In search of a croc-free swim
Sometimes the crocodiles get the good swimming spots
21.05.2011 - 24.05.2011
29 °C
Up the Creek at Trephina Groge
Now we're in the tropics (the Tropic of Capricorn is about 40km north of Alice Springs), we love a good swim. The days are warmer and as you go up the Stuart Highway from Alice Springs to Darwin (where we are now), the nights get warmer too.There are some lovely swimming holes in the East and the West MacDonnell Ranges near Alice Springs. We waded in the creek at Trephina Gorge and the waterhole at Simpson's Gap (brrrr!). But you couldn't wade in a creek near Darwin. The crocs would be waiting!
Fortunately, an hour south of Katherine, Mataranka Thermal Springs pump out 30.5 million litres of warm (34 degrees C) water every day. The area was formerly part of Elsey Station, where the classic Australian book 'We of the Never Never' is set. Pastoralists swam at Mataranka, and later, soldiers based in the area in WW2. No doubt, Aboriginal people have swum there for millenia. No crocs here and a lovely place to swim, surrounded by palm trees.
Disappointingly, Edith Falls, just north of Katherine, belonged to the crocs the day we visited. Early in the dry season, park rangers haven't got round to checking for crocs so they keep everyone out until they do. In Darwin, they outwit them by building wave pools!
Croc-free, clear, warm water in Mataranka Thermal Pool
Posted by kecasumi 08:53 Archived in Australia Tagged landscapes waterfalls outback
