Alice to Mataranka

We overnighted at a free camp and had on the highway and we met a couple from Mudgeeraba who shared our fire with us.
Leaving early the next morning we headed to the Devils Marbles which is a very popular stopover.
We were amazed how green it was round here. They must have had lots of rain. The Devils Marbles is rocky outcrop of rounded rocks that seem to balance on at precarious angles. They are a reddish orange and the beauty of staying the night here is you get the changing colour of the setting sun on the rocks.
They are granite rocks and as the molten rocks cool cracks are formed and the get filled with dirt and weathering of the rocks occur until they eventually break down to gravel. The marbles occur over an extensive area and you can walk all around them to get some good shots. I had fun experimenting with my new camera. We witnessed a magnificent sunset that night.
It was still very windy and cold as we left for Tennant Creek which is an old gold mining town. We had a brief stop here for some supplies but were anxious to get away from the blustering wind so we went north to Banka Banka. This is a cattle station that has set a tourist operation by providing a lovely grassy area for caravanners. As you approach you see signs on the road “Hot Showers, Green Grass” which is very enticing after being in red dirt county for some time. You can never get it out of the van. They have an endless supply of beautiful spring water so I did several loads of washing which dried very quickly in the windy weather and Brian washed the car and caravan. They put on a slid e show at night and as the place has just been sold to the aboriginal council the show was all about the history of Banka Banka. A couple who stuck gold in Tennant Creek bought it and spent a lot of money but he died and his wife ran it for years and really helped the aborigines who live there – over 200 of them and she even set up a school on the property. She was awarded an OBE for her work with the aborigines.
An early start for Daly Waters as it is a popular stopping point for the grey nomads. It is old pub full of memorabilia and quirky things. They put on their famous Beef and Barra Smorgesbord and have evening entertainment. We have been there before so we knew to get there early and we were pleased that the wind had died down and the temperature was warmer.
On the way again to Mataranka we passed through Laramath where we looked a free zoo, saw some relics from the war- old crashed aeroplane engine etc. This area was a huge airfield in the war. There were a lot of troops sent to the Northern Territory in the war because of the treat pf invasionfrom Japan.
We also enjoyed Fran’s scones and coffee. Fran is an outback character who has set up a thriving business making fresh scones, pies and pasties for us weary travellers. A very popular spot.
We arrived at Bitter Springs at Mataranka before lunch. These are beautiful natural clear hot springs and there is a caravan park nearby.