Lorella Springs Wilderness Park in Borroloola, Northern Territory | Park

Lorella Springs Wilderness Park

Locality: Borroloola, Northern Territory

Phone: +61 8 8975 9917

Address: off Savannah Way, between Roper Bar & 0854 Borroloola, NT, Australia

Website: http://www.lorellasprings.com

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• Park
• Static caravan park
• Nature reserve
• Hot spring

25.01.2022 Happy customers right to our very last day! Thanks Ellwood Motorcycle Adventures for being another example of the friendly happy crowds we had the pleasure of welcoming this year!

24.01.2022 #TwitcherTuesday Meet the Great Bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) and the wonderful magenta crest that adorns the back of his head and the nape of his neck. Found in northern Australia from Broome over in WA, to Cape York Peninsula and down as far as Mount Isa, this small bird keeps to the dense bush lands, forests, and mangrove swamps that can sustain its elaborate courtship routines. Here at the Lorella homestead, you might see the Bowerbirds when they pinch the fruits of... our custard apple trees! Have you done our BowerBird Walk in the homestead gardens, and spotted on of the elaborate bowers that this small bird works hard to build? The males, which grow to about 35 cm long, have to construct a twin-walled tunnel bower, stretching 1 metre long and 45 cm high, within a cleared ‘courtyard’ just to catch the glance of a female. And even if he builds and maintains the tallest, most robust bower in the region, he is still not going to get much of a glance if he is not decorating it at either end with hundreds of colourful paraphernalia rocks, seeds, bones, shells, pieces of glass, and all kinds of plastic objects of all kinds of colours. These photos were taken at Lorella right behind the homestead. Photo credit: TJ Collins. Text credit: AustralianGeographic.com.au

24.01.2022 #PhotoFriday Today we are sharing some shots of some of our most ancient residents who call Lorella their home (No, not Rhett ). Last week Wildlife rangers in the Top End caught a 4.4-metre, 350-kilogram saltwater crocodile in a tourist area not far from Katherine.... At Lorella, crocodiles have been living peacefully for a long time and do not get removed... (except 30 years ago when we found an 18-foot salty in our Magical Spring ... just sharing a bit of Lorella trivia ) The weather is warming up and the end of the dry season (August to November) is the best time to see concentrations of crocodiles. Depending on the weather and time of day they may be warming up in the sun or keeping cool in shade or the water. It is also the beginning of the breeding season and it is not uncommon for us to hear, in another few weeks, some little squeaks along the bank of our island-campground (yep, pretty much where your tent might have been earlier in the year ...) Look at this huge croc spotted from the sky during a coastal scenic flight along the Rosie Have you ever seen some crocodiles, big or small, friendly or not, during your holiday at Lorella? Share your pics!

23.01.2022 Gobble gobble gobble!! We love this time of the year, when new life begins at the end of our winter months. Calves, joeys, chicks... and 10 baby turkeys who joined the Lorella family this morning Anyone coming our way who could bring some Turkey Crumble please? ... Photo credit: Mathilde Zecchin

22.01.2022 #MagicMonday What's your Monday morning looking like? Our 2020 season is almost over - only 10 days left to make the most of our natural springs and other attractions on our one-million acre wilderness park ... Have a good week everyone! Photo credit : thealcalloughbys

21.01.2022 #TrickorTreat? We set the scene with the beautifully carved pumpkin this morning, now it is time for the scary part of Halloween at Lorella : thousands of flying foxes arriving at the homestead tonight for their Trick or Treat ... Phew! lucky our paperback trees are full of sugary blossom!

20.01.2022 What do you do in a heat wave? Spend the day at Nanny's Retreat Even better when we have it all to ourselves, and get there one week after some rain (decent rain too going by the water on the road and green grass on the walking track). The grevillea was stunning , the birds were singing and the water was just at perfect temperature in this 42 degree heat wave... (well, after the initial high pitch sound we let out when we first entered the water ).

19.01.2022 Smile! It's Sunday!

19.01.2022 Freshly out of the veggie garden: home grown pumpkin and turkey pie on the menu tonight Just kidding , all flora and fauna protected on Lorella! (Ok, not the pumpkin).

19.01.2022 A couple weeks ago, a small mob of wild cows moved onto the campground and into the homestead gardens. After the initial thought of "oh well, saves us starting the mower!", we started noticing our passion fruit and pumpkin vines shrinking, so it was time to push them out of the homestead area and back into the paddock. Yesterday we were talking about picking one pumpkin and carving it for Halloween. This morning we woke up to find not only Lucy (the little calf we've be...en raising) but also a whole heap of wallabies, and our own turkeys and peacocks munching into two pumpkins, right next to our bedroom door! Oh well, thanks guys, saves us having to do the hard work of carving, but we would have liked to keep the yummy inside of the pumpkin . And with all the passion fruits fallen onto the ground, we ended up making Passion Fruit Butter, yum! Happy #halloween2020 !

18.01.2022 Today we sent our submission . Join us in our efforts to stop Seabed mining along our coastline.

17.01.2022 "When I visited London for the first time at 25, it was like walking through a Monopoly board". Did you hear Rhett on ABC Radio yesterday afternoon, sharing what life was like growing up on a yacht in the Pacific island in the 70's and his family's arrival in the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1984?

15.01.2022 To celebrate #NationalWaterWeek and #AussieBirdCount today we went to Scary Thing Wetlands, and certainly saw a loooot of species out there . How many?! Er... hmm... well.... a lot!

14.01.2022 Had our first millimetre of rain overnight We'd like to think that the Wet is on it's way, (after all, there are predictions for La Niña this year) but going by the forecast online, we're not quite sure what to expect of a forecast that predicts "light rain shower: 0 mm"

14.01.2022 Want more Lorella history? Tune in to ABC radio Darwin at 2 pm today to hear Rhett share a few more Lorella stories!

12.01.2022 Day 1 of being closed for the wet. Aaaahhhh , we can sleep in ... laze around ... day dream .... Or NOT! 6 am and these little cuties are waiting on breakfast! Lorry, Philly and little Jimmy came back with Rhett from Darwin, after being rescued and looked after by loving carers from Wildcare Inc NT. Thanks for choosing Lorella as their release location, they will be very well cared for and loved until they are happy to join the many mobs of agile wallabies that live around the homestead gardens, including Lily, Lala and Loulou who we rescued, raised and released at Lorella and who now occasionally come back for a pat and a slice of sweet potatoe

12.01.2022 Count down has started only 14 days left before our gates are locked and we wave goodbye to our 2020 season This time of year is when we fix up our tracks with a final grade before the wet, so that it packs down nicely with the rain, and makes it easier to reopen the following season. So for those of you visiting us in the next two weeks, all our tracks have now been graded and are ready for you to enjoy

11.01.2022 #LorellaBedTimeStory As we are nearing the end of our 2020 tourist season, this week we found ourselves starting to day dream and wonder about the next untouched piece of Lorella that we would like to go and explore, and possibly open up one day. It brought back some memories of how I discovered a place on Lorella that is particularly close to my heart. ...Continue reading

11.01.2022 #LorellaSundayAfternoonStory So Rhett, where did the name Nanny's Retreat come from? "When my family first arrived in the Gulf region, Mum and I flew over the Yiyintyi range. It was stunning, isolated and remote. Often, when us kids would fight and carry on, my mum would say if you don’t stop now, I might just run away to the hills and go build a little shack and hide away in the Yiyintyi! Thankfully she never did leave us (we kept fighting though as siblings do) but t...he day I finally walked into Nannys’ Retreat and discovered its beauty, immediately I thought of her and named it after her. It has become and still is her favourite place on Lorella." Have you been to Nanny's Retreat? Photo credits : @AndreaEndacott, @LiamElliston, Jean Winterfield, @JohnVanarey, This is living, Travellin_coopers, @JaylieMaddaford, @TheBellLap, @JessCarroll.

07.01.2022 Bird watchers and nature lovers: a morning or picnic lunch at Scary Thing Swamp is a must! What lurks inside this tree lined wetland forest.... SPLASH, THUMP, MOOOW, RUSTLE... Sooo many sounds of life Crocs?! Yes, very likely, so don't get eaten! ... Don't forget to take your binoculars and a copy of our Lorella bird watching list!

07.01.2022 What do you do when you are closed for the wet and have too much time on your hands? A. Make a David Attenborough type of documentary about members of the Papilionoidea family in their natural habitat... Or... B. Make an action movie about Butterfly baddies in combat. ... Press 'Play' to find out

07.01.2022 #TwitcherTuesday A lot of our repeats have been asking about our pet emu Beep and whether he is still with us. Well, not 100% sure about this, but we reckon when we pulled up on the Tawallah Track and called out "Beeeeep!!", he sort of, kind of, seemed to raise his ears () at the sound of our voice...... Ok, he didn't quite turn around to come and give us a cuddle, but then again he looked rather busy with his babies. Still looked pretty relaxed and not afraid of us at all. So, to answer your question, we would like to think that Beep the 1st, 2nd and following, lived and are living happily ever after on Lorella The end.

06.01.2022 30 mm of rain overnight, followed by a nice cool overcast day.

05.01.2022 #FridayFeedback Today we've started packing the homestead but then it was time for a cuppa and before you know it turned into a reading session , going through our last few years' visitor books. Despite a very late start to our season (mid June instead of early April) our 2020 visitor book was once again jam packed from front to back page, 60 pages of happy, friendly, positive, kind and grateful words - we cannot thank you enough all who visited us this year, for choo...sing Lorella and therefore supporting our business in this very unique season . Thank you also to all who could not visit us this year yet still kept in touch and sent us your words of support online too. When you come and visit us make sure you write in our book, sitting on the front counter, and put a dot on your home town on the map on the front page. We've kept our visitors books from the last 6 years, they are all prepared and sent to me by my mother-in-law from France every year, and each year I look forward to seeing what she has come up with for the front page design. For those who forgot to write in our book this year, you can still share your feedback on the many online alternatives: Facebook, TripAdvisor or WikiCamp. Ok, time to keep packing! Cheers. Rhett

03.01.2022 15th Oct, 1 pm, our last visitors have literally just left the property, our 2020 tourist season is officially over and Lorella is now closed for the wet season. Talk about perfect timing for our first rain of the year at the homestead , the whole 1 mm of it .

03.01.2022 Are you participating in the #AussieBirdCount,? We did our first two counts today, one in the morning and one this afternoon. With trees flowering and/or blossoming in the gardens and along the creek, it was very hard to actually count them but we could hear them for sure! In addition to the regular locals of Lorella's homestead gardens - Lorikeets, cockatoos, doves, bowerbirds and honeyeaters, we also had a special appearance (as if they knew they were being recorded!) of a Nankeen Night Heron by the Magical Spring, and an Australian White ibis who casually walked past the homestead this afternoon in the middle of our 20-minute count!

02.01.2022 Only 5 WEEKS left before the end of our 2020 season The weather is warming up which means now is the perfect time to enjoy a cold swim at spring fed Stock Camp Swimming Pool; paddle with our kayaks at Gateway Gorge, or try to catch your dinner at Barramundi Billabong! Or else just sit under a shady tree at the beach and be amazed at how much wildlife you can spot with your binoculars! Will you be visiting us before our doors close on 15th October?... Photo credits : @FrankiesTrek, @StephaniePackwood, Where 2 Next,

02.01.2022 Only 4 weeks left before we close the doors. Things are quieting down, so this morning we decided to take a little drive and go for a paddle at Crocodile Spring before breakfast. The weather is overcast again and both the land and wildlife appear to be grateful for the drizzle we got yesterday. In a 2-hour period, we saw so much wildlife, it reminds us why we love this time of the year so much (and why it is worth getting up early!): Brolgas, Sea Eagle, Kites, Azur King F...isher, Dingoes, butterflies, frogs and lizards, native bees, wild pigs, Bush Bustards and even a family of Emus! And all that within a few minutes from the homestead Ironically, even though we were at crocodile Spring, we did not see any crocodile! Have a good weekend everyone!

01.01.2022 Spend $1,000 in tourism and the NT government gives you $200. Righteo At $20 a night, $1000 spent = 50 camping nights at Lorella. Oh... it is to be used October to March only... and oh... we close on the 15th October... so, really, you only have 14 nights Okie Dokie. So 50-nights worth used in 14 nights... that is 3.5 people per night x 14 nights, just for that one booking. Easy. Just find two and half friends, and we will see you on the 1st October!