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| Heave Ho at Devils Marbles |
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| Sliced like a loaf - Devils Marbles |
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| Inside Daley Waters Pub |
Not a lot of interest on the drive of 350kms though the scenery was pleasant enough. Have I mentioned the speed limit in N.T. is 130km on most of the highways. Not many people seem to drive at that speed, but then again, most are towing caravans. Everyone seems sensible & courteous about passing etc though we have seen a few cars which have run off the road, more than likely tired drivers late in the day. We stopped at a free rest area at Taylor Creek with lots of other vans at about 3.30pm & again experienced a cold night.
Next morning it was a break at the 'Devil's Marbles', an impressive area of huge, spherical granite rocks doing a great balancing act on top of each other. They were formed by centuries of wind & erosion, & are scattered across a shallow valley south of Tennant Creek on the Stuart Highway. There was a lovely picnic area there where we had morning tea in the sun, though it was a cold southerly breeze. Were visited by a lone dingo - he looked in good condition & tame but I didn't test that out but got close enough to take his photo. Shortly after we turned off to a similar area called 'The Pebbles' similar to the Marbles but a smaller version, thus the name.
The next stop is at Tennant Creek, one of the largest & most isolated townships in the N.T. It is best remembered as the home of the Overland Telegraph & Australia's last goldrush. It now serves as the town for the vast open grass plains, scattered cattle stations, mines & aboriginal communities of the 240,000 square kms of the Barkly Tablelands on the edges of the Tanami Desert. Fuel is now up to $1.77 & will probably be even higher the further north we go. Definitely the major cost for this 'expedition'. We ended the day after about 500kms of driving, more than we normally do as it gets pretty boring & tiring for my 'chauffeur'. Found another free rest area at Newcastle Water at about 4.30pm, luckily still room for us & a few more. There were about 20+ vans in there by dusk, fairly tightly packed I must say. It pays to try & arrive about 3pm or you can miss out & it was particularly important this time as the next one was another 95kms further on.
Our first stop next morning was to have been a visit to the old derelict town of Newcastle Waters, but when we arrived at the turnoff we discovered the road was closed due to heavy rain a few days before. It was disappointing as we thought it would be a great photographic opportunity, but totally out of our control. Continuing on we called into Daly Waters, just a whistle stop really. It has the distinction of being Australia's first international airfield from the 1930's through to 1965 when it was closed to commercial traffic. During WWII military traffic replaced civilian air traffic. The main tourist attraction in the area has to be the old historic pub established in 1930 which serviced passengers & crew arriving at the airfield. It has also become famous for the memorabilia adorning it's walls, from signed T shirts donated by passing travellers, to foreign bank notes, telephone cards, bras, men's underwear, & other countless things too many to mention. It really is a quaint & amusing place. Apparently serves good food as well but we can't vouch for that. Throughout the dry season there is nightly entertainment & as it has cabins, a motel & camping ground, I imagine it is well patronised. Also sold diesel at $1.94! Only a short distance along the road is Stuart's Tree, another memorial to the explorer John McDoull Stuart. Naturally I had to take my Stuart's photo there.
The landscape now changes to what they call the Savannah. There are lots of small waterholes at present, attracting lots of white egrets & other birdlife. There are also lots of birds of prey about, either flying around in circles near the highway, or cleaning up road kill. We were not sure what the roadkill actually was apart from one wallaby, but the others I thought looked like bilby's which are a little like part hare, part wallaby - strange little creatures. Also thousands of termite mounds in the bush along the highway, which kept us both amused because some of them looked like the most comical things from a distance. One I saw I was sure was King Kong, lots like little gnomes & castles, & Stu thought he saw the Madonna. We have to do something to ease the boredom of some long stretches, though frankly I don't get bored. There's always music, & reading up on the next destination, plus I try to keep up a bit of a commentary for Stu who doesn't always have the opportunity to see things while he is concentrating on the driving. TAnd of course there are my notes for this blog to keep up to date as we travel, otherwise I forget the small details. The wind has been behind us for the last 2 days, which has been a large bonus as far as fuel consumption goes - we sure need it! We finally see some stock, a large number of brahman cattle. The trees have become larger now & there are some beautiful wildflowers along the highway, many yellow flowered shrubs, another beautiful pinky/purple one which I believe is called Turkey Bush, plus lovely mauve ground cover. It is amazing to see tractors cutting the grass along the sides of the highway way out here in the middle of nowhere, but it is a fire detterent. At one stage there were 3 in the same area. Goodness knows how they keep up with it all, but it's possibly a much bigger task this year due to all the rain. We reach Mataranka, which will be our home for 2 days. The camp is situated next to a lovely thermal pool amidst large palms which is free to not just those in the camp, but the public as well. This area was also damaged extensively by the floods & was closed for a period of time. Luckily for us it is all OK now, so a few hours after our arrival we 'partook of the waters'. Met another kiwi couple from Takapuna in the pool, so it was nice to compare notes. We will no doubt encounter them again as they are heading in the same direction. There is evening entertainment at the restaurant/bar in the camp this evening, but we are happy to stay 'at home'.
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| Blue Winged Kookaburra |
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| Bitter Springs thermal stream Mataranka |
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| Jan partaking of the waters |
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