We are on holiday!

Wednesday 20th July 2022

We woke to a relatively relaxed morning, given we didn’t have to pack up a tent. We had breakfast, then a quick play in the playground – the first we’ve been in since Melrose – before we left. The playground had an interesting collection of items – swings, a helicopter, a boat, and a rickety plastic wonderland that seemed to be held in place with star pickets and wire, and I’m pretty sure must have had a label somewhere on it saying ‘for display purposes only’! Anyway the kids survived, and we hit the road by 9.

Our destination was Mataranka, and specifically Bitter Springs Caravan Park, which came recommended (thanks Uncle Chris!). The park does not take bookings, and the advice was ‘come early, do not queue up before opening time.’ Opening time is 8am. Given our record with early starts I wasn’t sure what our chances were, but figured aiming for 11am was pretty good for us! The West MacDonnell ranger recommended Little Roper Stock Camp, so we were prepared with a second option.

We arrived at the campground at 10:45 and joined a long queue of cars and caravans. At first we thought they would deal with people on a car by car basis, but then realised sites were allocated according to the queue standing at reception! The kids and I stood in line and waited – they wait for people to pack up and go, then the owner whizzes about on his quad bike, checks what’s available and those sites are assigned according to the queue of people. A lot of people left the queue and figured they were better off going elsewhere, which I guess worked out well for us because at 12 they declared there were 5 powered and 1 unpowered site available. Most people seem to want powered, so we scored the unpowered and could stay. The remaining long line up of caravans were informed the place was full. A strange system I think – so much wasted time for the many people waiting in the queue. Whilst I am disappointed that national parks requires booking, as it takes the spontaneity out of travelling, surely a campground could take bookings with full payment, and still ensure they will fill up? Maybe cancellations are too much hassle? Though I suppose booking at NP avoids that wasted travel and disappointment when a place is full. Maybe I just want every place to suit my needs, and match when I am actually certain enough to book a place 😁.

Anyway our assigned camp site turned out to be quite stunning – very spacious, tucked away amongst the greenery and quite private. Definitely the benefits of not needing power, as the van sites were small plots similar to anywhere else.

We set up, had lunch, and then prepared for a swim. Bitter Springs is 500m away so we could walk there from our camp site. As we headed off some neighbouring campers kindly lent us their pool noodles (when he called out to me “do your kids want some noodles”, I replied “why? Do you have leftovers?” 🤦😂). These were very much appreciated, even if they couldn’t be eaten!

Bitter Springs was opened in 1999 to take pressure off Mataranka pools. It is a beautiful, natural site, lined with fan palms and pandanas, water lilies flowering around the edges. By the time we had made the walk there, the 34°C water did not feel the slightest bit refreshing. In fact, it was so busy there it felt a bit like climbing into people soup 🤢. It is an amazing place to visit though. There is a reasonable current so you can float along for maybe 200 m or so, then climb out and walk back to the start to do it again. If you went against the current from the start and along for a bit, it was much quieter, with most people either staying at the stairs or riding the current. Though swimming against the current is harder work! Both kids did fantastically. We brought a mask and snorkel for Bonnie and she loved exploring the underwater world. Otis loved swimming about with his life jacket on.

We stayed for maybe 2 hours, but felt pretty done by then. The kids had a nice time with the noodles, but Richie and I followed them treading water the whole time, which was exhausting! Otis was also tired after a very late night, so we walked back to camp and just hung out for the rest of the day, and got the washing done (which still just looks completely filthy, sigh).

I cooked chicken schnitzel for dinner, which is not at all an easy camping choice, and I doubt I’ll do it again, but it is a meal the kids love at home so I thought it might be nice and familiar for them! Way too much washing up though when you are lugging dishes to and from the camp kitchen! Then the kids went to bed, while I stayed up much too late taking advantage of the phone reception, trying to catch up on uploading overdue blog posts!!