leaving paradise.....but we will be back

The time had come to leave Lorella. The cv joint was due to arrive in Katherine on Friday, so we packed up and left in the morning for the 600k or so drive to Mataranka on the Stuart Hwy. we all loved Lorella, and even after such a short stay I was hooked.
We decided to head north from Lorella instead of backtracking, this took us past the Lost City, an amazing rock formation, a bit like a mini Bungle Bungles I'm told.

We only intended to walk a short distance into the Lost City, as we had a big drive ahead on rough 4wd tracks, but we were all so mesmerised by the rocks we walked the whole loop even though the temp was already well in the 30's.

So we finally left the Lost City and remembered we had a disaster on our hands. Both Nev and our beer fridges were empty.......So we headed for Roper Bar, an aboriginal community with a supermarket and diesel ( world record price for this trip so far, $2.20 litre) and NO beer. Another dry community. A bloke could die of thirst in these parts.
Ah well, on to Mataranka, only another 190k. A very close run thing, the bottlo closed at 6.00, we arrived at 5.50, phew. One slab of golden delish ( xxxx gold to you mexicans ) one slab of VB ( Violent Boong as it's known to the locals ) and a tub of margarine......that will be $130.00. Worth every cent when a bloke hasn't had a drink all day and it's nudging 40c.
We stayed at a great campground called the Teritory manor where they had a licensed bistro that was very good. They even made real coffee, the first we have seen for a while. Nev and Leanne had to leave next morning as work beckoned, but Jo and I decided to stay an extra night.

This was in the campground Bistro
We visited a small museum in Mataranka that was very interesting, and then had a beer in the pub that was even more interesting!!
The following morning we headed off to Katherine, but not untill the campground owner showed us his barramundi.

He has around 6 in an ornamental lake, all pets. The park is for sale if anyones keen, making a tidy profit too.

It's funny what the heat makes you do. We found this natural spring in the middle of the road, and our own webbed feet pillow princess couldn't help herself!