Northern Territory

We left Camooweal before sunup & were treated to a spectacular sunrise not long after crossing into the Northern Territory (marked by a sign to say you are entering the NT, a 130 km speed sign & info about alcohol). A shame we had Bruce on the back as would have been fun to 'legally' drive 130!
We called into a couple of Roadhouses - that's all there was for many hundreds of kms. Fuel at the Barkly Homestead was $1.97/ litre - the most expensive to date.
We stopped in Larrimah at Fran's Teashop & had Devonshire tea with Fran - a real character! The Pink Panther Pub, nearby to Fran's, was a crazy place full of interesting things, animals & people.
We kept travelling for two days until we reached Mataranka where we stopped for two nights at a great campground near Bitter Springs. These springs feed a small river where you can float down a hundred metres or so in lovely warm water (32•)! A group of Aboriginal kids came to tell us that they had seen a snake entering the water a way down from us & they were getting in to swim near us. That was good for me - I firmly believe in listening to local knowledge! So instead of floating down the river, some of the kids tried to teach us how to blow 'pancakes' under the water. You had to submerge to the bottom lying on your back, block your nose & pucker & blow your mouth in such a way that a perfectly formed ring floats to the surface of the water (much like a smoke ring if you know about such things). We just couldn't get it! I couldn't even stay submerged! It was very amusing & I was impressed with how hard & long the Aboriginal kids tried to teach us! We just had to give up eventually!
After two nights we continued North to Katherine. We stayed in the Nitmiluk National Park & walked to a lookout & did a two gorge boat tour on the Katherine River. There are 13 gorges in total. It was beautiful but not quite worth the $70 per adult ($40/ ch) they charged. The Park is owned by the Jawoyn people & Parks & Wildlife lease it back. The Jawoyn own the tour company & make a 'motsa'!
We braved a swim in the designated swimming area in the Katherine River but it was quite freaky when you can see a huge steel trap for the salties on the opposite river bank - as you can imagine, we all tried to scare the .... out of each other - & very nearly succeeded!
The next night we stayed at Edith Falls, in the Northern part of the Nitmiluk NP. The Edith river feeds many lovely rock pools which are safe for swimming - apparently only fresh water snakes here! Thank goodness we didn't see one nor a 'stray' croc! We swam & walked to a lookout & rock pools up river - really lovely!
And so now we are Tipperary Station.
Again, apologies for lack of captions to accompany pics - the scenic ones are of Katherine River or Edith Falls, both in the Nitmiluk NP, or they could be Bitter Springs.