The Top End - Australia 2004 - page 415

no matter what the time of year, as sometimes the place closes for cultural rea-
sons. Call Manyallaluk—The Dreaming Place ( & 08/8975 4727 ), or book

through Travel North, above.
About 110km (68 miles) south of Katherine, you can soak your aches away
at the Mataranka Thermal Pools. This man-made pool is fed by 93°F (34°C)
spring water, which bubbles up from the earth naturally at a rate of 16,495 liters
(4,124 gal.) per minute! It's a little paradise, surrounded by palms, pandanus,
and a colony of flying foxes. The pools are open 24 hours and admission is free.
They are 7km (4 1 ⁄ 3 miles) along Homestead Road, which is off the Stuart High-
way 1 1 ⁄ 2 km (1 mile) south of Mataranka township. They make a welcome stop
on the very long drive from Alice Springs.
If you can't be bothered driving to Mataranka, you can soak in the pleasantly
warm Katherine Hot Springs, under shady trees 3km (2 miles) from town on
Riverbank Drive. Entry is free. At the School of the Air, Giles Street ( & 08/
8972 1833 ), you can sit in on an 800,000-sq.-km (312,000-sq.-mile) “class-
room” as children from the Outback do their lessons by radio. Forty-five-minute
tours begin on the hour from 9am up to and including 2pm (there's no tour at
noon). Tours also run during school holidays and public holidays minus the on-
air classes. The school is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 3pm from
April until December. Admission is A$5 (US$3.25) for adults and A$2
(US$1.30) for school-age kids.
Mike Keighley of Far Out Adventures ( & 0427/152288 ) runs upmarket
tailor-made tours which include areas around Katherine such as the 5,000-sq.-km.
(1,930-sq.-mile or 1.2 million acres) Elsey Cattle Station, 140km (87 miles)
southeast of Katherine, made famous as the setting of the Aussie book and film
We of the Never Never. Meet children of the Mangarrayi Aborigines, sample bush
tucker, learn a little bush medicine, and swim in a vine-clad natural “spa-pool”
in the Roper River. Mike has been accepted as an honorary family member of
the Mangarrayi people and is a mine of information about Aboriginal culture
and the bush.
WHERE TO STAY
The Nitmiluk National Park ranger station in the Nitmiluk Visitor Centre has
maps of available “bush campsites” throughout the park. These are very basic
sites—no showers, no soaps or shampoos allowed because they pollute the river
system, and simple pit toilets or none at all. Most are beside natural swimming
holes. You must stop for a camping permit from the ranger station beforehand;
the camping fee is A$3.30 (US$2.15) per person per night.
Travel North runs the Nitmiluk Gorge Caravan Park ( & 1800/089 103 in
Australia, or 08/8972 1253; fax [phone]) next to the Nitmiluk Visitor
Centre, where wallabies often hop into the grounds. Fees are A$8.50 (US$5.50)
per adult, A$5 (US$3.25) per child for a tent site, and A$21 (US$14) double
for a powered site.
Knotts Crossing Resort At this low-key resort, you have a choice of huge,
well-furnished motel rooms, some with kitchenettes, minibars, and in-room data-
ports and fax machines; cabins with a kitchenette inside and their own private
bathrooms just outside the door; or campgrounds, all located among the tropical
landscaping. The “village” rooms are a good penny-wise choice, built in 1998 and
smartly furnished with a double bed and bunks, a kitchenette, and joint veranda
facing a small private pool with a barbecue. Locals meet at the casual bar beside
the pool, and Katie's Bistro is one of the smartest places to eat in town.