10th August - Halls Creek - 47kms today, 5379kms to date

Giant termite mound near our camp

This is our cosy little campsite just off the Tanami about 47kms from Halls Creek.  Colin spotted the termite mound whilst looking for some wild flowers!!! We didn’t have to rush today as we only have 47 kms to Halls Creek. Dawn was early at 6.30 am so we crawled out of our sleeping bags about 6am, had breakfast and headed off around 8.30am. The road was pretty good for the first 30kms and then they decided to throw in a bit of soft corrugated rubbish just as we were about to reach the Great Northern Highway. Both Colin and I opened the throttle and flew over the rubbish at a vast rate of knots.

We arrived in Halls Creek about 9.30am and took this photo outside the tourist information office (just to prove we are here).

The motel allowed us to book in early which was great as we hadn’t showered for four days and were beginning to get on the nose. After washing away all the dust from our weary bones we headed to the local IGA and stocked up with food. We also managed to wash our rancid clothes so we started to look like human beings again. After a few cold beers and reorganising our gear we had dinner at Russian Jacks, the restaurant attached to the motel. The meal was very good if a bit expensive. I had bruschetta and beef lasagne and Colin had garlic bread and lamb shanks all washed down with a bottle of chateau Gramps.
The motel is owned by an Irish couple who employ quite a few backpackers from Ireland, France and Perth.
We feel we have achieved something riding the Tanami Track.  It was 1,100 kms of very variable dirt road, easy for a car driver but always challenging for a motorcycle riders, especially rank amateurs like us. It made us take risks we normally don’t take and to learn to trust our motorcycles to get us through, even on the worst sections of the road.  It should stand us in good stead for the Gibb River Road, which is the next challenge.