Banka Banka

Wednesday 21st May.

We are in no particular hurry so after a lazy morning at The Pebbles we returned back into Tennant Creek to empty our "black water" at a dump point, but more particularly to purchase two fly nets to place over our hat and protect our face from the irritating flies that we are now encountering.

The dump point is located at the showgrounds which you would imagine would be pretty much deserted except for show time and the very rare special event. Well as we approached the showgrounds we were hard pressed to find room on the road to drive. there were literally hundreds of barefooted aboriginals walking towards the showgrounds. Upon entry we encountered even more, both male and female. We later enquired in town and were informed that they were assembling for their own version of an election - to elect a new tribal elder.

Another interesting thing we observed while in Tennant Creek was the different school zones. The speed limits and times that we are accustomed to seeing back home and in fact in most places we have visited over the years are quite different here in Tennant Creek. The 40km per hour school zones apply from 7am to 5pm. Strange indeed, considering that they have a real truancy problem with the indigenous kids.

From Tennant Creek it is only 20km to "Three Ways", the "T" junction of the Barkly Hwy. from the east and the Stuart Highway. As Tennant Creek did not appeal to stop for a morning coffee we made Three Ways our midday coffee stop, then pressed on another 80km to "Banka Banka" where we have booked in for a night. Those of you who have followed our earlier blogs in Central Australia may recall that Banka Banka was one of the large number of "stations" that Sidney Kidman, the Cattle King purchased in order to be able to move his very large herds of cattle from Adelaide to Darwin without the need to encroach on other properties. His holdings literally extended over 3,000 continuous kilometres. This is a literal Garden of Eden as the camping ground is lovely green grass with an abundant supply of water. A very popular spot for an overnight or longer.

A relatively short day of travel today, only 126km today.