Douglas Springs NP 24 -25July 2006

Collected the mail. Caught up with food shopping in Katherine and then drove north. Stopped at Pine Creek for lunch and made a decision to have a look at Douglas Hot Springs remembering our last wonderful experience. We had been told that the road was good however about half way along, we unexpectedly hit a terrible bit of road and Heather swears she became airborne even with her seat belt on! It only lasted 5 mins and as far as we could tell we suffered no damage to the van, however we broke a lovely plate we had bought as a present. Once we arrived at the camp at Douglas Hot Springs, we had a stiff drink (TEA!) to steady our nerves and then went off for a swim. The hot water (about 60oc) came from a spring just a little further up and joined the river at the camp ground. By positioning your body, you were able to maintain a balance between the hot spring water and the cold river water- heaven! It was an art to find the exact spot and vie for breathing space with about 12 other people. Luckily the kids are all mad and loved jumping off the logs into the cold water a bit further away! Explored the hot water part through lots of sandy patches and although careful, we felt like we had burnt our feet. Peter rested his feet on cold packs for a bit! No problems in the end.
Turned out to be a very tranquil spot so we just relaxed for another day. The camp is teaming with lots of birds we haven’t seen before. Great background chatter all day. That night we were awaken by a tremendous roar as a F18 roared overhead at what seemed like tree-top height. We then watched in awe as more jets thundered overhead – much better then fireworks!