Mataranka

Well everyone told us we must stop at Mataranka but we didn't have a clue what to expect.

We had planned to do some free camping here but after calling into the Mataranka Homestead for a coffee, we were hooked, this is the place we wanted to be. So we parked in the day camping area  and checked the place out.

Jude and I with our van in the background

What an amazing oasis in the middle of nowhere (again). Huge palms and ferns everywhere, eagles
and hawkes flying overhead, an abundance of birdlife, peacocks strutting around followed by a gaggle of peahens, kangaroos hopping and beautiful lush gardens.  A great restaurant and pub with a huge beer garden and that is even before we came to the crystal clear waters of the Thermal pools.

Mataranka is home to the famous thermal springs in Elsey National Park, they are located directly adjacent to where we are camped and we have "taken the waters" several times, and it was fantastic.

Mataranka Thermal Pool was dedicated as a reserve in 1967 to ensure the preservation of the Thermal Spring and surrounding palm forest, which has survived from an earlier age. The pool is at a constant 34 degrees celsius and flows from Rainbow Spring at an amazing 30.5 million litres a day.


Mataranka  township sits on the Roper River, with a population of less than 250, it services outlying
cattle stations and Aboriginal communities and is well equipped with facilities for travellers.

The area was made famous in the Jeannie Gunn novel "We of the Never Never" - written in 1908 about nearby Elsey Station. Elsey Homestead Station replica, created for the film adaptation of the book is located near the Mataranka Homestead and is open to the public.

The palm and paperbark forest walk and thermal pool at Bitter Springs, a few kms further up the
highway, offers another inviting experience, of course we took to the waters here as well. Here you can slowly drift down the river with the current for a few hundred metres and climb out for the walk back only to do it all again. A lovely way to spend an afternoon.

Bitter Springs Natural Thermal Pool

Floating down the river at Bitter Springs

After settling in to our camping spot we explored the area, the thermal pool was quite busy with lots of noisy little children in the water, Jude and Laurie joined that crowd while Jeff and I followed one of the trails for 1+kms down the dirt track to another very out of the way pool.

There was not one other soul there when we arrived, so we had a lovely quiet swim with overhanging palms and river gums with just the birds to keep us company. It wasn't long before another couple arrived, a husband and wife, the hubby came in swimming with us while his wife stood watch - what for you ask - well, she informed us that while she was swimming here earlier in the day there was a small crocodile in the water.

The pools here are regularly checked for crocs and have protective gates to keep them out, but
sometimes one manages to sneak through. But fortunately we had our own watch guard.


After dinner we sat out in the beautiful balmy evening with a nice glass of red, or two, before wandering over to the beer garden where there was a band playing, The Three Amigos, but there were actually four of them, go figure, but they were pretty good. We enjoyed the music with approx. 120 others travellers, again an eclectic group

Another perfect day in the outback.

Day 2 Mataranka
A relaxing day just hanging around the camp, a couple of dips in the thermal pool a lot of reading and chatting - just what we needed before another night of entertainment in the beer garden - perfect.

I wonder how many Amigos there will be tonight.