So our first stop after Kakadu was Edith falls for a quick dip and lunch. It was certainly a quick dip as the temperature didn't really allow for too much more. It was certainly fresh!
The falls themselves were ok but nothing like Litchfield or Kakadu NP's, but what height it lacked it made up for in the size of the plunge pool.
The boys had a quick lunch time dip
From there it was into Katherine for a restock for the upcoming 3 days before getting to Alice Springs.
We camped that night in Mataranka, opting for a different place than last time to see if the experience was any different. Being in the caravan park right next to the more structured pool did have it benefits being closer and less noise as construction had finished. It was fantastic to just blob and then take the 50m back to camp. The usual tricky stuff of picking a site when its not fixed location meant we more than ready for a swim after setup.
The highlight for the evening was the live entertainment from the local band. Andy was fascinaticed but beg guitarist and drummer.
It was lovely playing cards while listening to live copper head road !
We were up and at'em early with the camper packed by 8;30 so that we could get one last swim in. Andy and Atu wee the into countered when it came to it!
We headed south starting some newly traveled road after the Roper Bar highway intersection. The aim for the day was to get to with 100km of Tennant creek.
It was also the day of the longest pub crawl ever, visiting two today. firstly the pink Panther bar in Larrinah meant a pie for a late breakfast snack.
It has some great characters hanging about. With the population being 5 we met three of them in the pub.
The next stop was the Daly Waters pub for lunch. A much more commercial venture with stalls and the whole kit and kabootal from shirts to stubborn holder sand a huge range of other less mentionable artefacts.
The place is clearly a honey pot to visitors with the street and caravan park packed during the lunch time rush. From the sounds of it, if you not booked into the park by 2pm forget it.
We splurged and had a lunch the cost a small fortune. A Barra burger, Barra bites, some sweet patatoe fries and a drink doesn't give you a lot of change from $50. Phew that goodness it was delish!
We made our way back to highway via the Stuart tree. It was a tree John Mcdougall Stuart had supposedly marked with an "S" in his quest to find a north south passage in 1861/2. An astonishing feet given the conditions and country. The tree is still there but buggered if we could find the "S"!
We camped that evening just about 180kms north of Tennant Creek in a road side gravel pit that had hole lot of side tracks that allowed you to get away from the highway. It was just a beaut spot that we had to ourselves.
We readied ourselves for happy hour drinks. A bit of routine has formed this trip, after camp has been setup it around 5pm we grab the table and have a game of cards over a drink or two. The boys have their special fizzy can (small 150ml) of their chosen flavour at the previous stock up spot.
After collecting a bit of firewood and the wind had died down we lit the fire. It was a very warm evening in front of the fire. Moving away from it was a bit painful to retreat to the camper. There wasn't a single sound that night, not a creature seemed to stirred, not even a mouse. It was a strange feeling to hear absolutely nothing for so long.
The aim for the next day was to get to Devils Marbles, it was a camp rumoured to fill up quickly so a early arrival was needed.
Early indeed, we were on the road our usual time after picking up someone else neatly stacked but left behind rubbish. Not sure why they went to effort of stacking it but then left it behind.
The drive wasn't much to remember, we think there were about 6 corners. Roads pretty straight out 're. Before camp we had to find some firewood. Every time we saw something close there was a rather whiffy road kill in the form of anything from roos to cattle. We got got some in the end but it needed the axe. Strange thing to see on the highway a tourist with the axe on the side of highway just up the road from where that Falconio chap copped it!
Arriving at the marbles around lunch time we chose a spot and setup. The breeze was up which made it somewhat chilly. But once that died down it was lovely.
A tour of the marbles after lunch and they are simply stunning. Shame people don't respect the transitional ow era wishes by not climbing on them.
It was certainly interesting reading the history of the struggle for tranditional ownership to be recognised. It is amazing what we have done to these peoples.
There was a weekly talk by the Rangers that just happened to be the night we were there. He commented that it wa a relatively quite evening attendance wise, everyone else thought that we packed the camp pretty well. Clearly it is a very popular spot.
The sunset as per normal was stunning.
But this was only topped by the sunrise. The colour on the rocks is just awe-inspiring.
Sunrise at the Marbles
We had a lovely chat with a a family from England who were camping in Aus for a month and heading north. We surprised ourselves with the packup in the morning when we looked at the watch as we hooked up. 8AM!!! Yes you heard it right. Don't know what we did differently, but we will take it!
One thing we continued to see on the highway was the movement of army vehicles. Since before Devils Marbles the highway was packed with hundreds of vehicles from troop carriers to large tanks. We not sure if they finished exercises down south and heading or going north to play up there. The boys got to about 90 odd vehicles before loosing interest but there were will in excess of 300 by the time we got to Alice.
We were headed for our next stop being Alice Springs and arrived there around lunchtime in the g'day mate caravan park. The others didn't have a very good reputation at all, from overpriced for the facilities through to theft and all sorts.
Alan, the owner, greeted us and showed us to our site, a new area recently opened with a small pebble base. Place looks pretty busy. After setup the joys eyes out the pool. To say it was cold was an understatement. Freezer water I tell you. It didn't stop the boys getting in it but they very soon hopped out shivering, retreating to the sun to defrost. It wasn't a long swim before we hit the showers. The bathrooms were immaculate, Janine you would have been proud!
No sooner had we got back to camp and another Canberra plate car rocks up. Only the third that we seen on the whole trip. A lovely family on a three month trip up to Darwin and the West. The kids in like a house on fire. We were going to be out early intend morning so they planned to wake up early to make sure they could have a play before we went out at 8:15.
Our plan was to visit the much renowned desert park, a zoo and cultural display with a strong educational element. It is situated about 15 minutes from town under the dominating landscape of the beginning of the west MacDonnell ranges.
It was a full day's events and with the place being quite big it meant a bit of walking. The highlights were the red kangaroo talk, the live bird show and the session with Aurora the wedge tail eagle. Andy is fascinated by birds this trip and none more than the wedge tailed eagle. It was great to be able to get so close. There were also plenty of new species to tick off in the bird book. It was a fairly long day and the boys left there somewhat exhausted.
Their response to the need for more food shopping was normal, but made shoppng for the next 10 days or so a little more tricky. All they wanted to do was get back to the park and play their new found friends which is completely understandable. Lucky it took the other family some time for them to get back to park as well, as they were doing a similar stock up. So not to much play time lost in the end.
The next day we were heading west for a couple days in the MacDonnell ranges so an early start would be needed as a few additional bits like fuel and gas were needed before we head out.
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