Awesome Camping with Hot Artesian Bore Baths at Charlotte Plains Station
If you want to add a bit of luxury and soak off the dust from an Outback adventure, Charlotte Plains Station ticks all the boxes. After many days of hard driving, a day or two spent relaxing and soaking in hot natural artesian bore baths makes for a big change. We chose to spend a night camping at Charlotte Plains Station near the end of one of our Outback adventures and had such a great time we will be back again.
Working Sheep Station
Charlotte Plains is a 270,000-hectare station just 54km east of Cunnamulla (between Cunnamulla and St George). It is a working station so you can expect to see cattle and sheep. The station has been in Robyn Russell’s family for almost 100 years, and she runs it with 1 full time employee and the intermittent help of others (travellers that like to stay for a while and lend a helping hand). You can get there by air, road or rail – for those without a 4WD there are tour groups that visit the property, otherwise you can arrange collection from the bus or train stations at Cunnamulla.
Personalised Tours
We were drawn to the property to experience its hot Artesian bore. However, there are lots of things to keep everyone entertained otherwise. Charlotte Plains offers a birdwatcher’s paradise – apparently there have been more than 120 different bird species identified in the area – as well as wildlife to spot. We saw kangaroos and emus on the way in as well as plenty of parrots, a hawk hunting and some very lively little fish in the stream from the bore. For those interested Robyn does personalised tours – history buffs will enjoy her station stories and be able to visit an old Drover’s hut, woolshed and memorabilia museum. If you do not feel like going along on a tour but are interested in some of the history, jump onto the farm channel and you can hear Robyn telling all sorts of stories about her family property.
Different Accommodation Options
There are also several accommodation options depending on set up and taste. Bookings and payment can be made online. Robyn is flexible with dates as we ended up being a day ahead of schedule. We called a couple of days before arriving while camping along Cooper Creek in Innamincka to let her know we would be arriving a day earlier. We opted for non-powered bush camping alongside the hot bore. For this ideally you would be self-sufficient with your set up. If you are camping, our recommendation is to camp at the bore. Now the property is extremely popular and on the night we stayed there were quite a few people passing through to a music festival out west. As a result, the area around the bore – which features a quaint bathroom within a tin shed with 2 toilets and 2 showers (be warned that there is only a shower curtain to offer privacy!) was quite crowded. We trundled off downstream and managed to find a quieter spot. This meant a small walk to the bore but was well worth it. We were annoyed by someone flying a drone over our site however they seemed to get the message when Peter gave them some less than friendly gestures! A little while later an old fellow put his chainsaw to use close to our site – fortunately only briefly. So, you can collect firewood if you need any. Otherwise, the other guests were all very quiet with no loud music or hooning and everyone was mostly asleep by 10pm or so.
Other options for your stay include bush camping at powered sites or self-catering in the shearer’s quarters which seemed basic but comfortable. Both are a brief drive from the bore. Doggos are welcome at all sites which I made note of for future reference as my boi was spending this trip with his grandparents.
Artesian Bore Is Amazing
The hot bore itself is a special site. The water comes cascading out of two large pipes a few metres up at around 42-46 degrees Celsius. It pours into two separate pools and then flows off into streams. Where we set up downstream the water was merely tepid but closer to the source it gets steamy! Scattered about are outdoor bathtubs grouped in 2s and 3s. Basically you give the tub a spray with the disinfectant provided, rinse it out, pop the plug in and fill her up! The bath setups are a far better option than the hot artesian bore baths you find in places like Lightning Ridge. You get your own bathtub to yourself with far more privacy.
We treated ourselves to two baths during our overnight stay. The first was to rinse the dust of our two weeks of outback travel in the afternoon. The second was at the dawn of crack – we woke before the sun in order to claim some baths with a sunrise view. Be aware the water is piping hot especially when you first hop in. Each time we enjoyed a lovely long soak. The water has a mild sulfuric smell which adds to the authenticity of the experience. I found it left hair and skin nice and soft. As you lounge about in the warmth, watching the last of the stars fade away and the sun’s rays’ peek over the horizon you can definitely feel the tension drain away. Make sure to stay well hydrated though and take your time standing up after as the heat and minerals can leave you a little lightheaded!
It Can Get Busy but It’s Worth It
Even though the camping area at the bore was rather busy we did not have to wait for baths either time. We did try out the creek pool too in the afternoon just for the sake of it. This is a good option if all the baths are occupied but it is still a creek so expect mud between your toes and sharing with some algae and beavers fish! Luckily the showers are close by for a rinse afterwards if desired.
All in all, Charlotte Plains is a unique and enjoyable property. Although it is perhaps a bit too well visited to be the best option if you are looking to get away from it all however, it has an unbeatable hot bore experience and a lovely rustic charm making it well worth the trip. From what we have seen at other artesian bore baths, like the one at Lightning Ridge, it is not even comparable even if there are a few people visiting Charlotte Plains Station. The scenery while soaking in the hot bathtubs is beautiful and we will make the effort to stop in again when passing through on our next Outback adventure.
For more information on Charlotte Plains Station, look at their website here. If you want to keep up to date on our future posts and adventures, join the 4WD Adventurer community here. For more adventure stories you can read them all here.
Thanks for reading legends.
The thoughts of Shayne.
