The Devil’s Marbles – Karlu Karlu

If you drive the Stuart Highway you literally can’t miss the Devil’s Marbles since the highway cuts right through them.  When we drove south after our stay in Tennant Creek we oooh’d and ahhh’d at the sight and made plans to stop here on our way back north.  I really had my heart set on camping here for a night because the sunset hitting these rocks is supposed to be beautiful.  During peak season this campground fills by early afternoon.  Since we were there at the end of the season we didn’t have to worry about claiming a spot and shared the campground with only about ten other caravans, motorhomes, and camper trailers.  There aren’t any formal walking tracks through the marbles, you just follow the footprints of all the other people who have been there before you.  Karlu Karlu is huge, over 1800 hectares but most people (including us) only see a small portion of it.  The marbles extend out in the distance quite some way.  Ownership of the land was only given back to the traditional owners in 2008. It was immediately leased back to the government and is now jointly managed.  There are four aboriginal groups in the area, they all call this place Karlu Karlu which translates to ‘round boulders’. This lovely lizard was not afraid of us at all.  We nearly didn’t see him, he blends into the rock so, so well. This picture was an accident, taken while trying to get a closeup of that lizard.  I love it, though, the way you can see all the marbles in the background. The rocks are all different shades of red depending on how the light is hitting them.  It would be lovely to walk through here all day and see the rocks at all different hours of the day. We didn’t climb the taller piles of marbles, there are signs around asking you not to climb due to the cultural significance of the area.  Those are other tourists on the rocks in this picture, with TurboBug walking on the ground.  It’s nearly impossible not to end up on some of the rocks that offer a gradual ascent so we did end up on top of some rocks here and there. And now I bring you picture after picture of the lovely Devil’s Marbles… Of course the campground wouldn’t be complete without a little information on the rock formations and how they were formed. The sunset was gorgeous, of course. Beautiful silhouettes and gorgeous hues on the rocks. There’s our home!  Can you believe that when we are travelling we can fit all that stuff in the van?  All the camping chairs, the mat, the grill, the three tubs, the boogie boards.  Those three tubs hold beach gear and outside toys, beach towels and swimwear, and the mat and sullage hoses. That night we laid out under the stars and enjoyed the sheer number of them so visible in the night sky away from everything.  After this we are still heading north, our next stop we’ll be the furthest north that we’ve been in Australia!