Wednesday 14th July 2004 - Day 304/366 - Mataranka, Northern Territory to Wauchope, Northern Territory.

Devils Marbles

After 2 of our 3 nights on the road we are still 1100 kms from Alice Springs. 

I was expecting the road to be through a desert.  In actual fact there are Eucalyptus Trees on both sides of the road.  As we get further into the outback the trees become fewer and more bushy.  The huge termite mounds also begin to disappear.

Every 100kms or so the tedium is broken by eccentric outback towns.  Like Larrimah which is painted pink and has a massive Pink Panther outside.  Then theres Daly Waters with a pub that has underwear hanging from the roof, Australias most remote traffic lights and Frank, who sings a song he wrote about soggy loo paper. 

You pass the occassional Road Train or more like they pass you.  These massive lorries towing 3 trailers and up to 56metres longs are awesome.  Interestingly the drivers of lorries and buses are not subjected to any driving rules in the Northern Territory.  They can drive for any number of hours they like and there are no speed limits on the main highways. 

We set up camp in the little road house in Wauchope and saw the sunset at the Devils Marbles, the oldest exposed land mass in the world.  Actually there are far more marbles than i imagines.  Millions of years ago these huge boulders erupted out of the earth and today here they still are, some perched very precariously.