Day 14 & 15
Day 14
Today we drove to Tennant Creek. We had to make an unscheduled stop at Ti Tree for petrol because we forgot to get it in Alice Springs. Ti Tree is basically a road house on the side of the road. Most of the names on the map that are on the Stuart Highway are really just roadhouses. They have petrol; campgrounds, food and some have pubs. The population is usually between 10 & 30. On the way to Tennant Creek we drove through Wycliffe Well, the UFO sightings capital of Australia. The only Alien we saw was the man made one in the park and we didn’t see any UFOs but to be fair it was daylight and perhaps more are sighted at night as they leave the pub after partaking in the home brew that is sold there. Next we stopped for a late lunch at the Devils Marbles. These are an important Aboriginal site and are involved in Aboriginal ceremonies and stories. Aboriginals tell stories about children being lost here – bit Picnic at Hanging Rock. They are spectacular to look at as they are groups of huge Granite boulders sitting on flat plains. We met the kid’s friends there. They had a great time climbing all over the marbles and we saw a dingo and lots of lizards. That family decided to camp overnight but much to the kid’s disgust we decided to head on to Tennant Creek. In hindsight (getting annoying that hindsight) maybe not such a bright idea. You do lose track of what day it is and we hadn’t really connected with the fact it was Saturday and that Saturday night would be a big night in Tennant Creek. There was a big footy match (Tennant Creek lost the grand final by 3 points) followed by big drowning of sorrows. Lots of loud didgeridoo playing (interesting), car revving and burnouts and finally the long walk home (down the caravan park fence line) of what seemed to be every loud drunk in the place and all of them had to throw away their empty bottle and hear it smash as well. The big signs we see about no alcohol in public places don’t seem to be working so well in practice it is only the tourists who abide by them.
Day 15
Father’s Day –Andy got a card from the kids “to our Dad the Fart King” –it was pretty funny the kids all laughed and then he got told to get moving we all wanted out and back on the road. We headed to Mataranka to the thermal springs. The drive was uneventful. Stopped for some petrol at Renner Springs – nice hot chips, swapped drivers and drove straight through. We were not very impressed with Mataranka Homestead Campgrounds. They might have been alright back when it was a staging ground for the Army in WWII but could probably do with a "freshen up" now. One bright spot for Andy was the big screen TV showing the Sydney Carlton game live so he got to watch the last quarter. Another bonus was the kids saw two big frogs – one squashed flat like a pancake (road kill) and the other jumping around with Matthew hot on its tail. They also saw a peacock that Matthew fed; he feeds everything regardless of what I say the wildlife around here will never be independent again. The thermal springs were nice – aquamarine water, crystal clear but a little too reminiscent of a scene from Cocoon for my liking. It wasn’t very busy but the customers were mainly grey nomads and I felt I had to keep the kids quiet and stop them from splashing everyone. The couple behind us had been there 2 weeks and just booked for a 3rd! They swim in the springs twice daily – morning and afternoon. This basically means they all sit there and have quiet conversations. I couldn’t find any information that said it was beneficial or anti aging or anything but they all loved it. Anyway, they can stay we are out of here tomorrow heading to Batchelor to see Litchfield National Park and hopefully a clean ablution block at the Caravan Park. Tonight we are watching “Australia” to give the kids some idea of the Kimberley region and Darwin’s history. Matthew will think he is “Nulla” and I will be “Missus Boss” and no Andy is not “Drover”.
