Great artesian waters!

I had planned to soak in the bore baths under the stars on our first night - though the reality of the very early start, long drive and setting up camp saw me dozing by the fire quite early (and in bed soon after)!

We explored the next day and although Vaughan was keen to swim then (there was an older couple soaking in the water), the rest of us felt it was too sunny for hot water swimming - so decided to return for starlight bathing that night. 

Even then the water was much hotter than I had expected, so I spent much of the time sitting on the edge with just my feet wet!  It was lovely looking up to the stars and full-ish moon though (which had been apricot/gold when driving out from Lorne Station).

In the days when Nick used to visit Lightning Ridge with his family, the baths were fed directly from the borehead and there was much green slime in the water!  Although he was less impressed with other aspects of the Ridge's development, the rest of us were quite happy with our slime-free bathing!

There is information about the Lightning Ridge bore baths and the artesian basin generally here. I find it very interesting that the temperature of the water varies so widely at the different bore locations. (Yowah's borehead produces water at 57 degrees, which I think is the hottest we have seen).