It’s a vast country! It’s a bloody vast country! We left Alice Springs, which is the geographic central point of Australia and is about 1500 kms from Adelaide and 1500 kms from Darwin which is our furthest destination. The fields of termite mounds were appearing along the gun-barrel straight Stuart Highway. We stopped at the Devils Marbles for a short stretch of the legs and photo opportunity.

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After driving through Tennant Creek we stopped for the night at Banka Banka station. Two travelling grey nomads were running the place while management took a break and were run ragged by all the arrivals. (It took us 4 attempts to pay.) We’d rung ahead to book and as we were only there for the night, we opted for a cabin which was a shipping container converted into fully self contained accommodation. The only downside was the one bed was a king size single. After experimenting with different sleeping positions, it was decided that the top to tail was the most comfortable. Not even the overnight road trains roaring down the highway which sounded like a jumbo jet about to come through our cabin could stop us from getting some sleep.

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Since leaving The Alice, the roads have become very busy with caravans 4WD’s and RV’s travelling in both directions. Luckily there is more than enough straight road to pass the slower vehicles and Ruthies overtaking skills have her doing 150kmh. She says “that is one good thing about driving a sedan and they can all eat the Camry’s dust”. I reminded her that all those car wrecks littering the side of the highways in the NT thought the same.

I told Ruthie we had to stop at Daly Waters pub for a beer as this is considered a right of passage when in the Territory. I couldn’t tell whether Ruthie was surprised, amazed or bedazzled with this pub. Anything that a tourist could stick to the wall or ceiling was there. Another stop at Pine Creek hotel to watch my race horse that had starred in Renmark. No TAB at this hotel but we were able to watch the race on my phone. It came 7th! Oh well, that’s horse racing.

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Finally we arrived at Mataranka. Unfortunately, there were no powered sites left and we had a car fridge full of food. Our campsite was dusty and not much shade. The weather had warmed up and we were both tired. Every problem has a solution! We knew the musos who were performing at the Mataranka Homestead for the dry season. They arranged for our car fridge to be plugged in and we had dinner from the restaurant while listening to our music friends perform. The night was finished off with Australia’s champion whipcracker. He put on an amazing show. A couple of drinks and suddenly life was great again. The weather has become warmer and we slept well under the stars.