A hugely popular swimming and camping spot in the Northern Territory will not be reopening this dry season.
The Tjuwaliyn (Douglas) Hot Springs Park, located about 130 kilometres from Katherine have already been closed for nearly two years.
NT Parks and Wildlife, Northern Australia Parks director Lincoln Wilson told the ABC that the park would remain closed because of problems with water supply that derived from its ageing bore.
“We had issues with the bore water pressure serving the camping grounds … it just failed,” he said. “We’ve had consecutive years of very poor rainfall and ground recharge.”
He said the bore was just a basic bore that was put in the ground in 1986 and it relies on natural head pressure coming out of the bore.”
“The distance of travel from that bore to the campground kept reducing pressure,” he said. “And over time, as the water table drops a bit, in those busy times of year, like July with the school holidays finishing off, we just can’t meet the demand.”
The NT News reports that any changes to the bore would require consultation with traditional owners, which had been made difficult due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dejavu. I recommended this place to a new member today – Feeding the barramundi with herrings is a great feature of the park – they are massive fat ones that are well over one meter long – makes the heart jump if you are holding a fish over the edge of the jetty – WHAP!
What a shame, just loved the feeling of the hot and cold water tumbling over you. Will miss this place.
Used to camp there for weeks every year in the 70’s…only use to see a few other people…some campers would swim and walk around in the nude..nobody had any worries or problems.
We cared for the place as it was special. Over the years we never saw any indigenous or traditional owners there. An old aboriginal bloke named Douglas Jack worked at the Hayes Creek pub but rarely went to the Hot Springs.
Over the years like a lot of other places in Australia it became too popular and too much pressure was put on the environment…but just good memories now.