31/5  Great day at the footy with Rob and Anne.  Bought tickets at Info centre, concession, woo hoo! Rob had to pay full price, wouldn’t accept his senior card. Picturesque  ground.  Sat on the grass on the wing, atmosphere like a country game, although about 5000 spectators.  Had to barrack for the dees to support  Rob.  They looked good for a while, but no chockies.  A couple of dodgy umpiring decisions didn’t help. Back to caravan park for a swim and consolation ale.

1/6  Packed up and off to the Desert Park. Very interesting, well set up. Nocturnal area particularly good, quolls and bilby’s and lots of little mousey critters.  Lots of aviary’s with wide variety of birds.  Free camp at Taylors Creek.  Like Burke St.  About 40 vans squeezed in.  Looked like they’d been there most of the day.  Cows mooing and birds tweeting doesn’t fill with confidence about a good nights sleep.

2/6 Inconsiderate bastards packing up about 4am.(no not Teeses)  No hope of sleep in.                                 Head to the Devils Marbles, quick 15 min walk. Last time we visited it was raining. Wycliff
Springs for petrol top up. It’s the local UFO centre. Pretty corney, although Rob seemed impressed with the alien in the glass case. Lunch at Renner Springs,  6 dimos for $2, about all they were worth. Overnight at Daley Waters.  Pretty busy and put into the overflow area.  Happy hour at the pub, girls had red monaro cocktail. Basically a raspberry slushy.  Great pub with entertainment of sorts, a bush balladeer.  Bar lined with bras and knickers, Anne was reluctant to add her red bra to the collection.

3/6. Grumpy again. Backpackers off in their bus at some ridiculous hour. Filled gas bottle for $17, good value.  Off to Mataranka and Elsey NP. Stayed there on last trip. Sign up warning not to swim because of crocs, although lady at the campground  claimed rangers had not got around to removing sign, and she was off for a swim. Didn’t see her again but I think that was a coincidence. Walked to Roper river waterfall  8kms. Rose reckons she was tricked into the long walk. Pretty hot but great swim at the end. Spa pool at the billabong and rock pool at the falls, although a bit nervous about crocs. Went for swim at Mataranka hot springs. Very relaxing after a long walk. Rob impressed with the French backpackers swimming there. Apparently he studied French for 6 years, but no help at all. Nice and quiet back at the campground. Lots of feral donkeys in the area as there were last time. Hee hawing during the night.

4/6 Walk down to the river first thing. Peaceful and very still, with kangaroos drinking on the edge. Packed up and drove to Bitter springs, only a few kms away. A little more natural setting than Mataranka and water seemed a bit warmer. Back into Mataranka for morning tea. Good milkshake and yummy scones with jam & cream. Good bye to Teeses as they are turning left at Katherine towards the west. Sorry to see them go, they have been great company. (well Anne has been anyway.) In to Katherine info centre and who should we bump into, bloody Teeses. Can’t get rid of them.   Drop into Centrelink to see if our health care cards have been reapproved. Yes, Woo Hoo. Set up camp at Shady Trees CP and into town to shop. Rose not fussed about staying more than a night as we’ve done to gorge cruise before and the girl at the info centre wasn’t overly enthusiastic about kayaking there. Might duck out to gorge first thing in the morning and do a walk before we head off to Litchfield NP.