The boys new that this would be
the last time they saw their BFF, Finn, at least until they come to visit us in
Bris-Vegas on the way through, so after getting their swarm style school work
done, they played happily away while we packed up ready to hit the road.
Originally we were going to head
to the Daly River to catch some barra, but all reports were that unless you
were willing to fish it really really really hard, don’t bother going...with a
7 and 9 yr old as my fishing team with me merely as the boat driver we decided
to skip it and head for greener pastures. (Note: they had also had the Barra
Nationals on the previous weekend with a few hundred people of the water
scaring the absolute.........out of every fish there and despite fishing for
three days straight most boats only managed to get one or two aboard, the
winner only got three!)
Our greener pastures was Tjuwaliyn
(Douglas) Hot Springs which is about 30km from the highway and (I think) forms
part of the tributary of the Daley River. After a picnic lunch in Adelaide
River we rolled south down the Stuart Highway and were at the hot springs mid
afternoon for a relaxing dip after setting up. So far this trip hot springs
have meant neatly organised ponds and waterfalls like at Zeebeede or Katherine
hot springs, but this one was totally different!
It took us a while to figure it
out but there was a natural flowing river, cold water that it, that at
different points flowed into other ‘creeks’ that were made up of 100% artesian
water. The artesian water was flowing direct from the molten core of the earth
and was boiling hot as it bubbled up through the earth. When I say boiling I
mean kettle boiling; do you know that feeling you get when you have filled the
sink with water to do the dishes and you stick your hands in and after a few
seconds you withdraw them rapidly and do a strange dance around the kitchen,
the delay only coming as all of your nerve ends have been seared by the
unexpectedly hot water.....like that but hotter.
The main creek had 8 different
springs flowing into it, similar to what you see below, before its origins
could no longer be discovered by the thick undergrowth. The warmth of the water
caused all kinds of algae and other green stuff to thrive giving the water a
strange science fiction style look about it.
De found the perfect intersection
between the two water temperatures and relaxed there while the above exploring
and figuring taking place!
We exited and headed back to camp with the bosy
delighted to find that another family had moved in not far from our camp. About
an hour later a convoy of about 7 troupies (Landcruiser Troop Carrier) as well
as a mini bus pulled in and if our 6 kids yesterday were as swarm then this was
a hive of aboriginal kids piled out of them. In a matter of minutes a small
tent city had been erected across from us with two raging fires burning for the
‘boys’ and ‘girls’ camp.
They had just driven over from
Port Keats, a small community on the western side of the ‘NT Peninsula’. I had
a chat with a couple of the kids as they wondered by and they had never seen a
caravan before so the boys and I showed them inside. They were amazed by a few things; 1. How we all travelled around in
this small house sleeping all in one room (which kind of surprised me) 2. That
Sam was on the top bunk not Jack..I tried to explain the concept that they shared
go’s but why the older had to share with the younger seemed a bit foreign and
then the gas fridge was amazing to them! They
stepped outside and yelled
something out in their native tongue and a
few seconds later we had about 15 ten to fifteen yr old girls clambering into
our van to have a look. A few seconds later the grumpy white school teacher
arrived giving them a lecture about stranger danger and all other good things.
In the afternoon we were joined by
the parents of the kids (sorry I have forgotten their names) who the boys were
playing with. We chatted while Jack and I prepared a yummy dinner from Viv
Moon’s cook book for Chicken and Beer in the camp oven. I think it had been 11 from 12 late nights in
a row for the boys so we pulled the plug on them early knowing there are a few
more in stall this weekend!
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