TWENTYSECOND DAY – FRIDAY 30TH JULY
I got up pretty early cause it was too hot to sleep and there just so happened to be a pretty cool sunrise. So out I went to discover that we were near a billabong surrounded by river red gums – a lot different than the ones we have in Victoria. I took quite a few photos of the sunrise over the billabong. By the time I had finished Graeme was up and started to pack up our camp – but guess what? He discovered we had a flat tyre on the back inside. So he changed the tyre and got all dusty with red dirt. We had cereal for breaky then off we went back across that horrid bumpy track to the caves just down the road. We checked out the caves which are huge big holes in the ground. You can only go into the caves on special tours that descend into the caves on ropes. We then continued on the bumpy, rocky track back to Camooweal where we filled up on petrol and someone informed us that there had been a big accident on the road to Three Ways and it was blocked off. If someone hadn’t told us we would have kept going anyway – so we did!! We figured by the time we get there it might be cleared. Anyway we continued along Barklay Highway which I have official nick named it the Patchwork Highway due to the many patch-up jobs on the road. We crossed the N.T/QLD boarder at 10.30 am and put our clocks back half an hour which was beneficial for us driving in ‘The Snail’ – gained half an hour – and took the obligatory boarder photos. We had a laugh at the 130 kmh limit signs and slugged on, or should that be snailed!! The terrain was flat and grassy plains as far as the eye could see. We were driving into a head wind which didn’t help – (maybe that’s why everyone seems to be going the other way??) The terrain turned into low scrub with lots of little flowers showing their beauty. Arha – we came across the accident. Police had blocked off the road and we had to stop and wait for approx 40 mins. So we took the opportunity to have some lunch. A big road train had tipped over during the night and was right across the road – one bit was on its side the rest was upside down. When we finally got to go we had to drive along a dirt track around the scene. It looked pretty bad. We continued on the patchwork hwy towards Barklay Homestead which is a big roadhouse and camping area, although we only got some fuel and a couple of icepoles to cool us down. We were told it is 32 deg. Celcius and ten degrees above average for this time of year. We continued on to a place called ‘The Pebbles’ that Graeme is determined to get to! We have to go into Tenant Creek tomorrow to get new tyres so this was the closest place to camp and sounded pretty good. WELL! Guess what – another bumpy, rocky track to drive along. Again I was grumpy and not happy – worrying about the poor old van and how it was going to survive another beating. Well thankfully it wasn’t too far to go – only 6 kms this time. We arrived at ‘The Pebbles’ which looks like a pretty cool place. There are ‘piles’ of rocks scattered in a big area. The sun is setting and the pebbles look pretty in the light. We picked our spot to park for the night. I was hot and a bit grumpy so I went for a walk to look at the pebbles which are a small version of the Devils Marble I was told by another camper. We had tea and each of us had an outside shower in the dark to wash off all the red dirt. I feel much better now. It’s time to go to bed now.