Days 18 +19

DAY 18 – Tuesday

After a bit of a sleep in, we packed up and left the park around 10am.  We headed north, crossing The Tropic of Capricorn.  Our first stop was Barrow Creek (notorious for being where Peter Falconio was murdered).  They were out of diesel, so we just had a toilet stop and had a look around the pub, then made a quick salad for lunch.  We got back on the road and stopped at Wycliffe Well for fuel.  Wycliffe Well is the Australian hot spot for UFO sightings (maybe this is also related to the pub having 150 different beers?).  The stop is all painted up with aliens and alien messages.  We had a bit of a look around, took a few pics and then got back on the road. 

We pulled into The Devils Marbles camping area at around 3pm and it was nearly full.  Luckily for us Dave and Sue had parked in a way that they could move their car and we could just squeeze in next to them.  We set up the van while the kids went climbing the “marbles”, and then we sat down with Dave and Sue and had a drink.  There were still quite a few vans and campers that pulled in and drove around, having to leave because there was no space.  There would have been at least 50 vans and campers staying the night.  We went for a walk around the marbles and took a few pictures, and then Darren cooked fettuccini carbonara for tea.  We ate tea while watching the sun set.  Ange settled in for an early night while Darren had a few beers and talked travel plans with Dave and Sue.

Wycliffe Well UFO hotspot

Devils Marbles at sunset

Devils Marbels at sunrise

DAY 19 – Wednesday

We woke up early and Ange decided to get up and watch the sun rise.  We climbed up on to the marbles and waited.  The wait was worth it as the colours reflecting off the rock were gorgeous.  A few pics and we decided to hit the road.  The boys watched a movie while we drove.  We decided not to get fuel at Tennant Creek, but to push through to Three Ways which was only 25 km further on.  When we got to Three Ways, there were a lot of vehicles in the parking area.  We pulled up at the bowser and there was a hand written sign – Sorry No Diesel.  We went into the roadhouse and spoke to the guy.  He said that the truck had left Darwin yesterday but they didn’t know when it would arrive.  He tried to ring forward to Elliott to see if they had any diesel, but couldn’t get anyone to answer the phone.  We decided that it wasn’t worth the risk in case they had no fuel, so we turned around and went back to Tennant Creek for fuel. 

Once we had filled up, we hit the road again.  We had been told not to stop at Elliott because there were two groups of aborigines at each end of town that were “blueing”, so we decided to push through and stay at Daly Waters.  We filled up the car at the roadhouse on the highway at Daly Waters, and then headed into town to the caravan park.  We pulled up out the front of the pub so that Darren could book a site.  Directly opposite the pub was a fuel station of sorts, and parked in front of it was a local “character”.  The car was an old HG Holden ute.  It had no doors, the front was smashed in, no headlights and was well past its use by.  It had a “ROAD TRAIN” sign mounted on the front and the back was full of rubbish.  They had the bonnet up and there was steam rising from the radiator.  One guy was putting water in while another was firing the old V8 back to life giving us the proof that there was no muffler either.  As the motor jumped to life, the guys jumped into the ute and drove off with a bit of smoke and a lot of noise.  Everyone around was watching and taking photos.

We got our site and set up the van, then put on our bathers and headed to the pool for a swim.  The water was refreshing (so Darren and the boys tell me!) and I read a book while the kids (including Darren) had a swim.  Darren couldn’t resist having his photo taken with a Bikini Clad Austrian backpacker that just happened to be there at the same time, so that he could stir up some of the guys at work.  We headed back to camp to find that Dave and Sue had also stopped at Daly Waters and were camping the night too.

We booked in for “Beef and Barra” for tea at the pub, which is their specialty.  The restaurant is attached to the pub, but is like a big carport....roof but not many walls.  The cooks have two large barbecue plates, one where they cook the beef and one for the barra.  When they called our names, we collected our meals and filled our plates with salad.  It was delicious.  There was a guy playing guitar while we ate, and later a comedian.  We sat for a while and had a few drinks while enjoying the entertainment, then headed off to bed.