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.
