A group of large Boab trees on ether side of the road greeted us at the start of the Tanami track, like a send off committee, wishing us luck.
Our first stop was to be Wolf Creek Crater, the second largest meteorite crater in the world. 900 metres across and only discovered in 1947 by people doing an aerial survey of the area.
The crater is over 120k down the track, road conditions were good in most parts, with stretches of large corrugations, which slowed us down. By afternoon the crater was in sight, the last eight ks were badly corrugated and we crept into the campsite and set up, the sight seeing could wait till morning.
With brekky done and packed up again, we drove the last k to the crater. A steep walk up the side and you are faced with the sight of a 2,000,000 year old hole, 20m deep, but originally up to 120m deep, time and forces of nature have filled the hole to the depth it is today, rimmed with the mound of earth created when the meteorite ended its journey through space. An awe inspiring sight.
After contemplating the magnitude of space and even the land where I stood, and how it makes you feel so insignificant, I recorded some video and some still pics to show Din, as she couldn’t do the climb to the top, I descended again.
This was a 30k side trip off the road, but well worth the travel. Back on track, we continued, the road was getting slowly worse. This was expected, as most of the traffic were road trains pulling four or more heavily loaded trailers creating huge corrugations for as far as you could see. The only way to lessen the impact of these machinery destroying bumps, is to lower tyre pressure and go slow, this we did.
Billiluna, the first of two Communities along the track, was where we next camped at least, on the creek bank near the turn off, as no one was allowed to enter the community re Covid rules.
We woke in the morning to the cheery shrieks and cry's of pink and grey galahs and red tail black cockatoos, as well as Major Mitchel cockatoos, all shouting out a good morning from the treetops.
Pressing on, further down the track, Balgo, the next community passed by. This is also the northern end of The Canning Stock Route, which starts at Wiluna. The road wasn’t getting any better, an average speed of 25kph was bearable, but Ned was born for these roads and was taking it in his stride.
The road is fairly wide, to accommodate the road trains using it, you can see anything coming for miles by the telltale cloud of dust on the horizon, so to minimize the bone shaking rattling, you scan the road ahead and go to the smoothest part, even if you drive on the wrong side of the road most of the time. A lot of the time the best place is right at the edge, where the surface is soft and less prone to form corrugations, but if they are there, at least they are softer to go over.
After quite a few days travelling we hit the WA / NT boarder. A very understated marking of the divide between states, a large drum painted up to mark the 129th parallel.
Crossing the boarder we carried on for a while, then pulled into a track leading to a disused bore and camped up. Here I recorded out first NT sunset as I waited for our roast potatoes and pumpkin to cook in the coals of our camp fire.
As always, the footage doesn't bring out the true colours, but spectacular anyway. These were our sunsets and sunrises every day, you just can’t help but be in awe of nature with this as your backdrop.
Mount Doreen, more a hill than a mountain, but an impressive granite formation none the less, came up on us and a track led us to the ruins of a once bustling, it would seem, settlement. The remnants of a former life were scattered about, large bits of rusting machinery with oversized cogs and gear teeth grimacing in the long grass. Vintage trucks once tireless workhorses, now skeletons, resting beneath the knurled branches of desert gums. An old stone, one room shanty crumbles into the ground.
It would have been a hard life here, whatever they were doing, there was evidence of mining, an old shaft in the hill nearby, and the large machinery decaying, left where it stood.
We drove down to a dry creek bed and camped for the night on it’s banks. After a bit more exploring in the morning, we set off toward Yuendumu, a community marking the end of the dirt road of the Tanami.
Driving into Yuendumu, the local welcoming committee, a mean looking, large dog, ran beside Ned and threatened to chew off his tyres, but decided he had better things to do after a few hundred metres and left us alone.
The local store was well stocked and we bought some salad and bread then fuelled up. Our journey down the Tanami, so far, some 830k had used up just over 100 litres of fuel, not as much as I had envisioned. Going at the slow pace as we had to, had decreased our fuel consumption.
We had a choice, go down the buitumin to the Stuart hyway, or go on the gravel, Mount Denison road, also to the hyway but coming out a bit further north. The dirt road won out.
Asking around town, no one seemed to know what condition the road was in. even tried at the police station, but could not find any body there. So, as we do, we set off down the road and knew we could always turn back if it was impassable. About thirty k on, a grader came hurtling round a bend and screeched to a stop as we were exiting a dry creek crossing. Seizing the opportunity, I signalled to the driver and we stopped too. He told us the road was good all the way to the highway, and in fact in another 20k it had been just graded to the end. We thanked him for the info, and for his work on the road and took off with the happy thoughts of smooth roads ahead.
In two more days, we hit the buitumin of the Stuart highway. Over 1000k from Halls Creek on bone shaking, teeth rattling, slow going, wonderful roads. This is why we travel, it’s not the destinations, it’s the journeys between, the majestic scenery, the immersing yourself in the landscapes, the finding of little wonders others have passed by because they are on a schedule or fail to take the time to see the beauty around them. We, I think, are blessed.
Refueld at Aileron Roadhouse then 60k down the blacktop and turn off to our next adventure, The Sandover Highway, to Qld.
OK - Now I'm REALLY confused .. YAS ARE BACK IN QLD??? WOO-HOO!! (FOR ME, ANYWAY) XXXXX
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