The next week has been designated to crossing over from outback Queensland to the red-centre, into the Northern Territory. But anyone who knows Australia or who has traveled these roads before, knows that the days are LONG and the roads are boring with very few places to stop in between... not the ideal recipe for three young kids with buckets of energy to burn! But I'm pleased to report that we did survive this 1592km of road which Google Maps reminds me takes a wee 18 hours and 40 minutes to complete. In fact, the the kids were so incredibly amazing, that I can only count on one hand how many times we wanted to roll down the window and gentle throw them out into the red dust (kidding!). It's amazing how adaptive children can be and how each morning they would ask, "So how many hours today, Mum?" and not once did they cry or whinge about getting back into the car. Yes we had our moments, but for the most part, we all embraced the long, straight roads ahead and survive the week with little damage!
Our first major stop was Normanton, a small cattle town, right up in the Gulf Region in northwest Queensland. We didn't even unhook the caravan here, but simply rolled the kids out of the car and into the freezing pool to wash the hours of driving off them. A red dirt dusty town, there wasn't too much to see, yet many tourists with a keen love of fishing were using it as their base to fish for Barramundi and Salmon in the nearby Norman River or drive the 75km to Karumba, a seaside town on the Gulf of Carpentaria.
We also inspected the damage on the caravan after hitting a 'roo on our way and luckily it was just surface stuff to the front of the van - lucky it wasn't a cow because they're everywhere out here! And the roads, although now sealed for the entire stretch of the Savannah Way, have patches that are like driving on a single lane goat track! Not exactly ideal when every second car is towing a caravan and the cattle trucks roar up this road full to the brim....
Another big day of driving with only one stop at the Burke and Wills Roadhouse was what our next day had in stall, en route to Mount Isa. An ice block and a closer look at the road train cattle trucks eased the hours in the car...
We spent two nights at Mount Isa to give the kids (and us!) a rest of being in the car and spent our time exploring this hot, outback town. It's a fairly big service centre for surrounding smaller stations and townships so has most services. But it was hot and dry and dusty and the continual hum and lights of the mines on the edge of town was a bit too close for my liking. That and the fact that every second advertisement on TV was reminding people to brush their teeth often, wash their children's hands all the time and wipe down their toys and bikes outside to prevent lead contamination. This is not a place I could call home. Despite this, there was an amazing park on the edge of town which kept the kids happy and their legs stretched!
Another seven hours in the car before we would arrive at Tennant Creek and we broke up the DVD's, audio tapes, reading, homework activities, lollies from the glove box and usual car games with a few breaks at the tiny little towns along the way. Camooweal was the first and the kids ran for the run-down little playground as fast as their little legs could carry them!
More red dirt and long roads and we had crossed into the Northern Territory!
Side of the road wee stops never looked so amazing!
A final fuel fill-up and some lunch under the trees at the Barkly Roadhouse (literally a petrol station, a fast food cafe and a caravan park behind) and we are almost at our night time stop. Just two hours to go and the groan from the back seat and the "Are we there yet?" questions began. It had been a long day and our three little travelers were a tad over it but gee they had done well sitting on their bottoms for 7.5 hours!
I never thought I'd say it, but Tennant Creek, gee were we glad to see you! Luke and I cracked a special bottle of red to celebrate our return to this wild little place smack bang on the three ways. It was eight years ago when our VW Kombi broke down just south of the town where we really got to know the town, as we were stranded for a couple of weeks, waiting for our van to be fixed. Crazy memories! While we drank our red, the kids' hands turned red playing in the dirt.
A gold mining past, cattle stations and the strong and rich culture of the local Warumungu people is what has shaped Tennant Creek. We visited the old site of the Battery Hill Mine, spent the afternoon throwing rocks into the beautiful Mary Ann Lake on the edge of the town and visited the local Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Nyinkka Nyunyu, where a bunch of locals in training at the cafe here made the kids the biggest milkshake they had ever seen!
The Pebbles, a collection of beautiful rock formations just outside of town were a highlight. the landscape and the colours really are breath taking in the red centre.
Even Luke found the surroundings a relaxing work environment.... ?!?!
But I felt a sadness the last time we spent time in this little town and it instantly returned this time around... It's quite confronting seeing the way some of the local Aboriginal people live, in houses literally falling apart with rubbish and junk all around. People gathered together all over the town in little groups, sitting next to the road, or on the road or under trees. And dogs, so many camp dogs, roaming the streets and barking all night long. The kids wanted to know where all the dogs lived? They also wanted if the people who lived in these houses got cold of the night time and had enough blankets on their beds.
It's a complex issue and there aren't easy answers to the questions that arise surrounding it but I found it tremendously important to show our children how some of these Australians live, our indigenous people, the first people of the beautiful country we have been exploring for so long now. Hopefully they will always be open minded, accepting and empathetic to the difficult plight our indigenous people have had to endure throughout history.
