Devils Marbles

Last Wednesday, on our long drive up to Darwin, Karen and I dropped in to the Karlu Karlu (Devils Marbles) Conservation Reserve. It was much more interesting than I expected so we decided to spend the rest of the day (and the following morning) exploring and bouldering in this remarkable area. First impressions upon driving into the reserve was that it looked like a geologically interesting place but the rock appeared to be crap for climbing. Rounded granite boulders shedding exfoliation flakes like onion skins didn’t give me much confidence that we would find any worthwhile bouldering. Surprisingly I was wrong. The rock is pretty coarse (a bit coarser than Mt Buffalo) but is remarkably solid. Even the flakes were much more solid than they looked. In the end I did a bunch of really enjoyable problems, none of them were particularly difficult but all were full value (and often pretty high!). There are literally hundreds of boulders in the area. Face climbing on flake edges is pretty much what is on the menu but there are also a few excellent cracks and aretes to play on. There are a few fun short climbs as well (15m-high) but nothing to get too excited over. There is a good campground in the reserve (situated right in the middle of the boulders). A small fee is charged ($3.30 per person) but you will need to get in early as it packs out with grey nomads and their caravans. The Devils Marbles are on the Stuart Highway, 105km south of Tennant Creek.