Day 16: Camooweal to Barkly Homestead

Today we continue along the Barkly Highway, into the NT to Barkly Homestead Roadhouse, the only place where there is any facilities at all along this route. The drive is around 260 km of flat and mostly straight road.





14 km out of Camooweal, we cross the NT border (it seems everyone stops for photo)

It is then back to familiar scenery, flat plains of the Barkly tableland, covered in Mitchell Grass, later on some scrubby trees appeared. Great grazing country.


Arrival at Barkly Homestead Roadhouse came as a big surprise. It is a very large nice place, with a caravan park behind it and a restaurant.


Us re fueling before moving into the caravan park for the night

I am reasonably happy with` our fuel consumption to-date. Travelling at 90-95 km/hr, we are averaging 16.9 litres/ 100 km. Fuel prices are all over the place, so we check the apps to see where the cheapest fuel is along our travel path. Here it is $2.67/ litre as there is no other option for a long way either side of this roadhouse.


Entrance to the caravan park


All settled in it was time for lunch.



It is quite a bit cooler today, with temperatures in the low 20's and a SW wind with a bit of bite to it. When we woke this morning in Camooweal it was 3 C, so the diesel heater was on in an instant. As the afternoon progresses, it is quite pleasant in the sun, but you soon feel the cold in the shade.

In any case we decide to go for a walk around the park to check out the facilities, whilst a steady stream of arrivals continue. This is probably the busiest park we have been in.

The grounds are well kept and there are a lot of trees which would be an absolute necessity in summer.


There is also a bit of artwork on display in the grounds, and a lot more in the roadhouse, which has an extensive tourist offering of merchandise, some aboriginal art, local handicrafts and souvenirs.


Indoor display in a small gallery section






One of the metal sculptures on display outside

As well as the retail offering, the roadhouse has a huge restaurant, with both indoor and outdoor dining. We intend to try it out tonight.


A small part of the indoor dining area and bar

The restaurant was very popular with both campers, truckies and a few working in the area that seemed almost like locals. As usual, the staff were all backpackers, thank goodness we have them.













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