Mataranka to Manyallaluk

There was no rush this morning and so we did not pack up the night before but left it all to do before we left. We only had a short journey of just over one hundred kilometres and were not sure of what to expect when we arrived so took our time.

We were still all packed by 10:00am and of course had to have one more swim (relax) in the hot thermal pool. After unwinding again, well we had packed up, we thought it was time to make a move and so headed up to the front of the park for morning tea before setting off.

It was then off in the car on our way to Manyallaluk to hopefully get an experience of aboriginal culture and expose Chelsea & Josh to what this people is all about.

We were only on the made road for a short while before we headed off into the bush along a stretch of unsealed road. There was certainly plenty of dust everywhere and the car and van turned a shade of red as we left a dust storm behind us.

We arrived at the camp site and no-one was around at all. We had a quick look around and finally found the pool, a small man made swimming hole filled by a natural spring that was very cool and refreshing. We spent most of the afternoon on our own, expecting someone to come and talk to us but no-one came. Well not exactly no-one, we did get greeted by two dogs that followed us everywhere. They were Freddie and Reptile.

Eventually, out of the bush, we met one of the guides named Nathan, who became friends with all of us, especially Josh. We found out that Nathan was a Collingwood supporter and that gave he and Josh something to talk about for quite a while. Eventually the footy came out and they had a kick together, both in bare feet, josh soon had a bright red kicking foot! He had fun anyway.

After talking to them for a while we headed off up a walk to see the sunset over the range and look at their village from the higher vantage point. They have built a hospital, school and sporting facilities and are in the process of rebuilding their community to offer something worthwhile to its population.

We ended up being the only people there for the night and lit a campfire, sat back and relaxed with the sounds of silence. Quite a strange experience being the only people around!