Perth via Darwin Part 3

25^th July Day 7

 Leaving Alice Springs after breakfast and a hunt for the caravan keys only to find them hung up in their place, should we be worried. Anyway we off to Wycliff well Caravan park the capital of UFO’s. invasions. Taking heaps of photos of murals painted eveywhere But let me not get ahead of myself.

 On our journey towards there we stopped off at the Tropic of Capricorn and took photos . It’s also a free over night camp site and was interesting seeing various campers in their setups. Back on the road and find it most intrigueing with the speed limit. Some places it has signs go as fast as  you wish and other signs are 130k’s and the funny thing is everybody behaves themselves on the road. There are road signs such as buckle up and distances between to next town as well as Darwin.

 We arrived at Airlaron a Aboriginal town with most interesting sculptures presenting that area. One can see quite a distance off of the warrior on the hill protecting his village and below the woman and child with lizard. Leaving there our next stop was Ti Tree where we had our morning cuppa and a walk around. On the sign of the garage was “The most central pub in Australia”. Back in the car and our next stop was our night stay at Wycliff Well Caravan Park. Got our caravan parked had lunch then decided to visit “Devils Marbles” 28 k’s from here.

 On arriving there was a sight to behold. It’s amazing how boulders can balance upon each other the way they do. Here too is a overnight  campers site with a honesty box. We were amazed at how many people were there for the night all well set up with all their wonderful modern day camping quipment. This brought back a thought to our ancestors and how they must have struggled in this dreadful heat and without all the wonderful emenities we have today. I sulute them and give thanks for all their hard work in those days. We drove around looking and taking photos of thes magnificient rock formation of granite. This site is an Aboriginal site where it’s  known for their dreams and secrets also a sacred place for them. Each place we go to here the wonderful stories of the past and present is so evident and truly inspirational too. One cannot compare the modern lifestyle to the outback it has a beauty all of its own. We left this place with a heart of gratitude and back to the camp to enjoy a restful afternoon and a good clean up of the caravan and car.

We explored our park and ended up at the café where a wee joey  is being looked after and was able to hold it. What delight on my part they are such precious things. We ate out tonight at the caravans restaurant buy one meal and get the other free, love those bargains. Back to the caravan to catch up on our travels of the day feeling very content. Oh yes the bird life here is amazing and it would be Pauls heaven . We even had a visitor of cattle evading the camp site, only in the outback.

26^th July Day 8

Sunrise

We all like our lizards alive and not fried…. A fire hazard warning on the road. It’s a new day and back on the road to Banka Banka leaving at 9am and its 14.3c. Our fist stop was at Tenants creek and did the tourist bit first going to a mining site at Battery Hill. We decided not to go into the mine and carry on site seeing around the town , We went up to a look out which looked out over the wee town.

Here we had a cuppa and took some photos of our surroundings. On our way out of the wee town was a recreation centre called Marys Lake. Very pretty and indeed a good place for the locals to enjoy their day off. It was here where I found the Sturt Pea plant which is the SA national flower.

Travelling on towards Banka Banka an Australian Government camping site, we passed many road trains and some of them towing 4 trailers and was quite something to overtake, one has to wait for a straight run and then go. On arriving at Banka Banka we were met with the manager and his wife who guided us to our place where to park. There is no electricity but divine tasting fresh water which we truly enjoyed. We set up camp and Dennis decided to wash down the awning and the side of the caravan. It was just lovely sitting outside and watching the business of all the campers around.  After afternoon tea we decided to walk up the hill to a tourist attraction on top where one can look around a vast area of the NTand looking down below to the campers all doing their own thing.

 The walk up the hill was quite rocky and reaching the top to a distant direction marker of various places as the crow flies. The stillness was wonderful and it was only our presence up there. We then decided to take a walk to the water hole which according to the marker was 1.6K’s. So off we trundled finding that rock climbing and manuvering to miss certain plants and sharp edges of rocks and at times quite daunting. We managed to cross over dry rocky river beds and a up climb and then down and eventually came to a sign saying we have to walk another 1.1k, it had felt like we already had walked the 1 k, so it was here we decided to turn back and not chance it as it was already 4pm.

The journey back was another story but we made it and got down to camp safely and thoroughly enjoyed to outing to the rocky terrain. We had  dinner then went and sat around a fire and had live entertainment along with a visit from a calf which seemed to enjoy the music as much as everyone else. It caused quite a stir with everyone taking photos of the wee creature.

Bed time it was and felt quite at peace with the world. One can feel the weather pattern changing and the temperatures starting to sore to the mid 30’s

27^th July day 9

 Dennis up early to watch the sunrise and I went for a shower. On my way back to the caravan one by one the lights came on in each caravan and time to pack up have breakfast and leave the sight. We all keep our caravans hitched to the car so it’s a case of packing the loose stuff and hitting the road Jack.

It was a lovely stay at Banka Banka a very homely stay and a recommend to anyone who is passing through to make their stop there for the night. And so it’s back on the road stopping for a cuppa at a memorial site for a telegrapher who was famous for the final link up. Back on the road and our next stop is Daly Waters pub which is known for the first outback aerodrome built for post and communication with the outside world.

 

 We had supper here and had the desire for some junk food “hamburger” Oh it was truly yummy but now we going to have to watch the diet for the next couple of days. Heeeeeee! The bird life here is amazing with raptures not sure which ones but they sure are on a hunt for food with the noise from other birds all wanting a bit of the kill on the other side of the camp. Interesting, all for their own bit in life including humans.

Until next time ...........................Dance in the rain