Day 136 - Saturday 13 May - Traversing the Barkley

Day 136

Saturday

13 May 2017

Alice Springs – Devil’s Marbles – Tennant Creek – Banka Banka Station (Camps 8 NT#81 $10pp)

7.45am and we were up and racing. Well not racing, but we were up and ready to get the day underway. It didn’t take long for us to be ready to head on out and for a change we were on the road before 9, but we needed to make a stop at the dump point in town first, then get fuel and stop at the shop for some groceries. By the time we had done all of that it was 10am, then we were heading out our Alice. We continued the route north along the Stuart Highway passing by the town of Aileron. This has a giant statue of a … man on the hill overlooking the town and a woman and child on the flat. I was able to get a photo as we zoomed by in the car, but still don’t know how I managed it.

 

Soon after Aileron, we passed over the Tropic of Capricorn. There was a layby, info board and a marker indicating we were now entering the tropics, guess it will only get warmer from here on in.

There wasn’t a lot to take our interest for a fair section of the drive. I spent time running sewing repairs of my hat and affixing buttons to Paul’s shorts and my shirt. The things you do when you are a passenger. I have also taken to lifting weights, completing a few sets of various movements and Paul is doing the same. I am sure it has oncoming traffic scratching their heads. They probably think we are waving frantically.

We stopped at a roadside stop at about 1pm for a quick stretch and pee and then we continued o further up the road passing Three Ways and the UFO capital of Australia Wycliffe Well, where the roadhouse is decked out with paraphernalia, including  little green men. A roadside sign promoting fire safety made me laugh; “We like our lizards frilled not grilled”.

For much of the journey from Alice we were greeted by the mounds of termites. From a distance they look quite human-like and as such many have been dressed in various articles of clothing. One was in a dinner suit, another in mining garb, most just in old shirts that were well past their prime and were tatty and falling apart. In some places there were hundreds of them lining the roads and moving off into the distance, they were like a tribe of people emerging from the bush to keep an eye on you and ensure you kept on moving.

By 2pm we had made our first destination, the Devil’s Marbles or Karlu Karlu. We found a spot to park and had our lunch before getting out for a wander and to check the rock formations out. They had the same outer texture as that of Uluru like a potter who was still perfecting their piece. We clambered about and took our photos before getting back in the van and moving on to Tennant Creek.

The warning light for the fuel came on about 40km short of the town, but we didn’t stop and luckily we managed to make it to the BP with fuel to spare. We filled up, after passing through the main street. Tennant Creek is one of the larger towns of the territory, another 1930’s gold rush town, so there is a fair size settlement here.

We had read up on the town in the tourist info books and it hadn’t really peaked either of our interest so as it was only just 4pm we made the decision to keep on moving. Using the camping app I looked up places to stay, choosing Banka Banka station about 80km further on, as a possible spot.

While it was later in the afternoon the temperature was still rising and was now 31. There were also plenty of vans still making their way to somewhere for the night. We passed the time spotting the dead cattle in various states of decay on the side of the road. We also saw plenty grazing off the side of the road. About 30min from Banka Banka, we had to slow down as there was a cow on the road, thankfully it was quick to move off as we approached, but they still make you nervous. We don’t want to run in to one of them.

Just before 5pm we pulled in to the station. There were a few vans parked in the front paddock and it looked like an interesting place to call home for the night. We paid our $10pp and were directed to a spot under a tree. We got cracking with the set up and while Paul change the tyre of the trailer that was now down to the canvas, I went off to explore and take some photos around the yard.

After Paul had finished fitting the new wheel, we walked up the hill for a great view over the property. It was a bit of a goat track through the spinifex and wattle like bushes and over the rock to finally make it to the top where there was a place direction sign. We figured we were about dead centre as Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane were all about the same distance away. We had a laugh at the label for Canberra “Play School” seems pretty fitting.

After making our way back to the van, we poured a drink, grabbed our folding chairs and joined the other holidaymakers around the campfire as “Just George” played some Country and Western tunes. It was a fabulous way to spend the evening.

At the end of the first act, Bob the caretaker came on to tell us about Banka Banka station, which is owned by the ILC (indigenous Land Corp) who run the stations. It was all quite interesting. The property here is about 1500km square in size and they currently have1400 cattle, but this will expand to 3000 next year.

Paul was starting to feel hungry, so we didn’t hang around for the second act. We returned to the van to cook up a big pot of Bolognese using the mince Vi and Trev had given us. It was delicious and there was plenty for another night too.
I worked on my photos while the music played, though it was all done by 8pm.

We stood outside for a while watching the stars, I was going to take photos but there was too much light about the camp for it to be effective. We came back inside instead happy to read our books before bed.