The trip begins from
A= Pine Creek
B= Mataranka
C= Daly waters.
D ( 2cm above E) = Banka Banka Station.
E = Tennant Creek
F ( 2cm from E, to the east) = Barkly Homestead
G = Camooweal.
H= Mt Isa.
Travel Facts.
We have clicked over 25,000 kilometres to date.
Fuel is now getting cheaper , $1.40 a litre ( Mt Isa) compared to $1.96 a litre at Barkly Homestead.
The fuel consumption hovers around 14 - 15 litres per 100 kilometres for most of the trip
However , we had head winds from Tennant Creek to Mt Isa ,
the fuel consumption went up to 21 litres per 100 kilometres.This led to an extremely long trip.
Banka Banka station had had the tastiest spring water we have had all trip.
We have been able to stop over at powerless sites as we have a battery
in the caravan which keeps the lights going.
Changing the light globes to LED's has enabled us to save a fair bit of power.
The fridge and stove run on gas.
We can even watch movies as the inverter allows us to use the battery for the TV and media player.
The car has clicked over to 103,000km and needs a service, Mt Isa looks as good a place as any.
All inserts are taken from travel websites.
The tour arrives at Mataranka, we head for Bitter Springs, no photos as we left the camera in the car and had a relaxing soak. The next day we took on Mataranka Springs.
Whilst here we met up with Jason, Janet , John and Julie.
A lovely family from the Gold Coast, who we shared the next few campsites with.
And a few beers, wines and soft drinks.
We have clicked over 25,000 kilometres to date.
Fuel is now getting cheaper , $1.40 a litre ( Mt Isa) compared to $1.96 a litre at Barkly Homestead.
The fuel consumption hovers around 14 - 15 litres per 100 kilometres for most of the trip
However , we had head winds from Tennant Creek to Mt Isa ,
the fuel consumption went up to 21 litres per 100 kilometres.This led to an extremely long trip.
Banka Banka station had had the tastiest spring water we have had all trip.
We have been able to stop over at powerless sites as we have a battery
in the caravan which keeps the lights going.
Changing the light globes to LED's has enabled us to save a fair bit of power.
The fridge and stove run on gas.
We can even watch movies as the inverter allows us to use the battery for the TV and media player.
The car has clicked over to 103,000km and needs a service, Mt Isa looks as good a place as any.
All inserts are taken from travel websites.
The tour arrives at Mataranka, we head for Bitter Springs, no photos as we left the camera in the car and had a relaxing soak. The next day we took on Mataranka Springs.
Whilst here we met up with Jason, Janet , John and Julie.
A lovely family from the Gold Coast, who we shared the next few campsites with.
And a few beers, wines and soft drinks.
Mataranka Springs.
The Pandanus palms surround the spring. They are home to the Little Red Flying Fox.
To save us from being bat pooped they have installed sprinklers high up in the palms along the pathway. Got to keep the tourists happy.
The water is a constant 34 degrees. This is super relaxing.
The water is fed from Limestone and sandstone reservoirs. during the wet season these rock formations soak up loads of water, like a sponge. during the dry season they let all the water out.
30.5 million litres of water pass through this spring each day.
We have passed and been passed by many Roadtrains, they are massive.
We use the CB radio to communicate with the rigs who are looking to overtake us, they are quite appreciative of the assistance.
3 trailers.
This rig has 4 trailers and 86 wheels altogether, actually 87 counting the steering wheel.
Daly Waters.
Dotted along the highway South from Darwin are a number of runways which were made and used during the war. This particular runway also catered for some Qantas jets in the early days.
We had our own Top Gear episode as we tried to clock a fast time over 2.2km track.
The car did us proud.
Old hangars with remnants of the old days.
This one didn't quite make it's last trip.
The Daly Waters Pub.
This stop was an absolute blast.
We had Barra and beef for dinner and were entertained by a country
comedian/ songwriter / singer / story teller named Chilli.
This was a real eye opener for the kids a s old Chilli didn't hold back with his story telling.
We even bought the CD.
The following extract is from the pubs website.
The following pics are a snippet of the paraphenalia found in the pub.
The stage for Chilli's show.
I know many people who could have one of these corners at home.
Every visitor leaves a momento of their visit.
We are happy with the Gong sticker.
Banka Banka Station- our home for 24 hours.
The old Homestead at Banka Banka, this is were our first major injury occurred.
The verandah is very low around the Homestead and the lovely Karen thought she had avoided a low lying beam only to crack her head open on another low lying timber.
This was a turning point as all the boys rallied around to help her through this ordeal.
All is good and the wound has healed - On we go................
The van is in need of a good clean. Dust is all through it.
Off to Tennant Creek and then Barkly Homestead.
Then we hit the road and the head wind, it seemed as though we were going backwards,
this was going to be a long.........................
We had lunch in Camooweal and moved onto Mt Isa.
A quick visit to the Underground Hospital that was built after Darwin was bombed.
The leaders at the Darwin believed Mt Isa was next as they had American soldiers staying
and the Mine was a luctrative resource.
The beams are all intact and were made from the Gidyea wood.
The kids haven't changed much.
Lake Mandoora, 16 kilometres from Mt Isa proved to be a
lovely place to have a picnic but a tougher place to catch a fish.
We saw wake boarding and water skiing.
A huge effort with no return, better luck next time fellas.
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