Tripping On To Tennant Creek

After our stopover in beautiful downtown Elliott (and a great win by Souths) we continued our journey south.

A strong, cold wind was blowing from the southeast and creating havoc with our fuel consumption so we decided to call it a day at a free camp spot about 20 klms north of Tennant Creek called "The Pebbles".  This area is the 'little sister' of the Devil's Marbles which is south of Tennant Creek and much better known.

"The Pebbles" and Devil's Marbles were formed when magma forced its way up through the earth's crust and was stopped from breaking through the surface by a large layer of sandstone.  The cooling magma did crack the sandstone which allowed water to seep through.  Over time, the water created the rounded rocks, the sandstone was eroded away and we are left with these wonderful formations. 

Tennant Creek is also reasonably well known as the newest gold rush town in Australia with gold only being discovered here as late as 1932.

Even though it was only lunch time when we arrived, we set up camp, refreshed ourselves, met the neighbours and then went for a walk up a dry creek bed.  One of the neighbours had been there a few days and had been searching for those elusive gold nuggets.

With the price of gold these days, why wouldn't you and by the number of footprints that were in that creek bed, the neighbour wasn't the only one looking for gold. 

We didn't find any nuggets, but did find some interesting rocks which contained some very fine speckles of gold in them.  You couldn't call it payable gold but they make for some interesting souvenirs!

Some of "The Pebbles"

Check out the pockets!

Late Afternoon on The Pebbles

Another Pretty Rock

Later that evening, The Deckie received a phone call from one of her sisters that our Mum had had a fall through the day and had broken her hip.  Mum had already had a pin inserted in her hip and was recovering well at Mona Vale Hospital (Northern Beaches of Sydney).  What a quandary!  How far were we from a major airport?  How long was it going to take to get there?  ARRRGGGHHHHH.  The Deckie's Mum was in so much trouble as she had been told that she wasn't allowed to get sick or anything like that whilst we were away!

After a fairly rough night a new day dawned, a few phone calls were made and it was ascertained that Mum's life was not in danger.  Phew!!  Even so, we decided to stay in Tennant Creek for the night (a whole 20 klms down the track) so that The Deckie could catch up on the washing and other domestic chores just in case she had to get down to Sydney in a rush.

As the day wore on and with a few more phone calls, another decision was made and that was to continue our adventures without making a detour via Sydney.  Besides, Mum told The Deckie not to interrupt her trip - and The Deckie always took notice of her Mum ;-)

So, at this stage (Tuesday morning) we will heading for the Devil's Marbles (more walking and rock collecting) for an overnight stay and then keep heading for Alice Springs - probably another two nights before we get there.

We hope that everyone keeps well as we do not need any more bad news!