Barkly Airfield

Flys and dust are our life! This place is an oasis in the middle of whop whop , don’t get me wrong it’s hot and you don’t go out in the day useless your in air com and it’s winter, it’s 36degrees and no humidity, how on earth do people live here in the summer?
We were going to stay for one night but we were that impressed we stayed two , our first day consisted of realising flys where actually part of life? When I say life I mean go for dinner in what can only be described as New England black furniture, metal drop /wall lights, copper/wooden tables, heritage colour scheme, looks like someone flew in an interior designer? You then are greeted with thousands of flys trying to get into your drink, mouth , Paul’s head was a landing pad, oh then the real fun starts, the art is not to look like a complete nutcase waving your hands about, you sit there and injure millions of flys whilst acting if they don’t exist! Why? I have no idea 🤷‍♀️ Anyway we worked out maybe just maybe try eating when the suns gone down it may be a lot more comfortable? Oh and maybe they could shut the door?
The morning was welcomed by a chill in the air but didn’t last as the sun rose across the red landscape through a yellow haze and blue sky! Beautiful. Just in front of us lay 3500 solar panels socking up the sun’s energy. Barkly roadhouse is self sufficient, energy is provided by 3500 solar panels and sometimes up to 500 litres of diesel to keep travellers homes cool and comfortable and if your really lucky your get to witness a Porsche driver from QLD trying to charge his car in the middle of no where! Water is provided from a bore.

The following night we did leave it till after the sun went down and the fly situation was a lot better , not actually because we thought we were being smart but the pub had actually closed its door, half way though for some reason just as everyone was ordering food the pub opened the door and a wave of flys burst in like some sort of army manoeuvre , thankfully we were just finishing and left the army to it new civilians and went outside to sit in the uncovered area with live music and much appreciated and gorgeous warm evening after full on air con for most of the day!

The sun comes up to a slight chill highlighting the red desert, walking Billy you realise what people mean when they say how beautiful this country is, it’s so different to anything you would of seen, felt, hear or smelt from everyday life anywhere around the world 🌍 everything crunches under foot while you walk, the red dust kicks up and the smell of burnt soil from the heat of the sun is so different! Time to move on!Read more