Lap Around Australia Alice Springs to Banka Banka

Alice Springs  via Devils Marbles, to Banka Banka Station

It's been a busy few days of travelling. All the way from Alice Springs to Katherine. It's taken us several days and most of that time we've been without phone or internet coverage or even power.

We were able to get away quite early on Friday morning. Luckily we did too, as by the time we reached the Devils Marbles the available spaces were filling up fast. We'd stopped a couple of times along the way for re-fuelling including Wycliffe Well for our Alien Encounter. This time we didn't dally as we'd covered this route only a couple of weeks ago. We did however stop on the roadside to gather some wood for a campfire as we knew there were pits for fires at the Marbles.

By the time we'd  parked up, set up and had a short rest, there was just enough daylight left to have another wander around the magnificent Devils Marbles as the sun set. This time there was no water in the rock pools as there'd been no more rain since our last visit. We'd been very lucky last time.

We enjoyed a meal around one of the large tables near Karen & Steve's caravan. There was also a fire-pit nearby. Oh joy! Toasted marshmallows again for dessert! It was still a bit cold here overnight, but nowhere near as cold as it had been in Alice Springs with its sub-zero mornings. We are heading north! We also put the final touches on our crochet outfit for a termite mound yet to be found.

Our next destination was Banka Banka Station. We'd been given this tip for a nice place to stay by the lovely Swiss couple we met on our previous visit to Devils Marbles. On our way there we stopped to re-fuel at Three Ways service station. There was a big queue to get served and some big road trains also waiting to fuel up. This time they asked for our drivers license to be handed over before they unlocked the pump and only given back when you'd paid. Perhaps they'd had a few drive- offs of late?

We drove north on the look-out as we went for a suitable termite mound to dress. We found Myrtle Mound 24 kilometres north of Three Ways, with enough room at the roadside for three caravans to safely pull over. We spent a happy time dressing our mound. "sewing" on her outfit with wool and a crochet hook. She looks perfectly happy and I do hope she makes people smile as they drive by.

Another twenty kilometres further on we encountered a roadside bushfire. We do hop the fire doesn't head further south and ravage Myrtle Mound. The smoke was quite thick, but luckily not dangerous to drive through.

We arrived at Banka Banka Station in the early afternoon and  parked our vans side by side. There were only a few vans there when we arrived and by nightfall the whole place had filled up including the overflow areas. There would've been about 100 vans there and at $10 per head (no power available) they were making a nice amount to supplement the station.

We enjoyed our restful stay here, including a visit to the resident cranky donkeys and camels. There were horses as well in the far paddock. Ian, Kathy and Steve even went for a bushwalk to the waterhole (about 4 Km return) which they raved about. Lots of birdlife there to be seen. Back at camp there is an old homestead building with various artefacts and rusted farm implements of old to look at. They sometimes put on a big firepit for all the campers and have a singalong, but sadly none while we were there.