DESERT OAKS - MARLA (19 SEPTEMBER 2013)

It was going to be interesting to see Marla again after over 20 years since my last visit.  During my time as the commander of the Police Airwing I flew to the town on a couple of occasions.  I did wonder how good my memory would be.

 

True to our usual form we pulled out of Erldunda early in the morning and again headed south on the Stuart Highway. 
 

 

 

Goodness me, we are almost home!

 

Kulgera, the last town in the Northern Territory on this highway, was the alternative overnight stop we had considered when finally opting for Erldunda.  Friends at Kurrimine Beach had stayed there and recommended it.  We shall see.

 

 

I read once that the Stuart Highway is one of the most boring roads in Australia.  Whilst I do not agree entirely with that description in that some stretches have taken us through some wonderful scenery, there are sections where the horizon does look an interminable distance away with very little change en route.

  

But then there are always those moments where one's attention is sharply focused, even if only for a few moments.  Strangely enough, this monster did not even have a wide load escort.  We headed for the dirt rather than have the edge of the dozer blade take out the right side of the van!

  

Low hills heralded our approach to into Kulgera,

which can hardly be called an outback metropolis.  The roadhouse and associated caravan park certainly looked adequate enough, but the barren expanses of the park were not a patch on that which we had enjoyed at Desert Oaks.  We drove on through Kulgera feeling smug!

 

I have no idea what it is about a state border, but the approach to one always seems to invoke a strange sense of achievement.  I can find no logical reason for this, particularly if it is not a destination in itself, but I have to say I have yet to cross one of these invisible boundaries devoid of any sensation. 

 

Craggy ancient red hills became a feature of the landscape as we approached the NT/SA border,

 

and, almost suddenly, there we were.

Thank you for the greeting.  Marla is but 150 kms away....a mere doddle on this calm, sunny morning.

 

The township of Marla, which was originally known as Marla bore (for a very good reason) is on the eastern edge of the vast Pitjantatjara aboriginal lands which stretch away to the borders of both NT and WA.  I mentioned before that I had overflown this area many years ago.  The Musgrave Range lies to the north-west of Marla, and this area is stunningly beautiful.  I was looking forward to seeing it again.  To my disappointment, we had but a glimpse....the eastern escarpment of a part of the range which is all that can be seen from the highway.

  

The Marla Roadhouse, motel and caravan park is impressive, in size if nothing else.  Apart from the facilities to cater for the weary, hungry or thirsty traveller, a surprisingly well stocked mini supermarket is also housed in the building.

 

We did later try the offerings at the bar, but found the atmosphere, some of the local clientele and the general décor less than inviting.  One beer was our limit.  This was in complete contrast to Glendambo where we spent a night, but more of that later.

Our ambivalence about the watering hole was tempered by our site.  Again we had grass and shade (and plenty of elbow room) and in this part of the world and in these temperatures, these are paramount considerations.

Once we had settled, we toddled off on my mission to see if my recollections of the Marla Police Station and the township itself were accurate.  By and large they were, particularly in that I remembered how barren and dry everything seemed to be.


 

When I was last here, there were at least a dozen police stationed at Marla, tasked amongst other things with policing 'the Pit lands'.  Since then, stand alone stations have been built in the lands towns like Amata and police numbers in Marla have been drastically reduced.  This has meant that there are a number of vacant 'police houses'.


   

I actually ran into one of the young local officers at the servo and was interested to learn that we could have probably use oned of these for our overnight stay.  We decided it was much easier to remain self contained and where we were, but we did tuck this information away for next time.




This typical Marla streetscape clearly shows that this is a decidedly 'outback' town













but there are to odd patches of green (of sorts) such as at the local oval.  Scrappy as this looked it is significantly more inviting than the bare earth arenas of many of the townships in this neck of the woods.






So much for Marla.  It was fascinating to revisit after all these years, but we were on the road ....next stop, Coober Pedy.