Tennant Creek, with a population of 3,500 people, it lies on the Stuart Highway 510 kms North of Alice Springs and 670 kms South of Katherine. The Barkly Region, which it serves, is a huge, and sometimes forgotten, expanse of 240,000 square kms between the tropical 'Top End' and the arid 'Red Centre'. It is roughly the same size as the U.K. or New Zealand, and consists largely of open grass plains with scattered cattle stations, mines and aboriginal communities.

Lake Mary Ann is located 5km’s north of the township, just beyond the Honeymoon Ranges. It can be accessed either by road, (clearly marked off the Stuart Highway), or via the Ted Ryko Cycle track. Home to many water birds, the dam is a cool and shady spot for a picnic or a swim.

The actual ‘Tennant Creek’ was named after John Tennant. Tennant partially funded the trips of the original explorer, John McDouall Stuart who opened up the centre of Australia for the Overland Telegraph Line. Built in the traditional style of the times 1872, the repeater station was all that originally stood in this area, alongside the creek. Located 11 km’s north of town, it was from this site that men searched for gold in the hills leading to the gold rush that made the town. The Overland Telegraph Line provided Australia with essential contact with Europe and the rest of the world.

The Pebbles (Kunjarra) is just past the Telegraph Station on the left travelling north from Tennant Creek. 6kms of unsealed road leads you to the picturesque granite outcrop. It is a sacred site known to the Waramungu people, a significant women’s dancing place for the Munga Munga Dreaming. It has spectacular rock formations and ispeaceful and serene.