At Nardoo
Station, our guide asks “Want a close look at a bore?” He stops
beside a large curved pipe with a valve protruding from the ground.
He turns the valve and with a roar, a jet of water gushes five metres
out from the pipe.
“That’s hot
water gushing out. It comes from the Great Artesian Basin, a huge
reservoir that sits about 1000 metres below us. The water temperature
is around 60degC, but no one’s quite sure how the water is heated
up. It’s great for the spa though.”
Overuse by farms
over the years has dwindled the pressure and this is the last open
bore, but because Nardoo is tourist oriented, they are allowed to
keep this one. When the bores were at full pressure the water had
double the power.
The
sinking sun creates long shadows, highlighting the farm machinery
strewn around. One of Nardoo’s owners greets us and we settle in
for an outback roast dinner accompanied by a good bottle of
Australian red wine.
We
are told that Nardoo Station is small by outback standards, at around
100,000 acres. It’s been dry for several seasons so they have
diversified more into tourism. There’s so much for people to
discover and with the stock gone the wildlife has moved in. There are
kangaroos, lizards, and plenty of birds, from emus to galahs.
Outside
there’s just a hint of gold on the horizon and the stars glow from
above us. We are offered a spa and take up the chance to lay back in
the artesian waters, with a glass of wine.
The
sound of insects and frogs replaces the birds. A meteorite spears
across the darkness, leaving a trail of light, as it enters the
earth’s atmosphere. In 15 minutes six meteorites and two man-made
satellites cross the sky above us. The Milky Way, the constellation
of stars that we are part of, dominates the central sky as we relax
in the spa.
