Our first stop of the day was Alice Springs Desert Park, which is a sort of educational botanical garden. As we were buying tickets, the guy at the front desk told us that if we hurried to the amphitheater, we’d make it for the bird show. So we did just that, and were let in right as they were closing the gates. It was just us and a large class of local boys on a field trip.

The ranger fed various hawks and an owl. I tried to pay attention rather than focusing on her intense neck tattoo. I am so curious why anyone would choose to tattoo a gigantic spider on their jugular.

Our favorite bird was this one. She demonstrated how it picks up rocks and uses them to crack open emu eggs. So cool.

After this we got recruited by another ranger to come to her demonstration on how local aboriginal people survived in the desert for so long. We ran around seeing some animals and plants before needing to make it to the talk. Our favorite stop was the nocturnal building, which housed a bunch of nocturnal reptiles. I had no idea a bandicoot was a read thing and not just a video game.

The flies were just as bad as they had been at Uluru. So annoying that we set aside our pride and wore our silly masks even though no one else seemed bothered.

When we arrived at the talk about aboriginal practices, we were the only ones there. I had given Millie a heads up on what it was going to be about and she was ready to learn. The ranger started with a land acknowledgment and told us that she was part of the local tribe. About 5 minutes into her talk, Millie loudly whispered “when is this lady going to start talking about native stuff?” It was embarrassing in the moment but Nick and I couldn’t stop laughing about it afterwards.

It was a very interesting talk and she taught us about all the local food and hunting practices. On our way out we told her we were planning to drive up to Tennant Creek. She warned us of flooding on the roads and recommended we check online that nothing was closed. We checked and everything seemed fine.

We set off on the 5 hour drive towards Tennant Creek. Millie assumed her position: headphones on, snack in hand. Note the hummus in the center console.

The excitement of today’s drive was termite mounds and water in the road. Nothing was impassible but it was certainly very flooded. The Northern Territories have had record breaking rain in the last two weeks, with no signs of it letting up.

We finished Songlines and started our third audiobook of the Outback: Lincoln in the Bardo. We made it about 25 minutes before deciding to turn it off. I know I’ll love this book, but the format didn’t lend itself to audio. We kept getting lost by all the different voice actors and quotes.

We have noticed that when another car approaches and then passes us on the highway, they always wave. Nick immediately adopted this and has started initiating the waves. Today someone didn’t wave back and he shrugged and said “huh, they must not be from around here”. A local after 5 days.

After 4 hours of driving, we stopped at Devil’s Marbles. Just like Uluru, these are a surprising geologic anomaly among endless flat. We walked around them and it was a perfect stop to have a snack and stretch our legs. The flies continued to do their namesake thing.

An hour later we arrived in Tennant Creek and checked into the caravan park. Tennant Creek feels run down and tiny. I asked for a food recommendation and there were only two options: “Chinese or Memo”. I replied “memo?” and he clarified using the full government name “Tennant Creek Memorial Club” … so that’s where we went.

It was part casino, part community center, part VFW, part pub, and part restaurant. We had to show IDs to get in. Very strange place but the food was pretty good.

My new thing is drawing intricate mazes that she has to solve.

We drove back in rain, and it has continued to pour on our little mobile home in the caravan park. It doesn’t bode well for the floods tomorrow, and I really hope we can continue onwards instead of getting stuck in the literal middle of nowhere.