I've started my Northern Territory adventure

Hi everyone

We have travelled further west along the Barkly Highway and through the Barkly Tablelands.  The land here was all dry Flinders Grass as far as I could see to the horizon.  We stopped at the Northern Territory border so I could have my photo taken. 

On the way to Tennant Creek we saw a massive brown and black eagle eating a dead animal on the side of the road.  There were also stacks of termite mounds.  Some were small and others were huge!

At a camp spot I saw the weirdest bug ever!  It turned its head to look at me and it had horns and spikes on its back.  Maybe I have discovered a new species.

The next day we stopped at a rest stop and I saw hundreds of little finches.  Somebody had put a water tray at the bore water tap for the birds to drink and it was empty so I filled it up for them.

The little finches at the bore water tap.  They are all over the wire as well.

At Tenant Creek we went on a tour of an underground gold mine.   I liked the little mining carts they used to use.  It was really interesting because gold is usually found in quartz but at Tennant Creek the gold was found in the black ironstone.  There was huge drill that digs into the rock to get samples of the ironstone to see if it contained gold and the drill could go into the rock for 2 km.  We also saw a mine elevator that could travel at 65km per hour.  After the tour the man showed us some real gold and now I have gold fever.

 The entrance to the gold mine

Pop and I in the explosives part of the mine and looking at the different fuses and timers to blow up the ironstone

After the mine tour we went to see the battery.  A battery is a gold and ore crushing machine.  The man started the noisy machine.  We had to wear ear muffs.  It was awesome how it crushed all the stone to a fine powder.  Then the powder was heated up to get the gold.  The man gave me a little piece of ironstone with little specks of gold in it and when I get back I’ll show you.

After the battery we started to travel south for 130km to Wycliffe which is the UFO capital of Australia.  It’s called the UFO capital because they have seen lots and lots of UFOs in this area.  While we were there a wild emu walked out of the bush.

Later we went to Devil’s Marbles.  It is a massive area of really big, orange, red, granite boulders balancing on top of one another.  The rocks were square but over millions of years the water and wind have shaped them and they are now round.  They are still weathering and layers of rock peel off them and crumble.

As you can see in my photos my Pop and I have super powers and we could move these rocks and break them in half! :)

We watched an awesome sunset over the desert yesterday.

At night when we were going to bed I heard wild dingos howling and in the morning there was dingo laying down at the front of our motorhome.  He looked really friendly but I wasn’t allowed to touch him.

Today we went to Lake Mary Ann just north of Tennant Creek.  I rode my scooter around and chased chickens, geese, ducks and fed peacocks.
 

Hope you’re enjoying my blog.

Alvida (Hindi for goodbye)

    

 

Nearly in the Northern Territory

We left Mary Kathleen and went to Mt Isa which is a large mining town that mines lead, silver, copper and zinc.  I didn’t like the town much because it was smelly and gave me a headache.

As you drive along everywhere that you look there are thousands of termite mounds.  Some are quite big and others are small like little mud pyramids.  Some people have put old shirts on them to turn them into people.  It looks really funny.  We couldn’t get a photo because there was nowhere to park and the Barkly Highway is really busy with road trains which take up a lot of the road and go really fast. 

We stopped at Camooweal which is the gateway town to the Northern Territory. 

We camped alongside a billabong near the Georgina River.  There are lots of colourful water lillies of pink, blue, yellow, purple, and white.  There are many Spoonbills, brolgas, pelicans, corellas, sulphur crested cockatoos, galahs, kites, wood ducks, shags, white cranes, grey cranes, leaf hoppers and finches.  I had a kite swoop me and softly touched my head.  A kite looks like a small eagle and it screeches all day long.  

Last night Nan and Pop heard and saw three wild pigs down on the river bank scraping around in the mud.

Yesterday we rode over to see the Drovers’ Camp Shed Museum. At the museum we saw bulls, horse shoes, all their camp equipment, saddles, swags, bags, water bottles and saw an old drover called Stumpy Adams crack a horse whip.  Stumpy Adams showed us a map of Australia and the places and long distances where they took the cattle.  He also told us about the explorers that searched for new land for cattle.

This map shows the stock routes that drovers used to move cattle to markets

Stumpy Adams told us drover camp stories and drover poems. He told us about some of the Aboriginal drovers who would go off at night and have corroboree and the other drovers could hear them clicking their music sticks and chanting.  During the day they walked the cattle for about 10 km till about midday and then made sure ate plenty of grass and drank lots of water in the afternoon so they wouldn’t wander at night.  The drovers used to sing and tell poems to the cows at night to also keep them calm.   It was really cool!  Road trains now move cattle instead of the drovers.  In Camooweal there are still some of the old drovers alive but they are really old and one is nearly blind.

Yesterday I cooked dinner and last night I made another campfire.

 Sunset at the billabong

We are spending another day here tomorrow so I can do schoolwork :( 

Till next time

Adjo (Swedish)

No ghosts yet!

I found out some information about Mary Kathleen and why it is a ghost town now.

Mary Kathleen was a uranium mining town near Mt. Isa.  The town was named after one of the prospectors’ wives.  The town was built for the miners and their families.  The mine is located 6 km away.  After uranium exports stopped the mine closed down and everything from the mine and the town were sold off in 1984. The farmer who owns the land now lets travellers camp here and explore the ruins of the town.

 Mary Kathleen township before it was abandoned

http://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/mary-kathleen

We are camping in the street beside where the old community hall was when the mine was open back in 1956.  There are no buildings any more just cement slabs where buildings were.  The pool has nearly been filled in and there are trees growing everywhere.

 Mary Kathleen Community Store -before

http://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/mary-kathleen

Community Hall and medical centre - today

 Our camp 

It’s a really cool place because cows come to say hi.  We also found an old 2 cent coin dated 1972. Don’t be jealous I also found what looks like gold!   It was really interesting using our Wikicamps phone app to ride around the streets and map out where all the old buildings were.

At Mary Kathleen there are approximately 30 roads, a full size swimming pool, supermarket, bank, school, cinema, basketball and tennis courts, boys scout and girl guide halls, an oval, two churches, and housing for approximately 1000 people.  There were single men and families.  It was a really big town.

Memorial Fountain in the town square - before

http://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/mary-kathleen

 

Memorial Fountain - today

Swimming pool and school building - before

http://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/mary-kathleen

 

 Pop and I on the site of the pool and school today

Yesterday we rode up to the mine on a really rocky road and Pop and I nearly came off our scooter.  Nan did come off but she is OK.  The mine was huge and the water in the bottom of the open cut mine was a weird aqua blue colour.  There was a warning sign to say not to drink or swim in the water as it is radioactive.  It was fun calling out because I could hear my echo echo echo.  It was awesome! 

 

 Mary Kathleen Mine treatment plan - before

http://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/mary-kathleen

Tomorrow we are off to Mt Isa.

Antio (Greek for goodbye)