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.