Mataranka

I really need to continue blogging the round Australia trip.  The last time I added a diary entry from the trip was in December. At that time we had made it as far as Mataranka and set about washing the mud from our car after the hell raising drive through Limmen Bight National Park.

The diary entry from 15/5/07 records:
....Bought heaps of cleaning solutions for both car and clothes.  Our clothes have stains that just wont come out.
Kids had a ball washing the filthy car with the NP hose.  It has been transformed - unfortunately, they also managed to saturate the carpet....

Mataranka is located at a hot spring and the main attraction are the beautiful thermal pools. They are a cozy 34 degrees Celsius and a major draw card for tourists. Mataranka was also the fabled land from the Story We of the Never Never by Miles Franklin.  At the homestead resort they play the movie of We of the Never Never on a continuous loop.  We sat down at one point to watch it.  I hadn't seen it for about 20 years, so it was interesting to reacquaint myself with this Aussie classic. As I like to compare book with film, I also purchased the book while I was there and proceeded to read it during my trip. The most notable difference between the book and the film was the depiction of the main (female) character.  In the movie she is depicted as a silly female, whereas the book depicts her as a much stronger character who endured the hardships well and was resourceful and clever.

We stayed in Mataranka for 3 days and visted the thermal pools and had a swim in each of them. Bitter Springs was a thermal pool with natural banks.  We were able to float down it in the current.  The main thermal pool at the homestead had constructed sides and steps to facilitate the large numbers of tourists enjoying its pleasures.

We left on the eighteenth and headed to Edith falls, via Katherine.

Evan has three diary entries for Mataranka.

Mataranka Thermal Pool

The down stream you went the shallower it gets.
I didn't think it was hot, but it wasn't cold either, it was just a bit warmer than the outside temperature.

I commented: It was a lovely temperature, I could have stayed in all day.

Mataranka Bitter Springs

Today we're at Bitter Springs.  It is quite deep and the normal heat.
I liked it when we went all the way following the current to the bridge and climbed up the ladder and walked back to the car.

I commented: The current flowed quite fast in the deep parts.  I was worried that I wouldn't be ale to get out in time once we reached the bridge!

Mataranka Cane Toad Hunting

Tonight I have gone cane toad hunting. I didn't really know what was going to happen to the cane toads until morning.
But........they weren't there. Do you know where they went?

I commented: Maybe they weren't dead after all - just stunned.