It was a very late pack-up and departure this morning as we only had a
couple of hundred kms to drive to Elliott which we decided on over a 400 odd km
drive to Daly Waters which will be our next destination. Last night was the first night we have needed
the air conditioning on so things are definitely warming up now. Overcast skies bid goodbye to the majority of
the dog show campers still staying at Tennant Creek. We were one of the last of today’s
departures to leave after taking our time to get organised. Shane got brave and tried the shower in the
van for the first time. It makes no
sense at all to have a shower in the van and not use it but until now we haven’t. Don’t ask me why…….. But we’ve been using the showers at whatever
campsite we stopped at. Apparently that
won’t be the norm from here on! Anyway
the temperature was well on the way to the promised 34 degrees by the time we
left town.
One of the things I found interesting about Tennant Creek showground
was the enormous number of birds that hovered around. This morning to add to the sight – a huge
flock of cockatoos flew over as we were hitching up the car to the van. No cameras at the ready unfortunately but
they did make an amazing show. Unfortunately the showground was still covered with litter. We were hoping the cleanup crew may just be waiting for cheaper wages Monday but with the litter lying around everywhere else around the town, one wouldn't be surprised if much of it was left to just blow elsewhere in the breeze.
We bid farewell to Kerrie & John who were making their way to Daly
Waters. We’ll hopefully catch up with
them again over the next few days. We
had a couple of stops to make including the supermarket to pick up a few more
supplies and a fuel stop. While in the
roadhouse paying for fuel, Shane was struck by what seems like the local custom
for customer service. Three Aboriginal
women were waiting to pay for soft drinks and the person on the register called
Shane to the front of the queue. Shane
said “These ladies were before me” to which the register operator waved them
aside, beckoned Shane ahead of them saying “That’s fine – come through”
insisting he move ahead of them. While
we’ve seen plenty of incidents already that must challenge the store owners
greatly, both of us have an issue with such disrespect.
Having travelled almost 3000 kms so far, it was a surprise to me that
today was the first day we were passed by a road train. It wasn’t something I was looking forward to
but as it turned out the experience was drama free. So far we have only seen up to 4 trailers on
trucks thankfully going on the opposite direction. This one was only three.
We have certainly seen our fair share of dead cattle on the side of the
road – and it seems those unlucky individuals who do fall fowl to hit and run
are left to decay where they fall.
Obviously the distances involved make it impossible to collect dead
carcasses and you would hope that the majority of these were struck by trucks
as a car hitting a cow at 130km/hr would not be a pretty sight. We saw a “freshy” on the side of the road at
the entrance to a wayside stop and couldn’t help but think, as it looked like
some weird shaped balloon almost ready to float off into the sky, that there
may not be many people stopping at that particular roadside stop for some weeks
once the sun does it’s work and the poor thing explodes. But hey – the scavengers have to eat too
right!
Plenty of waving on this leg of the trip as well. There is an unregistered rule it seems that
caravaners wave in acknowledgement of one another on the road. We’ve been experiencing this now for a few
years, but it has definitely been far more prevalent on our journey through the
centre. That coupled with the “safe
travels” wishes extended in conversation with other caravaners on the road are
a strange but welcoming “one of us” kind of experiences.
It is hard to imagine this part of the country during the wet season,
even though there are regularly signs warning of flooding, and flood markers on
the side of the road. On this part of
our trip, we noted water runoffs every couple of hundred metres. It’s so hard to picture this area being
flooded when we see it so dry.
We pulled into the caravan park at Elliot around 4.00pm. For $30 you get the pleasure of choosing
whichever site you want with the added fun of having to find a power pole that
works. “Some work, some don’t” the guy
told Shane when he booked in. Armed with
my hair dryer, Shane went to about three poles before he could find a point
that would actually provide us with power.
Wandering around the camp were a large family of Peacocks which
generously posed for photos for me.
The highlight (or perhaps low-light) of my investigating in the camp
was absolutely the sign on the inside of the women’s toilet & shower
room. All toilet and shower activity
will definitely be confined to the caravan for the next 16 or so hours you can
be assured of that!!!!!
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