The Duncan Road: quiet country between the rivers

The Duncan Road was a substantial stretch of remote country between Halls Creek and the Victoria Highway. We left with the fuel stops a long way apart and soon found that traffic was too.

At some of our breaks there was almost no sound: hardly a breath of wind, no bird calls and very little passing on the road. On one day we saw just one other vehicle. Where the track reached water, the change was immediate. There was movement, colour and birdlife again.

Brightly painted car bonnets marked points of interest closer to Halls Creek. Farther on, the road narrowed into a rutted track in places, with cattle appearing regularly enough to keep us attentive. This was very clearly station country.

Camping beside the Ord River was a highlight. The broad, flat slabs of rock made a wonderfully firm place to stop, with the river close enough to give the evening its shape. At the Negri River, we watched little freshwater crocodiles in the pool. Purple mulla mulla flowers lined long stretches of the journey between those water stops.

Crossing into the Northern Territory felt like the end of a chapter. The first proper shower in a week was welcome, and so were the evening reflections near the Victoria River. Trees wedged against a bridge railing offered one last reminder of how much water moves through this country when the season changes.