After leaving Devils Marbles, driving north, we spent two nights at Elsey National Park, on the outskirts of Mataranka. This 14,000ha park features the Roper River as well as the famous Mataranka Thermal Pool and Bitter Springs. This park also marks the start of the tropical rainforests, a big change after the long drive through the semi-arid interior. The springs were just amazing, especially Bitter Springs which retains more of its natural surroundings and is less crowded. We also did the 8km return walk along the Roper River to Matarnaka Falls. We were mainly croc spotting which was fortunate as the ‘falls’ were seemingly missing having been replaced with a piddly half metre cascade! Elsey National Park is situated an hours drive south of Katherine.
