Day 10 - To Track or not to Track

Day 10 – We decided to tarry in Alice another 24 hours while anxiously watching the weather reports and trying to make an informed decision on whether or not to brave the Tanami Track. We were camped next to Jim and Peta from Belconnen in their bright yellow VW campervan.

Trivia for the day – how to muster cattle in vast areas with no fences, dogs, horses, motorbikes or helicopters. Have an enclosed area with a one-way gate and water source. Cattle always remember how to find their way back to their own water source. In they go via the one-way gate, and voila! Mustered cattle (this information brought to you courtesy of Peta from Belconnen).

We spent some time at the Old Ghan Railway museum and National Road Transport museum (highly recommended by Dave who spent several hours looking at all manner of trucks, buses and other various vehicles, but mostly the buses).

18mm of rain fell that night near Hall’s Creek, and the Tanami Track was closed at the WA border the next day (I’m sure that State is always keen to stop us Easterners entering). So we sadly closed the chapter on the Tanami for this trip and headed further north instead. One advantage was seeing the Devil’s Marbles again. Beautiful scenery, but appalling weather. We had our goose down jackets on for the wind chill factor which must have been blowing straight up the corridor from the snow falls in Canberra that day – please close the door down there!