We drove thought Burketown. Not a lot to see. There is a bore you can look at with has an interesting story. The Queensland Government drilled for water in 1897 with the idea Burketown would be a major centre for droving stock in the area. Unfortunately the water is basically unusable as it is not fit to drink. To make matters worse, the bore started to leak and was uncontrollable. Over time, the water has become artesian and is full of all sorts of minerals leaving behind a large mound. The flowing water has now developed an unusual environment in the flooded surrounding area.

As the water it hot, a bathhouse was built in 1940 to take advantage of the heated water. It was a bit tricky for the users, as they had to be careful not to scald themselves, since adjusting the water involved using a valve that mix the bore water with cooled water in a catchment tank on the top of the bathhouse. The users took the risk as traveling the country was a dusty business and a hot shower at the end of the day was pure bliss. I don’t know how you would smell after a nice hot shower using the water from the bore. Bouquet of Fire and Brimstone maybe.

It did surprise me how hot the water was. We could feel the heat of the water as we stood looking at the mound. It seem to be close to boiling hot.