Having time on our side we decided to have a relatively lazy day at Bitter Springs, attending to a few chores and enjoying yet another soak in the thermal springs. Wendy was keen to get on top of the washing as the next leg of our trip may present few opportunities to do so. There were phone calls to family and friends to make and bills to pay, plus some internet banking to do.
There is a very topical article on the ABC website at the moment about the increasing amount of land clearing underway in the Northern Territory. There is concern that this land is not being used for the declared purpose (typically mango and melon growing), but instead cotton is being planted in ever-increasing quantities. So why is this topical? The cotton growing is occurring around Katherine to the north and Larrimah to the south, drawing on the same aquifer that supplies spring water to Mataranka. There is real concern that the volume of water required to make the cotton cropping viable will deplete the aquifer to the point that the springs will no longer flow and the rare Livistonian palms that line the spring-fed creeks and rivers will die due to lack of water. A cotton gin opened in Katherine last December – this has seen an acceleration of cotton plantings in the region. Neither major party standing for election in the Northern Territory next weekend can be drawn on their position regarding giving the water away to foster the cotton industry. There is much concern that without regulation the region could turn into another Murray-Darling debacle, where those downstream are impacted by mismanaged use of a precious water resource upstream.
The opportunity to ‘people watch’ is ever-present when stopping in caravan parks, where disparate people find themselves propped in close quarters. We have watched with interest when neighbours to the rear of our campsite produced two large bird cages from inside their ageing caravan and set them up on a table adjacent to the van’s door. When uncovered, there is lots of chirping and the ringing of a small bell in one of the cages. The owners seem to be able to understand and speak rainbow lorikeet and a version of parrot fluently, with lengthy conversations exchanged throughout the day. To our surprise, two small furry lap dogs later appeared from the van and were encouraged to sit on personal cushions outside for a time. In between conversations with the birds and the dogs, chores including the cleaning of cage bottoms and feeders filled in much of the owners’ day. We could only imagine what the inside of their caravan must be like.
As is often the case at Bitter Springs we ventured down to the springs later in the day – and possibly set a new personal record for ourselves by staying in the soothing waters for 1 hour and 52 minutes! We did get spoken to by a local gentleman for quite some time – Chris called it ‘community service / therapy’. This man, who owns a 50-acre property situated between the caravan park and the Stuart Highway, had lots to say about his life, the challenges of losing his wife a few years ago, and the difficulties he is currently facing in his attempts to clear his recently acquired property of neem trees – a particularly vigorous introduced tree that is now a declared weed. Swimming in the springs on a Sunday was part of his routine, and talking to complete strangers at length was possibly one of his few avenues for engaging with people.
We have been consulting maps to plan out in greater detail the route we will be taking on our return to Melbourne. Chris had originally proposed exploring the Channel Country that covers a large part of Queensland. It is typically flat, dry cattle country but every now and then unusually high rainfall has the region burst into life and has the streams, creeks and rivers flowing again. The “channels” flow inland and, in exceptionally wet times, make their way to Lake Eyre in South Australia. This year has been one of those exceptionally wet years and we did note that Lake Eyre South was full of water when we passed it on our journey northward a few weeks ago. We have firmed up a few bush camps along the way, as well as stops within the Diamantina and Currawinya National Parks on the Queensland / New South Wales border north-west of Burke. Wendy has short-listed some possible station stays along the Darling River before we spend some time in the Kinchega National Park near Menindee, then head on to the Murray River at Mildura.
A comprehensive shopping list is being developed, as Mt Isa in three days time is possibly our last ‘real’ opportunity to stock up before heading into the Channel Country. After Mt Isa shopping options will most likely be limited to roadhouses and poorly stocked community general stores. More swims and lazing about in the thermal springs beckon tomorrow before we hit the road again.