Never Never Land with Devils and Little Green Men

By Gabrielle & William Beams

After returning to Katherine, we again drove south on the Stuart Highway. The sheer starkness of the landscape displays the isolation that is so prevalent in the Northern Territory. We really were in Never Never Land. In the early 1900,s, it was near the small town of Mataranka that Aeneas Gunn and his wife Jeannie came to tame this land that time forgot.

Their story of hardship and their slow acceptance by the local aborigines became the basis of the classic Australian novel “We of the Never Never”. Now the memory of these brave early settlers is celebrated by the town of Mataranka with a representation of their life in the central park.

From here the highway passes through stunted growth, ghost gums and termite mounds; several roadhouses are welcome stops for the weary traveller and the edge of the Tanami Desert crosses the road near Muckity Homestead.

A memorial cairn on the left side of the highway marks the dry water bed of Attack Creek. It was here in 1860, on his first attempt to cross Australia from north to south, that explorer John McDonald Stuart was set upon by a group of aborigines who objected to Stuart’s foray into their red barren land. The exploration party was forced to turn back and it was not until 1862 on his third attempt, that Stuart successfully crossed the continent.

Australia’s last gold rush occurred in the early 1930’s in the Northern Territory’s most isolated town – Tennant Creek. Built 10 kilometres from the historic Overland Telegraph Station, this small settlement now boasts a modern pyramid shaped Civic Centre, several good caravan and camping grounds and is a recommended rest stop on the 2688 kilometre long Stuart Highway. Tennant Creek was the site of Australia’s biggest open cut gold mine at Nobles Nob until its closure in 1985. The Battery Hill Mining Centre in Peko Road is now a museum dedicated to the gold exploration in the area. Old mining equipment surrounds the Battery like ghosts past. Daily tours of the Gold Battery are available and underground mine tours are conducted during the dry season. A drive up to the Bill Allen lookout will give you a wonderful view of the town’s widely spread buildings and the surrounding landscape dotted with mullock heaps, stunted trees and the never ending red soil that gives credence to this part of Australia – “The Red Centre”. Further on the dry vermillion coloured dirt is broken by the blue waters of the Mary Ann Dam. Enclosed by low hills, the dam is a popular picnic and swimming spot for local and tourists.
The sacred site of the local Warumungu people called “The Devils Marbles” is located 105 kilometres south of Tennant Creek. Now renamed Karlukarlu, the indigenous inhabitants believe these “marbles” are the eggs of the Rainbow Serpent, a creature being who was responsible for many of the outstanding natural features in the Northern Territory. These 1500 million year old massive granite boulders have been weathered and moulded by the wind and rain and now form spectacular “pillars” of rock, one on top of the other forever fused into often fragile abstract geometric designs that only Mother Nature could create. A 2 kilometre sealed loop road leads to the “Devils Marbles” and it is easily accessible from the highway. There is a camping ground with pit toilets and fireplaces.

Further south we drove to the UFO centre of Australia- Wycliffe Wells. The Roadhouse is festooned with little green men hanging from the roof and friendly aliens who greet you in the well designed grounds. Even Yoda has a place on the dustbins and the “Incredible Hulk” seems to have jumped from Hollywood to join this menagerie of celestial oddities. There have been reputed sightings of UFO’s and strange lights that streak across the skies from the direction of the “Devils Marbles”, however as the Wycliffe Wells Roadhouse Bar stocks a very large collection of international beers and a comprehensive amount of alcoholic beverages on offer, it is presumed that some of these sightings are the result of overindulgence in the delights of the roadhouse bar. There is an excellent caravan park and the children are well catered for with an extensive playground and a train that takes passengers around the spacious perimeters.

The well preserved Barrow Creek Overland Telegraph Station was built on a permanent freshwater spring which unfortunately was also an important water source for the local Kaytetye people, who in 1874, attacked and killed the Station Master and Linesman. This led to the death of many aborigines in revenge for these murders.

The Aileron Roadhouse is 68 kilometres north of Alice Springs. Here a giant Aboriginal figure stands guard on a small hillock like a king surveying his realm.

We stopped for lunch a few kilometers further south at the ruins of the Glen Maggie Homestead. It is sobering to think how our pioneers lived and worked this harsh terrain so many years ago. Now where these fearless settlers lived, this harsh outback land produces beautiful flora to adorn the Land of the Never Never.