Artesian Antics

After a long round of medical appointments, we gleefully drove for 1.5 days back into the Queensland Outback at Charlotte Plains Station, near Cunnamulla.

A red dirt road leads off the main road. Follow the signs to the Artesian bore gushing beside bore drains in a full bush setting with a row of bathtubs.

The Great Artesian Basin is one of the largest underground freshwater resources in the world. It is Australia’s largest groundwater basin.

The Basin spans almost 1.7 million square kilometres (over one-fifth of the Australian continent) and has a storage capacity of 64,900 million ML. It connects with the Murray–Darling Basin and the Lake Eyre Basin and lies beneath parts of the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales. 

I was witness to a tragedy when a large grasshopper leapt from my feet into the 42C water and promptly cooked into a bright green blob.

The 75 strong mob of bull, cows, calves, sheep and a goat, greeted us on arrival as they happily lapped the hot water.

Lunch beckons, so why not run a bath to be allowed to cool a little with the aid of a chilled glass of white wine. 

That buzzing sound is Gen's drone snooping on my head for a refill!

After sunset, we waited for starlight with myriads of insects and a super starshow appearance of our bus in a blue bedtime glow. 

The borehead gleamed bright and its soothing sound lulled to sleep, only to be woken abruptly hours later when a damn cow tripped over the guy ropes.

Sunrise catches the glint in the gusher of a 38C day in the making.

The bush dunny is a splendid, rustic affair, complete with a mob of cute frogs that populate the bowl and spring out for a flush dance.

Numerous bird species live in the property, especially around baths, inexplicably drinking and bathing in the very hot water.

Michael, the current stockman, takes us on a tour. We visit Jack's Hut, an ancient abode for Willie, the black expat camel drover, now deceased, who ran camel tours with his carts.

The 100-year old shearing shed made from pine, once had 26 stalls for shearers shearing 56,000 sheep in the best year. The name of the shearers were dutifully recorded on the wall for each year.

The overgrown cemetery contains the graves of the original owners from 1874. Robyn, the current owner, has also laid her husband, a cattleman, and her mother, a racing enthusiast who bred racehorses, to rest here.

The homestead, where separate buildings house Robyn and Michael, is full of bygone mementos and all needs repair, but Robyn's children have no wish to take over. The once busy station is a shadow of its former self, now reliant on passing tourist trade.

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Charlotte Plains, Cunnamulla, Queensland