Camooweal , QLD had one shop that was the Post Office, grocery, cafe, stationary shop, computer shop, hardware shop all combined, plus two petrol stations and two campsites. It was a very typical tiny country town. We stopped for lunch and to fill up on diesel, then carried on to get some kilometres under our belt. The driving is easy, very little traffic, mostly other campervans and the odd Ute. There are a few, very infrequent road trains, though these can be up to 54 metres long (our van is 6.8 metres so it would be like driving 8 strung together). We have been seeing a group of mad cyclists on and off. They are heading up to Darwin now but we kept overtaking them, then we’d stop and they’d go by etc. It seems a very hot and tiring way to get around this countryside.
Our next drive took us out of QLD and into NT and the countryside looked harsher and drier than ever. The free rest areas are spaced approximately 60-100kms apart so we just pick one to stay in that suits our time “on the road”. Most of the rest areas are a little off the road, with a bore water tank, no toilets, very little shade and red, red dust under foot. There are always several other vans that pull in during the late afternoon and a few washing lines get hung out. Laundry dries in about 30 minutes, no worries about ironing out here! Once it gets cooler and the sun is very low, we give the dogs a little walk and then dinner and we sometimes have a shower in our little cubicle on board. A shower is just a quick wet with water, a good scrub and then a quick rinse, but it’s very refreshing just the same. Then it’s time to get dinner, chat to other travellers and see if there’s any Internet connection, relax in our chairs with a drink and count how many satellites and falling stars we can find. The skies are really wonderful here at night because there are so few town lights, and the Milky Way is very clear. Bed time is around 9.30 to 10.00pm with a bit of reading as well. We never wake up until 7.00am and the doggies are so good and stay quiet until they hear us stirring. Then it’s all systems go and Willie Nelson’s ‘On the Road Again’ played loudly in the van gets us going.
Our next stop was Barkley Homestead. From the name, Paul and I excitedly imagined lush green lawns and sprinklers, tables with white tablecloths and cream teas with china tea pots and cups. Maybe shady verandas and a cool breeze... but no, Barkley Homestead is hot, dry, dusty and has one shop and one petrol station and one campsite and a big rest area of red dust with almost no trees or shade... oh well, we were just dreaming! At least there was Internet connection. Prices for anything here like milk are very expensive, explained by a notice on the store door that says they have no electricity and have to use 500 litres of fuel a day to run everything from a generator, hence the cost.
The dogs are now looking suspiciously like dusty, dirty outback mutts. Like us they are finding the temperature a little too hot during the main part of the day, but they are eating and sleeping well. Exercise is limited to walks along the roads early in the morning or late in the afternoon, so they are bearing up well. They are a magnet for other travellers to come over and chat to us. Most say “aren’t your dogs well behaved” as they sit quietly on their mat outside the van, usually waiting for dinner! Little do they know that they can be demanding trouble-makers at times...well certainly Muffin and sometimes Ian. Tia the Boxer is the best behaved traveller of them all.
At last we rocked into Tennant Creek after a short pit-stop at Three Ways (Petrol Station and Campsite only). We found a pleasant campsite to wash off the dust and primp up the dogs. The town itself looks pretty run down with loads of Aboriginal people just sitting and hanging around the shady doorways. They leave you alone but look really bored. It’s depressing seeing the Aborigine situation – the kids are wonderful, but clearly loose the smile and gleam in their eyes as they get older. The “grog” is a huge problem, especially with the older ones - we chatted to a guy who works with 16-20 year old Aboriginal kids and he has managed to help several to qualify as Conservation Rangers. But there seems to be no support or help from the kids parents, so much so that he now has no connection with the parents and just concerns himself with the children. He loves his job, so more people like him are needed to mentor the kids we think. The cultural gap and understanding is still an enormous chasm...
Paul did some grocery shopping and forgot he didn’t have the van with him and had to struggle back to the campsite in the searing heat loaded with really heavy bags of shopping! He was near collapsing and had me quite worried for a minute.
The next day we walked to the information centre and toured the old gold Battery and Minerals Museum. Paul was wowed by the minerals on display. There was also a great display of the early life of miners there. Tennant Creek was originally just a Telegraph Station for communication until gold was found. It was the last great gold rush of Australia in the 1930’s so the town is quite young. We found it amazing imagining a physical wire that ran from Darwin to the south and under the sea as far as the UK!!
Our next drive took us out of QLD and into NT and the countryside looked harsher and drier than ever. The free rest areas are spaced approximately 60-100kms apart so we just pick one to stay in that suits our time “on the road”. Most of the rest areas are a little off the road, with a bore water tank, no toilets, very little shade and red, red dust under foot. There are always several other vans that pull in during the late afternoon and a few washing lines get hung out. Laundry dries in about 30 minutes, no worries about ironing out here! Once it gets cooler and the sun is very low, we give the dogs a little walk and then dinner and we sometimes have a shower in our little cubicle on board. A shower is just a quick wet with water, a good scrub and then a quick rinse, but it’s very refreshing just the same. Then it’s time to get dinner, chat to other travellers and see if there’s any Internet connection, relax in our chairs with a drink and count how many satellites and falling stars we can find. The skies are really wonderful here at night because there are so few town lights, and the Milky Way is very clear. Bed time is around 9.30 to 10.00pm with a bit of reading as well. We never wake up until 7.00am and the doggies are so good and stay quiet until they hear us stirring. Then it’s all systems go and Willie Nelson’s ‘On the Road Again’ played loudly in the van gets us going.
Our next stop was Barkley Homestead. From the name, Paul and I excitedly imagined lush green lawns and sprinklers, tables with white tablecloths and cream teas with china tea pots and cups. Maybe shady verandas and a cool breeze... but no, Barkley Homestead is hot, dry, dusty and has one shop and one petrol station and one campsite and a big rest area of red dust with almost no trees or shade... oh well, we were just dreaming! At least there was Internet connection. Prices for anything here like milk are very expensive, explained by a notice on the store door that says they have no electricity and have to use 500 litres of fuel a day to run everything from a generator, hence the cost.
The dogs are now looking suspiciously like dusty, dirty outback mutts. Like us they are finding the temperature a little too hot during the main part of the day, but they are eating and sleeping well. Exercise is limited to walks along the roads early in the morning or late in the afternoon, so they are bearing up well. They are a magnet for other travellers to come over and chat to us. Most say “aren’t your dogs well behaved” as they sit quietly on their mat outside the van, usually waiting for dinner! Little do they know that they can be demanding trouble-makers at times...well certainly Muffin and sometimes Ian. Tia the Boxer is the best behaved traveller of them all.
At last we rocked into Tennant Creek after a short pit-stop at Three Ways (Petrol Station and Campsite only). We found a pleasant campsite to wash off the dust and primp up the dogs. The town itself looks pretty run down with loads of Aboriginal people just sitting and hanging around the shady doorways. They leave you alone but look really bored. It’s depressing seeing the Aborigine situation – the kids are wonderful, but clearly loose the smile and gleam in their eyes as they get older. The “grog” is a huge problem, especially with the older ones - we chatted to a guy who works with 16-20 year old Aboriginal kids and he has managed to help several to qualify as Conservation Rangers. But there seems to be no support or help from the kids parents, so much so that he now has no connection with the parents and just concerns himself with the children. He loves his job, so more people like him are needed to mentor the kids we think. The cultural gap and understanding is still an enormous chasm...
Paul did some grocery shopping and forgot he didn’t have the van with him and had to struggle back to the campsite in the searing heat loaded with really heavy bags of shopping! He was near collapsing and had me quite worried for a minute.
The next day we walked to the information centre and toured the old gold Battery and Minerals Museum. Paul was wowed by the minerals on display. There was also a great display of the early life of miners there. Tennant Creek was originally just a Telegraph Station for communication until gold was found. It was the last great gold rush of Australia in the 1930’s so the town is quite young. We found it amazing imagining a physical wire that ran from Darwin to the south and under the sea as far as the UK!!
Click on the photos below (open in new window)to see some pickies:
 |
| 47 Inca Creek_41Bore |
 |
| 48 Tennant Creek |
