Lap Around Australia...Larrimah, Mataranka Bitter Springs

Larrimah, Mataranka & Bitter Springs

There was a mass exodus of caravans from Daley Waters campgrounds in the morning. Some headed south, but many headed north like us. You could not help but travel in a stately cavalcade of caravans...which must've been so frustrating for the cars behind us wanting to overtake. We do try to be as respectful as we can and move over and slow down when then begin to overtake so it's easily achieved. We have had our side mirrors blown in by some road trains who pass just a little TOO close for comfort though. While this alarmed us at first, we now put them in if we think it's likely to happen.

We arrived at Larrimah by morning tea time. The Larrimah pub is pretty quirky in its own way too...but a tad more run-down and un-loved than its counterpart down the highway at Daley Waters. Outside the pub there is a giant stubby bottle and a Pink Panther and the campgrounds have a Pink Panther theme too with a lot of stuff painted baby pink.
We ordered a Devonshire tea and upon the urging of the publican who boasted that her had the BEST steak and onion pies around, the boys also ordered pies. For comparison you understand. They were indeed very good! Lots of meat. No gristle. The right amount of gravy and nice puff pastry.Yay!
We sat outside on the verandah amongst the bric-a-brac of old rusted memorabilia, which included and old type writer, meat grinder etc. Quaint! The campgrounds looked run-down too, so we were kinda glad we didn't stay overnight.

In Larrimah only a few hundred metres down the highway is Fran's Devonshire Teas. It has a multitude of handwritten signs proclaiming her tea and scones and pies to be the BEST around. Great rivalry there! John and I sampled her wares last time we came to Darwin and they were GHASTLY! The pie was covered in a cheesy cauliflower sauce which made it almost inedible. She also didn't post prices and charged whatever she felt like on the day, making it a very expensive outing. We declined this time round.

When we arrived at Mataranka, we stopped briefly in the main part of town to fuel up and also visit the park across the road which has statues of the "We of the Never Never" characters from a book of the same name. It's a very well-known book, being on most high school English Curriculum reading lists when I was a kid. It's about the family who lived at Elsey Station at Mataranka in the early 1900s.

 

We checked in to the Bitter Springs camp grounds. They are located right beside Bitter Springs, which are natural thermal pools near the Roper River. These pools are beautifully warm (around 32 degrees) and are fed at 300 L/second so there is a natural swift current that carries you downstream.
There is an entry point with stairs and a ladder into the pool which is lined with palms, water lilies and bull rushes giving it a resort-like appearance. It takes about 15 minutes to drift downstream with the aid of pool noodles to the exit point just before the bridge. Her you get out via another set of rungs and stairs and run back around the path (takes about two minutes) and jump in at the start again for another go. We all did this at least six times and very much enjoyed the experience.

John and I only had one night here, choosing to head to Katherine early so John could fix a few things on the car and van. The others stayed and tried out the Matranka pools the next day. A still pool but warm and not as much fun. Steve and Ian tried their hand at fishing but didn't catch anything yet.