Drovers Highway – Travel Australia

Travelled 602 kms today @ 100 kph. Troy drank 16.9 litres/100kms.

We continued along the Stuart Highway and stopped off at the historic Newcastle Waters Drovers town that died a few years back. The General Store, Pub, and a couple of other buildings were still standing and housing artefacts of a bygone era. Fascinating! Onto Elliott to quench Troy’s thirst, where I bumped into a Trucker who was shifting 4,000 head of cattle from one part of Newcastle Waters station to another, all in one day! Newcastle Waters cattle station is over 10,000 sq kms on the West Barkly Tablelands and was previously owned by Kerry Packer. We then continued south along the Stuart Highway until turning eastward onto the Barkly Highway and along the Barkly Tablelands. We chose this Drovers route as opposed to going onto the Carpentaria Highway that is part of Highway 1, as we didn’t want to battle with the colossal road trains hurtling along the many single lane stretches of the Carpentaria Highway. Unfortunately for some, it still proved to be too much. We passed the gentleman with the Triumph convertible we met at Mataranka with its bonnet up on the side of the Barkly Highway just east of Three Ways. Awaiting help from Three Ways, it must’ve been more dirty fuel… By the way, what a great name for a place at the end of the Barkly Highway, eh? I imagined a Drover looking around and prophetically proclaiming many years ago that you could go three ways from here: the Alice, Darwin, or back to Mt Isa.

Sweeping golden plains characterised our drive along the Barkly Tablelands. After clocking up nearly 600 kilometres in the day, we were glad to find a nice bush spot at Wonarah Bore to sit back with a cold drink and watch the sun set.

TOP TIP – Make sure you have a 3-way fridge in your RV: 240 volt for when you are hooked up to mains power; 12 volt will keep it cold when you are driving; and gas when out bush with no mains power. Power management of your RV when on the road is critical, so we always switched our fridge to gas when bush-camping rather than leaving it on 12 volt to conserve battery power. We were impressed with how little gas was needed to operate the fridge effectively.

Another striking sunset, bush BBQ and meeting interesting people made this a memorable night. We met a couple in their early 50's here, Graham and Adelle. They were from Sydney and had been on the road for over 2 and a half years. They had had enough of the rat race and haven't looked back spending their time touring this great land. Interestingly, they hadn't it to WA yet, but were planning to do so "... one day soon". — Newcastle Waters Ghost

Travelled 374 kms today @ 100 kph. Troy drank 15.7 litres/100kms.

Spent some time in Katherine before making our way south along the Stuart Highway to Mataranka, where we relaxed in the thermal pools at Bitter Springs in Elsey National Park… very therapeutic after a long drive. We met a gentleman who had travelled 16,000 kms in his little red Triumph convertible sports car towing a neat little trailer. Apart from a few minor issues with dirty fuel, he told me that the ragtop hadn’t missed a beat! A rather well built man, I watched him fold himself into the little red sports car and wished him luck for the rest of his journey.

Mataranka also hosts a monument to the humble anthill, or more correctly named, termite mound. Termite mounds are home to tiny spinifex termites that build the mounds from soil cemented with their excreta. They range in size and shape, from the big ugly ‘elephant man’ type ones in the Kimberley to the more slender ones we’ve seen down the Stuart Highway in the Territory. Interestingly, Territorians seem to have taken a liking to dressing up these termite mounds, and you can see a variety of attire adorning them along the highways. I especially liked the termite mound near Daly Waters that was dressed as a Roman soldier, complete with a centurion-type helmet!

Coined the ‘Drover’s Highway’ on the section of the Stuart Highway we were traveling, the stretch of road has a few historic towns along the way. Daly Waters is further south along the Highway and has a renowned bush pub that all the travel guides say that you must visit. Well, we visited along with what seemed like every other tourist traveling along the highway. The Servo and Pub were certainly unique, but we opted for an authentic outback Inn experience just down the road at the Daly Waters Hi-Way Inn. Located on the corner of the Carpentaria and Stuart Highways, this little gem of a stop cost us only $25 for a powered site, and they shouted us a schooner of beer and a glass of chilled white wine. The view to the surrounding paddocks and bushland beyond was a sight to behold at sunset. Jan counted over 15 different bird varieties, and the inquisitive wallabies were fun to watch. We also enjoyed having our complimentary drinks in the pub with regular Territorian truckers with their large Akubra hats and Blundstone boots. It was a classic Aussie experience, even if most of the barmaids were Irish!