We wanted to make an
early start today knowing there was a massive amount of driving to do to
collect our extra day, so we dutifully slept in and started late as
always. We did manage to get on the
road by 0900, and drove the short distance to the Devils Marbles. Here we lingered way too long, but had a
good walk around and looked at many different formations. 
It is quite amazing
to see these huge boulders cloven in two, cleanly split through by the forces
of rain and erosion. After forcing the
kids out of the car to have a look, it took us ages to get them back in and we
lost one or two in the process, but eventually got ourselves back on the
road. Rowan had the obligatory stack
into the spinifex and we have been pulling minute needles out of his hands all
day. Just wouldn't seem right to not get
the first aid kit out for Rowan at least once a day.
Another 30km down
the road is the roadhouse for Wycliffe Well.
This is apparently where most UFO sightings in Australia occur. Lisa and I both being sci fi connoisseurs
decided to stop and get some lunch here.
Our brief stop for lunch turned into a 40 minute mission whilst we
waited for our order. During that time,
Lisa browsed the many articles that are pinned up in the roadhouse, and Rowan
and I stalked the grounds looking at the murals that have been painted on all
of the buildings, and the many statues that have been erected. 
Apparently the owner has quite a few silicone masks behind the counter and likes to terrorise the children, but he was away when we were there, so we missed out. 130km from Tennant Creek and we looked at the clock. It was now approaching 1230, and we still had 510km to go to get to Glen Helen.
For the second time of four total, we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. The NT marker is much nicer than either of the two I have seen in WA with an impressive monument. We raced through Alice Springs, and refused to stop for food or fuel as we didn't want to drive in the dark. Glen Helen is supposed to have a store, and fuel...Supposed to right...doesn't it?
We got to Glen Helen
just after 6pm and saw the glorious sun set over the West MacDonnell Range,
with the last hour of the drive directly into the sun. We saw some shiny aboriginal rocks on the
side of the road (Note Karijini Day 3) but we didn't see any roos, wallabies,
cows, sheep, dingoes or bats on the drive.
Small mercies. Glen Helen is
gorgeous with the ranges steeped up behind the park, and the homestead is a
replica of the previous one which burnt down in the 80's. They do not however have a store, and their
fuel is $2.16 lt. so it is going to be expensive out here.
As we neglected to shop in Alice Springs, we have no bread or butter, so tonight's bbq dinner has been saved for tomorrow, and we thought we would get a quick meal at the homestead. They seated us in the Namitjira Gallery for dinner and handed us a 5 star menu. DOH! Dinner was delicious. Expensive but delicious.
Tomorrow we will pay their thievery price for fuel and go to Kings Canyon via the Merenie Loop dirt road. They tell us that the road is graded every couple of weeks, and if it is anything like Tanami, we should be pretty sweet to do Kings Canyon on a day trip...approx 3 hours each way.
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