Tjuwaliyn (Douglas) Hot Springs

Wed (28/8) to Thu (29/8) we are now on the way to Alice and had planned a "big" driving day. 150km down the road, not too far from Pine Creek, we found this campground at a hot springs - about as close to heaven as you can get. The campground itself is not much, but about 20 metres away is the most amazing water. There are hot springs bubbling up through the rock and sand - VERY hot. But there is also a cool creek that it all feeds in to. So that means depending on where you sit, you can regulate the temperature. It is a whole network of little springs, streams and waterholes. And no crocs, so perfectly safe to swim.

No one has mentioned this spot and there are very few people here. It is so close to Darwin, Litchfield and Kakadu, it's hard to understand how it hasn't been exploited.

It is still very hot during the day - mid to high 30s. So readily accessible water is worth it's weight in gold.

The campground has 1 shady spot - and yes we got it! People that have come in after us are looking longingly at our site.

We decided to stay a couple of nights and enjoy the springs at all times of the day. Early morning had beautiful mists on the water. Middle of the day there are some lovely cool shady spots. Evening is gorgeous as the light changes and fades.

On Thursday our auxiliary battery that runs the car fridge was a bit low so we decided to go for a drive to Butterfly Gorge, about 17km further along the road on a 4WD track. We bumped our way out there and walked a track along a creek to the gorge. At one point we had to climb up and over a rocky escarpment with Mike telling me where to put hands and feet. We got to the most spectacular spot I've ever seen. A gorge with steep faces and a beautiful big pool with a big sandy beach. On the other side of the pool was a narrow opening in the gorge that you could swim through. We floated on our backs on the way through and looked up the steep faces on either side. On the other side was another big pool with a cascading waterfall and more pools above. Mike made it right up to the top. I made it through the narrow bit into the second pool. And the added bonus was that there was no one else there.

On the way back we decided to swim down the river for a bit rather than tackle the steep climb again. Mike made 2 trips carrying the camera and backpack above the water. I just tried not to drown!

On the drive back we played in the bull dust....

 

I think this couple of days would have to be the highlight so far.