Springs, splashes, snooping

Mataranka is a funny little place.

It's 106km south of Katherine so required a 200km round trip but everyone we'd talked to had strongly recommended it. What was so good about it? It's famous for its natural thermal springs that was made popular by US officers in the war on leave but there's so much more there.
 

There are two sets of springs; the most popular being Mataranka Springs and the more secluded and natural at Bitter Springs. Both are incredible places where the springs bubble up from the deep depositing millions of freshwater into the water system. They're not real thermal springs as there's nothing underneath warming the water but the natural temperature change coming to the surface keeps the water at approx 34degrees. Due to the high air temperature it didn't feel 34 degrees!

It's one of those 'Wow' places. Cobalt blue water. Lush green vegetation. A green tree snake was also spotted that made a few worry... After the kayakking it added a "Ahhhh" as the muscles seemed to loosen a bit. Many nomads congregated here as had a military vehicle meet.
Bitter Springs was our favourite. It too had crystal blue water but was less populated. Set into a flowing creek it pushed you along at a good rate that made keeping an eye out for underwater rocks and logs a bit more important. Swimming against the current was much more difficult and was almost a struggle!

Looking underwater was a spectacle that I won't forget. It was very pixelated with many blues and greens forming a stained glass window impression. Due to the fresh water it didn't sting so became captivating dipping underwater to see a new image. The greens and blues were so vivid it was like an acrylic painting.

The park we stayed at, Territory Manor, was a lovely spot that had all the facilities plus yummy afternoon teas, but strangely Barramundi feeding. Amber was chosen to feed them and the sight of her creeping on to the underwater deck waiting for a huge Barra to come up and take a pilchard from her hand was too much!

The owners had been farming them for many years and had no intentions to eat, release or breed them, just using them as a spectacle for people to see them.

The entertainment didn't stop there. The Cane Toad is a problem species in Australia responsible for the destruction of native animals due to their poisonous glands on their backs. They'd been introduced to kill another trouble-maker, the Cane Beetle but the plan backfired. The spread of the Cane Toad is carefully managed and this particular place had proactive measures where campers could go and hunt them.

Latex gloves and plastic bags were provided as were the disposal measures so armed with torches, off we went. There were so many it was unbelievable. Some were massive, others not so but catching them was horrible. Once caught they'd try to wee on you so you had to be quick. Both of us going for the catching leg technique then swinging them in. After 90 mins we'd caught 25 of the little blighters...astounding. In honour of our acheivements special certificates had been produced. Brilliant!

To round off our stay here a big sign proudly advertising cream teas for $5 grabbed our attention!