We awoke excited this morning, as today was the day we were heading off on more adventures. We were all packed and headed off by 9am. The girls were eager to see the Devils Marbles, which was to be our destination for the day.
Up the highway north of Alice we arrived at 'The Tropic of Capricorn'. Another huge monument to signify a photo for passing traveller. Tried to explain to Boo about the imaginary line across Australia and the two types of weather patterns within each half. I think she half understood which is good l suppose for a six year old! We continued north, stopping at Barrow Creek for lunch. Sadly this place is well known for its link with the 'falconio murders' in which Murdoch was captured on video at the petrol station. Another more positive history fact about Barrow Creek is that we saw one of the four original Telegraph Stations left in Australia here, in brilliant condition too. There was also two grave sites of two telegraph linesman that were killed by natives back in the 1900's.
After finishing up our lunch and stretching the legs we pulled up to put some diesel in the Nissan at Wycliffe Wells. Now this place has become famous on the road to north by being the UFO capital of Australia. It is said that Wycliffe Wells has regular sighting of UFO's, l remain a sceptic! However, hats off to the alien sculptures and decorated figurines and murals around the joint, the girls thought it was fantastic.
Another 30kms or so up the road we arrive at Karlu Karlu, or more commonly known, The Devils Marbles. It is such a fascinating spot as in the middle of nowhere, on flat land, there are all these huge boulders lying around. Its an aboriginal cultural site that story has it that the rainbow serpent came abd laid its eggs here. Another story is that the aboriginals used to hold ceremonies here until people, especially children started going missing. They believe that people lived in caves under the rocks and took the people away. They had a song to sing to bring them back off the people, but due to the elders dying and no ceremonies being held out at the rocks, the song has long been lost and forgotten. Therefore, no aboriginal ceremonies take place here anymore just in case people are taken again as no one knows the song to sing to being them back. Pretty aery story, find all these ancestral stories fascinating. Maybe unbelievable in my world, but fascinating to learn about other cultures world. The Devils Marbles are made from granite rock believed to over 1500 million years old. We all took a walk around, the girls enjoying climbing up and down the rocks. Marty and Meg had had enough, so Boo and l kept going to another site of rocks scattered around. We found the boulder split in two and took some pics of each other with our arms and legs spread out holding ourselves up in between the two halves. After the circular walk we decided to head back to our camp site, which was on the other side of these other scattered rock formations. We decided to go over the top rather than walk around the outside. So up we climbed to the top and had the most spectacular views of the horizon. It almost looked as if all 'the marbles' are in a crater? Either way, it all looks breathtaking! Boo loved being up so high, and that she climbed all the way to the top by herself. We saw our camp and bellowed out a big 'koowee' to Marty and Meg. Boo was so excited when Marty eventually came out from behind the van and gave her a clap.
So our campsite looked spectacular, and we thought we had a great spot, until we headed over to the nearby toilet we deliberately parked close too. It reeked! The smell of ammonia from the drop toilet was enough to make your eyes water and nose hairs burn off!! Anyway, it was only one night, so hopefully the wind stays in the right direction, away from our van! We were also glad we turned up when we did as the campsite was packed, with mostly grey nomads of course! They all tend to arrive at their pit stops around lunch or early arvo, so if you want a spot you too have to turn up on the earlier side rather than later. I thought it was meant to be a free camp site, but it cost us $7.70. Pretty cheap really, but l hope they start putting some of that money back into toilet maintenance!!
The sunset was marvelous. It literally lit the rocks up, turning them a florescent orange. We climbed up the top again, Meg as well this time too. She loved playing up on the rocks with Boo, so love watching them and their games.
We were hoping that the nights were going to be a bit less cold, but as the evening went on, it grew colder. We met this family next to us who were on holiday, Tina, Paul, Alex snd Declan. They had a fire going so we huddled around that talking about our travels. They were heading down south and weren't happy when we told them to expect the nights to be this cold! We saw some dingos meandering thru the campsites, kept away mostly. The ranger had let us know that a couple of dingos do head around the camp at night, weren't nasty apparently, we still kept our distance though. The night sky was so clear and the stars so bright. Boo and l both saw a few shooting stars, one of my most favorite things in the world to watch. However, around 8pm l couldn't feel my nose anymore, way too cold. Was time to turn in. It was also the first night we wouldn't have our heater and electric blankets going and Marty told me it was expected to be at least zero overnight!! Under the doonas we snuggled, hopefully will be warm enough!?!?!
Bell Xxx