Mon 5 Aug 2013 – Swimming in the Thermal Pools and Springs

What a hard day! We spent the whole day in two thermal pools 34 degrees which spring out of the ground and pour 30.5 million litres of water every day down into the creeks and then to the river.  Beautiful surrounds for each.  Part of the first one “Rainbow Spring: had been semi rendered to make an officers swimming hole during WWII.

We have been in the springs all day except for a short break where we saw the barramundi being fed.

The Bitter Springs is still entirely natural – you go in at the top and the current takes you down 400 meters down the creek, then you walk back and do it again or swim back up against the current which we did twice.  So good to get in the water and swim again after all this time

A Mel and I had snorkels and masks we were able to see 3 turtles and a monitor lizard swimming in the pools.

This is also the home of Jeannie Gunn’s book “We of the Never Never”.  When they made the film in 1981 they built a replica of the Elsie homestead where she lived.  We visited this and saw the various costumes the actors wore during the filming.

Now sitting in the Mataranka Park doing our blog and ringing my brother, Peter, who is over visiting Oz from Japan.  Also caught up with Mum too, who is looking forward to Pete’s visit and traveling with him to visit our relatives and my children.

Back to the National Park camping ground at 5pm where I immediately set up my fishing rig with new trace and lure and went off Barramundi fishing down on the bank of the Roper river off the swimming pontoon.  Very erie but beautiful down there alone with the sun setting and it getting dark – kept scanning the shore line for crocs though.

Back for dinner – no fish – plenty of bites though from the mossies.