Devils Marbles and a Snake

Monday 30^th May

Happy birthday Luke.  We hope you enjoy your first day at school.

We left TENNANT CREEK at about 10.00am and continued our journey south towards ALICE SPRINGS.   There was quite a strong cross wind which rocked us around a fair bit, so we kept our speed down to about 90pkh.  Our first stop along the way was at The Devils Marbles, which are about 115km south of TENNANT CREEK, and  just north of the small township of WAUCHOPE, and you can pronounce that however you like because we don’t know how to.

Now you’ve probably all seen pictures of the Devils Marbles, huge big round rocks precariously balanced on each other.  They are often advertised alongside Uluru and The Olgas as some of Australia’s natural wonders.  Usually the pictures do more than what the real thing actually is, and we kept an open mind about just what we would see.  Well, for once the pictures didn’t do it justice. 

They were amazing.  Huge granite boulders piled haphazardly on top of each other, some looking like they are due to topple at any moment. 

They are apparently formed by millions of years of erosion of the softer ground around them, and are just a small part of a huge slab of granite still buried in the ground under them.  They were visible over an area of about 50 hectares.  Some of them had been split in half by the action of the various metals imbedded in them being exposed to the weather.  An amazing example of nature at work.  

Absolutely fascinating and definitely a highlight of our trip so far.  They are right beside the road, and you literally drive right up to them.  Cameron had a ball climbing all over, around and in some cases, under them.  He certainly didn’t have the fear that I did, that they looked like they might topple over at any minute.  Needless to say the cameras were running hot.

Our next stop was for fuel and lunch at WYCLIFFE WELL, 20 or so kilometres further south.  This place is known as the UFO Centre of Australia, because of the numerous sightings of UFOs that have been reported there.  The road house and the adjacent Caravan Park were adorned with statues of little green aliens and UFOs.  Whether or not it was something in the local water we don’t know, but we didn’t see any while we were there.

While we were having our lunch in the car park, a large truck carrying a loader pulled in, and as usual Cameron went and had a chat with the driver.  Next thing he is sitting in the cab getting more truck driving lessons.

We continued south for another 100 odd km until we got to BARROW CREEK, which was established as an Overland Telegraph Station like the one at TENNANT CREEK.  In fact TENNANT CREEK and BARROW CREEK were adjacent Telegraph Stations in the old days, passing messages by Morse code to one another up and down the line.  Again the original buildings had been preserved. 

We had a look at the old buildings, and then wandered next door to the pub which was built not long after the Telegraph Station.

There were about half a dozen people sitting outside having a beer when we went into the bar.  Crikey did this place have atmosphere.  The walls, doors, windows, in fact everything was absolutely covered with graffiti, old hats, foreign bank notes, flags of various nations, posters, etc, etc.  Messages from travellers from all over the world. 

We had a beer and some chips, and while Christel and I were reading some of the literature on the walls, Cameron wandered outside, only to come rushing back in yelling “Mum, Dad, come here quick. There’s a man with a black headed python out here.” 

Sure enough, a road worker had turned up with a young python draped around his shoulders, and was showing it to the people seated outside.

He told us he had caught it a couple of weeks ago when it came crawling out of the scrub while we was working on the side of the road.  He was keeping it as a pet.   He said it was only a young one, about four and a half years old and was 180cms long. When fully grown it would reach up to 3 meters in length, and has often been described as the most beautiful snake in the world.  This one was certainly a beautiful specimen, as docile as anything, and was quite happy just wrapping itself all over the guy.

Naturally Cameron had to have a hold,

and even Christel overcame her fear and allowed the snake to be draped around her neck.  What a fantastic experience. 

Travelling on the road doesn’t get much better than this.

While we were enjoying the experience of snake cuddling, we got chatting to the other people and found out they were four young people from PARIS touring Australia before heading to New Zealand.  Like us, they found the snake experience absolutely amazing.

We left BARROW CREEK on a high and continued south, hoping to make the TI TREE ROAD HOUSE as our next overnight stop. This would leave us with a run of about 200km to ALICE SPRINGS tomorrow.  We got to TI TREE just on 5.00pm, and were soon set up in the caravan park beside the Roadhouse.  What an incredible day.

Tennant Creek

Sunday 29 May 2011

We left the BARLKY ROADHOUSE at about 10.00 and headed for THREE WAYS, which is the road junction where the Barkly Highway meets the Stuart Highway, which runs from Adelaide to Darwin.  To give you an idea of the road conditions, once we had got up to 100kph, I set the Cruise control and sat back.  It was 50 km before we came to the first slight bend in the road, and it wasn’t until we got to THREE WAYS at a distance of 195 km, that I had to use my feet, and that was to brake as we approached the intersection.  For that whole time the Cruise Control kept us at a steady 100 kph.   Straights of 30 and 40 km were not unusual. The BARKLY ROADHOUSE was about a third of the way along a 77.7km straight, our longest so far.

Unlike the previous day, this time we travelled the whole way through scrub land, with lots of it showing the effects of a recent fire.  We think this was probably a controlled burn off, carried out near the road to help control any actual bushfire, should it occur. 

At THREE WAYS we turned south on the Stuart Highway,

and about 12km later stopped at the old Tennant Creek Telegraph Station.  This was one of the stations that were established when the first overland telegraph line was put in, from ADELAIDE to DARWIN, between 1870 and 1872.  The stations were placed 200 miles apart and acted as repeater Stations passing messages by Morse code from one to another.  Although no longer used, all the original buildings are still standing. 

Today, the Stuart Highway basically follows the route of the original Telegraph Line. Back in NZ, I had read quite a bit about the establishment of the line, and about some of the people who had worked in the stations, in particular the Tennant Creek Station, so it was quite good to actually visit it.

Another 10 km had us at TENNANT CREEK, and we were soon booked in at the Outback Motor Camp, which had been recommended to us by fellow travellers.  One of the reasons was their nightly show by an old chap who specialises in Aboriginal Bush Tucker, and bush poetry.  Apparently his show is a must see.  TENNANT CREEK is based on the mining industry, and the town is nestled in the McDouall Ranges.  Quite a pretty setting, but the town itself is nothing to write home about.  We had a look around town and went up to a view point for some photos.

TENNANT CREEK is the first town we have been to, where the population is predominantly Aborigines, and sad to say, we are not very impressed with them or their rather strong body odour.  Makes grocery shopping a whole new experience, trying to hold your shopping trolley with one hand, holding your nose with the other, and at the same time trying to load groceries into your trolley.  We had been warned.

We had been told the view point was a great place to view the sunset, so before tea we shot up there to watch the sunset and get some photos. 

After tea we went to the Aboriginal Bush Tucker show. The guy, who does the show, Jimmy Hooker, is a white Australian who was bought up in the bush, and spent a lot of his childhood living with the Aboriginals.  As a consequence he learnt a lot about their bush ways, and he incorporates this knowledge into his show.  We sat around a camp fire while he showed us various edible plants which we got to try, cooked up some witchetty grubs which we also tried, and showed us some plants which the aborigines used for various medicinal purposes.  He also entertained us with some of his bush poetry.  Quite an enjoyable evening

Tomorrow we will continue south towards ALICE SPRINGS.  We are planning to stop off and see the Devils Marbles on the way, and may stay the night.  We’ll see what happens.

Mt Isa to Barkly Homestead

Saturday 28^th May.

Well, here we are at the BARKLY HOMESTEAD ROADHOUSE, after a very smooth run from MT ISA.  Soon after leaving Mt ISA we came out of the Selwyn Ranges and then it was back to long flat straights with nothing but flat land as far as the eye could see.  We set the cruise control to 100kph, and then sat back and watched the scenery, or rather lack of it, slide by.  The only difference we found was that we were now starting to see termite mounds everywhere.  In places the landscape was literally covered with them.

Our first stop was CAMOOWEAL where we fuelled up and had lunch. Here we struck our first indication of outback fuel prices, at $1.92 per litre.  13 km after CAMOOWEAL, we crossed into the Northern Territory.   

The first thing we noticed once we entered ‘The Territory‘ was the change in the speed limit. Up to the border it was 110kph, but after the border it jumped to 130kph. 

Maybe it’s because they have further to go?  The other thing we had to do was put our clocks back half an hour.

Apart from that, there was nothing to indicate you are changing states, just a sign on the side of the road saying ‘Welcome to the Northern Territory’.  The road just kept forging ahead kilometre after kilometre through the middle of nowhere.  With no roadside fences, buildings, or anything else, you have the impression you are driving through an endless paddock.

Between CAMOOWEAL and the BARKLY ROADHOUSE there was virtually nowhere to stop for the night, apart from AVON DOWNS which was just a road side parking area and two other roadside parking areas beside station bores.

We got to the BARKLY ROADHOUSE at about 3.30 and were soon booked into a caravan site, behind the Roadhouse. 

When we went to unhook the van, we found the plug for the power lead for the indicators, lights, and brake lights, going from the car to the van had somehow come unhooked and had obviously been dragging on the road for some time.  All that was left was some very frayed ends of the wires.

Luckily when we had the wiring redone while we were in Tasmania, they had left quite a bit of extra length which meant we were able to connect a new plug without any problems.  Luckily also, I had kept the old plug I had used when we had the initial wiring problem, so we were soon up and running again.  We have no idea why the plug pulled out.  We know it was put in properly before we left MT ISA, so it’s a bit of a mystery. We just hope it doesn’t happen again.

After an early dinner, we wandered over to the Roadhouse, which also serves as a Service Station, Restaurant, Office for the Camp Ground, General Store and Pub. 

We enjoyed a couple of beers and a game of cards in the bar, before wandering back to the van for showers and bed.  Tomorrow we will be in TENNANT CREEK.

Mount Isa

Tuesday 24^th May

We left CLONCURRY at about 9.30, heading for MT ISA 123 km away.  As soon as we left CLONCURRY we entered a range of rocky hills.  After travelling for days through dead flat land, this made a nice change, like driving on New Zealand type roads.  Winding up and down.  According to our maps it was the Selwyn Range, and we travelled through it for the whole 123 km to MT ISA. 

It was all real wilderness country with nothing but hills, rocky outcrops, and scrubby trees.  The most common trees were covered with yellow flowers, which gave the whole countryside a yellow covering.

This area is all mining country with uranium, tin, copper and zinc all being mined, and of course the reason MT ISA exists.

About 60km out of CLONCURRY we stopped at a Cairn on the side of the road which marked the spot where the explorers Burke and Wills had camped in 1861, during their ill fated exploration trip from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. 

It was quite something to stand at this spot and realise they would have been looking at the country side and seeing it the same as we were.  Made you realise just what a challenge they would have had plodding through here, with their camels and horses, with no roads or tracks, not knowing where they would find their next water, and living off the land.

There was quite a bit of traffic on this road, especially Road Trains, which outnumbered cars by about 3 to 1.  Some of them were monsters with four trailers in tow.  Luckily it was a good two lane highway with plenty of room, and meeting them posed no great problems.  We even managed to pass one going the same way as us, on one of the hills with a passing lane.

Our first indication that we were getting close to MT ISA were two huge chimneys sticking up above the hills on the skyline. 

As we came into town we could see they were part of the huge mining complex which dominates the town.

Know All Nancy took us straight to our camp ground and we were soon set up.  At long last we again had some phone coverage and were able to contact the manufacturers of our caravan water heater, and make arrangements to get it fixed.  A switch would be flown out from Brisbane and a local repair firm was contacted to do the repairs.  We have booked in for three nights here, and hopefully will be able to get the heater fixed in that time.

As is usual in the larger towns, we headed for the Information Centre to find out what there was to see and do.  We wanted to do a mine tour and made enquiries with a lady at the desk.  She booked us on a 3 hour underground tour for tomorrow, Wednesday.  As part of the booking, we had to sign Indemnity Forms, clearing the Mining Company of any responsibility for accidents etc.  Part of the form required our name and address.  When the lady at the counter saw Christel write down Inglewood New Zealand, she says, “I‘ve been there.  You’ve got the Fun Ho Factory with the toy fire engine on the roof. I was there on holiday in March. We stayed in New Plymouth, and drove around the mountain.  We had a look in the Fun Ho Factory, and went up to Dawson Falls.  It was great.”  Small world isn’t it.  We chatted to her about her trip for quite a while.  It was almost like talking to someone from home again.

After that, we had a drive around the city and did some grocery shopping and other bits and pieces.  Then it was back to camp.

Wednesday 25^th May

After a leisurely morning doing school work and chores, it was off for our mine tour.  Cameron wasn’t over keen about going underground, but said he would give it a try.  First of all we were given an introduction about mining at MT ISA.  We learnt that it was the world’s single largest producer of copper, silver, lead, and zinc.  That makes it quite a significant part of Australia’s natural resources, and of course, earns the country lots of revenue from its exports.

After this, we were all kitted out with overalls, equipment belts, gumboots and hardhats, before being taken to the mine head where we were also given headlamps that attached to our helmets, and huge heavy battery cases that we attached to our belts.

Then we went to the lift cage that took us down into the mine.  Once at the bottom of the shaft we boarded an electric train that took us along a tunnel closer to the working area of the mine.  I should point out that it was not a working mine, but a replica set up specifically for the tourist trade.  We were told it was identical in every aspect except it wasn’t worked.

For the next two hours we walked around tunnels, learning all about the lives of miners and the tools they worked with.  They had even taken the trouble to put the machinery, normally found in a working mine, in place to help create the realism.  It was an excellent tour and we all learned heaps.  Cameron had no problems at all, and as the only child on the tour got to throw the switch that simulated a blast at the mine face.  For this we all had to don ear muffs as well.  Cameron also got to ride in the driver’s cab for the return train journey back to the access shaft.

After the tour, we had another look around town before going back to camp.  Cameron went off to play with some kids, two girls, and soon came back with two turtles the girls had caught in a yabbie net, in the creek beside the camp.  Needless to say that was the last we saw of him for the evening.  The girls have been staying here for two weeks, as part of a three and a half year trip around Aussie.  They also had a photo that had been taken in the same creek, of a small fresh water crocodile, so as soon as it got dark, Cameron grabbed a torch, and they all went off croc hunting.  No luck though.

Thursday 26^th May.

We made enquiries this morning with the firm that have been booked to fix our heater.  They advised they had received the switch but still hadn’t received a work order to do the work.  They were chasing it up but were getting the run around.  They rang us at lunch time to say it was all go, and we were booked in to have the work done tomorrow, Friday.  So it was another lazy day around camp. 

Cameron and the two girls spent the first couple of hours doing their respective school work, and then the girls arrived out our caravan with their two turtles and a yabbie, and invited Cameron to join them on a turtle picnic,

which they promptly set up under our awning, complete with a doll.  Oh Dear!!!!

The rest of the day was spent blogging washing and lots of other little chores.  We hardly saw Cameron all day which was good for him.

Friday 27^th May

Nine o’clock this morning found us, complete with caravan, at the refrigerator repair place that was going to fix our heater.  We expected to drop the van off and leave it with them for the day, but the guy said he would have a look at it straight away and see what was involved.  Half an hour later we drove away with the switch replaced and everything back in working order.  Brilliant service.

After dropping the van back at the campground, we went sightseeing around town, including going up to a lookout with good views of the town and the mine,

had McDonalds and Subway for lunch, and then went out to nearby Lake Moondarra for a look.

Then it was back to the caravan for a beer and tea.  As soon as we got back to the caravan, Cameron took off to play with the girls.  He must have been having a good time because he didn’t even come home for tea. 

Now that we have hot water again, we will continue on towards ALICE SPRINGS.  Tomorrow we will try and get as far as the BARKLY HOMESTEAD ROADHOUSE, which is about 470 km.  From there it will be just under 200 km to the Stuart Highway, where we will turn south towards ALICE SPRINGS.

Shitbox Rally and the Walkabout Creek Hotel

Monday 23^rd May

Today we intended to travel from WINTON to MACKINLAY.  On the way we had intended to stop at the Combo waterhole, which is the Billabong thought to have given Banjo Patterson the inspiration to write the song Waltzing Matilda, but that was not to be. 

We knew that access to the waterhole was down an 8km dirt road not suitable for caravans, and had planned to leave the van at a parking area by the main road.  When we got to the spot where the access road left the main road, there was nowhere to even pull off the road, let alone park the van, so we flagged it and carried on towards MCKINLAY and the home of the ‘Walkabout Creek Hotel’, from the film Crocodile Dundee.

As we travelled from WINTON towards MCKINLAY, we were getting passed by lots of cars, all with sign writing and decorations on them.  They were obviously part of a Fun Car Rally of some sort.  When we got to the Walkabout Creek Hotel, quite a few of these cars were pulled up there.  We got chatting to some of the crews and found out they were doing a Fund Raiser for Cancer, travelling from Brisbane to Darwin.  They called it the ‘Shitbox Rally’.  You can find out more by googling www.shitboxrally.com.au .  They had 110 cars registered for the rally, and had so far raised over $600,000.

To enter the Rally you first of all had to buy a car worth not more than $1000, hence the term ‘shitbox’, and then raise $4000.  As you will see by their website they were driving these cars over some pretty rough tracks as part of their route.  Just goes to show you don’t need a flash car to enjoy the outback.

They were a great bunch of mostly young people having a great time and raising money for a really good cause.  We spoke to the organiser and he said he was motivated to organise the rally after losing both his parents in one year to Cancer.  This was the second year he had run it, and planned to have many more.  It was really great to see so many young people doing something positive.

Unfortunately, having so many of them stopping at the pub meant it was a bit crowded and noisy.  Never mind we still managed to have a beer at the bar and get some photographs of this famous Australian Icon. We didn’t see Paul Hogan there, but with so many people milling about, we may have missed him!!!.

Having not stopped at the Combo Waterhole, we were now running ahead of schedule, so instead of stopping at MCKINLAY for the night as planned, we decided to push on to CLONCURRY. We arrived here at about 3.30pm, and after setting up camp, had a drive around town.  Nothing much to see except lots of road trains, some with four trailers in tow. 

Tonight we had a real Aussie outback meal; Damper with jam and golden syrup, followed by a cup of tea.  This was the best damper Christel had ever cooked.  Absolutely yummy. I’m thinking of hiring her out to the National Australian Tourism Board so she can teach Aussies how to REALLY cook damper.  

 From here to MOUNT ISA is only 120 odd km, so it’ll be a cruisy day tomorrow.

Dinosaur Day

Sunday 22^nd May

We had booked to visit 2 Dinosaur Attractions.  The first was a centre where they process the fossilised bones which have been dug up in the surrounding area, and the second was a site where they discovered and preserved thousands of fossilised Dinosaur Footprints.

For some reason the area around WINTON was obviously quite heavily populated with Dinosaurs a couple of million years ago.  Well actually to be more precise between 65 and 250 million years ago.  They think the WINTON area, and we are talking about a couple of thousands square miles here, was at the edge of a huge inland sea, and consequently it was an ideal habitat for the dinosaurs. Anyhow, their bones keep popping up all over the place and this keeps the Palaeontologists very happy and also very busy.

The first place we visited was basically a huge storage shed where they store the bones that are found, until they get a chance to categorise them.  Most of the bones are fossilised in rock and they are bought to the centre still encrusted in the surrounding rock.  Before they remove the bone and rock from the site where they are found, they wrap it in a plaster of Paris cast to protect it.

When they get a chance, they set to work trying to separate the bone from the rock.  To do this they use instruments like dentist’s drills. 

Once the bone is free from the rock, it is then identified, and whenever possible, pieced together with other bones to try and build up a skeleton.  Slow and painstaking work.  They currently have enough bones stored in the shed to keep them out of trouble for the next 15 or so months, and have identified enough dig sites to keep them going for at least another thirty years.

They have recently discovered three new species of dinosaur which they have called Banjo, (after Banjo Patterson the poet who wrote Waltzing Matilda), Matilda, for obvious reasons, and Wade after one of the Palaeontologists.

The site where they are doing the processing, is up on an escarpment, away out in farmland, 23 km east of WINTON, and 11 km south down a very dusty gravel road. From the top of the escarpment we could see for miles out to the horizon and the curvature of the Earth.

The second place, where the footprints are located, was 112 km south of WINTON, half of which was a gravel road, so we had quite a bit of travelling to do in order to see both sites.

We got out to the second site just in time for their 2:00 guided tour.  Besides ourselves, there was only one other couple doing the tour.  First of all we were given an explanation of what had caused the preservation of the site, and then we watched an excellent animated video of what they believe had occurred with the dinosaurs at the time the footprints were made.  Basically two groups of small bird like dinosaurs, varying in size from a modern day chicken to an Emu, came down to the water’s edge to drink, and while there, they were surprised by a big mean meat eater, who charged in and grabbed one for his dinner.  All fascinating stuff.

Following that, we were taken into a huge room built over and around the actual ground where the footprints were found, and suddenly we were staring at 95 million year old dinosaur footprints.   The foot prints varied in size from 4cm for the small bird dinosaurs to 51cm for the meat eater.

Absolutely mind boggling.  Our guide pointed out the prints of the bird like dinosaurs, where they had come down to drink, and then scattered as the big fella arrived, and also the huge prints of the meat eater as he left the area with his prey. We were left speechless, staring at the evidence of a scene that had occurred 95 million years ago.

For once, Cameron was almost stuck for words.  After looking at pictures and reading about dinosaurs for most of his young life, he was suddenly, basically face to face with them.  During both tours he asked some very probing and sensible questions, and we are sure, came away much more knowledgeable about one of his favourite hobbies.

After a very dusty drive back to WINTON, we called in at one of the lovely old pubs for a nice cold beer, before going back to camp for tea. 

An extremely full, enjoyable and informative day for all of us.

Tomorrow we will continue our journey north east.  Hopefully we will get as far as the small township of MCKINLAY, the location of the ‘Walkabaout Creek Hotel’, from the film Crocodile Dundee.  On the way we will do a side trip to visit the Billabong which is thought to be the site and inspiration for the song Waltzing Matilda.  Be sure to tune in for the next episode.