After brekky it was time to hit the highway again. It was just short of 200 kilometres to the Stuart Highway where we chucked a left and headed south in the direction of Alice Springs. The land was very flat and the soil was very red. Not too far after getting on the Stuart Highway we drove into Tennant Creek, the first town that we had come to in the Northern Territory. It was a fairly small place and we just passed through except for a quick stop to get some petrol. We then drove for about 100 kilometres down the Stuart Highway until we came to the Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve. We were expecting just a few rocks shaped like marbles but the area was vast and there were loads of enormous rounded sandstone rocks all over the place some seeming to be precariously placed on top of each other. We decided that we would stop here the night at the National Park campground which was situated right next to the marbles. We got a great spot with a great view. The only facilities here were pit toilets but it only cost us $6.60 for the night which was great. We had a good walk around the marbles and took loads of photos. To the Aboriginals the place is called Karlekarlwe or Karlu Karlu. The information sign said “This is a really secret place, I’ve done ceremonies here. It’s a sacred place. You have to keep it well” This was written by a Senior Traditional Owner. It’s a shame then that they let people come here and camp here as most people from our observation do not respect places like this, the traditional owners or anyone else for that matter. The place was full of the usual inconsiderate tossers. There was another sign which asked that noise be kept to a minimum so everyone can have quiet enjoyment of the place. There was no chance of quiet enjoyment as there were kids and other f**ckers shouting and doing all the usual nonsensical ‘woop wooping’! We did find some quiet spots though on our walk round and we were able to soak up the energy of the place. The marbles seemed to have a sadness about them and there was definitely a dark atmosphere here. They were quite spooky. We didn’t really feel like we should have been there. We almost sensed like we were being watched by something, possibly other worldy from the spirit world. The next day we came across a story on an information board that made the dark atmosphere we felt make sense. It said:- ‘Aboriginal people believe that people from the dreaming at Karlwekarlwe (literal meaning being round objects) live in the caves under the rocks here. “They’re real people like us. You can see them. A long time ago I went with my billycan down to the creek here to get some water. One of these secret people came out and started playing with me. I couldn’t go away. My mother came and got me, saved me. After that we never camped at this place again, never. They’re kind these secret people, but they can make you mad. They can change you into one of them. They can say ’follow me’, and you can’t go back. It happened like that for my cousin. He disappeared. The old people made a big ceremony, singing the ground and the rocks to make them let my cousin come back. We’ve lost that song now. We’ve got no song to bring children back” Written by a Senior Traditional Owner. Perhaps the secret people were indeed watching us and we had picked up on their energy. We’ll never know for sure but it’s most definitely possible. Nothing is impossible. An open mind is very important, especially when navigating this strange world that we all reside in. After our walk around we chilled for a bit and soaked up the view from the camper before sunset when the rocks were supposed to look even more spectacular. Not too long before sunset a guy and two women rocked up near us in a mud splattered car which had ’ABC Open’ plastered on it. ABC is the Australian equivalent of the BBC and it seemed that this guy was from the Open University part of it. He came over and informed us that it was a full moon tonight and that the marbles would look particularly incredible tonight. He said that if we had a digital SLR he was doing a quick workshop in the middle of the campsite about taking good shots of the sunset and the moon. We said told him that we had digital cameras but neither of us had a clue what the hell a SLR was!??? Sheep like robots perhaps? We avoided the workshop, too many annoying sheep, and just as well really as when we googled it a couple of days later we found out that our digital cameras were not posh enough to be SLR! Anyhow we marvelled at the marbles when the sun set and cast a brilliant orange glow on them. We got some great photos even without SLR. They were very haunting at this time of day especially with the shadows that were being cast. As the sun went down we saw the full moon rise. This was the best moon that we’ve ever seen. It was extremely clear and glowing brightly. We could make out all the detail on it. We went to bed listening to the dingoes in the distance howl at the moon. The marbles now in the moonlight looked dark and magical. We walked hand in hand by the romantic moonlight to the pit toilet and then we went to bed. Maybe the secret people would visit us in the night and send us mad (well madder than we are already) and change us into them. You never know. The universe is full of strange and magic stuff. Often the truth is far stranger than fiction.