Karlu Karlu or Devil's Marbles

A great stop on the highway between Darwin and Alice Springs, is the spectacular Devil's Marbles reserve dominating the landscape near Wauchope.

Karlu Karlu is the local Aboriginal term for both the rock features and the surrounding area which is sacred. The Aboriginal term translates as "round boulders". The English name for the boulders derives from a quote by John Ross during the 1870 Australian Overland Telegraph Line expedition, where he said "This is the Devil’s country; he’s even emptied his bag of marbles around the place!"

We arrived to camp in the heat of the late afternoon. Red dirt walks wound through glowing, green spinifex past the smooth shapes of dozens of granite boulders.

As the sun sets, the boulders turn gold and the crested pigeons prepare for the night.

The first stars appear in a clear sky where the Milky Way soars in a stunning arc of lights. The dim outlines of the boulders in the viewfinder seem like primordial potatoes!

Dawn sees the boulders clothed in magic pink colours when the birds call in the fresh scent of the desert air.

Walking around the boulders, there are spherical, square, stacked and many other shapes, some boulders split down the middle due to temperature differences between day and night.

Definitely, this is an Outback icon.






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Devil's Marbles, Northern Territory