This was to be the moment of truth. Had we made the right choice in staying at Bitter Springs rather than at Mataranka Homestead? We were about to find out for ourselves.
Just south of the Mataranka township is the turn off to the Homestead and the Mataranka Hot Springs. A short drive of 7 kms and we were there.
Here at the entrance to the Homestead Lodge and caravan park, stands a replica of the Elsey Station homestead which was used for the movie 'We Of The Never Never'. We did take a quick look through before moving on
past the Homestead motel units
and on down the pathway to back entrance to the large building which is the Homestead.
This is a pretty big complex. Apart from the caravan park booking office,
one can lounge and imbibe in the large bar area
or enjoy a meal from the onsite restaurant (cafe?) al fresco.
As was to be expected, there was a large souvenir shop stocked with all the usual goodies, and from what we could gather entertainment is provided most evenings during 'the season'.
As we gazed around the caravan park itself we decided that as far as that went we had made the better choice. Despite the many trees here, the sites themselves seemed far more bare and barren than those at the Mataranka Cabins and Camping grounds.
But this was a secondary consideration...we were here to check out the centre of activity...the hot springs (or thermal pool as they are know here)
Into the Elsey National Park we strolled
and on down the wide pathway through the palm trees.
By the time this had morphed into a board walk we knew we must be close.
Sure enough, here we were at the Mataranka Hot Springs (sorry, thermal pools)
where those taking the plunge are confined to the quite large, rock lined central pool
or another smallish area which is a touch more as nature made things.
Having seen all this we were now convinced that we had made the correct decision to cast our lot with the waters of Bitter Springs.
The walk from our park to this tropical aquatic playground was a little longer than at the Homestead, approximately half a kilometre along the bitumen road beyond the park entrance.
This was a road well used on a daily basis. Visitors in their hordes would drive in for a quick dip. Most parked in the designated bays,
but as usual at these types of places, there were always some who took the view that they would plonk where they chose, irrespective of the traffic congestion this may create.
Our transport to the pools was a much more simple matter....good old shank's ponies', carrying the necessary 'noodle' over our shoulders.
Here at Bitter Springs a noodle is an essential bit of kit as you will shortly see. But first there is the entrance pathway through the dappled shade to be negotiated.
In no time we arrived at the steps leading down to the warm waters of the springs where there is a one major point of difference between these and those at the Homestead.
Here at Bitter Springs the water flows. Once Liz negotiated the steps with what I considered to be exaggerated care (I used to just flop in with an almighty splash, much to her chagrin...."what about everyone already in here?" "They're already wet, a bit more won't hurt them". Impeccable logic I thought)
and had adjusted the noodle properly under her arms,
and was floating comfortably,
she was all set to let the gentle current of these warm waters waft her away downstream.
What a delightful experience this is floating along in the sunlight through broad
and narrow stretches of this crystal clear water
until after about fifteen minutes one arrives at another set of steps
which lead to the pathway which returns all the happy water babies to the starting point within the space of two minutes or so.
And then, guess what? Everyone jumps in and does it all over again.....as many times as one wants to!
Three downstream floats was enough for us on each visit, but we did come back several times. This was so much more fun than the alternative. We had gotten it right! Right park, right hot springs, right time of the year. Marvellous. Mataranka had been all we had hoped it would be. Another item ticked off the bucket list.
Speaking of which, our next stop was also to achieve a similar purpose. The Daly Waters Hotel is legendary. We were about to add it to our list of iconic Aussie pubs, which already inludes the Nindigully Pub and the Lions Den.
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