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We awoke this morning, (none of us having been abducted and probed by ET), to a sight we haven't seen for quite some time... Grey clouds in the sky! White, whispy ones had been very common, but not these thick, heavy grey ones. Didn't look like rain clouds though, and wouldn't have bothered us anyway, we were moving on... We left Wycliffe Well early, and turned left on the Stuart Highway, heading north to Tennant Creek. The road continued as it was yesterday, long and straight and boring, and long... but we had a tail wind, and got to Tennant Creek by 10am.
Tennant Creek is just like a ghost town. I don't know if it's because it's a sunday, but the main street is deserted, and all the shops are boarded up with metal grates or roller doors. Not very appealing or welcoming at all... We made our way to the Battery Hill Mining Centre, which is the main tourist attraction in town, as well as the visitor information centre. We were the only people there, other than the little old lady behind the counter. The guided mine tour wasn't available (probably cause it's sunday, and they don't get tourists on a sunday), the social history museum was $7 each to walk through, and she couldn't do coffee. So we left the visitor information centre, and went back to the deserted main street... and couldn't find a cafe or takeaway shop anywhere! Here we were, wanting to spend money, and noone wanted to let us... Eventually, we found a BP petrol station heading out of town, where we were able to get a coffee and a meat pie... Tennant Creek looks to be a fairly major regional stopover point on the highway, but from what we saw, there's not much to recommend...
Anyway, about 20km north of Tennant Creek, we did a full 90 degree, right hand turn, and started our trip back East... towards civilisation... and safety... Did that sound a bit dramatic? I'm probably overdoing the drama, am I? It's really not that bad. Turning onto the Barkley Highway marked the end of the 'central Australia' chapter of our trip. There will still be outback days, but it was the end of one of the major sections in middle Aus...
How will we remember that chapter? Well, there's no doubt, that when we arrived in Coober Pedy, our feelings of excitement were tinged with apprehension. We were out of our comfort zone, but that was what we'd wanted, right? Then, in Yulara, stress increased with car issues, which stayed with us through to Alice. We were consistently confronted with sights we weren't accustomed to seeing, and although we never actually felt threatened or in danger, we were constantly in a state of 'alert'. I hope this is making sense? The saving grace in all of this was the park in Alice Springs, our home base, and we loved it there! We knew we could relax. The highlight? The Mereenie Loop from Kings Canyon to Palm Valley and Glen Helen Gorge!! Palm Valley will last in my memory for ever, and we'll definitely go back. It has made everything worthwhile, along with the sunset at Uluru, which everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. It's beautiful country out there, very different to what I'd imagined, and we're grateful we got to see as much of it as we have...
Now, turning east again, headed towards queensland. We drove straight into the mother of all headwinds, but the road didn't change... Straight and long and... straight...
We're looking forward now, to the next chapter of the journey, where we head into far north queensland, and the original sense of excitement and adventure has returned. We both commented on that, when we left Tennant Creek and turned east, and are keen again to try to get to the tip of Cape York... In due time, of course! First, we have to spend a few days getting back to the coast.
We've stopped at Barkley Homestead for the night, and I'm very pleased to say, it's just lovely! It's how I think I expected all the other roadhouse caravan parks on the Stuart Highway would be, how they should be! It's clean and neat, and somebody is proud of it! They obviously recognise the value of tourism, and word of mouth, and they've made the effort to convey that to their guests. This should be the example for all the others we've refused to stop at, excepting fuel requirements. Maybe they should expand out, or franchise? We're having dinner out tonight, in the roadhouse restaurant, cause it looks quite nice...
See you all in Isa, tomorrow afternoon...
- comments
Aunty Min Phew, you sound safe now. I feel better now (And of course that's what it's all about, me feeling better ...lol...) Bout time you ran into some excitment I say, hehehehe. Isa might do the trick though!!! Travel safe mi Lovelies. I was just thinking you sound like riding school horses, once you turn them for home, they bolt ...lol... bolt away kidies, back to the salt water that flows through your veins, pmsl.
Ginny Pete will never get salt water in his veins. He has said many times that he will not swim in the ocean because that's were the sharks live. Woos. Great to see your heading east at last. Sounds like your going through some interesting towns. Bars on windows and roller doors, a bit of a worry. Once again have fun, stay safe and big hugs to all. Love T&G