With lots and lots of hugs from the kids (and one or two from Kathy) Hux and I set off on the return trip to Sydney.  From here on it is all down hill as we make our way back south into the cold and wet - not a good thought!

Hitting the highway I had a strange flashback to Thelma and Louise (although Graeme mentioned it was more like Dumb and Dumber).  Let's just hope we don't have the same ending. 

Somewhere between Pine Creek and Kathryn, lunch was calling.  Like a mirage in the desert a sign appeared on the side of the road pointing left - 'Gove Hill Hotel'. Underneath it a hand written sign "cold beers".  Could it be true? We were in the middle of nothing and 20km from nothing is even more nothing.  But not letting reality get in between us and potentially a cold beer we thought a 40km diversion was worth it.  Even better we were off the highway and back on dirt.

20km in I was starting to doubt the 'cold beer' sign, thinking it was a bad joke by the locals and the hotel would just be a ruin of an old hotel.  Turning the bend a tin shed surrounded by relics of the original gold mine appeared.  While at fist sight I though the only beer was going to be out of the back of our fridge, but as we got closer there was hope.

It turns out the remote hotel was once the centre for a major mining area and the old Ghan.  Now the new Ghan rushes by with passengers having no idea that the tin shed still actually sells cold beer.

I have mentioned before that outback hotels attempt to have some quirky theme (remember pink roadhouse, bras above the bar etc). Gove Hill Hotel was a hoarders dream with collections of everything of no value imaginable.  From rusty mining tools to a shrine to Elvis I am glad we were not with Kathy. 

From here it was on to our first night at Bitter Springs.  Just up the road from Mataranka Springs which we visited on our travels north, these similar pools are bath warm and crystal clear.  The outpouring of aquifers at a balmy 34deg c provided an opportunity for a late evening swim under the paperbark and palm (livistonia rigida) forest.