Devils marbles anyone?

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After taking a detour and stopping off at the Douglas Hot Springs (John’s first driving off road experience) we eventually reach another part of the Nitmiluk National park - Edith Falls. It lies on the western boundary of the park and in theory we could have walked here from Katherine Gorge (but we didn’t!) We head up the steep hill to the Leliyn lookout before heading to the upper pool. It was a bit of a scramble over the rocks to get there but once there we are in for a surprise. First there is a stunning waterfall but also a couple of naturist who obviously thought they had the place to themselves! Not really sure where to put our eyes as we discreetly pass by and head to the pool on the other side of the waterfall. The water is freezing and I brave it up to my waist whilst John only dips in his toes. Eventually I make it in but not for long and when we see the nudey couple leaving we head back across to a better spot. However, as we cross the rocks to get back across I almost step onto a snake..aarrrgghh. As it hisses up we both freeze and luckily it slitters away before deciding to strike. However that puts paid to our leisurely swim and we hurridly get dressed and head back off!!
We pass back through Katherine but do not stop this time and plough on to our rest stop for the night which is easy to find. Over the next few days we put in some serious driving and eat away at the kilometres. The road is endless and to be honest pretty boring. There are flat plains on either side of the road with no real scenery to speak of. The only good thing is that the road surface is very good so you can put your foot down very easily. We reach Tennant Creek and stop for a break, heading up to the Bill Allen lookout and then head out on the Stuart highway to the Devils Marbles. Here we are confronted with lots of massive scattered boulders of granite, precariously balanced on top of one another in what seems like impossible arrangements. They were formed by an upsurge of molten rock that cooled and then became solid beneath layers of sandstone. The sandstone has eventually over time eroded and broken down leaving the “marble shapes”. The site is very sacred for the Warumungu people and we both said that the place had a very eerie feel to it. It was also weird as there were zillions of flies around the whole site, yet as soon as we left there were none!!! We decided not to camp here (ok will admit we were a little jittery) so instead headed for the next rest stop at Taylor Creek. Having managed to get here a bit earlier we opened up a few beers and watched the sunset before seeing the stars appear in a brilliantly clear night sky with not a cloud in sight.

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Photos

Edith Falls
Nitmiluk National Park

Bill Allen Lookout
Tennant Creek

Tennant Creek
Murals on wall

Devils marbles
Just need to push a little harder....