The glossy photos of the hot springs at Mataranka conjure up visions of a bathing idyll set in dry tropical bush. After the reality check which came with our visit to the Katherine hot springs, we were prepared to be brought up with a jolt, but to our great relief Mataranka lived up to its promise.
One of the most important things to know about Mataranka is that there are two separate hot springs, one at the Mataranka Homestead some 7 kms from the town, and the other at what is know as Bitter Springs, which is only about 3 kms from the main street.
And to add to the potential confusion, there are four different caravan parks vying for the tourist dollar. It is only from two of these that one can walk to a hot wallow....the Mataranka Homestead and Mataranka Cabins and Camping, which is at Bitter Springs. After listening to the advice from all who had been there before us, and weighing up all the options, we chose the bush camp at Mataranka Cabins and Camping as our new domicile for a few nights. Now all that remained was to get there and find out if we had done the right thing.
We had been told that sites are not formally allocated at the camp we had chosen, and as we had well and truly learnt by now, in these circumstances the early bird indeed catches the worm.
Fortunately we only had just over 100 kms to run, but to maximise our options we hauled out of Katherine and back onto the Stuart Highway in the early morning light (who can sleep in on a moving day anyway?)
In short order we passed a sign which was a little more telling than most. Although it was not today's destination, our arrival in Tennant Creek in a few days would mark the completion of our first full lap of the country. We did spent some time reflecting on all we had experienced to date and all that still lay ahead. I hate that awful phrase which is bandied about willy nilly in the caravan world...'Living the Dream'...but this life on the road really is a hoot.
We had the odd bit of some serious company as we tootled our way south, and again, passing these road trains was another cause for reflection....they were not a patch on some of the leviathans of the west which have all and sundry scurrying off the road to let them pass.
For some odd reason we've never been able to fathom, those who live near to, or travel along, the Stuart Highway in this neck of the woods have developed the quirky penchant for dressing the roadside termite mounds.
What has driven this need is totally beyond us, but some do it better than others.
After just over an hour we had arrived at the entrance to the Mataranka Cabins and Camping. With limited time up our sleeves, moments like this always bring with them that nagging doubt that despite all the enquiries made and homework done we may have made a poor choice. Fingers crossed!
As we drove into the park past the junction of the road to the cabins area (we'll look at these later) we were in little doubt that this was indeed a bush camp,
a view which was reinforced at the camp office where, as expected, we were invited to chose our patch.
Free choice is a wonderful thing, but it does bring with it an odd sense of anxiety....once the decision is taken it is almost inevitable that we'll wander around the park thinking "could we have done better?" It is always much more fun to be able to blame someone else, such as the park manager, for a poor site allocation than to have to accept the weight of personal responsibility!
We pulled up near what I thought would do to the trick, but just to be sure I wandered off to check out some alternatives. Here I discovered that many of the cosy nooks which looked ideal were unpowered, and with the possible need to use the air conditioner for the comfort of his feline nibs, this was not an option for us.
As I was walking back to our rig I thought I spied Liz in deep conversation with folk opposite our site of choice. Surely not. Yes, indeed. None other than Marie and Frog, a couple with whom we had shared some wonderful happy hours at Kurrimine Beach two years ago. This was a very good start!
I had some reservations about the fact that we were right on the entrance road boundary, but we solved the dust problem in short order....shade cloth has more than one use,
and what we had in abundance was the ever important shade.
Once settled, a quick gallop around this park revealed that it is indeed a bush camp. The ablution block is rustic to say the least.
All the cubicles are unisex
and self contained with both shower and toilet, and as you can see in the previous, the camp laundry is a set of washing machines in the breezeway.
The camp kitchen is equally unsophisticated, but fully fit for purpose.
Compared to this infrastructure, the park cabins appeared relatively up-market.
From their front decks, those taking up this accommodation option could look out over what is the signature natural feature of the park itself, termite mounds, dozens of them.
There were all around the park, impressively large lumps everywhere. In the early morning and at dusk, the slanted rays of the sun transformed many of these into glowing red towers.
The Mataranka Cabins and Camping park is diverse in the type of sites on offer. Some are in relatively open space
whilst in other sections, cosy shaded nooks
and crannies are available to those who treasure their privacy and were lucky enough to snaffle one of them.
We were more than happy with our choice despite the odd distraction of some who insisted on driving along the park entrance road at warp speed (I did have the real pleasure of watching two maniacs come to serious grief on the massive speed hump half way along the roadway). Shade and space, and, as an added bonus, a mere ten metre walk across the road to party central.
It was really good to catch up with Marie and Frog (the only person who ever calls him John is his wife!) again. They live at Harrington, one of our favourite spots on the NSW Coast. Frog is a retired NSW Police Senior Sergeant, so we have much in common. We hope to visit them in their home town at some stage next year. In the meantime we reflected on the good times we had shared at Kurrimine Beach as we tippled on into the twilight with them and their neighbours. This had been a very good start to our Mataranka adventure.
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