Day 16 - Devils Marbles

Heading north today to Devils Marbles, not a huge day in the car today with only 400km driving to do.

We haven't seen clouds since Uluru and these were cool!

More clouds.

No speed limit now.  Up until this point our travels in NT had a 130km speed limit.

Not that we went any faster with the van on, but we could have.

We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn as we climbed higher.

The sad faces is because they can't climb, some history needs protecting.

This was a small town, with very large statues.

Most communities had this sign on the highway.
We are used to "Watch for Kangaroos or Cattle" not Humans.

Barrow Creek Hotel

Lunch stop today was at Barrow Creek.

There is a pub and roadhouse - not very attractive or enticing.  The public toilets are fenced off with out of order written on the outside.

Public Toilets

Next door is the historic Barrow Creek Telegraph Station and memorial to for the Barrow Creek Massacre in 1874 where the Stationmaster & Linesman were killed.

More of this after lunch.

 I had been telling the boys that today they would see a spaceship.  Mitch had asked was it a real one and I said of course.  So when it was time to fuel up and we rolled into Wycliffe Well - The UFO capital of Australia - they saw the spaceship and all sorts of craziness.

Scott with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

On top of the world!

Dad had warned us to get in early as the campground at the Marbles fills up quickly.

Luckily we didn't have far to travel and pulled in at 3pm.  At this time there were about a dozen vans set up and we found a good position and set ourselves up for the night.

By dark there were over 40 vans, campers & tents set up.  Not much choice for anyone arriving after 4pm.  They did get spots but had to double up etc.

The campground - filling up fast.

The facilities are basic, three drop toilets set in three different spots - they were fine.  No water or showers.  The camp fees are incredibly low - $7.70 for a family and it's an honesty system.  We put $10 in the envelope as felt it was too cheap.

A great afternoon of rock hopping, climbing and playing in this incredible spot was had by all 4 of us.






The marbles are caused by erosion and were once a solid piece of rock.

Some sunset shots to finish the day.

Happy boys heading back to camp.

Dinner cooked for us while we were out taking sunset snaps.