Keeping Cool in the Tropics

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 Boab Caravan Park, Katherine

This morning we road our bikes to the hot springs as they are close to the caravan park. I swam, as per usual, and Mark did not (for those wondering if Mark ever swims, he does not; he retired from swimming 20 years ago).

The water is so clear - this is about 1m deep

At the hot springs

We then rode into Katherine town - not quite so scary in the morning and when on bikes. Nevertheless still quite shocking. There are people wandering aimlessly in the streets and parks. The houses look run down and some are like junk yards. I wanted to take a photo of the houses but was not brave enough in case someone saw me and came out and murdered me. Ok I exaggerate but you get the picture. A guy this afternoon told me that he wanted to get beer yesterday. The bottle shop opens at 2pm so he went up there just before opening and there was a queue about 100m long of all the locals waiting to get their alcohol allocation. 

These are the luxury houses of Katherine - on stilts for the wet season and designed to let the air flow through

We had lunch and then I had an afternoon alternating between being in the air-conditioned campervan and the swimming pool.

As for tomorrow, there are some lovely cruises you can do in the local national park. But they all originate from the park itself, which is about 30Ks away and it seems impossible to get there. We called a hire car firm (all cars booked), asked about taxis (apparently they will take you out there, charging a fortune, but then might not pick you up!), and we asked if the tour company could collect us (no). 

So I took up an offer made at the pool from a couple I met. A couple called Faye and Ron are happy to take us to the national park. They're doing canoing the following day, which I am rather tempted to join in on, but suspect that - for Mark - canoeing is pretty close to swimming ....  Even sharing a ride with strangers is a bit of a stretch for him :-)

Everyone I talked to in the pool last night (yes it seems to be the social hub of the caravan park) thought it would be a miracle if our water pump arrives in three days time  - they had a lot of horror stories to share. Really hoping they are wrong!

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