Hot Springs - Mataranka



Whats this grey stuff???

After weeks of enduring dusty roads our troopy, camper and boat featured a layer of red dust, but it also had character about it. Driving along the bitumen was certainly a different experience. Shortly after we hit Mataranka amoungst all the other sparkling clean rig where we really stood out amoungst the crowd. First stop was the 9.30am barramundi feeding at Territory Manor  where the girls really enjoyed watching the big Barra swimming and both the girls were lucky enough to be picked from the crowd to feed the Barra. We learnt some interesting facts about Barra here; they do not like a sudden drop in temperature, if it is a sudden drop they can die. That explained why we saw dead Barra floating in the Little Bynoe River, there had been a cold snap in that area before we arrived.

Emma feeding the Barra

Morning Tea at Territory Manor

Because we were back in civilisation, we thought we we buy some morning tea at the territory manor cafe. The girls had sarsparella spiders (icecream and sarsparella) and we had fresh scones, jam and cream, yummo.

Feeding the donkeys at territory manor

Mataranka hot springs

Time to hit the hot springs for a dip, Mataranka Hot Springs are more of a commercialized area where they have concreted the edge and built steps to get into the crystal clear hot spring. The temperature was warm and we spent a couple of hours soaking all the dirt from our pores and chatting to fellow tourist.

Bitter springs

Bitter springs are the other hot springs in Mataranka and they  have been left as a  more natural pool and have a nice flow to them so we rode the current from the top to the bottom of the swimming area. The water here is unbelievably clear which makes a great spot for snorkelling.

We did manage to find a tap we could connect our hose to and spent an hour just washing the troopy and camper.  We got rid of all the red dirt from the surface, we will attempt of all hidden crevices another day. It was sooo nice to unzip the camper cover without getting red dirt all over your hands and clothes.

Very muddy and worn bearings

Driving along the bitumen also meant we could hear the troopy wheels making noises, so I think it was time for some tender loving care.  After taking our troopy over thousands of kilometres of dirt and many many many creek crossings, there had to be some maintenance done.  Darrin checked the bearings on the car and found that they were in desperate need of changing.