Mataranka

Home of the movie We of the Never Never is one of many of Matarankas’ claims to fame.  This was one of our favourite places on our trip so far,  maybe because of the ‘to die for’ Mataranka hot springs or maybe the Elsey region.  If you haven’t seen We of the Never Never or if you just have not watched it in a while we reckon you should do yourself a favour and watch it.  It is in our opinion a masterpiece, dealing with Australian history in such a fine way.  Show casing the harshness of pioneering this great country whilst touching on important factors of Aboriginal and Woman’s rights and treatment of the time.

Hey we might have an old setup but no one said we haven’t tricked up the old girl with mod cons to enable us to do it comfortably.  After spending the day exploring the old original Elsey homestead site and the cemetery where the characters of We of the Never Never were laid to rest.  We watched the movie as a family and of course our chant got a good run that day (How Lucky are we, Woohoo!). What a truly educational and enjoyable experience, one I daresay ever member of the Roaming Rowes will never forget.

As if that wasn’t enough we made our way to Mataranka hot springs the next day.  Here we took our time admiring the set of the Elsey Homestead featured in the movie We of the Never Never.  This remarkable building is a detailed exact replica of the original homestead.  After having fully enjoyed the We of the Never Never experience thoroughly it was off for a short stroll to bask in the glorious Mataranka hot springs.  There is something about sliding into 34 degree natural spring water that is just plain exhilarating.  It takes body comfort to a whole new level.  What a treat Mataranka was for us before we hit the road again the next day.

Not far from Katherine we were enjoying a re-run of We of the Never Never and just as one of the main characters was about to die, up walks a young German fellow by the name of Benedikt.  Turns out Ben had car troubles, well after further investigation it was more than just troubles; the car was cactus.  We spent that night with Ben around the campfire singing, playing guitar and exchanging life philosophies. We love Ben and his keep moving forward attitude is an inspiration to us.