Tennant Creek Tourist Information
Tennant Creek Tourist Information
To the East & West of Tennant Creek, Northern Territory
Travelling east along Peko Road, there's the pyramid shaped Civic Centre with its mineral collection and art display and the Public Library. Further along is one of the most popular tourist attractions, the Gold Stamp Battery at Battery Hill, overlooking the town. This is the only operating ten head stamp battery in Australia where you can get a guided tour. The battery, an historic gold ore crushing plant, is still available for small miners to use. Other attractions on the site include a native plant walk with plaques, a mining museum, mine machinery and an underground mine tunnel.
Just past the Battery is the Bill Allen Lookout with its panoramic views, regional signage and plaques telling about eleven significant sites. Noble's Nob, twelve kilometres to the east, discovered by Weaber and Noble in 1933 was, for a time, the rishest gold mine in Australia, producing some $65 million worth of gold between 1949 and 1985. Originally an underground mine, it was converted to a high open cut after it collapsed in 1967.
Twenty five kilometres north of Tennant Creek, the Barkly Highway joins the Stuart Highway. Barkly Homestead is a modern roadhouse, 209 kilometres to the east along this road. An unusual pastime here is golf, played on a five hole course with sand greens! The Barkly Tablelands are part of rich Mitchell grassland cattle country which, about 500 million years ago, was submerged by a shallow sea. Here, birdlife abounds including bronzewings, bustards (wild turkeys) and budgerigars. Traditional Southern Cross windmills provide good photographic subjects agains the flat plains and bright blue sky.
Along the Warrego Road to the west, you'll pass a number of working gold and copper mines on the way to the mining township of Warrego. Beyond lies the Moonlight Rockhole fossicking area where visitors can fossick for gold. You'll need a permit - but then, that's the way it's always been!
