June 3rd

Onward and Northwards….

A few days ago we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, I think it could do with a freshen up, looks a bit dilapidated to me.

At Burt Plain there is a Cain, marking the highest point on the main road between Adelaide and Darwin.

We didn’t get far that day, so we pulled up after lunch at a roadside camp, and watched the clouds close in. Rain was forecast so it could be interesting times ahead.

It rained all night, so our camp area was flooded, when we stepped out in the morning, not bad ,just enough to be annoying getting from the van to the car.

It was still raining as we moved on .We stopped at Aileron Roadhouse for fuel and a pic of the Anmatjere Man and the Woman and Child statutes. Nothing else worth looking at.

Our travelling friends are sill back in Alice Springs, so we are travelling alone now. Just wandering along., the rain seems persistent so we pulled into another roadside camp just out of Anmanjere. There we were able to get phone service from a satellite dish. It was cold and wet ,but quite a novelty to be making calls like this from the centre of Aus.

A point of interest that we passed was Mt Castle, looks more like a small hill , but I guess in the plain, it’s a mountain to them , no we didn’t climb it, I’m still suffering from back problems after our Kings Canyon adventures. 😞

All the creeks have running water now and the roads are a mess. Lots of washouts and water over the roads in some areas.

We called into Barrow Creek and went for a walk around the old Telegraph Station there. Still a few showers hanging around, but it’s so nice to see the red inland turning green, the country is beautiful after so much rain. Sure to be a lovely wildflower season.

We pulled up early again that afternoon. Opposite the Devil’s Marbles pub. . We were first there so had a top spot on the end. Slowly the area filled up and by dark the place was packed, There is a lot of vans on the road now, and the popular free camps are also packed. No wonder with the cost of staying in a caravan park being so expensive. Lucky if you find one under $ 45 a night. Some I’ve seen as much a $165.

We were first in and last to leave the camp the next morning. Not far up the road is the Devil’s Marbles. The rain had cleared so it was nice to do a bush walk around the Marbles . It’s an easy walk, and somewhere where we hadn’t been before. Can’t say it’s anything spectacular compared to other rock places we’ve been.

We stopped for lunch beside a creek, then headed into Tennant Creek, for a look around town and grab a few supplies at the I G A, which are few and far between around these areas.

The town wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but still not a town I’d stay in. This is as far south that we have come to on the Stuart Highway in all our travels over the last 17 years. So we have now completed the trip up the Centre. Which was our aim, when we set out on this trip. Yes it was worth doing. Now what..?, sure there are still plenty of places we haven’t seen. So we’ll keep moving along looking for what’s changed and towns we haven’t been to.

Nothing new at the Theeways, but we still made a short stop there.

Then we camped for the night at Attack Creek. It was interesting to see how much water must of been going through there ,as there was flood debris half way up the trees.

A nice sunset completed another good day of travel.

The next day we were travelling along and passed a Lady doing a charity walk. Chris recognised her as an acquaintance from Ballina when he lived there.. So we turned around and spoke for half an hour or so. She is walking from Darwin to Adelaide raising money and promoting awareness for Beyond Blue and Black Dog.

On our way again, we decided to find another camp ,so not far out of Elliot there is some old cattle yards off the road a bit and surrounded by natural bush. Just perfect !