The Ultimate Northern Territory Top End Road Trip | Bitter Springs vs Mataranka?! Travel Vlog Ep 28

Welcome to paradise! 🌴💦🐢 Come join us swim with baby turtles at Bitter Springs. 30 hours into our Northern Territory road trip, to say we found paradise is an understatement, say hello to Bitter Springs, near Darwin. It’s got to be high on the Aussie bucket list for vanlife travellers doing the big lap and exploring the top end of Northern Territory, and if it’s not, then I’d suggest adding it!

We grabbed ourselves a site at Bitter Springs Cabins and Camping. Distance to the springs was the main reason we picked this park. It's a beautiful place to stay, and we can highly recommend this one.

Now it’s hotly debated… is Mataranka Thermal Pools better than Bitter Springs? We can assure you, unless you like lots of manmade features - concrete steps etc etc then it’s definitely not. Bitter Springs is a true oasis amongst the red dirt of the Northern Territory. Plus it’s way bigger and the consistent flow of water creates a lazy river, so grab a pool noodle and go for a float. Cabbage palms, baby turtles, crystal clear waters 🦜😁🏝

Escaping the heat of the top end, especially in our caravan without air con was a blessing. A natural way to cool off. Delightful.
After a few days at Mataranka and Bitter Springs we conclude our big road trip in Darwin at the famous Mindil Beach Markets.

0:00 Intro
8:40 Mataranka Thermal Pools
17:15 Bitter Springs
28:13 Mindil Beach Sunset Markets

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When travelling Australia, if you know where to look, or if you watch our travel vlog ;) you’ll discover gems like this.

As part of our big lap of Australia, we’re just getting started in the Northern Territory and we can’t wait to show you more of this sunburnt country and it’s coral reefs, 4wd beaches, fishing spots, mountains, waterfall gorges and rainforests as we explore the top end of Australia. Vanlife baby!

Next stop: Litchfield National Park, followed by Kakadu National Park, down to Katherine Gorge and Edith Falls, then we cross into Western Australia!

We’d like something to show the grandkids, so we’ve set ourselves the task of making videos of our Australian travel adventures. If you want to follow along and see if we love (or hate) not having a routine or more than 6 metres of living space as we caravan Australia… or if you’re just looking for holiday inspiration via our travel guides, then SUBSCRIBE!
Dunc and Soph x

Follow along on Instagram -   / ifnotnow_ds  
Music by Epidemic Sound http://www.epidemicsound.com
Footage shot on a Sony A7III, Go Pro Hero 8 and DJI Mavic air.

#northernterritory #vanlifeaustralia #travelvlog