From then in, it is pretty much straight road all the way
to Darwin ! I have NEVER seen my Tom Tom
say “Turn right in 1457 kms” !!!!! Where
in the world does the road run that far before you have to make a turn
???????? It gives you some idea of the
kind of road we were on. Basically, for
this section, one just needs to point the car in the right direction, put your
head down, and go for it. No other
option.
We stopped for a photo where we crossed the Tropic of
Capricorn – So we knew we were at the same Latitude as Rockhampton on the
coast, where we are meeting our friend Jamie for Scallops in a couple of weeks
time !! Then, on one very long straight
– maybe 100 kms – we passed 2 people on bicycles – But they seemed to be
bobbing up and down, and we couldn’t work out what was going on. Then, as we passed, we realised they were in
fact on gigantic scooters – Two bicycle wheels like normal, but in between, no
pedals, just a big board which they stood on with one foot, and pushed
themselves along with the other !!!
And you thought I was crazy !!!!!
And given that the Northern Territory has a 130 kph speed limit compared
to the 100 kmh in every other state) (80
vs 60 mph for you philistines in the USA !!), it must have been even more
frustrating for them !!
Then we came to Wycliffe Wells. Well, what can one say ? Roswell USA is alive and well in Australia,
and it resides in Wycliffe Wells !!!
Whether any UFO’s have actually landed there or not is a matter of
conjecture, but they are making people smile (and making a buck out of it)
anyway !!
Next sight on the road was the Devil’s Marbles. One again, in flat, boring, featureless
country, you suddenly come across something totally incongruous – In this case these
round granite boulders that are apparently the left overs of volcanic activity
after all the surrounding (softer) mountains have been eroded away. There are a lot more of these “marbles” on
and just below the surface. Once again,
an amazing sight. Shortly after the
marbles we went off road to see the old Tennant Creek Telegraph Station. In the 1800’s, they had to build telegraph
stations from Adelaide up to Darwin to connect to the overseas link that went
via Java (eventually) to Europe. This
was Australia’s only connection then with the outside world, and was vital in
its development. Remember also that the setting
up of these telegraph stations was totally dependent upon the availability of
drinkable water, and if you have read all my past entries a we have driven
north, you will remember that we have seen all these springs and artesian bores
all the way north – it was these that enabled the original exploration of
inland Australia. Australia’s artesian
bore is apparently by far the largest in the world, and without it we would
REALLY be dry and dusty !!
Soon we came to Banka Banka station – a working cattle
station where they have set up this great campsite. As the sun set, they lit up a camp fire,
opened a basic bar in one of the sheds, and some of the foreign back packers
brought out their guitars and soon there was singing around the camp fire. And so to bed…………….
Pics here https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0033AliceToBankaBankaStation?authkey=Gv1sRgCNve8vrU2cbhEA#
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