Betten On Bike: DAY 23 - 30TH APRIL 2013 - DALY WATERS TO MATARANKA

Day 23 - 30th April 2013 - Daly Waters to Mataranka

Cycling Stats: 170 km
Cycling Speed: 31.3 km per hour

Walter left at 6.30 and the he reported to me that the winds were a bit all over the place. It became very hot quickly so I was pleased to be able to catch up with him at around the 60 km mark and he was happy to continue on to Larrimah 14 km further on and there we stopped for coffee.

Before I left I had enjoyed a morning walk along the Stuart Heritage trail and read about Stuart's joy at being able to eat the fish that his expedition had caught in the area which was the first time they had eaten fish since he had left Adelaide many months before. The famous landmark 'The Stuart Tree' was also on this trail where he had carved his initials back in the 1850's whilst exploring this region.

Once again we sighted flocks of red-tailed black cockatoos. The only change in the landscape was the greening of the grasses and the increase in the thickness and type of vegetation as we move north as evidently lots more rain has fallen in this area over Easter Walter tells me.

As I drive at a slower pace I observe and take note of many things - on my mind today was the various shapes and forms that the ever-present termite nests take. I have been watching these for some days now and I am wondering - Is this random or is there artistic genius at work (reflected in the castles / cathedrals & some budda shapes) or perhaps the termites have observed the humans who pass by and the design of their termite nests reflect what they have seen. Over the past 2 centuries people have travelled this road on horse and wagon, on horse and more recently, in vehicular transport - cars, road trains, camper vans etc. It could be that the termites glimpses of us are only of our head & torsos & hence the many formations of nests which look so much like this - either as an individual person or as a grouping of 3 or 4 people, some being children (with smaller heads & torsos).

Closest to the road one observes many penile shapes maybe because of the hundreds of thousands of travellers who have past along this road and had to stop & relieve themselves - hundreds of penis shapes close to the road !!! On discussing this with Walter he believes this is nonsense and that they are just termite nests with an environmental purpose.

I have a lot of time to think & ponder over things like this as there are many peaceful moments !!

Anyway we arrived in Mataraka about 1.30pm and drove to Bitter Springs (thanks Ivo for this tip) - This is indeed a very special place of pristine natural springs and many pools with beautiful paperbark and palm trees. There is so much bird life and this camping ground is 500 mtrs from the spring and at the end of the road - so tranquil here and last night the sky was big and dark and all the millions of stars and galaxies were huge and bright. We are resting here for a few days - can't think of anywhere I would rather be !!