16th July Tennant Creek

 Kms today 506                  Kms to date 5450

I left at 8:30 after another great breakfast from Kathy.  I made Ti Tree my first stop.  This area was developed for growing grapes in the 1980's.  They had BP Premium so I filled up.  I had the worst coffee of the trip: a real Nescafe Latte!

I stopped at the memorial to Charles Stuart who passed this way in 1862 while surveying the route for the Overland Telegraph, a technological breakthrough as big as the internet today. The mountain behind is considered the geographical centre of Australia and is called Central Mount Stewart. Morag, Lachlan (one year old), Hilary (Morag's sister) and I drove up the Stuart Hwy in 1981 and I have a photo of myself in the same spot.

I stood in this same spot 40 years earlier see below

A somewhat slimmer version of me with more hair in 1981 and the Overland Telegraph pole.  I still can wear that leather belt, but on the last hole.

I looked around for the pole from the Overland Telegraph and they'd moved it

My next stop was Barrow Creek for lunch, but didn't need fuel.  Barrow  Creek has a restored Overland Telegraph Station, like Alice.  The Roadhouse bar was interesting, with bank notes stuck on the walls and in a back room lots of Army insignia purloined from the soldiers as they came through.  The barmaid, who was my age,  had a dog which she was taking to Alice for a clip.  I had a comfy sofa to eat my pie on and watch the news about Vic going into a short lockdown. The lockdown lasted until the 29th October! Three removalists had driven down from Sydney and brought the Delta Covid virus with them.  Before I left, 3 motorcyclists came over to have a chat.  They all had similar experiences with getting caught by border closures and having to radically change their plans.

 

Barrow Creek Bar with the army insignia stuck to the walls 

I stopped at Wycliffe Well to buy some fruit from the Roadhouse but theyhad none and I got a "strange" look for my trouble. They had set up the forecourt with little green aliens and had a space ship as well.  Trying to compete with Nevada's Area 51!

 

Australia's Area 51, but no fruit to be had!

            

I had my last rest stop at the Devils Marbles or Kurla Kurla by the locals.  We also visited here in 1981. It had a very popular campsite behind it and I stopped there as I needed a pee. There were several marked walks and I took one up to the summit for photos. In 1981 there was nothing there and we climbed over the rocks willy nilly.

Devils Marbles Kurla Kurla

Devils Marbles were very popular and the camp ground was full

Tennant Creek is quite a big town and as I passed through to fill up at the BP I spotted my accommodation for the night; The Goldfields Hotel. There was a great mob of aborigines shouting and carrying on outside.  When I got back from the BP, there was as much commotion inside with loud music.  I took my key and rode round the back to my room which was actually quite nice.  I went back to the bar after unloading and found the whole place empty as they kick the aborigines out at 4, clean up the place and open again at 4:30 and I never saw another black face in the Bar.  They all had trooped across the road to the bottle shop!

Goldfields Hotel had a very noisy Aboriginal crowd when I arrived but they all got kicked out a 4pm

            

At dinner I met a couple from Kempsey who were travelling to a remote aboriginal community to help teach English. They were from a religious community that organised the trip and have been doing it for years. The woman, who was my age, was very smartly dressed and would have to change into more suitable clothes, or maybe not.

Howls, shrieks and voices continued into the night from the aboriginals evicted from the hotel. I put in my ear plugs and slept soundly.  I didn't know it, but I would be coming back to stay the night for the second time in a few weeks,.