Advertisement
Published: August 22nd 2012
Edit Blog Post
Mataranka
Stuart Highway, 'the main street' Mataranka
17
th August 2012
It was a big wrench to leave Tumbling Waters C/Park at Berry Springs, but we had to leave sometime and after Barb’s birthday celebrations taken care of the day before, we felt it was appropriate to now continue on with our adventure. So we set off turning south down the Stuart Hwy towards Mataranka, our destination for the next two days.
We stopped at Adelaide River Roadhouse for a well-deserved morning tea break, (it had been tough leaving Tumbling Waters!) before heading on to Katherine for lunch and some shopping at ‘Woolies’, It was also another excuse for us to stop and wander a town that we really enjoy being in. We did some banking, went to the camping shop, Mensland (just to see if they had any RMW or Ariat boots on sale, the Coffee Club (10%!o(MISSING)ff for seniors!), Subway and then did our shopping at Woolies. Back to the Troll and Trackie and we were on our way to Mataranka after waving goodbye to Sabu Singh (see Katherine Blog).
Mataranka, well how would I describe it, an Indigenous Community adjacent to the Stuart Hwy on the western side and the
best Business in town ...
...'they' love the pokies! town itself is from the north, a servo, Stockyard gallery and café, Motel and Caravan Park, Mataranka Pub, Roper Gulf Shire Council/Post Office/ Museum, and then at the southern end the Mataranka Store and Service Station. Having said that, this was once considered to be the Capital of the NT! In 1911 the Commonwealth Gov’t took over responsibility for the “Northern territory of South Australia” and the first Commonwealth Administrator, John Gilruth, was much taken by the country around Bitter Springs. By 1920 he established research farms around the present site of Mataranka in a failed attempt to introduce sheep. What was he thinking! Gilruth proposed Mataranka as the ‘Inland Capital’ of the NT, because he considered Darwin’s marine climate to be not suitable for women and children! This bloke had no idea! Obviously this never happened and some call this goose a visionary! In 1927 when the Northern railway reached the settlement its survival as a service centre for the Pastoral industry was assured.
Mataranka was made famous in the Jeannie Gunn novel ‘We of the Never Never’, the true tales of Jeannie’s experiences of living on the remote homestead at Elsey Station with her husband Anneas. This
Mataranka Hotel
'The odd one out' novel was also made into a movie and I have lived my life thinking that the good Jeannie lived her life out here, working with and advancing the local Indigenous Community on her station – wrong! Jeannie just made 12 months, her husband died and with that she packed up and went to Melbourne to live and although “her heart was always at Elsey” she never returned! I have met Grey Nomads in caravans that have been up the Top End longer than she lasted! And, what about all the cattlemen and shooters that pioneered this part of the country where do they get a look in? Anyway we did go out to the site of the old Elsey homestead and visited the Elsey cemetery where some true pioneers of Mataranka are buried. And then there is Sister Ruth, who lived her whole life in the Top End, being married to the local policeman in Mataranka, she provided nursing aid and assistance all her life, including risking it in helping others and was duly awarded an OBE. That is amazing life and a story which you can read about in the museum.
Mataranka is also famous for its hot
springs and yes we camped at one and swam in both of them. Bitter Springs is a newer addition to the tourist route and well worth seeing. Beautiful swimming holes and a stream with banks lined with Livistona Rigida, fan palms, The water was not really refreshing as it has a temperature constantly around 36c, but boy was it great swimming and floating downstream with the current was an experience to remember. The waters are crystal clear and the lush tropical growth surrounding the area makes for an amazing spot, only problem you may be likely to face is …crowds! Yes it is popular and almost a certain stop for tourists heading either north or south on the Stuart Hwy.
We stayed at Mataranka Homestead Resortand Thermal Pool and found that early or later in the day the pools here were not too busy. The water here was not as hot either,r making for a much more enjoyable swim. Again, pandanus and fan palms provide a tropical woodland around the crystal clear thermal springs. There is also a replica of Elsey homestead that was used in the movie We of the Never Never here that you can visit.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.085s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 15; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0397s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Brian
non-member comment
Water
Nice to see the swimming places. Here in the UK we have just had the wettest summer for 100years and last night the coldest August night on record +2C in Oxford, below 0C in Scotland. However having taken a ride through Mataranka there does not seem to have been too much rain recently, liked the Country Supermarket. Brian