Alice Springs to Katherine, NT:

Mandy Jackson
May 15, 2021
5 min read

We have now headed away from South Australia & north along the Stuart Highway into the Northern Territory in search of warmer weather - but we didn't need to travel far to find it! The Stuart Highway runs for 2,834 kms from Port Augusta in the south through the centre of Australia up to Darwin in the north ... it is a long drive, extremely hot and in lots of ways an epic Australian journey, which we are enjoying.

Alice Springs:

Col & I have been to Alice Springs a couple of times before together - so we only lingered here for a few days to re-organise ourselves, re-stock & slow down a little ... there is a lot to see & do in & around Alice if you are thinking of coming this way and you could easily fill a few weeks exploring Alice Springs township & surrounds, including; the East & West MacDonald Ranges, Uluru, the Olgas & Kings Canyon. We did however visit a few spots in Alice that we hadn't yet seen, including;

The Old Telegraph Station & Museum:

The Old Jail & Women's Museum:

Araluen Cultural Centre & Art Gallery:

I have an artwork by the artist in the last photo above (George Tjungurrayi) which I bought many years ago and Iove - I had it hanging in my office at work for a number of years. I was pleased to see his work on display in the Alice Springs Art Gallery.

Driving North - 'It's all about the journey':

We plugged in the iPod & turned up the music as we headed north out of Alice Springs. The Stuart Highway from Alice Springs going north is a long drive through really hot & harsh terrain, frequented by very high numbers of extremely pesky little flys and huge long haul road trains ... and this year thanks to COVID, you can add thousands of other Aussie caravaners to that list!

About every 100 to 200 klms or so you will come across a remote Roadhouse - these are great spots to stop for a leg stretch & a break from driving. Each outback roadhouse offers fuel, camping, some have basic accommodation + a bar and all offer assorted junk food. Some also offer a quirky theme on Australian outback life to attract tourists; from Aboriginal art & sculptures at Aileron, Aliens at Wycliffe Wells, to the very ecleptic & wild outback experience at Daly Waters Pub ... some do it better than others, but lots of the outback NT roadhouses are worth a visit just for a break and the experience.

Devils Marbles (Karlu Karlu):

Karlu Karlu means 'round boulders' in the local Aboriginal language - but the site was also named Devils Marbles in 1870 by John Ross (explorer) after exclaiming 'this is the devils country'. We enjoyed exploring the Devils Marbles early one morning - but it would not be fun wandering around out there in the midday sun. Dogs were not allowed in the nature park - so Brandi & Dfor sat this one out in the cool of our van.

Tennant Creek:

Alcohol is either heavily restricted or completely banned throughout many areas of the Northern Territory in an attempt to address alcohol related issues across a large number of outback communities. We visited the Northern Territory in 2015 and it was the same at that time - so nothing seems to be changing!!

Like most travellers who head along the Stuart Highway, we didn't stop for much at all through Tennant Creek and surrounding communities - however we did have a quick look at the abandoned Old Tennant Creek Telegraph Station out of town. Unfortunately, at the moment it is just not safe for travellers to stay or stop in these communities due to high levels of crime and other complicated issues.

I actually felt really sad driving through this section of central Australia & seeing the state of some of the Aboriginal communities & people that live in this remote area of the Northern Territory.

Daly Waters Pub & Township:

Several hundred kms on from Tennant Creek we came to Daly Waters. The Daly Waters Pub was an interesting spot to visit for a cool drink & a look around (very ecleptic & crowded - with other caravaners arriving by the minute), but definately worth a short stop.

Apparently the pub gets extremely wild most nights with a live band, mechanical bull riding and lots of people from every direction near & far coming to eat, drink & generally misbehave! However, as that is not really our thing, we decided not to stay and pushed on along the highway - but an interesting spot to visit just the same.

Tim's Junk Yard Shed @ Daly Waters:

Ummm ... also an interesting & ecleptic place!

Mataranka Hot Springs:

Just brilliant - we spent 3 days relaxing, camping, swimming & snorkling at both of the Mataranka Hot Springs ... most of our swimming was done at the more natural Bitter Springs, as it was definately our favourite. We also took a lot of under-water go-pro footage (which we will add to our Facebook page), to show you how serene & lovely it is at Bitter Springs - such an amazing spot to stay and relax after a long drive north along the Stuart Highway.

Tip: if you do ever come this way make sure you get yourself a couple of pool noodles & just gently float down the spring from top to bottom with the gentle water current - loved it!

Bitter Springs:

Rainbow Springs:

Katherine & Nitmiluk National Park:

In Katherine we stayed 12kms out of town at the Manbulloo Homestead Caravan Park for 4 nights - it's also a working cattle station (breeding Brahman & Buffalo cattle) &the property fronts the Katherine River- we can highly reccommend it if you are ever visiting Katherine - lots of big old shady trees to camp under, large grassed powered sites, lovely owners & great facilities. It is frequented each night by all sorts of critters, tiny Gecko's & frogs mostly (but some of the largest & ugliest frogs I've ever seen) - I only screamed on the first night when I almost stepped on one enourmous frog in the ladies bathroom- after that I was ok about them - sadly I think perhaps the really big, ugly brown ones are Cane Toads!.

We have loved Katherine - a wonderful spot to visit & lots of fun things to do & see - our favourites were as follows;

Nitmiluk National Park & Katherine Gorge:

Just stunning, a must see - we did a boat cruise up the 2 main gorges (there are 12 in total) with lots of walks & swimming from June onwards (once they remove all, the crocs they can find following the end of the wet season) - it was very beautiful!

Katherine Hot Springs:

A lovely spot - we swam here most days while we were in Katherine.

Tip: Walking up to the top of the spring & then swimming/floating down stream with the current is the best. We swam here most afternoon's while we were in Katherine & it was very refreshing at the end of a hot day - a great spot!