Ti Tree, Tennant Creek, Barkly, Camooweal, Gregory Downs and Lawn Hill

  At the beginning of our next driving day we passed through Alice Springs one last time to pick up some supplies and to visit the dump point to empty the Devil's Esky. There was a bit of a queue and when we got to the front a man jumped out of a caravan a few back in the queue and ran up with his toilet cassette in hand and JUMPED THE QUEUE! You can imagine the outrage among the waiting caravanners - there are protocols to adhere to when using these shared facilities! 

 Once we had recovered from the shock and muttered darkly about the offender with our fellow queuing travellers, we set of on the two and a half hour drive to Ti Tree. After a short while we spotted a fabulous sculpture of a man on a hill so left the highway to investigate. We found it was in the tiny town of Aileron and was accompanied by another, really beautiful sculpture of a woman and girl. 

The roadhouse in Ti Tree looked a bit scruffy and there were six dogs running around fighting and begging so we didn't expect much. However, the sign for caravans took us through a gate into a very pleasant little park, $30 unpowered with wifi and decent amenities. As usual one of our neighbours was washing his van giving no thought to how precious the water is in these remote, parched areas.

 The following morning we filled up at the garage opposite as the fuel was cheaper there than at the roadhouse. There was a Pink Cockatoo watching us which was a treat. They are beautiful birds which used to be named Major Mitchell's Cockatoos but I think Major Mitchell may have done something unspeakable because they are just called Pink now. 

 We were headed for Tennant Creek next and the route took us past Karlu Karlu or the Devil's Marbles. Dogs were not allowed to walk around the marbles so we left Harvey in the van while we explored the astonishing rocks. The marbles are actually the remains of a huge hill of rock and the marbles were formed as it started to wear away, they then split and broke into pieces and will eventually become gravelly sand. There was a lovely National Park caravan park there but no dogs allowed so not for us so we pressed on to Tennant Creek. 

 There were so many stories about Tennant Creek online so we wanted to see the place for ourselves and make up our own minds, as we did with Alice Springs. We found two caravan parks - The Outback, away from the centre of town and at $60 a night unpowered (really taking advantage of the people who have been scared by the reviews they have read) and Tennant Creek Caravan Park, right in town and $35. We chose the cheaper one and it was very nice and practically empty.

 We went for a walk along the high street and it became clear that visitors don't even usually do that when a man came up and said, "Bless you for visiting our town." All the people around town were indigenous and the place was heavily patrolled by police and there was a bit of noise at night but I have certainly lived in noisier places. Many of the rumours  about Tennant Creek were to do with things going missing from outside caravans but, you have to ask yourself, would you leave your possessions unattended outside your home and expect to find them there on your return? I think not, in some places sensible caution should be exercised but that is no reason not to visit, not for us anyway. 

Before leaving Tennant Creek we popped in to the Battery Hill Museum on the site of Noble's Knob Gold Mine. There were no mine tours that day so we paid our $12 each and had a look around the museum. It was brilliant and covered the social history of the mining community comprehensively, not for kids really because it was mainly photos and reading. There was a room with a huge collection of minerals with little torches provided so visitors could make the rocks sparkle. 

After 1758kms on the Stuart Highway we were excited to reach the day we would be turning off onto the Barkly Highway going east. This turned out to be just as straight as the Stuart Highway with the same termite mound scenery but after a couple of hours we reached the Barkly Roadhouse. Again reviews had been mixed, this time people were upset about a huge colony of bats roosting in the trees at the roadhouse, we quite like bats and considered them a good reason to visit.

 Barkly Roadhouse was not like the usual roadhouses, it was modern with a good cafe, restaurant and dogs were welcome in the huge pub garden with happy hour from 4-5pm. $36 unpowered with fabulous amenities and a pool. They did not start serving dinner until 5.30pm but with a bit of planning it was possible to buy two cheap drinks at 4.55pm and make them last through dinner. The bats were great and, as long as campers did not park under trees, it was fine. They took off at sunset and flew over for ages heading wherever it is bats go, it was really spectacular. 

 We decided to stay an extra day because the place was so nice and we enjoyed sitting with a coffee or beer watching the huge trucks pull in to refuel. It was also finally becoming warmer overnight, only down to 8°C so nice to slow down for a bit. The caravan area got really busy on the second afternoon, I like to think it was because I posted a review on Wikicamps saying how great the bats were, and some of the camping rigs that pulled in were enormous. There was one full sized coach towing a huge trailer, I don't know how people like that find places big enough to camp. 

As usual everyone had left by the time we surfaced so we had the shower blocks to ourselves before we got back on to the Barkly Highway. Another two and a half hour drive brought us to Camooweal Billabong where we found a free camp by the river. The reviews said 'get there early' and they weren't kidding, the caravans were nose to tail along the riverside. Fortunately we have a small caravan and managed to squeeze in to a fabulous spot on the river bank and spent a happy couple of days gazing into pretty Georgina River which was full of water lilies and home to hundreds of birds. It was warm enough to sit outside in the evenings finally and a group of Brolgas strolled by as we cooked over the camp fire. 

 We also really enjoyed the Drovers Museum which was an excellent place full of local information and memorabilia in brightly painted barns. Ian had been reminiscing about Lawn Hill Gorge with the lady at the museum as we were at the closest point we would get to it, but we knew it was closed after a devastating storm in 2023. She told us it was now partly re-opened so we decided to change our plans and head the extra 250kms north as we were so close it seemed rude not to go.

 Our choice was 220km of dirt road or 450km of bitumen so we chose the dirt. Driving on dirt is not many people's favourite pastime, apart from anything else it is tiring because you have to keep an eagle eye out for holes and soft bits all the time. Ian drove the first couple of hours then I took over and drove a few meters before the road turned back to bitumen. I was feeling very smug but within a couple of kms it was back to dirt again. Eventually we rattled our way to the outskirts of Gregory Downs where the road became bitumen and I ran over a nail. A couple of caravans stopped and helped us change the wheel then we rolled into Gregory Downs and lo and behold the first thing we saw was a sign for a tyre repair shop. 

 With our newly repaired tyre in place we found a spot at the free camp by the river. It was packed but there was a wonderful lazy river which wound through the trees from one end of the camp to the other. We spent a couple of days jumping in with pool noodles and floating along looking at Azure Kingfishers, Rainbow Bee Eaters, Great Bowerbirds, Bar Shouldered Doves, White Gaped Honeyeaters, Crimson Finches and trying not to think about crocodiles. 

Lots of road trains stop in the centre of the little town and we were counting the wheels on them with some kids There were 88 wheels on average and a man told us the fine for a road train going on a road where it is not permitted is $1000 per wheel!

  Gregory Downs had a pub with ok food but pretty expensive with a grumpy landlady, Murray's Cafe with good coffee and home made muffins and a free shower block which was great. We could have stayed longer but were keen to get to Lawn Hill Gorge. We had not planned terribly well with our food shopping and didn't stock up with extra cereals etc when there were grocery stores available so you can imagine our excitement when we heard rumours about excellent dining at the park we had booked into at Lawn Hill. 

The road to Lawn Hill was dirt but in very good condition. Work was being carried out on the first section and it actually looked like it was going to get a tarmac surface and we could not work out why until we came across the entrance to Century Mining. Another 40kms brought us to Adel's Grove which is really the only place to stay , $40 all sites unpowered and they do not promise the showers will be hot. We were in the dogs allowed area on a big pitch a good distance from any others. The most desirable part is The Grove but it is very shady down there so not good for solar.

 The river runs through The Grove and the whole site is very beautiful but the best part was yet to come. There were two shipping containers around a seating area, one was the Camel Bar and the other The Hungry Emu takeaway. As luck would have it the seasonal staff in both were European backpackers including French and Italian chefs! So our stay was one of gourmet delights, homemade arancini with the pre dinner drinks, amazing burgers and pizzas topped off with creme brulee, tarte tatin, lemon meringue and even that old 70s favourite, crepe suzette flambéed at the table. 

It would have been very pleasant just to stay at the campground but we set off the following morning to drive 15kms to the National Park where we had a canoe trip booked. It was very easy to see why much of the park was still closed because of storm damage but  they are working hard to open more up again all the time. Lawn Hill Gorge is sensational, the river is a gorgeous turquoise and we picked up our canoe and paddled along between lush riverside greenery full of birds and soaring rock cliffs. Eventually the river opened out into a circle of waterfalls pouring in all around us, it was amazing. 

 After dropping the canoe back we strolled along and went for a swim in the beautiful warm, sparkling water, just wonderful. It was only after we climbed out that we spotted a crocodile sunbathing on a log. He was pretty big, probably about 2 metres long. 

Apparently he was a freshwater croc, everyone says these will not attack people but I'm not so sure. I have also heard that freshwater and saltwater (the nasty ones) do cross over territories and you should never take the risk. However, we lived to tell the tale and even went swimming again on another day. Lawn Hill was well worth the 250km detour from our planned route and I would love to go back again when it is fully open - crocs and all. 

Alice Springs

  After all the walking and scrambling over rocks at Kings Canyon, my legs were not too disappointed at the prospect of another driving day. We were headed for Alice Springs and had to choose between 125kms of dirt road or a huge diversion of hundreds of kms to avoid it. Of course we chose the dirt and bumped and jiggled along for a couple of hours before reaching the Namatjira Highway, one of the prettiest outback roads I had ever seen. One side is all national park and the road runs through the west end of the McDonnell Ranges which are incredibly beautiful. Here was every type of hill imaginable. Rocky bald ones, rocky ones covered with trees and bushes, smooth undulating ones with rocky ones in front and strange rock formations which ran along like drystone walls but red! 

  We stopped to look at the Ochre Pits near Ormiston Gorge. They were beautiful, all the gorgeous colours used in traditional indigenous artwork could be seen in the rocks. There were a few tour group coaches on the road and one had pulled up at the same time as us so we tagged along to have a listen but the tour guide did not share nearly as much information as the signs around the site so we were glad when they left and we had the place to ourselves to look around.

 There were plenty of free over night camping areas along the Namatjira Highway but not many allowed dogs except Point Howard Lookout where we parked up right at the top of a hill with spectacular 360° views. There were a few other vans there and when we surfaced in the morning we discovered another tour group had pulled up and were being given a guided tour of us, basically, and the other campers. We must have been a novelty, I hope they enjoyed it. 

  Temple Bar Caravan Park 10kms outside Alice Spring was our destination. It was really nice, generous pitches in the shadow of a vast rocky section of the McDonnell Ranges. The amenities were old but clean and all for $28 a night, which was very good so close to a big tourist destination. Unfortunately they only had one site available for 2 nights and we were hoping to stay for about 6. The owners were helpful and found us another site for the third night but then nothing so we went to Winngardi Caravan Park right next door and found they had availability for our further three nights. So, our visit to Alice Springs involved a bit of moving house but we had somewhere to stay and that was what mattered. 

 Alice Springs was a really attractive city. A fair bit of the place was quite new looking so I guess many older places had been knocked down because it has been a large established centre for a very long time but the juxtaposition of old and new made it a very interesting place. We had all kinds of warnings about Alice from various people we encountered but found that visitors just need to exercise a bit of sensible caution just like they do in thousands of other places around the world. Certainly, as someone brought up in a big city, I could point out many places where I have felt far less safe than Alice Springs. What did feel awkward is that we white tourists sat drinking our fancy coffee in places where the indigenous population were clearly not welcome but, don't get me started or this will turn into a rant.

 

The ANZAC Lookout offered 360° views of the city which was fabulous and gave a real feeling of the original settlement growing up in the middle of nowhere. After doing a bit of grocery shopping in Coles we went to buy a wine cask and discovered the rules around alcohol were very strict. There were police officers on all the bottle shop entrances and port or wine casks could only be purchased after 5pm and then only tiny ones and one per person on production of a drivers license. So we bought our allowance and headed back to the van to admire all the resident bird life. 

It was so cold overnight that the water supply at the caravan park froze. We did know, obviously, that the desert is hot in the day and cold at night but it took a bit of getting used to. The next day we left Harvey in the van and visited the Alice Springs Telegraph Station, the whole reason why Alice Springs was there in the first place. The station was built in 1871 as a link along the Overland Telegraph Line, connecting Darwin and Adelaide. Its construction also integrated Australia into the telegraph network of the British Empire, reducing the delivery time for a message to England from months to 5 hours! The visit was great, only $16 each with an excellent talk at the beginning and as much time to explore the buildings and send telegraph messages to each other as we liked. It was a beautiful site and tables were being set up for a wedding as we left. We walked up Trig Hill (more scrambling up rocks) then back to chill at the van. 

 

Moved pitch in the morning then returned to Alice Springs, this time with Harvey. We planned to walk the History Trail but it was a bit disappointing with many of the historic building closed . We had heard the Ghan was arriving that day so went to the station to investigate. The station staff advised that the best photo opportunity was the point where the train came through The Gap as it entered the town at around 1.20pm so we went and waited and it was incredibly exciting to hear the train tooting its horn on the approach. The Ghan was hugely impressive, 36 carriages passing through the rocky gap along side the road, well worth the effort to go and see it. 

 On the way back to the caravan park we stopped of to visit the grave of John Flynn, the remarkable man who founded the Royal Flying Doctors then we dropped Harvey off and went to find Standley Chasm. Not only was Alice Springs itself fabulous but it was surrounded by places in the McDonnell Ranges like Standley Chasm, many of them were gorges, gaps or, as in this case, chasms. It was a brilliant walk, only a couple of kms so not too demanding. A gorgeous trail led walkers through the rocks until the chasm revealed itself at the end, absolutely magnificent. 

 After a move to the neighbouring Winngardi Caravan Park next door, $30 unpowered, not quite such good views but better amenities and more birds, we returned to the city and visited the Royal Flying Doctors Museum. There was a good little film to watch and an ok museum, not as good as the one in Broken Hill where they have planes but we are always happy to donate to the cause. Sadly the Women's Museum was closed but over the next couple of days we carried out a couple of post 5pm grog runs to stock up, Ian walked around Ormiston Gorge and we both visited the Cultural Centre It was only $6 entry and had three decent exhibitions running in the main building alongside a cinema, cafe and craft centre. Next door was the site of the original Alice Springs Airport which now housed The Central Australian Aircraft Museum, free entry with loads of exhibits, information and very knowledgeable volunteers. 

 We loved Alice Springs and I would encourage anyone to ignore any negative stories they may have heard and visit.

Uluru and Kings Canyon

  After a most enjoyable stay in Coober Pedy it was time for us to hit the road again. As usual our camping neighbours had all left by the time we got up. I don't know why they set off so early, maybe to bag the best camp spots at their next destination. Whatever the reason it is not the way we like to travel. A man gave us some very good advice a while back - never drive for more than three hours in a day, never go more than 300kms and always arrive before 3pm - obviously it has not always been possible to stick to but we have found it to be a pretty good rule of thumb.  

Brown Honeyeater

  Before departing we had coffee in  a pleasant little underground  gallery we found on the previous  day, went back to buy a pair of  opal earrings I had taken a fancy  to and filled up our water tanks from the paid water pump in the  middle of town.  We knew the next couple of days were just going to be about getting from one roadhouse to the next along the, rather boring, Stuart Highway. It had certainly been a dull stretch of road through South  Australia and was one of the few downsides to the trip but an essential one if we wanted to see the places we had come to visit. The road took us through hundreds of kms with no phone signal, occasionally there would be an emergency phone by the roadside but, more often a layby with a mobile phone booster where drivers could put their own phone in the cradle and make a call in an emergency. So, looking at those was what passed as fun until we reached our destination for the night, Marla Travellers Rest.  

Zebra Finches

 The roadhouses were the only places to stop and there were horror stories buzzing around about staggering fuel prices  but we didn't find the cost too outrageous considering how far from anywhere these stops were.  I was not expecting much but the camping area was pretty good, $25 unpowered with good toilets and hot showers, a well stocked camp kitchen and happy hour from 3-5pm with $5 beers.

 

It was much warmer during the evening but still cold overnight and in the morning there were a few clouds around, I had not seen one of those for a while. I was excited because this was the day I would enter the Northern Territory for the first time in my life so I was keen to get going. The Stuart Highway was long and straight as usual but, the minute we crossed the border into NT, the landscape changed. Gone were the cleared paddocks of South Australia, suddenly the land became more undulating with rocky hills in the distance and grasses and the trees of all different colours made the outlook very pretty and far more interesting. 

Grey Headed Honeyeater

We reached Erldunda Desert Oaks Resort, it sounded grand but it was just another roadhouse, and set up for the night. There were quite a number of flies about so we whipped out the bug tent we have been carrying with us for ten years now, we debated throwing it away as we have only used it a couple of times but it was about to come into its own on this trip. The camping facilities were good, $36 unpowered with decent showers, playground, little animal reserve behind with camels and emus and a well stocked shop which was packed with first nations people shopping. Turned out it was Bush Bus day, a service from the APY Lands (Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara) a settlement nearby. Harvey proved to be very popular with the kids and made lots of new friends. 

Mount Connor

  Erldunda got really packed by the late afternoon but they were all up and off again by the time we emerged. We were planning to reach our stop for Uluru later in the day so set off knowing we were on our last driving day for a while. I had tried to book the Ayers Rock Resort but found it was fully booked months in advance so we were headed for Curtin Springs, a roadhouse with free unpowered camping, basic toilets and $4 showers but no dump point, the nearest being one hour away in Yulara. As we approached Mount Connor came into view. Many people mistake this for Uluru, I don't really know why because it does not look much like it but I expect they are excited and a big rock pops up and who can blame them. Mount Connor could be seen from the roadhouse which had extremely attractive gardens with an aviary full of cockatiels and budgies, I was hopeful this might attract wild budgies as I had still never seen one despite being told I would be falling over them in the Northern Territory. 

  We had to decide what to do with Harvey as Uluru is in a National Park and we had expected to be staying at the resort nearby with its resident dogsitters, not an hour away as we now were. We noticed a few other campers leaving their dogs in their caravans and decided to do the same. I must point out this was winter and we would not have left him in summer temperatures. So we set off to scope out Uluru wondering if we would be as blown away as everyone seems to be, it is a rock after all. Suddenly it appeared after nearly an hour of driving and it took our breath away. So huge and staggeringly beautiful in the morning sunlight, we were blown away already and we had not even entered the national park yet. 

Kata Tjuta

  Entry to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park was $38 each for a 3 day pass which covered  pretty much everything so seemed like a bargain. The Cultural Centre was informative and beautiful and we attended a cultural talk before setting off on several walks to gaze at the rock from as many different angles as possible. It really was amazing, in places the surface looks to be poured into massive folds, it must look even more sensational during a big rain event. 

We decided we could not leave Harvey for too long so agreed to take it in turns to return on the following days. I went first and set off in a balmy 2°C to make sure I arrived in time for the 10am free guided walk, which I loved. The guide was fantastic and took us to see ancient meeting places, water holes and ceremony areas around the rock. He was full of information and stories and I would recommend the walk to everyone. I tried to hire a bike for $80 to ride around the rock but they were all booked out so I walked around some of it then set off in the car to look at the rock again from the sunset viewing point then the sunrise viewing point and it was stunning from every angle. Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) were glowing with a mauve tinge in the distance but I decided not to drive the 30 mins to them although Ian did on his day and really enjoyed them.

Spinifex Pigeon

  I dropped in to Yulara as I left for some fuel and found there was  a market on with music acts and entertainment for NAIDOC  Week (National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance  Committee) which was fun but Yulara is a strange place. It is a  sort of resort town with hotels and shops which felt all a bit  Disneyfied to me, shops run by white folk selling fake aboriginal  design stubby holders and thongs in an area of huge cultural  significance to the indigenous population did not sit right with me, far  better to buy souvenirs from the cultural centre where the shops  have to be owned by locals selling local goods. 

Kings Canyon

 Curtin Springs was a great place to stay, the toilets were a bit rustic but perfectly adequate and our bug tent was the envy of all the other campers. We waved goodbye reluctantly as we had enjoyed being in one place for a few days but we were headed for Kings Canyon only two hours away and we were going to be there for a while too. The route was really quite green with huge tree covered hills running alongside the road for miles before we arrived at the huge Kings Canyon Resort. It was $80 a night unpowered but it was the only game in town if you wanted to visit the canyon and there was a bar and restaurant so we were able to recharge our batteries a bit, although the food and drinks were eyewateringly expensive. Only guests were permitted to buy drinks at the bar so everyone was given a pass on arrival. The views were fabulous and there was a light installation which punters paid $30 each to see at night, fortunately it was set up on the area adjacent to our pitch so we saw it for free every night. 

  Although pet friendly, the resort was not the kind of place where we could leave Harvey unattended in the van and the canyon was a national park. The caravan pitches were close together and the people behind us had not stopped vacuuming since they arrived so I imagined they might be the type who would complain if he let out a woof. With this in mind we chose to walk the canyon on different days with Ian going first. It was fortunate we chose to do it that way because the full Canyon Walk started with a sheer climb which would have been too much for my fear of heights so, when Ian reported back, I was able to choose the South Wall Walk which began with an incline which was punishing but not terrifying. 

 We do a bit of walking but this was tough, all on rock and climbing all the way for a couple of hours ever onward and upward. The scenery was breathtaking (literally) and it was astonishing to see flowering plants thriving on the solid rock. The birds were plentiful too and the sight of the canyon at the end was well worth the effort. The descent was tricky in parts because some sections had been climbed on all fours and were more difficult to negotiate going down, I was glad I took a walking pole. I was following the markers on the descent when I came to an arrow that just pointed over the edge of a cliff, surely not I thought. Being too scared to look right over the edge, I hung around for a bit pretending to take pictures until some other people appeared. They too saw the arrow and looked at one another in horror until the bravest of them looked right over the edge of the cliff and spotted the tiny steps cut out of the rock across the sheer face and down they went. I reasoned that my only choices were to follow them or be airlifted out so I went for it. We must have come up that way but I obviously had not paid attention but with the drop ahead of me I could not look away. It was terrifying but mercifully short  and it was a great relief when the car park came in to view. 

 Kings Canyon was a wonderful visit and apart from the Canyon Walk there was also a Creek Walk which was full of birds and flowers and only an hour return. It was the most expensive place to stay on our whole trip but worth every cent.