Days 30 – 31
We stayed at the campground next to Douglas Hot Springs. We had no electricity again.
Douglas River flowed over the hot springs. In some places, like here, the water was really hot. Che is running through the hot water to get to some cooler water.
Matt is also running through hot water.
Dad and Matt are swimming where the water is nice- not too hot and not too cold.
Che is looking under water to see what is down there. He saw some fish.
Matt is sitting on the log.
Che is sitting in the water.
We saw another water monitor. We got really close to it. Can you see the spots on its skin?
This is a juvenile goshawk or sparrowhawk according to Dad. Juvenile means young.
Matt found a snake skin near a small hole. The snake that shed the skin is longer than he is tall.
The next day Matt and Mum went for an early morning walk. We saw a logodile.
Later in the morning we went for a swim. When Mum got out she stepped over some leaves and what she thought was a stick, then Matt said, ‘you stepped over a snake, Mum’. It stuck out its tongue and flicked its head. Mum did not scream.
Matt is by the river not far from where we saw the snake.
This is a bower bird. We did not see its bower, but it kept looking for shiny things in the fire pit near our caravan.
On the last afternoon we went further up the river and found more hot springs and more places to swim. Mum thought this was a beautiful spot.
The weather has turned really hot. We left Douglas Hot Springs to head back to the cooler weather in Darwin, which is only 32 degrees C.
You should make a zoo of your snake skins and logodiles. Do the Douglas Hot Springs smell of sulphur? How big are the water monitors?
Hi Grandpa,
None of the hot springs smell of sulphur.
The water monitors are up to a metre or so.
Some of the pools and streams are warm and some are cool, does the warm water come from underground?
You say your favourite Buley rock pools are colder than the others. That tells me the air temperature up there must be quite hot.
Do the long flat sides of the magnetic termite mounds face north and south?
The Lost City was spectacular, I hope Matt didn`t hurt himself too badly in his fall.
In the photo of the Buley rock pools, the water monitor doesn`t look too worried by Che and Matt.
That must be some very hot water at Douglas hot springs judging by Che`s expression as he crossed the stream.
At Douglas hot springs Dad and Matt look contented in their just right water temperature.
The spots on the water monitor look like they were painted on by an aboriginal dot artist.
Matt`s snakeskin reminds me of the brownsnake skin I found at WestBeach many years ago which I managed to keep a few years before it disintegated from my mishandling of it. Did Matt keep the skin he found?
Great logodile photo, the reflection in the water makes it look like a real bottom jaw, it also seems to have teeth.
Hi Ray,
The warm water comes from underground and mixes with the river water.
It has been hot everywhere for the last month.
The flat sides are facing East and West and the thin sides face North and South.
The snakeskin Matt found is in an empty ice cream container in the car.
Mum says thanks for the compliment about her logodile photo.
From Matt and Che