We travelled exactly 500 Km today on the Stuart Highway from Alice Springs to arrive in Tennant Creek at 5pm.

We had both taken turns driving our Fiat Britz 4-berth campervan. It rattled the whole way, but was not too hard to drive.

We stopped for lunch in Ti Tree, 190 Km from Alice Springs, at a huge roadhouse. Diesel cost $2.15/L here but we did not buy any. We packed away 5 excess metal fold up tables we apparently had to relocate to Brisbane as well – we had not been told about these. They were a terrible nuisance and terribly noisy.

There was a rally of vintage cars and motor bikes on the Stuart Highway with us. They slowed us down but were fun to look at. It must have been freezing for the drivers and any passengers they had.

Most of the roads here had an open speed zone, but when these changed, the speed was 130Km. We stuck to 100Km most of the time, which was fast enough for us.

We passed through a few interesting communities including the sites of original overland telegraph stations, and then at Wycliffe Well we stumbled upon Australia’s Capital for UFO sightings. Loads of people camping there, …..in hope I guess.

Tennant Creek is a small town of 3500 people, and today was the day the town celebrated its Desert Harmony Festival with a parade at 5.30-6.00. It was the smallest parade ever consisting mostly of police and ambulance vehicles.

The man with the bird on his shoulder was more interesting.

This is the town where there was a huge discovery of gold many years ago. Apparently, the site of Australia’s last great gold rush and more than 5.5 million ounces of gold have been found here.

On our way, we stopped at the iconic Karlu Karlu or Devils Marbles. These were amazing and just appeared out of nowhere in this countryside.

After a visit to the local Sporties Club and the Tennant Creek Hotel, we returned to our caravan park and dined around the BBQ, where we met two 20 year-old German girls from Hamburg who were here working at the supermarket for two months. Great girls who filled us in on their observations of the town. Life is so boring here for them, but they are saving money for a trip to Noosa.