The Stuart Highway

Friday 6^th June

After a wonderful 5 days in Alice with Fran and Brian, we thought we’d best move on so Friday morning saw us heading north on the Stuart Highway.  We contemplated the Tanami Track as an alternative route to the Kimberley, but there were places up north we wanted to see so will leave the Tanami till another trip.

The first stop we made was at the monument marking the Tropic of Capricorn.

Along the highway are several monuments commemorating various stages of the explorer John McDouall Stuart’s crossing of the continent and also the Overland Telegraph Line.  It’s a living history lesson!  At Barrow Creek we were able to have a look around the old telegraph station, which is being restored.

Wycliffe Well was a funny little stop, its claim to fame being the “UFO capital of Australia” with a reported UFO landing there

The Devils Marbles was a pretty amazing place, a conservation park full of fascinating rock formations.  Definitely not how I remembered it from 30 years ago! 

The further north we went, the more termite mounds we saw … along the sides of the highway, through the bushes, across paddocks. They were seemingly everywhere.  They must be a source of inspiration for bored travellers who occasionally stop to dress them – in t shirts, hats, singlets etc.  Quite amusing.

We reached Tennant Creek and stayed in the caravan park tonight.