Darwin 2012–Alice Springs to Banka Banka

We got away from Alice before 8am and headed on down the road towards Banka Banka, an old Cattle station, now set up as a non powered caravan park. They have minimal sites available and in the past we have seen them fill up before 2pm and close their gates. We were to arrive to find the park empty, and during the course of the afternoon only 4 other caravans pulled in. Its changes hands since we last stayed their but the sites and the amenities are still the same, being some of the best we have experienced in the NT.

We stopped in at Barrow creek for morning tea before heading through Wycliffe Well to Wauchope for lunch. Again the temperatures today are up near 40deg but without the flies and some shade it was bearable.

Barrow Creek

Wycliffe Well – UFO capital of Australia

 

Wauchope

Banka Banka Station

    

 

And here are a couple of iphone/instagram photos….

Uluru to Katherine

Day 7 – Uluru to Alice Springs

This update has been a bit late in being posted but we continue our trip, traveling from Uluru through to Alice Springs. This visit to Alice will only be overnight so no real items to post. We did however walk from our accommodations at the MacDonnell Range Holiday Park to the Alice springs show grounds to watch the Fireworks display for the end of the show. No photos but the fireworks were great, going for quite a long time. The kids loved it and it was if I planned our arrival just for this.


Day 8 – Alice Springs to Wycliffe Wells

The next day saw the kids go to the weekly pancake cook-up at the caravan park, whilst we were left to pack the camp up. Today’s drive, again quite uneventful, took us to Wycliffe Wells. This town consisted of only a petrol station and caravan park. That’s It. Once we arrived and set up the kids went on a Train ride around the park and the driver explained the history surrounding the town and the region from pre-war days up till now.


The park is listed as the UFO capital of Australia, and is decorated with murals and figurines of Aliens and action figures, quite a hit with the kids. They also had an extensive bird collection.


Day 9 - Wycliffe Wells to Banka Banka Station

After packing up the camper we headed down the road to the regions tourist draw card, the Devils Marbles. This outcrop of rock boulders was heaps of fun to walk and climb through, with all of us enjoying ourselves for an hour or so. The scenery from the top of the rocks was great.

The end of our day was spent at Banka Banka cattle station, where we had the first real rest of the trip. We arrived just on lunch and set up under the shade of a great tree. We then proceeded to have afternoon naps and rest before we tackled bush walk to the top of a hill behind the station for some views. The station is an oasis in the region with nothing either side of it for about an hour each way. The sites were unpowered but if I were to rank the places we have stayed so far I would say this is the best park we have been at.


Day 10 - Banka Banka Station to Tindell (Rachels House)

The next day we sped along the highway with one destination in mind, Rachel’s. We had a few stops along the way as the first of our sickies too hold. Caitlyn came down sick first. We arrived at Rachel’s house in the early afternoon. We spent about 1 week in Katherine before we begun the journey to Darwin