2008 Trip Part 5 - Crab Claw Island to Alice Springs

We went first for a swim at Florence Falls, then to look at Tolmer Falls and finally to Wangi Falls for a swim and late lunch. The waterfalls were beautiful and we had a good time swimming but it was so crowded everywhere we went. The carparks were full, it was fight your way in for a swim and really full on. Despite the crowds there’s no doubt that it is a lovely place.

We got to Labelle about 4.30 to be greeted by the owner’s daughter and her dog. She told us that they were in the middle of getting their cattle in and apologised for the fact that there was no one around and there were no station activities. We didn’t mind at all since we had the whole place to ourselves we were quite happy.

The only problem we had was that Ray was feeling more and more miserable and the bites were looking angry. He had a lot of trouble sleeping and I ended up getting the cold block and icepack from the fridge for him to put on his legs for relief. As I watched him suffering I thought that the only sensible thing to do was to head south earlier than we’d planned. It just meant that we wouldn’t get to the Lost City or do the drive down to the Daly River but it’s always good to leave something to go back for.

In the morning we left Litchfield through Batchelor and went down the highway to Adelaide River and then shortly afterwards we took the goldfields route around through Grove Hill Hotel. We liked this drive and especially liked Grove Hill, it’s a real “relic”.
They had signs everywhere telling you what you can and can’t do. The funniest signs were the “don’t touch” signs over all the dilapidated, dust covered bits and pieces that fill the place to overflowing. They had a fish tank with plastic flowers planted in the sand, a statuette of Elvis Presley and various other curious and quirky things. We bought a drink and sat in the “beer garden” under the shade of an enormous tree and if it could only talk…….!

The road looped around to Pine Creek and the highway. At Edith Falls we set up camp for the night and went down to have a swim. I think Edith Falls is lovely, it’s really tranquil and never seems to be overcrowded.
We had a swim and when I wanted to do the walk to the top falls Ray went back to camp. He really wasn’t feeling very good at all. I enjoyed the walk and the top pools were stunning as was the view from the look out back over them.

When we got to Katherine the next morning we went to the Pharmacy and got the Pharmacist to look at Ray’s bites. After stocking up with food and fuel were were away again.


Since we didn’t want to go back over our tracks we drove west to the Buntine Highway and then down to Top Springs.
It was a narrow bitumen road and we were passed by a lot of road trains all packed with cattle. It was good to be off the busy Stuart Highway though and out amongst the cattle stations.
Once we got to Top Springs we were back onto the dirt and heading eastwards to the highway. We were going to find somewhere to bush camp but Ray was still not feeling good and we ended up at Dunmarra for the night.



The next day we continued southward, stopping at Newcastle Waters to look at the historic hotel and read some of the history of the stock routes and the drovers. “At Newcastle Waters, I’ll be dancing in the bar with old Bulwaddy’s daughters” (Ted Egan - Matt Savage The Boss Drover).
Newcastle Waters was the end of the notorious Murranji Track stock route. I was pleased to find one of the stock notes on the wall to have the signature of Charlie Schultz whose story I’d just finished reading in “Beyond the Big Run”.




From Newcastle Waters it was on down the highway through Tennant Creek to the turn for Davenport National Park. The road was very good and we reached Old Police Station Waterhole just on dusk.
There were a few other camps there but we had a beautiful spot overlooking the water and the reflections at sunset and sunrise were superb. This was my favourite camping spot for the whole trip. The donkey’s serenaded us all night braying and calling, making the strangest
noises. There must be hundreds of them out there.



Morning came and we watched the reflections as we had breakfast then packed up and headed out.
It took us almost three hours to do the 90 kms of rocks, rocks and mostly rocks. The country was lovely and we saw more donkeys. At Murray Downs we took the Binns Track to the Sandover Highway and it was like a freeway after the rocky road before. The Sandover was in good condition too and we again followed the Binns Track down towards the Plenty. This road was narrow, some corrugations and stony sections, one deep, sandy crossing over the Bundey River and a section in the middle of extremely rocky jump ups. The ranges around Mt Hart began to appear on the horizon and we reached the Plenty Highway. I don’t know what the Plenty was like eastwards but for about ten kms the road was really badly corrugated. It started to improve at Mt Hart and from there on you could tell that the grader had been out recently.

Because we were ahead of our original plans we decided on a rest break at Alice Springs. I’m sure it was because Ray had read about a second hand motor bike he wanted to have a look at, but he denies this course.

We got an ensuite site at MacDonnell Ranges Caravan Park for two nights. Ray went to look at the bike while I had a look around the Mall and then we went off to do the Owen Springs drive.

This took us until mid afternoon and was quite interesting and enjoyable. We were going to go to Rainbow Valley and stay for the sunset but the day was getting more and more overcast and windy. We decided that Rainbow Valley would have to wait for another day and returned to Alice to settle back at camp and listen to the St Kilda vs. Geelong game on the radio. The weather worsened and it tried to rain. The wind blew strongly all night.

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I may be justifying my pockets of chaos, but I will always choose people over perfection and the heart over task and tidy. Member: My Profile  My Blog  Send Message