In a rare turn of events I was let out of the office last week for a work related trip down to the wide open spaces of the Territory’s Barkly Tablelands region.Around 700km by road and located halfway between Darwin and Alice Springs, it’s not somewhere I’ve ever stayed long enough to explore. But despite the rough and ready isolation, the Barkly region has a very special energy about it.
If you leave Darwin early enough in the morning, you can make it down to Tennant Creek by dinner time. With few bends in the road to distract you, the most defining park of the drive is watching the vegetation transition from the scrubby trees of the north, to shrubs and eventually open grasslands. I was travelling with a work colleague who was a Tennant Creek local, so during my three days in the region, I was treated to a whistle stop tour of some of the lesser known areas around the township, while work took me to some of the regions’ expansive pastoral stations.
As well as getting out of what’s been a very smokey few weeks here in Darwin and breathing some fresh air again, it was also a great opportunity to try out my latest splurge; a 150-600mm Tamron lens. I’ve still got a bit of practice to do to get the most out of it (including building up some arm and ab muscles to help hold that beast steady!) but preliminary shots are very promising…
Unexpectedly the golden fields, bright blue skies and big horizons in the heart of the Territory turned out to be a great remedy for my cluttered and cobweb-filled mind that’s been floundering on what to do next and generally overthinking pretty much everything. Anyway, maybe all those endless horizons helped loosen a jammed up cog but I was finally able to relax into the idea that as much as I’ve had a lovely, quiet and comfortable time of things these last three years (which admittedly was only meant to be 1-2 years!), I feel like it’s finally the right time to move on to another chapter in a new location. Watch this space!
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