The Devils Marbles

Thurs 2 April…….Today we are going to see some little green men, find some marbles and have a day in the dessert. Basically it’s a chill out day doing odds and sods that need doing. By 9 30am we were the only happy campers left in Wycliffe the other 2 have left already. Peter has a wander around the camp first thing with the camera, snapping Martians and green Hulks! He also went to have a look at Wycliffes manmade lake but there is very little water in it. It does have a giant metal fish on a plinth though, for some reason! After a slow start we head off up the highway to visit the Devils Marbles. Another Australian phenomenon. They are huge round boulders in an area just off the highway, they are granite and the coarse sand around is made up of quartz, felt spar and mica. The area is a sacred place of the Aboriginal people and is truly fascinating. Photos to follow! Oddly there are no Aborigines here they are all in Tennant Creek or Alice getting hammered. A good walk around the Devils Marbles takes half an hour or so and then we set off to go a little further to a turn off the highway that will take us to Whistleduck Creek a waterhole and very picturesque apparently. When we get to the turn off we discover that you need a four wheel drive vehicle and it goes on for 75Ks. Disappointed we turn back. We are back at lunar base by lunchtime, so Peter whipped out his “sonic screwdriver”($9 99) and did some camper module maintenance while the Navigator goes to UFO HQ to do some computerating. With time on our hands and as there doesn’t seem to be ant shortage of water in this part of the dessert, the van gets a wash. First one this year!
Two things we forgot to mention yesterday, we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn Photos to follow! And we also saw 5 or 6 wedge tailed eagles feasting on a fresh kangaroo road kill. They are huge can stand up to 1 meter tall. A good spot! No photos to follow ‘cos there was too much cos there was too much traffic to stop, when we can usually go for 10/15 mins without seeing anything!