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Barkly Region, NT.
The Barkly Region, stretching from about the Stuart Highway north of Tennant Springs east to the Queensland border, covers most of the north-eastern corner of the Northern Territory. This large area includes the Mitchell Grasslands, used for pasturing cattle, as well as other types of terrain. The area was discovered by William Landsborough while exploring the western part of Queensland, and named the Barkly Tableland after Sir Henry Barkly (Governor of Victoria) in 1861.

The observant traveller will notice substantial changes in the terrain as the kilometres roll by.

   # The band of Mitchell Grassland from Camooweal in Queensland to Elliott is flat, open and used for grazing cattle.

# In the south-west corner centred on Tennant Creek and extending north beyond ThreeWays to Lake Woods and east to Soudan, the Davenport Murchison Ranges are made up of ridges and hills including areas of sand plains and rocky outcrops. The Stuart Highway crosses the Davenport Range near the Devils Marbles. This zone is vegetated by low open eucalyptus woodlands and sparse acacia shrublands and is mostly unsuitable for pastoral activity. Mining has occurred in the ranges, mostly for gold. There are known deposits of gold, copper, silver, cobalt and bismuth.

# North of the ridges and hills of the Davenport Murchison (from about Elliott) the Sturt Plateau stretches north to Mataranka. This plateau is a flat to gently undulating plain sloping gently from 260 metres elevation in the south to 180 metres in the north. The main vegetation communities are eucalypt forests and woodlands (mainly dominated by bloodwoods) and tall shrublands and woodlands with open-grassland understorey.

# Towards the Gulf of Carpentaria from the Mitchell Grasslands lies a more heavily timbered zone of eucalypt woodlands with grass understorey. This area is known for spectacular gorges where dissected sandstone plateaux have created dramatic formations with deeply cut valleys often containing rainforest remnants. The highest of the steep sided gorges is the China Wall, raised 200 metres above the Nicholson River and best viewed from an aircraft. This coastal zone is used mainly for cattle grazing but there is also the McArthur River lead and zinc mine near Borroloola.
Mitchell Grassland
Windmills are often seen along the road pumping water for stock from underground aquifers. This one is 116 km west of the Barkly Roadhouse on the Barkly Highway.
The Barkly Region lies near the southern limit of the monsoonal weather region and receives most of its rain from December to February; but the amount of rain reduces towards the south and east of the region. Tindal (near Katherine) receives 1111 millimetres a year, while Camooweal (just across the Queensland border) records an annual average of 395 millimetres, and Tennant Creek records 463 millimetres a year.

Newcastle Waters marks a more visible boundary recorded on roadside signage; this is the transition between the Top End tropics with dense woodlands lining the road and the desert landscape of the Red Centre with low scrub and tussock grassland the usual ground cover.

The Barkly Region incorporates three drainage basins. Rivers on the northern side flow into the Gulf of Carpentaria. The western portion (the Davenport Murchison Ranges and Sturt Plateau) is characterised by emphemeral streams flowing after rain into the surrounding flatlands then drying up. The south east part, in the Lake Eyre Basin, is drained by the Georgina River and its tributaries flowing to the south.

The region is traversed by few sealed roads and has few townships or villages. The Stuart Highway running north-south between Adelaide and Darwin passes through Tennant Creek, Elliott, and Newcastle Waters. The Barkly Highway crosses east to west, entering the Northern Territory a few kilometres from Camooweal in Queensland and meeting the Stuart Highway at ThreeWays Junction just north of Tennant Creek. An interesting alternative for travellers from Queensland to Katherine is via the Tablelands and Carpentaria Highways. The Tablelands Highway leaves the Barkly Highway at the Barkly Roadhouse and heads north across pastoral leases to Cape Crawford (despite the name, this village is not near the coast) where it meets the Carpentaria Highway between Daly Waters on the Stuart Highway and Borroloola on the McArthur River. The road is sealed all the way but the surface is mostly narrow and has deteriorated in some sections and needs to be negotiated slowly. Although named as a "highway" the Tablelands Highway is much closer to a pastoral service road making its way through grazing land. Many kilometres are not fenced and red kangaroos and cattle cross the bitumen with no regard for vehicles.
Barkly Region - page 2
Mitchell Grassland
Mitchell Grassland
Cattle
Cattle making their way to water
Red Kangaroos
A couple of red kangaroos observing intruders
Cattle grazing is the principal economic activity for the Barkly Region, particularly on the Mitchell Grassland where the grass is suitable for pasture and water can be pumped up from bores. Mineral extraction is economically significant but less obvious. Peko Rehabilitation is reprocessing 3.9 million tonnes of tailings from a mine near Tennant Creek and expects to recover gold, copper, magnesite, and other minerals in 6 to 7 years of operation after 2006. A manganese mine at Bootu Creek 110 kilometres north of Tennant Creek has recently begun working sending ore by train to Darwin for export by sea. The McArthur River underground mine extracts lead and zinc but its future is in doubt over Northern Territory government's refusal to approve expansion plans.

The traveller across the Barkly Region entering from Queensland is confronted by the Mitchell Grasslands where the grass on the black-soil plains extends to the horizon with very few trees in sight.
Barkly Region - page 3
There is a theory that wide cracks developing in the black-grey soil during the dry season rip apart the roots of most plants ensuring that only grasses with mainly vertical roots can survive. Whatever the reason, the lack of trees over large parts of the grassland is obvious. The Mitchell Grassland extends along a broad band from Barcaldine in Queensland to Elliott in the Northern Territory and the Barkly Highway in the Territory crosses it from the Queensland border for about 120 kilometres. For this distance the road also crosses occasional streams flowing south when there is rain; these are tributaries of the Georgina River and part of the Lake Eyre Basin. The last stream crossed is the Ranken River (at 20°03'S 137°01'E) near Soudan Station. Then the Barkly Highway enters the hillier and more vegetated Davenport Murchison Ranges area with no streams. The traveller reaches the Barkly Roadhouse 250 kilometres from Queensland; unless considerable additional fuel is being carried most travellers will stop at the Barkly Roadhouse which can get very busy. Distances between petrol or diesel supplies on the Barkly Highway are considerable and fuel planning is essential; a sign beside the road near this roadhouse reminds travellers to be aware of increased fuel consumption caused by head winds.

MItchell Grassland
Holly grevillea, or Wickham's grevillea, seen growing along the Barkly and Stuart Highways; often associated with dry grass areas. The two metre tall trees look pink from a distance.
The highway from the Barkly Roadhouse to ThreeWays Roadhouse on the Stuart Highway continues through the Davenport Murchison Ranges area on slightly hilly terrain with a gradual increase in elevation (Barkly Roadhouse is 225 metres above sea level, ThreeWays Roadhouse is at 331 metres elevation). The vegetation is open scrubland. Turning left (south) from ThreeWays will take the traveller to Tennant Creek and the Devil's Marbles; turning right (north) leads along the Stuart Highway to Katherine and eventually to Darwin. North of ThreeWays the highway runs along a series of low mountain ranges (including the Ashburton Range) with a variety of terrain dominated by low scrub visible from the road. The road is neither flat nor straight while passing through these hills, but the surface is good. This is an area of ephemeral streams which exist only after rain and fade away after a few kilometres as the water is absorbed into the ground. Renner Springs roadhouse and the township of Elliott are passed before Newcastle Waters where the township is part of Newcastle Waters Station established in 1884. Elliott was established during the Second World War and has seen better days; in 1949 the decision was taken to run down Katherine in favour of Elliott as the regional centre but the residents of Katherine successfully campaigned to have the decision reversed and Katherine grew while Elliott declined.

Todd memorial
The Todd memorial near the place where the Overland Telegraph northern and southern sections were joined.
The Newcastle Waters/Elliott area is characterised by transition. The George Redmond causeway (17°16'S Latitude) on the highway over Newcastle Creek a few kilometres north of Newcastle Waters is described as the boundary between the dense lancewood and bullwaddy forest to the north and the open, near-desert terrain to the south. Elliott, a few kilometres away is at the end of the Mitchell Grassland stretching eastward into Queensland, while to the west lies the Tanami Desert. The traveller rest area on the Stuart Highway (17°23'S 133°26'E) displays aerial photographs showing these boundaries; Mitchell Grassland is visible from this rest area. Newcastle Creek flows into Lake Woods, a shallow depression south of Elliott, where water stays until it evaporates.

From Newcastle Waters the Stuart Highway crosses the Sturt Plateau; trees grow thickly with considerable undergrowth, but most trees are no taller than five or six metres. The road is fairly flat. The highway passes an obelisk beside the road marking the point where the northern and southern sections of the Overland Telegraph were joined on 22 August 1872 establishing telegraphic communications between London and Adelaide. As the traveller continues north there is a steady, but very gradual, change in the vegetation as undergrowth thins out and trees become larger so that north of Daly Waters, when leaving the Barkly region, the road is at the southern margin of the open woodland dominating the Top End.



10 May 2007
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