Day 8

Friday, 21st September
Mount Isa - Wauchope

Mount Isa
Camooweal
Avon Downs
Soudan
Barkley's Homestead
Tennant Creek
Devil's Marbles
Wauchope

Distance Traveled

Today - 845 km

Total - 3657 km

Blog

A long drive today. 845km from Isa to Wauchope, near "The Devils Marbles".

The drive was long but still interesting. There weren't many dead roos anymore. The land is now very flat with very long straight roads again. Are they flatter and straighter than before?

It was 680km to the first town, Tennant Creek. Camooweal was there but only tiny.

We stopped at Barkley's Homestead for fuel at 169 cents per litre.

After Barkley's Homestead one side of the road was burnt for about 100km.

The trees are all short, about 2 metres tall.

There were a couple of bores along the way for rest stops.

One rest stop even had a police station.

Most of the traffic was 3 car road trains, campers and caravans, 4 wheel drives, a few buses, few cars and many "Britz" hire vans.

Tennant creek was interesting, but we only stopped for fuel. The streets were lined with aboriginals and 4 wheel drives. Not sure if the two are connected.

We then started our trip south. We stopped at the devils marbles. Excellent. We walked all around them. There are lots there. They were formed by weathering away of all the dirt and only leaving the hard round sections of rock.

We decided to camp at Wauchope, which is nothing more than a pub with a bit of a van park out the back.

They cooked good steaks, had a talking cockatoo and a nice beer garden, so its nice.

There was been some clouds and looks like distant rain, but I don't think the water hits the ground. The tempreature yesterday was up to 41. The local publican said that it would be days of rain anticipation, but not likely to actually get any.

Leaving the Isa

Only another 626km and then a left turn. I had better start getting ready.

The Camooweal Landscape

Nice quick paintings to copy these landscapes

Another big ant hill

Higher speeds for the outback roads

And the road goes on

and on

and on ... when is the corner coming?

More road. Don't you love how the landscape subtly changes all the time.

A stop on the way for fuel and rest. Barkley Homestead.

The landscape is burnt for over 100 km

A possible storm looming. Nothing happened. It tricks you for months, thinking it will rain.

More burnt landscape for a long, long way

And finally to Tennant Creek

The Devils Marbles

Some of his marbles

The kids playing marbles

Rebecca still claims that it was already broken

A balanced marble

More marbles. Those are people on top of them.

Squashed Devils Marbles.