Thursday 5th August - Cattlewater Pass to Murray Downs Road

Rather than take the Stuart Highway from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek like sensible people, we're going cross country following the Binns Track for much of the way.  This trail links up existing gravel roads and tracks to cross from the border with South Australia up to Timber Creek, almost exclusively off the bitumen.

There's not much to say today other than we completed 300km, with about another 100km to go before we reach Davenport National Park, after which we'll pop out onto the Stuart Highway a few kilometres north of the Devil's Marbles.  Needless to say we'll pay them a visit before refuelling at Tennant Creek for the long drive up the highway towards Darwin.

The only point of interest on our route was the Boxhole Meteorite Crater, which we reached mid-morning.  At least we could have done had it not been on private land with no access.  Never mind, at least it reminded us that we'd forgotten to put Gosse Bluff in the blog (located at the end of the West MacDonnell Range).  The result of a comet impact 140 million years ago, all that remains today is the 5km diameter impact cone with near vertical rock layers which were compressed and rebounded in the blast.

The 25km diameter crater that would have surrounded the impact has been eroded away over the intervening years.  Australia is well endowed with meteorite and comet craters, lucky country (although not so lucky for the wildlife around at the time of impact...). SPOT