Tag 8, 2. Mai, Karlu Karlu

In the morning, we did some morning exercises and then departed at sunrise at 6:45. We wanted to leave early to have the chance to see wildlife on or beside the road.

Unfortunately, there were no kangaroos or euros to be seen. Only a wild boar. And a run-over, still half-alive highly venomous red-bellied black snake. The highlight was numerous sightings of the Pheasant Coucal, an impressively large, beautifully brown-colored bird. So, we drove down the highway at 110 km/h (we are not allowed to drive faster), looking for birds, and made a quick stop in Tennant Creek to shop.

The drive took us through the Outback of the Northern Territory. We had expected a desert landscape, similar to Namibia. However, everything was not only very green, as expected after the unexpectedly heavy rains in March, but also quite wooded: trees and bushes everywhere. Compared to the arid regions of Namibia and the Northern Cape in South Africa, it does rain here much more, significantly over 200mm per year (compared to 180mm in Goegap). The land is therefore so inhospitable for humans because there are almost no water sources here. So, it’s not a true desert for plants, but still for humans and most animals.

After almost 700 km, we arrived in Karlu Karlu at 15:30.

Karlu Karlu, in English Devil's Marbles, is an area of about 1000 hectares, on which numerous monoliths of 1.5 billion-year-old granite spheres lie. Bright red, peeling granite, in various shapes, mostly round or in blocks or columns. It reminded us a lot of Goegap, whose mountains also consist of 1.5 billion-year-old red granite. Only that here in Karlu Karlu, the erosion has progressed much further: There are no mountains visible anymore, just the monoliths on the flat sandy surface. Just as Australia is very flat, there were hardly any hills to be seen during the drive today, hardly any slopes, and definitely no mountains!

The campsite was well visited but offered nothing other than a great view and drop toilets. We wandered among the stone spheres, many as big as a house, and admired the surroundings. However, there was nothing to see in terms of animals, not even on a night hike. In the evening, we grilled with expensive charcoal and wood that I had collected on the roadside; because firewood is nowhere to be bought here.