Barkly Hwy into NT

18/9/2018 Tuesday R & R slept well but woke early with the intention of being breakfasted, tidied up, packed down and into Mt Isa for the Ute service at 8:00am.  It was 10*C with the promise of another quite warm day.  Just before the appointed hour R & R were at Miners Mates which is a Repco and RACQ dealer where they left the camper parked in the yard along with the Ute.  R & R walked over the road to the information centre which was not due to open until 8:30am so they just sat in the warmth of the early morning sun and had a cup of coffee before walking round the block.  The centre was open when they got back so they went inside and looked at the maps and checked out the book exchange.  It was not far to the shopping centre so R & R walked to all three op shops, took out some cash at the ATM, checked the weight of one of the cards that RA wanted to send at the Post Office and bought some oranges which they had forgotten the day before.  As they were walking back to the information centre at 10:15am, their daughter, S, rang to say that she had got her first relief day, in a primary school for Year 2.  R & R did not hold her up in conversation.  At the centre, in the shade, this time as the day had warmed considerably, R & R had a coffee and biscuit and rang B, their super manager, to see how things were going.  That done they went inside to look at the art gallery which had been closed when they were last in Mt Isa.  RA was particularly interested in a collection of old sheet music (faded, worn or torn edged, folded, damaged corner) that had been treated as mixed media with, some being watercolour washed but mostly, black ink in either brush or calligraphy inspired by the title and the music itself.  These works were being sold for $700-$1000.  For a while R & R sat downstairs watching a video presentation of some of the old (1960-70s) newsreels and documentaries about Mt Isa.  About 11:30am, R & R walked back over the road to see if the Ute was ready.  Fortunately, it had just been done and the receptionist was working on the account, which for R & R was a pleasant surprise at under $400.  Outside, RA noticed that the tow hitch had been greased and inside, she noticed a new rubbish bag with 2 rolls of mints all with the Repco logo on.  Sweet!  It took R & R a while to find the water and dump point as it had been moved since the map was printed.  They also filled the Ute and 2 jerry cans before they left, knowing that it would just get more expensive as they headed inland.  At 12:50pm, RL headed north on the Barkly Highway towards Camooweal.  It was 31*C.  For the first 20kms, the road ran at 400m parallel to a row of hills or ridges about 500m close to the west which was still mining operation of Mt Isa Mines and its substation with power lines heading in every direction.  R & R were fascinated to see a helicopter which was flying in a grid like pattern, with some type of hoop suspended way below as it flew back and forth.  They could only imagine that it was some type of prospecting or surveying equipment for the collection data.  For a while the road ran through the hills as it veered westward.  For the next 20kms, there were fences on both sides of the road and cattle and the hills were further to the east and west.  RL read a sign pointing in the direction of Capricorn Copper 25kms to the east.  It did not take long before R & R pulled into a rest area that the Camps 9 book called Gunpowder Rest Area.  The sign on the side of the road had it listed as a WWII heritage site.  R & R were too hungry and hot to be bothered with that bit of information so they just parked the Ute in the shade and had lunch.  It was 1:30pm.  That done they took ages trying to find a flat place with a little shade to set up in the heat of the day, being 33*C.  They took the opportunity to have a rest before reading and looking at maps.  About 4:30pm, R & R went for a walk to read the signs and monument.  R & R already knew that the Barkly Highway is the only sealed road that crosses the NT/QLD border.  What they did not know, as the sign revealed, was that the road was only completely sealed by 1943 as the result of the push to have it sealed as part of the defence strategy for Australia during WWII.  RL read while RA prepared some meatballs (for another night) and patties for dinner.  She had only just finished when their daughter, S rang to give a description of her day.  Such a learning curve for a high school trained teacher to do a day’s relief in Year 2.  But she had done well, learned heaps and was happy with herself, albeit, exhausted.  After dinner RL read and RA wrote diary.  It was a warm evening … R & R did not need an extra blanket or socks on their feet.

19/9/2018 Wednesday R & R woke at 6:30am to 12*C.  The weather app on the phone indicated that the temperature should rise to 35*C and actually called the area Soldiers Hill.  It was still; breathless.  By 8:20am, having put a little air into the camper tyres, R & R were heading west on Barkly Highway to Camooweal about 136kms away.  It was already 25*C when they left.  About 15kms west of the rest area, RL saw the sign to Lady Anne Mine which heralded the end of the mining trucks on the road.  From that point R & R saw no more long 4 trailer trucks.  As before, there were good tall trees, medium shrubs and grasses on a flat road at 370m.  ”It’s got to be the best Queensland road,” RL remarked.  And … RA had to agree.  There were sections where the weed prickly acacia was prolific and green, in other sections there was evidence of the total destruction caused by it; the red soil, bare of any grasses.  There was very little road kill with eagles vying for a feed along with kites and crows.  R & R also saw sulphur crested cockatoos.  As they drove, R & R saw sections of the old highway either left or right and it was obvious the difference in the way they had been built; the old, following the contour of the land and the new, built up and cut through to make it as level as possible and minimise the damage caused by flooding.  The height above sea level continued to fall steadily to 230m at Camooweal (236m, to be precise).  To start R & R listened to Jim Reeves as the CD was already in the player but when it had finished, they began a new audio book called “Burn Out” by Marcia Muller.  R & R stopped to take a photo of the road sign that warns of cattle crashing with vehicles.  On one side of the road, R & R saw cattle, horses and emus all grazing together.  It was right on 10:00am when R & R pulled into Camooweal, just as Z, their son rang.  RL parked under a tree in the shade (quite hard to come by sometimes) and RA made a cup of coffee while they chatted for about half an hour.  It was lovely to hear from him.  R & R walked up and down the main street taking in whatever there was to see.  There was a mural about two characters, Freckleton and Fraser, who, in the years 1930-35 rounded up brumbies, broke them in and then drove the mobs of horses from the Gulf to Gladstone SA for sale to the Indian Army.  About 11:15am, RL headed west, over the Georgina River, 13kms to the NT/QLD Border, which only took a few minutes, before stopping to take photos of all the signs.  One of the signs gave the open road speed as 130kms/hr.  The country side was as flat as and, though there seemed to be adequate grasses covering the soil, it was virtually treeless other than along creek and river beds which were all dry.  A strong breeze had blown up from the south and there was a dusty haze on the horizon.  At 12:20pm, RL stopped at Avon Downs rest area for a lunch break.  R & R ate lunch, had coffee and looked at the maps.  Despite the fact that it was quite early in the day, they decided that it would be wise to stay put rather than run out of time before finding another suitable place to sleep the night.  About 2:00pm, they set the camper up and had a rest.  They spent the rest of the afternoon reading and looking at maps.  The wind was strong enough to make a whistling sound around the camper and it was very warm, though without reception, there was no way of looking it up.  When it became slightly cooler, about 5:30pm, R & R took a walk around the rest area and back along the highway to the bridge and back again.  Avon Downs has a Police Station and the Grazing Company (cattle station).  Though Avon Downs is a cattle station, back in 1882, it was originally stocked with sheep.  The movement of 11,000 sheep from Rich Avon near Donald in north west Victoria, 3,500kms to Avon Downs in NT, taking 16 months is the longest recorded sheep droving trip in Australian history.  From the 4,000 that arrived, sheep numbers grew to 70,000 before cattle were introduced with the last of the sheep sold off in 1919.  RL sent a Spot message to the children and crushed some nuts for breakfast while RA prepared dinner.  After dinner, R & R proofed a draft post before reading and writing.  RA felt tired from the heat, was glad of the coolness of evening … and hoped she would sleep well.

20/9/2018 Thursday R & R woke at 6:45am.  They were both aware of the wind as it blustered and blew all night causing the canvas to flap and the camper to rock.  It was almost enough to make RA feel seasick.  As RA was preparing breakfast she saw the horses near the fence and went to take a couple of photos of them.  When she returned RL noticed that the foal had managed to get its hoof caught in the wired fence, so they went to help out.  The foal and mare both looked distressed about its predicament.  RL distracted the foal with a pat while RA held the wire down with one hand and quickly lifted his hoof up and over the wire.  That good deed for the day done, they finished breakfast and set about getting away.  By 8:20am, R & R were heading west on Barkly Highway with the intention of getting to Three Ways at the junction of Stuart Highway (just short of 400kms) and then turning south for a few kilometres to sleep at the first free campsite called The Pebbles.  They knew it would be a long drive so they played some of “Burn Out” to help pass the time.  The road was relatively flat and straight and ran at about 200m.  Cattle and their calves, not brahman, more like drought master or crosses, feed on the grassy downs country which had pockets of trees and dams which would be full at a different time of the year.   Signs indicated the distance to SH (Stuart Highway) so they were able to see the distance decreasing as they travelled.  Another sign of significance was Warning Crosswinds but they did not need to be told how strong the wind was or which direction it was coming from and they did not need to be reminded that it increases fuel consumption.  It linked with the signs at Avon Downs and Soudan Homestead which said Sorry No Fuel, with no fuel between Camooweal and Barkly Homestead.  RL drove past the Soudan Yards which were impressive and round the sweeping bend over the Ranken River past the Soudan Homestead.  Everything looked dry but R & R were aware of how pretty it would all be when the river had water and the grass was green.  Beyond that, was aboriginal land that was fully bush and a little more undulating.  Besides the small pointy ant hills, R & R saw some really big blobby anthills at least to human height.  About 10:40am R & R stopped at Barkly Homestead for a while to take a break.  With five bars of reception, they messaged B, their eldest son’s wife to wish her a happy birthday.  They walked around and into the shop and took a couple of photos before getting back on to the highway.  Most of the way the soil was well covered with grasses, shrubs and trees.  There were lovely river gums with white trunks but also prickly acacia.  Some sections looked like they had recently been burnt but there was no way of knowing if it had been accidental or part of a plan.  The level above sea rose steadily to 250m.  At 12:30, R & R stopped for lunch at the 41 mile bore picnic area for about half an hour before driving the last 70kms to the highway and Three Ways.  Again, the country side was undulating and rose to 300m.  The soil was red.  It was about 2:00pm when R & R turned up the Stuart Highway about 300m and into Three Ways.  There under the shade of a tree they had coffee messaged their daughter, S, and left a message for their other daughter, H.  They checked Mass times in Alice Springs for the coming weekend, looked at the maps and wandered around.  They were really taken by the mural of a Shell fuel truck on the side of the roadhouse which actually had a real set of bull bars attached to it.  Very cool!  There, they actually set their clocks forward half an hour for the change of time zone from Queensland to Northern Territory, which previously only RL had changed on his wrist watch.  The journey south on Stuart Highway was only 11kms before venturing west on an unsealed but well signed road for about 6kms to The Pebbles rest area.  Of the Stuart Highway RL commented, ”We’ve been this way twice before but not on this side of the road.” referring to having driven north, but not south, on it.  R & R had only just pulled up when S rang, briefly, on her lunch break.  R & R walked round Kunjarra otherwise known as The Pebbles and observed the signs.  It was an Aboriginal women’s dreaming site with rocks that are a smaller version of the Karlu Karlu (Devil’s Marbles) which are a little further south.  Kunjarra is also the habitat of the threatened Pebble Mound Mouse.  The wind still blew incessantly from the south south-east at 27km/hr and it was a warm 29*C.  It was 3:30pm before the camper was set up and R & R were able to have a coffee and a cat nap.  An hour later R & R were reading maps when H returned their call and they chatted for ages.  Before dinner RL read on the phone while RA published the most recent post.  While RA was preparing dinner, S rang back to give a run down on her day.  After dinner, RL read and RA wrote the diary.  It had become more pleasantly cool and the wind had calmed somewhat … all was quiet.

21/9/2018 Friday The lull in wind speed was only temporary with it blasting its way round the camper at 27kms/hr when they woke at 6:15am.  R & R had slept well despite the wind.  As they were a few kilometres form the highway, all remained quiet.  By 7:50am, R & R were momentarily back on the Stuart Highway heading south as they turned off to take a look around the remains of the Tennant Creek Telegraph Station.  The excellent condition of the buildings is testament to the quality of the bush craftmanship of its builders.  Built in 1872 it was one of 11 repeater stations between Port Augusta and Darwin.  At that time, using Morse code, it took 7 hours to get a message from Adelaide to England.  R & R wandered around taking in all the signs despite the fact that they had already been there before.  Not long after getting in the Ute R & R stopped again at Lake Mary Ann.  The lake was made in 1981 as a picnic and swimming area and is a haven for birdlife.  It was a welcome sight with its green lawns in an area which was so dry and red.  The temperature had risen to 22*C and the wind had picked up speed to 37Km/hr which, besides putting dust in the eyes, did not bode well for fuel consumption.  R & R had a coffee, put the fuel from the two jerry cans into the tank and had a shower in the ablution block. They were intrigued by the domestic fowl that roamed freely in the carpark: chooks, guinea fowl, geese and a peacock.  Six kilometres and R & R were in Tennant Creek where they went to the information bureau where RL learned that The Pebbles are the eggs of the Rainbow Serpent or Warrigul.  RA learned that a chap called S Williams who invented the Comet windmill also invented a type of flat pack shed which was used in the building of the Catholic Church in Tennant Creek.  Originally, it had been unpacked and built in Pine Creek, nearer Darwin, but when gold was discovered and people moved to Tennant Creek, it was taken down, restacked and moved.  Story goes that it was on three trucks when the road flooded.  One truck made it before the bridge flooded, the second lost some of its panels as it was washed off the bridge and the third truck returned to Pine Creek temporarily, making it the longest Church known.  Eventually the misplaced panels were retrieved and the building completed in its current location at Tennant Creek.  R & R had a look around before adding another 40lts of diesel to the tank from a bowser.  By 10:40am, R & R were on the Stuart Highway heading towards Alice Springs just over 500kms south.  The intention was to get as far as possible south and stop at one of the rest areas when they had enough of being on the road.  That being the case they interspersed their journey with stops and great chunks of the audio book “Burn Out”.  Large sections of the road were flanked by cattle stations interspersed with aboriginal lands and communities where there was good growth of trees, mulga and grasses, some having been burnt in previous years.  For the most part the road was flat, occasionally lightly undulating and at times hills could be seen as ranges or individually to 100m above the road.  R & R stopped at Devil’s Marbles shortly before noon and took a couple of the walk trails with their next stop to look at some of the UFO memorabilia at the Wycliffe Well roadhouse, pub and caravan park.  They stopped for a late lunch about 2:00pm at Taylor Creek rest area where cattle grazed near a windmill and yards on the banks of the dry Taylor Creek.  About 5km north of Barrow Creek, RA asked RL to stop for a particularly spectacular set of hills which had flat tops and a rocky “crust” on top, much like a tray cake with a nut or crumble topping on it, and shortly after a sign read Welcome to Central Desert Region.  R & R stopped again briefly at the Teamsters Memorial and the Stuart Memorial, saw a cyclist and the famed fruit farm just south of Ti Tree.  When R & R arrived at the Prowse Gap rest area, 45kms south of Ti Tree about 5:00pm, both were tired having been in the car just under 400kms for the day, so, although the area was deserted, they decided to set up.  The picnic area, bins and toilets were clean (with paper, water and hand wash, which is not often the case) so they hoped it would be safe despite the fact that there was no phone reception.  As they were setting up, another couple stopped and a while later a third camper stopped.  The wind had calmed to near stillness and the temperature had not reached the thirties but R & R had noticed a dark grey sky to the south for a while and contemplated the chances of rain.  As they read before dinner, they could hear the lightest pitter patter on the roof of the camper but it did not last long.  After dinner, R & R read and wrote as was their habit.  Both were so tired … they were not too concerned either way.