Wednesday, 29 April 2026
With a big driving day (770kms) on the itinerary for today we were on the road by 8.00am. Not too much time to spare for sightseeing today but as we drove back past Karlu Karlu we pulled in for a quick look at the Devils Marbles in the morning sunlight. Still dramatic but not as luminous as last night.
Our next stop was at the BP Servo at Tennant Creek to top up with fuel. Petrol Spy had revealed that it would be much cheaper to fill up at Tennant Creek than in Wauchope. It was a huge BP and, as we were leaving, we wondered if we should have purchased sandwiches here and put them in our fridge for later? We agreed though, that we should keep supporting the more isolated roadhouses by stopping to spend some $$ with them.
About eight kilometres north of Tennant Creek, we stopped to visit our third telegraph station in four days. We had decided that we would stop if it was right on the highway but would not go looking for it. I mean, how many telegraph stations can you visit in a short space of time without getting bored? As it turned out, this one was worth the stop, with it being better preserved than the one at Barrow Creek. It was quite an attractive collection of buildings with white walls and green tin roofs.
Just a little further along the road was the turn off for Kunjarra/The Pebbles. These rocks were nearly six kilometres off the highway but worth a quick visit. With so many Ks to drive today, we didn’t walk all the way around this outcrop of rocks that is a place that is a sacred women’s site of the Warumugu people. Although not on the same scale as Karlu Karlu, this outcrop of rocks is still very picturesque.
Now it was time to get moving. Although the road surface was not as good as it has been, Bernie decided to travel at the 130kph limit, to try to make sure we reach Katherine before dark. With the big wet season that they experienced up this way this year, we encountered more road damage and road works today ,than we have on the trip so far. Bernie had to wind back the speed a few times to negotiate roadworks and exercise caution at couple of washed out sections of road.
We made good time, arriving in Elliott at lunchtime. Google reviews mentioned the great toasted sandwiches available at The Elliott Store, so we were looking forward to toasties for lunch. Bernie topped up the tank, while I cleaned the windscreen. Bernie went in to pay for the fuel and came back out with the bad news that – they don’t do toasted sandwiches anymore. And didn’t have much else to offer either. OK, we’ll keep going to Dunmarra.
Hmmn, Google had reviews extolling the virtues of the home made pies and vanilla slices, but the reality was much, much different. We wandered in to empty fridges, freezers and hot food cabinets. The infrastructure certainly suggested that the Dunmarra Roadhouse was once a thriving food stop along the Stuart Highway, but it doesn’t have much to offer now. At least the egg and bacon sandwiches we ordered were freshly made … and the toilets were OK. Today has certainly been all about rough roads and rougher roadhouses!
Arriving in Larrimah, we pulled into the Pink Pub. The Larrimah Hotel is a quirky place that is known for its pink panthers, giant stubby and eclectic collection of bits and pieces from all over. It felt like ice-cream o’clock, so we ventured in hoping for an ice-cream freezer. We were in luck, they did have ice-creams but, not much to choose from. We decided to sample the Maxibon ice cream sandwiches which are not on our list of preferred ice-creams.
We took our ice-creams outside to eat and the crusty old bloke on the verandah, in his hi vis gear, started chatting to us. It turned out the grader out the front, with the ute hooked on behind, was his. I thought it was part of the hotel’s eclectic collection of ‘stuff’, ha, ha. Anyway, he’s 73 years old and not ready to retire, so he grades roads between April and October and then spends the wet season in Indonesia. He went on just a little too much for my liking about how many brown snakes are around this season. Ugh!
We arrived in Mataranka, which is known for its hot springs. With a bit more research perhaps we could have stayed here in Mataranka and enjoyed a soak in one of the hot springs after a big day on the road? But, no, we still had 100 kilometres to go, with a bed booked in Katherine for tonight.
When we pulled into Katherine, it was still daylight and the Woolies was still open, so we could buy some fresh kiwi fruit for the breakfast tomorrow morning. While we were in Woolies the owner of the K-Town Hotel rang to query our arrival time. Just at Woolies, we’ll be there soon. When we arrived, we were given a key to an upstairs room. Bernie thought he had booked a downstairs room but no … we had to lug our gear upstairs.
The RSL (actually the Katherine Club these days) was recommended for dinner. When Bernie asked if we could walk there, it was suggested that we should drive. When we arrived at the pub it was busy, really busy. Turns out it was Steak Night, and it’s a popular night. Fortunately, we managed to find a table and we managed to order our steaks before they ran out. Really good steaks.
Steps: 5,993 (3.80kms)
