Rabbit Flat was a roadhouse in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, in the locality of Tanami, about from the

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

border. It lies between the Tanami Mine (45 km NW) and The Granites Mine (53 km SE) on the

Tanami Road __NOTOC__ The Tanami Road, also known as the Tanami Track, Tanami Highway, and the McGuire Track, is a road in Australia that runs between the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory and the Great Northern Highway in Western Australia. It is a ...

Roadhouse

The former Rabbit Flat Roadhouse claimed to be the most isolated one in Australia, with no other roadhouse within . It was established on 14 June 1969, by Bruce Farrands and his wife Jackie, a French national. An arrangement had been agreed between the Farrands and Ansett-Pioneer Coaches to provide overnight tent accommodation for a tourist route between Alice Springs and Darwin via Wave Hill, now known as

Kalkarindji Kalkaringi (formerly Wave Hill Welfare Settlement, also spelt Kalkarindji ) is a town and locality in the Northern Territory of Australia, located on the Buntine Highway about south of the territory capital of Darwin and located about south ...

. The location was chosen because of the availability of water at the Rabbit Flat well, on the

stock route A stock route, also known as travelling stock route (TSR), is an authorised thoroughfare for the walking of domestic livestock such as sheep or cattle from one location to another in Australia. The stock routes across the country are colloquially ...

from Alice Springs to Halls Creek. By December 1969, Rabbit Flat had been selected by the

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together ...

as a weather reporting station. Over time, the roadhouse became a stop for fuel, food and souvenirs. An orchard of fruit trees grew nearby, and jams and preservatives were produced on site. An airstrip was established 800m to the south. On the morning of 6 August 1975, media interest was aroused when twin boys were born to the Farrands. Neither the surprised parents nor medical staff in Alice Springs were aware that more than one baby was expected. Mother Jackie and the babies were flown to Alice Springs hospital by the

Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...

for observation, because the boys were six weeks premature. On arrival in Alice Springs, the pilot of the RFDS aircraft was reported to have quipped that "the population of Rabbit Flat doubled last night". A documentary film about Rabbit Flat was produced by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

for its television series ''

A Big Country ''A Big Country'' (1968 - 1991) was an Australian television documentary series produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). History The series' purpose was to document life in rural Australia for the information of Australian city ...

''.

Closure of the Roadhouse

After more than 41 years of service, the Farrands decided to close the roadhouse to all services, except weather reporting and the sale of souvenirs and preserved goods. The change occurred on 31 December 2010.

Weather station

Rabbit Flat has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(''BSh'') with long, hot summers and brief mild winters. Summers can be prone to heavy rainfall, and therefore humid at times, due to the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

influence. Winters are sunny, crisp and mild, although the nights can get nippy, with a few mornings dipping below 0 °C (32 °F). The roadhouse manager maintained the weather station at Rabbit Flat, the closest other station being at Balgo, a small Aboriginal community to the west.

References

Map reference

* Westprint Heritage Maps.(2002) ''Tanami Track'': Alice Springs, The Granites, Rabbit Flat, Billiluna, Halls Creek / compiled by John Deckert; cartographic design and production by Flat Earth Mapping. 3rd ed. Scale 1:1,000,000 (E 127°20' -- E 134°00'/S 17°25' --S 24°00') Nhill, Vic. : Westprint Heritage Maps. also known as ''Westprint Heritage Maps for modern explorers''. {{Coord, 20.1833, S, 130.0167, E, format=dms, type:landmark_region:AU-NT, display=title Roadhouses in the Northern Territory Tanami Desert