CAMOOWEAL/BARKLEY ROADHOUSE/THREE WAYS

Dear all

Friday, 24/7/09
Camooweal/Three Ways
After a lovely night of peaceful sleep by our own billabong, we got up early, had a quick breakfast, and, without shower, left for Barkley Homestead - about 280 kms west over the Queensland border into the Northern Territory. The scenery changed dramatically from the scrub of outback Queensland, to flat, treeless high straw coloured grass - just nothing. No cattle or birds - no roadkill.

Barkley Homestead
Arrived Barkley Homestead and, as I couldn't get signal on my phone, went in to find the public phone to call Mum while Ken filled up. Fuel 174.9.

Asked friendly couple at the bar (another licenced service station) where the phone was, but they insisted on ignoring my query but wanted me to join them for a drink.

They were Des and Rosalind who live on aboriginal land about 130 kms to the east. Of course, there is no alcohol allowed on these lands, so Des and Rosalind - and the rest of the extended (and I mean extended) family, drive all that way to get a drink. I politely declined, but Des informed me that the reason I declined was because he was black which, of course, I emphatically denied! Ken arrived to save the day, so I pushed him in toward the bar while I rushed off to find the phone. When I returned, Ken had palled up with Des and Rosalind, and, with beer in hand, made firm buddies with the indigenous (sic).

Decided Barkley Roadhouse wasn't for us, so we hit the road again for a further 190 kms to Three Ways Roadhouse.

Three Ways - another licenced roadhouse. Green grass at last. Still no signal.




Arrived here at 4pm. Set up camp then had a shower.

Out the back of the roadhouse is a large piece of property with a playground for children, clothes lines and an amenities block. It's a matter of "first in first serve" .... there aren't any numbered sites so to speak, so it's a matter of fitting in where you can and get a power cord long enough to reach a power pole being used by 6 or 7 other people. We decided to stay 2 nights here so as to give us enough time to travel 26 kms south to visit Tennant Creek.

Saturday, 27/7/09
Weather glorious.
Travelled south to see Tennant Creek. 2 dead horses on the side of the road. Dingo crossed in front of us. No other wildlife.

Tennant Creek is a town of 3,500 mostly aboriginal people. The town is a sad sight. The indigenous speak their own language - Ken asked one young man whether the AFL jersey he was wearing was the NT colours. He looked at Ken like he had 2 heads and walked off. The children are filthy and the adults worse - I've never smelt body odour like it ... it hangs in the air. The people have absolutely nothing to do and most just drink. We were there at 11am and there are 3 hotels in town - all of them open and all serving them alcohol. There was yelling in the street and just hopelessness. This town really makes you think - what are we doing!!


We went to the visitors centre which was fantastic and included a really well done exhibition on life in the late 1880's working the gold mines out there. Had lunch at the RSL, then started the journey back to Three Ways.

On the way we found the old Overland Telegraph Station. In 1872, this lone telegraph repeater station played an important part in the Overland Telegraph Line which virtually followed the same route of John McDouall Stuart's expedition from SA to the sea in the Northern Territory.


The Overland Telegraph Line was a single wire connecting a few telegraph lines in Australia with a line under the sea to Indonesia. There were 11 repeater stations along the line to boost the morse code signal as it faded over distance. (I wish they still had them for car radios!!) This huge task was overseered by Charles Todd and began in Adelaide, finishing with the first message between Australia and London in October 1872.

I'm so glad we decided to stay another day at Three Ways because we wouldn't have visited this excellent part of our history. I know it doesn't seem much, but to see the way these men lived out here and worked for the sole purpose of connecting Australia by communications with England in such harsh conditions in 40+ degree heat, and dressed as they did in those days in flannel trousers and thick, long sleeved cotton shirts, with their long beards, must have been intolerable. You have to see the land out here to believe it.

Back to Three Ways. Dead horses still there. Nothing else.

"Talk" tomorrow.
With lots of love.