We travelled with my son and a dog from near Warrnambool to move him up to Darwin. We stopped at Port Augusta (Oasis apartments), Erldunda Roadhouse and then Daly Waters Roadhouse, before arriving in Darwin, Each of these accommodations was clean, pet-friendly and very suitable for our purposes. Despite the quick pace, we were able to make some valuable stops at Naracoorte, Marla (beautiful indigenous artwork in the roadhouse there), Coober Pedy, Devil’s Marbles and Mataramka. Travelling in a Subaru Outback, we averaged 7 litres per 100km over 3500km. Fuel prices ranged from 2.00 to 2.85 per litre, so we spent about $540 on fuel, another $500 on accommodation plus food and drinks.

Drove from Gove to Alice Springs joining the Stuart Highway north of Mataranka. What joy to hit a smooth bitumen highway after the dirt. Beautiful to see how the wet thick forest gradually thins out as we went south. The vegetation is looking at its best after recent rains March/April 2021. Yellow and white blossoms. Roadhouses and public toilets all along the way perfectly adequate. 6am opening of the Daly Waters Roadside Inn saw a crowd of eager customers waiting to get in. We had a very nice cup of coffee there. Big shout out to Bob at Elliott Mechanical. A kind and friendly bloke with a collection of 11,000 number plates on his immaculate workshop walls. Karlu Karlu devils marbles not to be missed. Highway in excellent condition all the way. All in all a great trip. EXCEPT one thing. Some twits seem to think it is acceptable to defile and disrespect nature by draping filthy rags all over HUNDREDS of termite mounds. Coming down the Central Arnhem Highway brought so much fascination and joy to see the sheer diversity, shape and colour of the various termite communities. So imagine my disgust when I saw the first cluster of termite mounds covered in filthy, tatty, nasty, gross remnants of human clothing. Hoping it was the only one, I was appalled to discover that the entire ecosystem of termite mound communities for the next 1100 kilometres all the way to Alice Springs is contaminated by repulsive trash. Not only was EVERY decent sized termite mound community a visual abomination (and a distraction while driving) but who knows what damage it could be doing to the wildlife inhabitants. That some arrogant narcissists should imagine it’s a good look or it’s amusing to do this to our natural world as well as spoil the view for the rest of us, I find totally unacceptable. I hope they all get torn off soon. I apologise to the visitors who are as grossed out as I was. Who ever did this should be taken to court, fined and made to clean up all one thousand kilometres of garbage they created.