Mataranka, my NT home.

 

The old Mataranka sign with termite mound growing around it.

 

I have just realised that I haven't told you about the place we like to call our NT home. This is our fourth tourist season hear at Mataranka in the Northern Territory. We park our caravan here from the end of April until somewhere near the end of November. K works as "Mr Fix It" here at Mataranka Homestead Tourist Park. (A fancy name for a standard outback caravan park with cabins and basic motel rooms) I have worked reception here, but my main work is in the indigenous schools.

Mataranka is on the Stuart Highway 109 km south of Katherine and is a four or five hour drive south of Darwin. We are 1069 km north of Alice Springs.  The town has a general store, supermarket, pub and three fuel outlets, school, health service and police presence. Three caravan parks compete for the grey army traffic.



A long way from anywhere

 In the tourist season we are inundated with caravans. There are close to 200 powered sites in the town and for six to eight weeks of the year these will be full.

Mataranka's claim to fame lies in two things, hot springs and We of the  Never Never.

We of the Never Never is a novel written by Jeanie Gunn who lived for a few months on Elsie Station. It tells about her experiences as a newly married Melbourne girl who came with her husband to manage the station. We of the Never Never was required reading for many school children of my era.




The Elsey Station replica

 

 

We have the replica of the station house here at Mataranka Homestead which was used in the film shot here in 1982. The movie is played here every day over lunch. Some of the parents of the kids I teach are the children in the movie.

Mataranka Hot Springs on a cool
morning with steam rising. 

There are two hot springs here. Mataranka Hot Springs is accessed through Mataranka Homestead caravan park and is  my favourite part of living here. 30 degrees, fresh water and I don't have to clean it. Mind you I do have to share it with millions of tourists.  The best time is in the morning when the air temperature is lower than the water temp and the steam rises into the air over the water. magic.

Little Roper River

The Homestead where we live is surrounded by three rivers, the Waterhouse, the Little Roper and the Roper River.


Boat ride on the Roper River

Bitter Springs

Bitter Springs is on the north side of town and is a stream you can float down. If you take goggles you can see the world under the water. I am blind as a bat with my glasses off so I have to take K's word for this.




We love here it here.

Cheers Sue

A Ferg on the Move.

 

x