When we reached this place we breathed a collective sigh of relief.
It signified the end of our long, long drives and the beginning of Part II of our on-the-road holiday. It also felt like an oasis after having been through the centre. We had resurfaced on the other side.
Elsey NP is off the main road. It's a spacious place with lots of different places to camp, without feeling like you are packed in like terraces in the city. Facilities are good. The river is beautiful for swimming, fishing, birdwatching and sitting by. We only paused here for an afternoon, one night and the next morning, but we really did like it.
It was a full, or near-full, moon that evening so we went down to the river to see what we could see. The air was fresh and it was pretty magical. That is, WAS pretty magical before the camels started making their terrible racket, that is. Have YOU heard a camel? At the West Macs we'd heard crazy stories about camels (like when it's dry they've been known to go in to communities and damage taps and air conditioning units) so I was just a little bit disturbed by the thought of our lovely moonlit walk turning into a horror film scene where we are jumping in the river to escape the camel stampede. So, my imagination might run a little wild sometimes*...
The last photo is of the only place we stopped in Mataranka - the petrol station. But the town looked like a pretty nice place to stop for a bit if you had more time. We were on a mission to get to Katherine town for supplies and then head on to the gorge (Nitmiluk).
Hot tips for travellers:
- Bitter Springs. We didn't get there but apparently this is the nicest, most natural-like spring around Mataranka.
- Note the above regarding Elsey - it's a nice place.
* You might have read my dingo ramblings from our night at Ormiston Gorge...
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