The NT border to the Centre

Day 11 & 12 – 4 & 5 Oct 2011 - “Mother Nature visits..”.

After a couple of great days bush camping, we reluctantly packed up early, as we had a big day today – nearly 600kms! We had mobile coverage at this spot, so I was keeping a close eye on the weather, as there were a few storm fronts coming across from the red centre and heading east. I figured that we could time it to travel west, while it was coming across, thereby not copping it when we next set up camp.

We did the usual photo stop at the border 15km’s up the Barkley hwy, and then headed west to the three ways. I also had a few other things to be mindful of today.

1. Bushfires – they were around, and the centre has been having them everywhere over the past week.

2. Fuel – We where chocka full at Camooweal, and the plan was to avoid Barkley Homestead for a top up, due to $1-98/l and get to Tennant Ck, 30km down the road from three ways. I could just do it on the one tank without using the jerry – given conditions were favourable.

Well, the first thing was the bushfires – I have the UHF on scan for CH18 (travellers), CH29 & 40 (trucks), and I had a call up from a truck about fires up the road. I guess the smoke in the distance was a clue, however, when the road deviated towards it, things were a little uneasy. The advice given was “there’s a heap of smoke over the road, and fires along the edges – don’t slow down – give it the berries mate”.

Holy crap – that made me really feel at ease……not!

We didn’t see to much, as I followed the advice, and threw the hammer down, 130kmr and still accelerating draggin 1.4t – reckon d-max found some adrenalin, cos we were haulin’!!.

260kms later, we pulled into Barkley Homestead for lunch, and chilled out a bit, before heading to the three ways. I had used a bit more fuel than planned, as we also had head winds, and the burst of speed probably didn’t help…. It was going to be tight to get to Tennant creek (although I did have the jerry can as back up). If I got to three ways before the light came on, then we’d be right.

The headwinds didn’t do me anymore favours, and the light came on 40kms outside three ways – bugger, might need that Jerry. A truck was approaching behind, so a radioed him past and then tee’d up to tuck in behind him to the three ways, so that I was ‘sucked along in the slipstream’. Worked a treat, and I splashed in enough fuel at three ways to get to Tennant Creek, 30k away (fuel there is 20c/l less than three ways.

We then headed for Devils Marble reserve, 100km down the

Stuart Highway

towards Alice Springs. This was the planned stop for the night, and we pulled in at around 4pm to set up. This park was surreal, hundreds of big round boulders randomly scattered & stacked all over the area, in the middle of no where.

By nightfall, we could see the glow of a bushfire in the distance to the southeast. The ranger had said the area we were in was in no danger.

About an hour later, the clear sky disappeared, and the clouds rolled in. This instantly bathed the whole area in an orange glow, as the light from the bushfires reflected in the clouds. Seems the storms weren’t quite finished in this area and the fires seemed closer rather than distant. It was an eerie scene, and not an entirely relaxing one at that. Glad the camper was still hooked up to the car, just in case….

We got the edge of the storm – lightening, thunder, wind gusts & only a little rain. Enough wind gusts to warrant bracing the camper with long straps.

Next morning, it was clear & fine – no more smoke or fires. The storms had blown through and effectively put out what was burning – rightly so, seeing as lightening started them in the first place!

We then set off on the 400kms journey down to Alice Springs. Someone needs to show NT how to make roads a bit more interesting by introducing bends!

The scenery, however, was far more vegetated than we expected – not the vast baron desert that is stereotyped.

Well, that was 2 big days on the road – 1000kms. Had to happen sometime, considering some of the shorter runs we have had. Time to park up in Alice for the rest of the week.