I've had to give up uploading pictures for now - the upload internet speeds on occasional wifi or mobile signal don't seem to be able to cope. So I am reduced to aimless rambling, without even the punctuation of an interesting photo or two. Hopefully will find some faster internet at some point but at the moment, to be honest, who cares! There is a sense of being "off-grid", which after all is part of the point of being here.
Its almost with sadness that we leave Outback Caravan Park in Tennant Creek. A lovely park, well managed, clean and with some characters! We spent the previous evening chatting with two truckers, both called Peter, one of whom thought nothing of driving 1000km in a day, and the other who had hit a kangaroo that morning at 4am, declaring himself to be remorseful, as he knew full well that driving at that time of night was likely to result in roadkill. The funny thing was they didn’t seem to put the two things together. But they were certainly examples of quirky outback Aussie character. Both seemed happiest out in the bush, on their own, perhaps sharing an evening beer (cold obviously) with a stranger, and then moving on. The outback does appear to attract these kind of people and we expect to meet many more.
Heading north (it being the only option, unless we turn round and go back the way we came), our next point of interest is Newcastle Waters, an abandoned settlement by a waterhole, once a strategic stop off point for cattle drovers but completely redundant once road traffic took over - in my life time (a long time admittedly!) cattle droving to market has fallen from 97% of stock to less than 5%. No great surprise I suppose and just one of the many reasons why white settlements and small townships have disappeared in the dust of the red centre. The preserved general store was owned first by John Lewis and then Peter Jones - bit weird I thought! Clearly they had more success in the UK.
Heading north again (yep!), we approach the famous Daly Waters Pub, in, of all places, Daly Waters. A quick 3km detour off the highway (you have to get your thrills when you can on this road), and its exactly as described in a million internet searches and a thousand guidebooks; bras, shoes, number plates, bank notes - you name it, it seems there is memorabilia of every type and from every country hanging from its walls. Thronged with tourists and apparently staffed by gap year students, it is not really for us - we had planned to camp here, but the sites are crammed together and not that appealing. The fact that the 3 toilet/shower blocks closet to the pub were all out of order, was the clincher; we decided to have bite to eat, take the obligatory pictures and move on. Unfortunately in the NT (I’m virtually a local now) the nearest settlement to the north (we are not going south!) is almost 100km away, but the road is straight, virtually clear and it is still well short of the time for killing kangaroos, so we head off with slight trepidation (there is nowhere else we can get to before dusk) to the Pink Panther Pub in Larrimah - and no I’m not kidding!
We shouldn’t have worried, with the possible exception of showers and toilets that need a damn good clean, it was everything an outback experience should be - quirky, full of oddball characters, heavy on the barbecue and beer, and cheap! A full powered site for 25 bucks!
And so soon after our last experience of outback characters, we met John… Quirky doesn’t do him justice. He is exactly who you come to the outback to meet. Crocodile Dundee meets Dame Edna! Camped next to us he introduced himself by asking if we wanted some roadkill for supper, it being all he ate. Ah, ye can’t fool me okker! But that was the tone of the conversation for the rest of the night as Pom bashing and Aussie baiting took turns with barbecued beef (I think), and plenty of beer.
What’s more, over our last late night beer, he finally declared his love of…Land Rovers! He is a driving an immaculate 32 year old Toyota Landcruiser, but his true love is for the 3 Land Rovers he has lovingly restored and/or modified. A beautiful example of a bug eyed mark 2 restored to its original condition and two modified in quite outrageous ways, both lowered to within 4” of the ground and with preposterous V8 engines - in one of them he has actually joined two V8 engines to make a V16. I understand he shows them and has featured in various Australian and UK magazines. Hannah, you will have to look him up! We loved him and if we get down to Victoria, where he lives some of the year, we will definitely look him up.
The Pink Panther itself is run by welcoming and interesting hosts - eccentric, yes, but what would you expect here? I recommend it, just wear your thongs (flip-flops, not underwear) in the shower!