘races’ which were part of the Drover’s Festival. Curious to see an outback Queensland Race day, we donned our hats and wandered up to the race course and found a very lively (read trashed) crowd. Apparently there had been no horse races due to Covid restrictions so they had fish races instead (drink like a fish race? ). we did see goldfish bowls but no goldfish… A band started to play but it was a tad chaotic so we retreated to our petrol station van park for pasta.

Sunday we drove across to Mt. Isa for a look at the Outback Isa information Centre and planned to do a big shop but both Coles and woolies shut on Sunday there so we drove on through pretty rocky ranges and in to the small town of Cloncurry which had both their supermarkets open and a van park with a pool and ice cream van …what more could you want!