Its a 660 kilometre drive from Mt Isa to Tennant Creek, and in our campervan we anticipate that to take us the best part of a day. Our kids are 12 and 10 years old, so they get restless and we do need to stop fairly frequently. A common misconception with campervan travel is that you can walk around and stretch whilst en route- this is not actually legal, as everyone has to be strapped in whilst driving, so stopping for a break and a stretch is essential.
This drive continues along the Overlanders Highway, which was the original route that cattle drovers took their herds along into the Northern Territory. It is an uneventful drive, with hardly any where to stop, so make sure you take plenty of sustenance for the journey! The scenery is so typical of the outback, dry and arid with a stark beauty to it. However, the novelty of being so far from anywhere soon wears off, and we were glad to reach our destination! The heat is immense, so thank goodness the air conditioning held out.
Tennant Creek is a town of 3500 people, set in the immense Barkly Region which consists of wide open spaces with scattered cattle stations, Aboriginal communities and mines around it. We had booked our motorhome into the Tennant Creek Caravan Park, which had everything we wanted and more for a good nights recovery from our drive. The friendly staff were able to point us in the right direction as far as tourist attractions were concerned, and the shops in town were just a short walk away.
We decided to spend three days in Tennant Creek, as one day would involve an hours drive south of town to the Devil's Marbles, an intriguing and bizarre rock formation that had been recommended to us by a few people. Naturally formed round boulders sit atop one another here, making it seem as if they are floating above the earth when viewed from a distance. They are situated on a sacred aboriginal site that many consider to be one of the oldest traditional sites in the world. There are campsites if you wish to stay longer, but after a picnic and a walk around we felt we had seen everything we needed to, so didnt stay on.
In Tennant Creek the main tourist attraction is the Battery Hill Mining Centre, where you can experience how life was in the gold rush there in the 1930's. There is a museum there, and you can take an underground mine tour and see the big machinery in action. You can even pan for your own gold, and keep anything you find!
Our son Derek is mad keen on fishing, so we had to make a day of fishing, swimming and canoeing on Lake Mary Ann, which is situated just a short drive out of town. Its a pretty dam and a refreshing way to spend a day despite the hot sun.
Now its time to move on, the friendly town of Tennant Creek has served us well! Newcastle Waters here we come...

Restrictions - Some campervan companies have restrictions on where you can take your camper, and sometimes you cannot take it off sealed roads. Check on this beforehand.

Equipment - Find out what camping and cooking equipment is included and what isnt. This is important on long journeys.

Type of Campervan - Make sure its able to do what you want to do, i.e. is it four wheel drive, does it have a snorkell to cross deep rivers. Is it new and reliable? You do not want to break down in the middle of nowhere!

Fuel Prices - Remember fuel gets more expensive the more remote you are, so don't budget on the fuel prices in the city.

Water - Take a good supply of water with you. Dehydration is a dangerous thing, and car engines are prone to overheating in the hot sun. You don't want to run out of water.

Our next leg is just a three hour drive up the Stuart highway, to the historic cattle station that is Newcastle Waters. We are only spending a night here, as we did not want to go the whole stretch to Katherine in one drive. We booked into the Elliot Caravan Park, in the town of Elliot about 23 kilometres south of Newcastle Waters. Elliot is a small, largely Aboriginal town, with not much to see except the beautiful gardens outside the council building. Arriving here we feel very detached from life as we know it in Australia! Everything in the outback is a far cry from our suburban life in Brisbane.
Its an uneventful night at the camping ground in Elliot, and in the morning we head off to Newcastle Waters to see what its all about. The town itself is virtually uninhabited, its glory days of being a central point for drovers long over. There are some heritage-status buildings, although they are not much to look at, and the bronze 'Drover's Statue' is probably the highlight of this town.
However, a short distance away is the immensely large Newcastle Waters Cattle Station, home to 45000 head of cattle! Of course it would be impossible to see even a small portion of the 10 000 square kilometre property, so we had to settle with a small drive around the homestead, taking in some of the herds of cattle and watching the jackeroos and jillaroos at work on their horses. It was a dusty experience, but the campervan held out the dust pretty well and the inside remained relatively intact.
Travelling in these more remote regions of the Northern Territory requires a lot of planning. Remember there are very few other people around, so you need to prepare for any eventuality and be well stocked with fuel and supplies. Try to keep your distances between stopovers relatively short, as your vehicle will cope much better with this in the heat. A well planned trip will allow you to enjoy the drive more, and although the scenery can be a bit monotonous you will be able to appreciate the sights of the outback more if you are not worried about the drive.
So our next stretch is an easy four hours to Katherine. After a picnic lunch at Newcastle Waters we struck out, very excited about getting closer to the tropical top of the Northern Terrirory!