Off to See the Wizard - Daly Waters Pub to Bitter Springs.

Another short day on the road as we wanted to stay at the Bitter Springs Campground and it is also first in best dressed.  We arrived at about 10 o’clock in the morning and were able to get a nice shady powered site in among the palm trees and fig trees.

The attraction here is thermal pools.

You know you are up north when you see these signs.  Designated swimming areas are cleared of crocs at the start of the dry season and freshwater crocs aren’t anything like as bad as the salt water ones.

At Bitter Springs the thermal pool is actually a natural stream with a few sets of stairs added to the bank.  The idea is that you hop in upstream and just float down to the bottom set of stairs, then walk along a concrete path back to the top again.  Most people use a pool noodle to just float along.  By the way, they were named “Bitter Springs” by a worker on the overland telegraph as the water tasted bitter.

The best known thermal pool is located nearby and is the Mataranka Thermal Pool. There is a campground over there too, but anyone can access the pool. By the way, there is no charge to swim in either of these spots.  It is accessed through a path among the tallest palm trees.

You are given a COVID-19 warning.  Look closely - stay one small croc apart……only in the Territory.

The difference at this pool is that the sides have been lined and there is a ledge you can sit on.  There were lots of people, but not crowded.  Using your noodle for buoyancy, you just float around.  So very relaxing.  The water isn’t hot, like at Moree or Lightning Ridge, just a nice temperature that doesn’t make you wince with the cold when you hop in.  Not being much of a swimmer, I preferred this spot.

The other attraction at Mataranka is the replica of the Elsey Station Homestead, featured in the book “We of the Never Never”.   This replica was built for the making of the movie in the early 1980s.

The author of the book, Jeannie Gunn, and her husband moved here in 1902.  Her husband tragically died the following year and she returned to Melbourne, but her two books are a good history of station life back then.

Back at the camp we discovered that a few people we had met along the way were also staying there, so it was nice to catch up.

Mick even had the opportunity to have another go at a didgeridoo, as a man was playing one.

Overall, it was a lovely place to stay.

The highlight of the day for me was the Mataranka Thermal Pool and for Mick it was playing the didgeridoo.