When the rain comes the Sturts Desert Pea blooms in the desert

Tanami (including Yuendumu and Rabbit Flat)
Tiny settlement in the middle of the harsh Tanami Desert.
For those who want something a little tougher than the monotony of the Stuart Highway from Alice Springs to Daly Waters the dirt road via Tanami should appeal.

Tanami lies 634 km northwest of Alice Springs on a dirt road and, consequently, is only to be visited by enthusiastic explorers who have a reliable vehicle and plenty of water. The journey across the desert is broken only by a petrol stop at Yuendumu 290 km north of Alice Springs and a stop at Rabbit Flat which has achieved a level of fame as the location of the most isolated pub in Australia.

It says something for the isolation of the area that it really wasn't explored until the twentieth century. It was, in a very real sense, the last frontier in the Northern Territory.

In 1900 Alan Davidson found gold in the area and a small mining town was established which, by 1908, had a population of over 200 fossickers. The conditions were so harsh, and the local Aborigines so unfriendly, that if a miner didn't die from thirst or heat exhaustion he was likely to be killed by an unfriendly spear. This was a poor consolation for the effort as the area had only poor quality gold quartz.

In 1932 more gold was found at The Granites (94 km to the south) but again the problem of water was overwhelming.

One man, C. H. Chapman, made his fortune from the area. He brought in bore equipment, found supplies of underground water, bought out the mining leases, established his own gold battery, and made a vast amount of money before selling out in the early 1950s.

Things to see:  

Tanami Desert Wildlife Sanctuary
Today Tanami, which has no services whatsoever, is the centre of the Tanami Desert Wildlife Sanctuary. The area of 3 752 900 hectares known as the Tanami Desert Area was the subject of a successful landrights claim in the early 1980s and is now owned by the local Aborigines. The Tanami Desert Area is an area of interest to scientists. It contains a number of rare species and a rich variety of unusual flora. There is no public access without a permit which has to be obtained from the Central Land Council before entering the area.