Canning Stock Route 2004

Friday 3^rd September.

We are now about 1830 km from Wiluna. The bird life on Stretch Lagoon is terrific. There are ducks, pelicans, corellas and other water birds in abundance. We woke up a pelican this morning that was sleeping on the shore. It is windy again today and after packing up we headed into Billiluna. Diesel was OK but there was no unleaded fuel available. The store also was not open due to everyone being called to a community meeting. The head mistress of the school spoke to us and a dog fight was broken up by one of the locals throwing a 20 litre at the dogs. We had to rearrange our itinerary and headed into Halls Creek. Native cotton was growing on the roadside and red tail black cockatoos were seen here. We spotted brolgas before hitting the tar road 18 km out of Halls Creek. In town it was time to fuel up, buy groceries and souvenirs before heading out to Caroline Pool for lunch. There were some lizards in the pool there. Very little was left of Old Halls Creek. A few plaques were still there and the remains of the  Old  Post  Office, with its spinifex and ant bed walls, which are covered  over  to protect it. Not much else is there now.  Leaving town, Alice Springs is 1040 away. The Tanami Track equals dust and more dust, but it is a fairly good road. We saw several wedge tail eagles, mostly on road kill. Camp for the night was at the camping area at Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater. There was much smoke in the far distance from fires and the glow could be seen after dark. The smoke also caused a very red sunset. This was our first night in the bush without a campfire, as they are not permitted in the National Park, so it was early to bed.

Saturday 4th September.

  After packing up, we walked up to the rim of Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater, which is about 35 metres high, and then along to a high point for some photos. It is 60 metres to the floor of the crater and 800 metres around the rim. This is the 2nd largest meteorite crater in the world. We headed back into Billuna and the shop was open today, but no souvenirs were available. Continuing along the Tanami Track we crossed into the Northern Territory.  There was an area of spinifex fire, which flared and burnt quickly. A truck carrying a wide load was heading into WA. It was 5.5 metres wide and had a mining dump truck on board. There was very little wildlife to be seen today. We    called in at Rabbit Flat and had a discussion with the owner. The late afternoon drive meant many km of spinifex, anthills and nothing else!! Camp was in the middle of nowhere on a track off the main road. Only two road trains and one 4wd went past all night. We had another beautiful campfire tonight.

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