‘Taking the Waters’: Mineral Springs, Artesian Bores and Health Tourism in Queensland, 1870–1950

In late 1907, Charles Fraser, the Victorian government entomologist, travelled to North Queensland. His observations of the flora and fauna in this part of Australia were later published in the Victorian Naturalist. However, this journey was not motivated entirely by his desire to study natural history. As a sufferer of ‘rhematic [sic] troubles’, he spent a few days soaking in the mineral-impregnated waters at Innot Hot Springs, a small inland village approximately 150 kilometres south-east of Cairns.1 First established in the late 1880s, the tiny settlement is still visited during the winter months by many ‘grey nomads’ en route to Karumba, where the fishing is promoted as being excellent. They break their journey at Innot Hot Springs to soak in the indoor or outdoor swimming pools filled with mineralised water of varying temperatures sourced from the nearby Nettle Creek.2 Some view it simply as a place to relax after the long journey from southern Australia, having perhaps already tried the artesian bore water baths at Moree and Mitchell en route. Others may consider the mineral waters to have healing qualities; like Charles Fraser, they are literally ‘taking the waters’. Whatever their motivations, visitors to Innot Hot Springs are engaging in a very ancient practice. ‘Taking the waters’, or ‘taking the cure’, has a long history — especially in Europe. The practice was usually a quest for healing waters: hot waters, mineral-impregnated waters, cold waters or holy waters. Sometimes invalids sought healing muds and gases. By the nineteenth century, the search for a healing climate could also be part of the ritual, with different parts of the globe (such as the Riviera, southern Italy, California and southern Australia) being promoted as places where invalids would find a cure for various maladies, including the dreaded consumption or tuberculosis.3 Little has been written about the practice of ‘taking the waters’ in Queensland, and the attempts to create an industry around a natural resource in the new colony/state during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The mineral springs at Helidon have attracted the most attention, with Joan Webster’s book on the history of the Helidon Spa Water Company containing comprehensive details about the bottling of the mineralised water for sale throughout Australia and the development of the Helidon Spa Park. The historian Richard White, in his article on mineral spas in Australia, briefly mentions that Innot Hot Springs in