mataranka - tennant creek

mataranka

South east of Katherine, 110 kilometres along the Stuart Highway, is the township of Mataranka. Located on the Roper River are the Mataranka Thermal Pools and Elsey National Park.

The Park is 8 km away from Mataranka, and takes its name from the old Elsey cattle station, made famous in the book 'We of the Never Never' whose author was former occupant Jeannie Gunn. The Roper River is popular for fishing and canoeing. Afterwards you can sit back and relax in the 34-degree Celsius heat of the thermal pools. The water has its origin thousands of kilometres away in Papua New Guinea and bubbles to the surface at an incredible 30.5 million litres per day.

tennant creek

Known as 'Australia's last great goldrush town', Tennant Creek is the only sizable town between Alice Springs (500 km to the south) and Katherine (700 km to the north). It's not a big town, but there's a few things you can do, like take a tour to old and contemporary mine sites, or get a $5 permit and try your hand at fossicking for gold at Moonlight Rockhole and other designated fossicking areas.

devils marbles

Just over 100 km south of Tennant Creek are the Devil's Marbles - groups of huge, rounded granite boulders sitting one on top of the other. The Aboriginal dreaming for this country includes the story that the boulders are the eggs of the Rainbow Serpent.