Bitter Springs Caravan Park

• Elsey National Park

Cost – $40

Mataranka is a small town located in the Northern Territory 420kms south of the territory capital Darwin.

Mataranka means “home of the snake” lucky its winter here in Northern Territory and I did not encounter one.

Bitter Springs Caravan Park is where we stayed for three days, it is 2 minutes from the town of Mataranka and sits on the banks of the little Roper River. The property is in walking, cycling or driving distance from the hot springs. Bookings for camping here are only taken on arrival, so be prepared to turn up as early as 8am to secure a spot.Once the camp is full you will have to find another camping ground close by to enjoy the fresh clear springs everyone comes here to enjoy. This camping ground offers powered, non powered and cabins. You can book the cabins in advance which are really popular if your not a camping enthusiast.

The town consists of 3 petrol stations only meters apart on the Stuart Highway but offers an arrange of food from hot pies, chips, and amazing bakery goods. There is also the friendly grocer which to my surprise had so much fresh food at reasonable prices. This place also sold alcohol after 2pm with identification of course ,we are still in the NT and the regulations change of limit quantities from one town to the next.

A little bit about this place and why it is so popular with the tourist. People come from a far to enjoy the clear warm natural thermal pools in Elsey National Park. If you are not a great swimmer bring your pool noodle along so you can drift aimlessly up and down the hot springs. Just remember you are sharing this space with the fresh water crocs…..The thermal pools are crystal clear and are warm all year around . Spring water rises from underground at a rate of 30.5 million litres per day, so plenty for all the tourist visiting this haven.

On the only raining wet muddy day here in Mataranka Paul and I decided that we would go and explore all the hikes/walks that the river had to offer. Unfortunately 99% were closed due to high rivers. This now allows the Salty crocs who eat Humans to now share these paths with you. We decided it was time to head back to the safety of the camp.

On our last night we went to the Mataranka Homestead with our new Victorian friends Jodie and Sam to watch Nathan Whippy Griggs do his things with the whip… . He is a professional whip cracking enthusiast who gets the crowd rocking with his music, and whipping talent. I thoroughly enjoyed Nathans entertainment he was absolutely talented for sure and holds a world record for 614 cracks with the whip in one minute …so wonder he has big biceps 💪. His entertainment was for free unless you wanted to give a donation which everyone generously did by either buying merchandise or digging deep into their pockets.

Mataranka is a great place to stay if your heading north to Darwin….and want to enjoy the pristine hot pools .