May 1, Tennant Creek and further north

We climbed up the rocks and watched the sun rise over Karlu Karlu this morning. It was a beautiful, cool morning and lots of people from the campground were out.

Then we drove north to Tennant Creek. Even though its the largest town in the Barkly Tablelands area, it's very small. At the Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre, we took an audio tour. It started in the building with dioramas depicting the Aboriginal people's lives. They were small scenes with great detail, figures made from sticks with red clay heads with hand sewn clothes. They called the scenes Bush TV. There were implements they used, such as axes, knives and bowls. Then there was a display of fruit, seeds and roots with an explanation of the uses.
Outside we followed the path that led to various trees and plants and the audio explained the significance of them. There was also a sacred site there connected to the spiky tailed goanna (type of lizard).

We've seen lots of Aborigines in the towns in this part of the country. They have been walking toward town or gathered in shady spots. They live very difficult lives and alcoholism is a problem. In Tennant Creek, they have developed a Night Patrol that drives around town and picks up people, Aborigine and others, who might be drunk. They take them to places where they can be safe and get help.

Tenant Creek had a real Wild West feel to it, but it was small, only stores on one side of the street.

North of town we went off the highway to Kunjarra, The Pebbles. Karlu, Karlu was the Aboriginal place for the men's ceremonies. The Pebbles or K was for the women. The boulders were much smaller but still scattered over a large area. After lunch we got back on the road. The landscape was dry grassland with small trees and shrubs, wattles and acacias, for a long way. Then the grass and trees got taller and taller as we went along. The grass became greener and the eucalyptus began to appear. Elliot is where the arid red center of the country gives way to the humid wetlands of the north. We saw wetlands in a few places along the road.

We stopped south of Matakanka at a free camp spot. That was a mistake. It was 92 degrees when we stopped and it got hotter. We couldn't keep the door open because of the bugs. They even got through the window screens. It was a pretty miserable night.

Pictures- Sunrise over Karlu Karlu, Jeanne at Kunjarra, Samson and The Drover in Newcastle Waters, Church in Newcastle Waters