Jun 26

Ever Northward

by in People we've met, Places we've been, Things we've seen

We left Alice and headed north again on Tuesday (I think). The Stuart highway is a bit like the Hume – boring, although its only two lanes. If we were driving something different it might be OK but 130 in the truck is not fun. There are also some unrestricted bits of the road. Would you believe there is no outdoor advertising in this state. But there was a bit of a break crossing the “tropic of Capricorn”……

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At some point, I think still a little south of the tropic of Capricorn latitude we passed over the highest point of the Stuart Highway between Adelaide and Darwin….

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It doesn’t actually tell you how high you are but I guess that’s cos we are so far from any ocean its a bit hard to judge how high above sea level it is! It all must be pretty flat where we’ve been over the last 8 weeks though because the fuel economy keeps improving – we’re down to 19.6l/100km. Part of that also must be attributed to the new engine management chip. Its better than a 10% improvement over last year. At an average fuel rate of $1.65 per litre we should save over $600 for this trip, however we have spent or will spend it on accommodation as caravan parks are quite expensive here ($50.00 per night at Kings Canyon for example) and the few free camps are typically full before lunchtime as we pass by.

Took a detour to a place that looked interesting on the map – Gemtree. 70 km up the Stuart from Alice and another 70km east we expected an Andamooka or even a Yowah. What we got was not any one of them. Really just a low end roadhouse with a caravan park that stood amongst rocks in which the avid fossicker could find zircon or garnet. Garnet! This is the stuff you get on low end sandpaper. Maybe all these fossickers have an axe to grind. But some who experienced the search that we met further on reckoned it was worth a night or two scratching around in the dirt. This is how attractive the place looks……DSC05065 (1024x683) DSC05066 (1024x683) DSC05067 (1024x683) DSC05068 (1024x683) DSC05069 (1024x683)

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The same people we met later did say though that the local hospitality and the billabong bistro meals were excellent. Just as well we left Alice with full tanks cos there was no diesel available in Gemtree until the next weeks delivery arrived.

Back to the highway and on to Aileron, the next spot on the map. Roadhouse, caravan park and hordes of non-reflective people milling about with slabs for deodorant (underarm that is). Didn’t appeal as an overnight so on to Ti-Tree, just a bit further up. Another roadhouse but slightly more enticing. After dinner guest from Germany, Melanie, entertained with stories of her love life, travels and mishaps. Travelling by herself now from Darwin she was in a rental campervan, going on to Alice and then back. Had already done the east coast. Tried for another sunset shot … failed again but the dusk sky was interesting….

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but a fairly reasonable spot to have parked up for the night.

We were headed for the Devils Marbles from here but made another stop along the way at Barrow Creek, the site of another historic Telegraph Station. The telegraph station was certainly interesting but perhaps somewhat eclipsed by DSC05103 DSC05105 (1024x683) DSC05106 (1024x683) DSC05107 (1024x683) DSC05108 (1024x683) DSC05109 (1024x683) DSC05110 (1024x683) DSC05111 (1024x683) DSC05113 (1024x683) the eclectic tavern…….

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Probably not the place you would choose to experience haute cuisine but the truckie that provided us shade was tucking into a plate of beans like it was his last fine meal…

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and the dogs were actually real live ones. Dunno what they did to warrant their incarceration in the sin bin.

Then there was Wauchope….

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where lots of non-reflective people and little green men have landed to spend their ration vouchers.

Well we made it finally to The Devils Marbles and found half of Australia was already there. Managed to find a couple of sites side by side after another couple moved over for us and set up shop before we went sight seeing….

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Words can’t do justice to the spectacle of this landscape…..

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and there’s not enough space on these pages to display all of our shots. You’ve gotta gotta go.

Onwards, ever onwards. Tennant Creek next, small town with shops and all, but clearly a very high indigenous population. Out to the visitor information centre east of town which really didn’t help our decision making. A mine tour was on offer at $49.00 per head if we chose to wait around for a couple of hours but having done other such tours over past years it didn’t have a lot of appeal so we moved on to the local water supply where we were attacked by a flock of killer geese (although they became friendly enough after I took their photos) and then to the old Tennant Creek telegraph station……

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I’m guessing the old batteries illustrated were eventually superseded by the plastic wrapped models above. These were used to power the telegraph line in some way which defeats my understanding.

Next overniter was Threeways. The intersection of the Stuart and Barkly Highways. It was just a place to stop after a not overly tiring day but it turned interesting as most of them do when 4 lots from Benalla pulled in beside us and then the 2015 Volvo challenge group dropped in as well. The Volvo challenge was all about trying to go the furthest distance in the cheapest Volvo any of them could buy – the average price was $800.00…..

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Some of the participants were a bit young but at  least they were learning a lesson in uniformity and durability.

The less than locked in stone agenda called for a stopover at the Daly Waters Pub. We were advised that it was unwise to arrive there late in the day as you were likely to be turned away, so popular is the place. So we chose to stop about 100km short of there to facilitate an early arrival the next day. About 2.00pm we pulled into a roadside stop near Newcastle Waters only to find a multitude of similarly advised nomads. By about 3.00pm you couldn’t fit another vehicle although a couple of small cars and wiz bangs squeezed in between vans etc. Some 35 lots parked up in a roadside stop but it turned into a night of ‘high’ entertainment with drinkies and sing songs all round….DSC05246 (1024x683) DSC05247 (1024x683)

thanks Colin!

A little further on we happened into the deserted village of Newcastle Waters, a site being preserved to retain the spirit of droving. This place was apparently something of a crossroads on the droving trails of NT back when such things weren’t done by truckies….

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but now its not much more than a collection of tumbling down sheds. There are a couple of private residences still here and it seems the little school still works but the whole place, if its going to be a memorial, really needs some TLC.

Well we still had time to make Daly Waters before lunch but it was a race and bugger me there was a bloody queue. Finally we made the head of the queue whereupon we were asked to order dinner along with our park booking and we also had to decide which sitting we required. WTFRwe. This popular?. Well as afternoon drifted on so too did new arrivals until eventually they were parked up in the roadways. We chose the 6.30 sitting cos the music started up at 6.00 but we could have gone 7.00, 7.30 or 8.00 and the crowds moved through. Our Colin from the night before was the opening act, eventually followed by another guy whose name escapes me but it was good music throughout. The pub is famous for its Barra and Beef dish but the girls went just for barra but I had to do both. Twas good tucker and absolutely worth the fare. I must add that the hospitality is phenomenal. Upon booking in and our food order taken we left the bar to return to the vehicle some distance away and the waiter came trotting after us. He had forgotten to ask how my steak was to be done! Then we were directed into our sites by Ed on his bike…..

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and theres Colin and the other guy singing for their supper

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Then who should sit down beside us but Jim Richards and wife on their third or fourth visit after returning from the V8 races in Darwin.

The food was good, the entertainment good, the hospitality good, the prices right, an altogether fun night. And I would recommend it to other travellers.

Mataranka hot tubs call us onwards. Again ya gotta get in early to savour this experience although it turned out to be not quite as critical as Daly Waters. We actually bared the soul (or is that ar…) later in the day and again the following day to partake of the aerated waters of the Mataranka hot springs. But, the highlight was the dinner show. Main meals $16.50 quickly delivered, happy hour 20% off all drinks 5 – 6, and singers and a whip cracker all beside a blazing campfire through the evening. The shows were great. The second night featured our newest best friend Colin followed again by the whipcracker….

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DSC05402 (1024x683) DSC05419 (1024x683) DSC05422 (1024x683)And here’s Colin and Ponand Robyn and Jude enjoying the show…

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Then there were the hot pools, only they were stocked primarily by grey nomads looking for a new lease on life….

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I must say this is one pool in which it doesn’t feel right to pee. The water is just too clear and probably warmer than your own pee so it might leave a cool trail.

A bit further up the road is Bitter Springs, another artesian pool and a very pretty sight…

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I’ve gotta get this up before the interwebby thingy heaves a last gasp. It is sooooo slooooow!

We’re at Katherine Gorge although due to leave am on the morrow but I’ll get to that cos there’s also a lot of photos which take ages to upload in this restricted environment and I just mightn’t live long enough to get there.

 

 

One Response to “Ever Northward”

  1. From g@z:

    Love it! Always thought the outback had no one in it and nothing to see, but it seems there is much to see and do and lots of people wanting to go!

    Regards,
    g@z.

    Posted on 27 June 2015 at 12:50 am #

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