Heading North

18-Jun-2007

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Devil's Marbles
Mataranka

 

Heading North in the Northern Territory

Saturday - 3rd July 

Departed Alice Springs around 10, after a leisurely pack-up, and headed north. Crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and felt the weather start to warm up.   Had lunch at the Central Mt. Stuart Historical Reserve then headed off for our overnight stop at the Devil’s Marbles Conservation Reserve.  Great place to overnight, no water or power but toilets available and lots of terrific people.  We climbed all over the “marbles” and watched the sun set.  Shared a curry with Reece and Wendy from Tasmania.  The moon was very bright and I got some great pictures by moonlight.

Sunday - 4th July 

Up early to watch the sun-rise then on the road by 8:30 for the next stage.  Picked up fuel in Tennant Creek and drove on to overnight at Daly Waters Highway Inn.  Nice overnight stop with good clean facilities.  Fed the Brahma Bulls in the back paddock and Crackles the Pig who was quite friendly.    The winter rains have left the  countryside along the way amazingly green and lush, as it has been most of the way through the centre.

Monday - 5th July 

Another early start had us heading off to Mataranka, sidetracked to Daly Waters and fuelled up at the pub.  Should have stayed there for the night rather than at the Highway Inn.  Looked more interesting.   Another sidetrack to the graves of the “We of the Never-Never” characters before pulling into Mataranka around lunch time.  Booked in to the Mataranka Homestead Resort.  Would have been a reasonable park except for the huge colony of incontinent fruit bats that occupied the jungle next to the park during the day then moved into the park at night.   Had to barbeque our dinner with an umbrella over the barbeque and spend the evening sheltering under the protection of Max and Judy’s Ultimate Camper. The hot springs were terrific and a bit of  canoeing on the river provided some much needed exercise.

 

 

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This site was last updated 18-06-07