Entry 7 – July – 2025 Pilliga Hot Artesian Waters
We had spent a week in chilly Canberra. The cold temperatures had felt quite brutal on our bodies. We were dreaming of a warmer environment, thinking of the wonderful hot artesian pool waters at Pilliga, located about 600 kilometres north. During our time in Canberra, we had been monitoring the daily temperatures at Pilliga, with day time temperatures about 6 – 8 C degrees warmer.
It was a “no brainer,” we planned to leave Canberra and drive directly to the Pilliga hot artesian pool.
Our departure morning provided plenty of incentive to get out of Canberra. We woke to a country side shrouded by heavy fog, frozen puddles of water with everything biting cold to touch.
It was amazing how the positive anticipation of the tantalizing hot artesian waters, just up the road a bit, diminished the tiring effects of driving while towing a caravan over a long distance. We spent one night camped at around the half way mark, at the small town of Geurie. Geurie’s old racecourse provided a nice quiet setting, away from the busy highway.
The following day we arrived at our planned destination of Pilliga in late afternoon. We selected a location to set camp and headed to the pool. Entering the 38 C degree artesian waters we felt our skin tingling from the effects of our cold bodies coming into contact with what initially felt like rather hot water.
It took about 10 minutes for our bodies to adjusted to the beautiful water temperature. Several days later, our faces were still smiling with pleasure.
The campground at Pilliga hot artesian pool was busy. It is a large open clay surfaced paddock. We had placed ourselves in a position providing nearby campers with plenty of space.
The scenery looking out beyond the campground was pleasurable viewing.
There are always the people that park up unnecessarily close, blocking our view and blocking the warming effects of the rising sun. Grrr.
There were many beautiful sunrises and just as many beautiful sunsets.
We were in the vicinity of the New South Wales central inland regions. A few months prior the region had experienced record rainfalls. The Pilliga landscape was a lush green setting. There was still lots of water lying about. The normal dusty wetlands walking trail was difficult to follow due to being covered by the flourishing green growth. The normal concentration of bird life along the wetlands, which is created by the flow of the artesian waters were noticeably absent. Most likely the birds had moved to other current nearby fertile locations.
The missing birds had been replaced by large volumes of cattle on agistment from other drought affected regions of Australia. A conversation with one of the local farmers who was also enjoying their daily dip in the hot artesian pool, showed they were getting an income boost of $10.50 per week for each cow on agistment and $7 per sheep.
Another day when we were on a walkabout, we spotted a field of cotton growing. It provided an opportunity for some interesting up-close viewing. We studied the nearby landscape with a bit more attentiveness, spotting the camping ground in the distance. It showed how fertile the Pilliga region could be when the seasons arrived on time and with the required amount of rainfall and sunshine.
After a few days of immersing our bodies in the beautiful temperature of the hot artesian waters we could feel the positive health benefits upon our bodies. Some of our aches and pains had evaporated. We could feel a comforting calmness settling our persona. For us it provided many positive qualities.
Sadly, we received notification, Steve’s Dad had suffered a major medical episode requiring our attendance.
With the help of relaxed bodies and adrenaline, we managed to drive about 600 kilometres on our first day of driving home and about 800 kilometres the second day. These were seriously big driving days for us, unbelievable that we could achieve that.
We drove directly to the location of Dad and talked to him for a while, disregarding his unconscious state.
Twenty minutes after our arrival Steve’s 93-year-old Dad passed away with all of his immediate family around him. It felt so good for everyone to be together at that point in time. It was a sad occasion as Dad was the first person to pass away, breaking that chain link of their expanding family.
Rest in Peace, Dad.
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