Sat 30 Jul 2011 Batchelor to Darwin

0945 (7110 km) Packed up and left for Litchfield National Park.
1010 (7145 km) Termite Mounds. We looked at two types - Magnetic and Cathedral. The Magnetic Termites build mounds that "face" the sun and wind and as such it appears they are magnetically aligned. The Cathedral mounds look like cathedrals with fins that radiate from the centre.
1120 (7156 km) Quick look at Florence Falls.
1140 (7160 km) Quick look at Buley Rockholes.
1210 (7189 km) Lunch of Indomie at Wangi Falls. Had a good swim at the plunge pool. There were lots of fish around. Swam across to the waterfall and found there was a "spa pool" naturally carved into the rocks. Then lost the goggles. The kids put on masks and searched the bottom of the plunge pool and found it! MK dived in and retrieved it.
1445 (7189 km) Left Wangi Falls and drove towards Cascades. There was a 1.3 km walk and so we decided to give it a miss as it was too hot to walk that far.


Florence Falls



1530 (7231 km) Went back to Florence Falls for another swim. Lots of people there. Ron swam across the pool to rocks on the other side and someone started shouting. There was a snake right next to where he was sitting. Like lightning, Ron jumped off the rocks. Whew! Close call. There was a lot of fish around, fairly big too. Swam to under the falls.

1650 (7231 km) Left Florence Falls.

1730 (7277 km) Pick up camper trailer at Batchelor Resort Caravillage.

1845 (7356 km) Arrived at Howard Springs Caravan Park, just south of Darwin. Site 128 and Cabin 13. Dinner of pasta.

Fri 29 Jul 2011 Katherine to Batchelor

0945 (6825) Shopping at Katherine.
1000 (6828) Filled up.
1100 (6891) Arrived at Edith Falls, which is part of Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park. Magnificent pool. We brought in flippers, body board, wet suit and braved the cold water. Once you get in, it is fine. We hung onto the body boards and paddled to the falls (about 150m away) and back. It was great fun, highly recommended. Had lunch on the grassy banks when suddenly something slithered across the path. A black snake!  It disappeared into the grass. Later saw a yellow snake slither across the grass, near where we were sitting. Later worked out that it was a water python. Also saw the green tree ant and their habitat. The ant had a green bottom. Really green. The habitat was up in the trees and looked like a clump of leaves. They were everywhere.
1345 (6891) Left Edith Falls.
1600 (7109) Batchelor. Checked in to Batchelor Caravillage. Site 28 and Cabin 10.
1650 (7109) Played 18 hole mini golf. Saw bird feeding. Apart from the bird seeds, they were being fed porridge and cheese. BBQ dinner.

Thu 28 Jul 2011 Mataranka to Katherine

0900 (6656 km) Breakfast of toast and packed up.
0930 (6656 km) Barramundi feeding show at the place we were staying at (Territory Manor). The fish were bigger than I expected! Huge! And they ate with a "boof" sound. MJ went into the water to feed the fish. Brave boy. Fortunately he still has all his fingers.
1030 (6658 km) Filled up. Go to Katherine.
1145 (6769 km) Katherine. Site 374. Checked in and ate lunch. The others had arrived the day before in Cabin 392.
1215 (6769 km) Go to Katherine Gorge.

1245 (6797 km) Katherine Gorge. Bats! Bats hanging on the trees. Must have been thousands. Went on the two gorge cruise. There was an incredibly large rock art halfway up a cliff. Apparently, the art was painted when they were more rocks around the base. The rocks have moved and so the art is left halfway up the cliff. Katherine Canyon had 2 sheer cliffs on either side and looks magnificent. Passed some 'raining rocks'. They were part of the cliff where water seeps in form the marshy area on top and then starts dripping where it overhangs the river. Lots of people were kayaking around and swimming. Saw a baby fresh water crocodile on a log - he was quite well camouflaged. Very cute. Learnt the words "logadile" and "rockadile".

Freshwater crocodile

1530 (6797 km) Left Katherine Gorge.

1600 (6825 km) Set up camper trailer. MK did his Maths Olympiad. Kids had a swim in the cold pool. Cooked Fajitas on the BBQ and ate by the pool. How civilised.

Wed 27 Jul 2011 Tennant Creek to Mataranka

0915 (6059 km) Breakfast of toast. Left Tennant Creek. Filled up.
1200 (6315 km) Elliot.
1345 (6470 km) Daly Waters. Lunch of sandwiches and rolls. Had a look at the pub. It had collections of memorabilia such as caps, t-shirts, underwear, bras and other personal items. The collections were contributed by visitors.
1445 (6480 km) Filled up.
1630 (6650 km) Mataranka. Site 32. Quickly set up and got changed for swim.
1700 (6654 km) Bitter Springs. It was nice and warm - a constant 34 deg. The water was very clear and we went in with snorkel, goggles, flippers and surf boards. Tied our footwear to the boards and drifted down the creek. Saw fish and a long-necked turtle-just like Tickles! Walked back on the track and floated down the creek again! The water was warmer than the air.
1850 (6656 km) Dinner of spaghetti bolognaise.

Tue 26 Jul 2011 Alice Springs to Tennant Creek

0815 (5517 km) Phone call to say that our camper trailer was ready to be picked up in half an hour. Hurray!

0920 (5517 km) Quick last minute grocery shopping.
0950 (5525 km) Filled up.
1020 (5526 km) Pick up camper trailer. Like new.
1030 (5534 km) Pack up - loads to pack as we had unloaded everything from the trailer when we sent it for repairs.
1200 (5534 km) Left Alice Springs. Crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, latitude of 22.5 degrees South. This is the line where the sun is directly overhead in the Australian Summer Solstice.
1315 (5620 km) Noticed camper trailer white light cover was missing. Not going back to look for it. Took some photos at Aileron with the giant man with spear and giant woman and child.


At Devil's Marbles - how strong are we?



1700 (5951 km) Devil's Marbles. It really does look like someone huge has been playing huge marbles and just left them around. There is a nice little walk around a bunch of marbles. There was a very interesting 'marble' that had split in half. Two hemispheres. Naturally we all went between the hemispheres for photos. There were also frogs buried in the creek bed, we didn't see any. Some of the marbles seem to be balanced precariously. It looks as if all you need is a little push from a little finger and it would roll down.

1830 (6058 km) Tennant Creek. Site 27. Had dinner of leftover Shepard's Pie, sausages, puff pastry and tandoori chicken.

Mon 25 Jul 2011 Alice Springs

A favourite past time at this caravan park.

0900 (5448 km) MK had Skype session with his class 5/6G. He was told the class were going to work doing an inquiry unit on running businesses and they will be working with "Poppy Dollars" this term.

0915 (5448 km) Mum, Dad, SL and Ron left.

1130 (5448 km) Lunch of Roly Poly.

1245 (5457 km) Visited Alice Springs School of the Air (ASSOA). The classroom covers 1.3 million sq km, huge. In the past they used radio. Now, they use the Internet with satellite to connect to the outlying places. They are using a custom application where the kids and teachers can interact, written by some people in Darwin. Looks amazing - they showed a recording of a class and it showed how the teacher can change from a camera showing how to work through maths problem on a piece of paper and then changing to his face to talk to the kids. When the students enrol, they are given thousands of dollars of equipment to set up - computer, satellite dish, etc. Workbooks and library books are still sent via mail every fortnight. The children come together a few times a year to have face-to-face catch ups.

1400 (5457 km) Left School of the Air.

1430 (5465 km) Caravan park. Played pool again and cooked dinner and prepared for an evening outing.

1720 (5465 km) Left for Simpson's Gap.

1745 (5492 km) Simpson's Gap. Had dinner of fried rice while sitting at the gap looking at the rocks. As we finished dinner, the black footed rock wallabies started scampering down the rocks. As it got darker, they were right at the water's edge with us. They were just metres away. One even had a small cute joey peering out of her pouch! That was a fantastic night out. It was really good to see the wallabies up close.

1900 (5492 km) Left Simpson's Gap.

1920 (5517 km) Caravan park.

Sun 24 Jul 2011 Alice Springs



There were 5 on the branch, and then a little one flew away



0830 (5404 km) Pancake Breakfast at MacDonnell Range Holiday Park! Mmmmm. . .

1030 (5411 km) Went to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. with MK & MJ. MH went exploring with the rest. walked through Todd Mall Market.

1330 (5419 km) Went to Alice Springs Desert Park. Attended a talk by an Aboriginal ranger on how to find water in the desert. Bird show was amazing - how do they train those birds?? The park was arranged into different zones - woodland, sand dunes etc. Very informative - well signed and we also each had an audio guide. Nocturnal house had lots of snakes, lizards, nocturnal mammals, thorny devil. Kangaroos. Lots of different birds in various enclosures.

1815 (5448 km) Back at caravan park for Shepard's Pie for dinner. Kids played pool while the women cooked. Packed and sorted food and belongings as the rest was going to move on the next day while we waited for the camper trailer. Will probably meet up again in Katherine.

Sat 23 Jul 2011 Alice Springs

At John Flynn's grave

0045 (5257 km) Lovely cold night - with lots of stars. Saw the scorpion constellation that had been pointed out to us on the stargazing night. Walked to the spot where purse was spotted on photos, nothing there, so decided to leave notes with our phone number on vehicles, boards and ranger residence. Lots of kangaroos by the roadside on the drive back.

0230 (5336 km) Got home. Sleep, really tired now.

0915 (5336 km) Left for Simpson's Gap for flora and fauna ranger talk. Learnt some geology of the area. Flora - Dead Finish tree, River Red Gum, Bush Coconut, Native Fig, Native Cypress, Ti Tree, Witchetty Bush. Fauna - black footed rock wallabies, possum, witchetty grubs, fish, lots of birds. Stopped by Flynn's Grave. It had a rock from the Devil's Marbles. John Flynn founded the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

1115 (5362 km) Went grocery shopping - again.

1250 (5396 km) Back at caravan park for pizza lunch. Played pool. A family called to say they found purse. Yay!

1800 (5396 km) Go out to dinner.
1815 (5401 km) Dinner at Juicy Rump.
2000 (5401 km) Left Juicy Rump.
2010 (5404 km) Back at caravan park.

Fri 22 Jul 2011 Alice Springs



At Emily Gap with Rock paintings in the background



0900 (5010 km) MJ had a Skype session with Mr Paul and class from school. It was 9.30 am in Melbourne.

0930 (5010 km) Went to East MacDonnell Ranges.

1055 (5082 km) Information board for Trephina Gorge. Had two river crossings. Reshuffled contents of car so that everyone was in 4WD to get across the water. Luckily the water was only about 10cm, so wasn't really that exciting, although the ground was pretty uneven.

1110 (5088 km) Trephina Gorge. Went for Panorama Walk - we're getting good at these uphill, rocky climbs. Great views and CK produced some great echoes down the valley. Had sandwiches for lunch. Realised HM's purse was missing. Thought maybe it has been left in bag in other car.

1415 (5088 km) Left Trephina Gorge. Drove to Ghost Gum trail - very old, approximately 300 year old tree. Ghost gum trunks are covered with a fine white powder so they have ghostly sheen at night.

1500 (5129 km) Corroboree Rock. A narrow rock formation (Aboriginal sacred site) with a couple of holes in it so that it looks like windows. Also found some coloured ochre.

1600 (5150 km) Jessie Gap. Caterpillar dreaming stories.

1620 (5158 km) Emily Gap. Rock art of white lime & red ochre stripes representing caterpillar dreaming.

1650 (5168 km) Back at caravan park. Played pool - kids are really enjoying this. Had steak and sausages for dinner.

2010 (5168 km) Looked everywhere, still can't find purse. Made Police Report for lost purse.

2045 (5181 km) Came back and discussed what to do about lost purse.

2330 (5181 km) Went through photos of the day, and found a couple of photos with a purse like object on the ground next to HM. So decided to drive to Trephina Gorge, again, with SL and Dad.

Thu 21 Jul 2011 Alice Springs



At the didgeridoo workshop



1025 (4969 km) Breakfast of toast and then went to Olive Pink Botanical Gardens. Lovely gardens

1115 (4980 km) Filled up.

1200 (4988 km) Went to the old Telegraph Station. Walked to the original Alice Spring. Named after Mrs. Alice Todd, wife of the Chief Superintendent of Telegraphs. Ironically, Alice had never been to Alice Springs. Saw a kangaroo in the fields. Walked up to Trig Hill and looked over the surrounding area.

1315 (4997 km) Got back to the caravan park to cook pea and ham soup & leftovers.

1430 (5004 km) Went to a free Didgeridoo workshop in town. We all learnt, or tried to learn, how to blow the didgeridoo. We made some interesting and disgusting noises. The instructor played some really good sounds on the didgeridoo.
1600 (5010 km) Back at the caravan park to play pool and attended the Wine and Cheese Evening.
1900 (5010 km) Dinner of tandoori chicken and soy chicken. Watched a slide show of flora and fauna of Central Australia.

Wed 20 Jul 2011 Alice Springs

At Simpson Gap - with a very cold waterhole

0850 (4648 km) Breakfast of toast and then went to West MacDonnell Ranges.

0920 (4674 km) Simpson's Gap. It was still quite cold so we all rugged up. Walked along the river bed. Apparently the water hole is very cold and very deep. Went for the Ghost Gum walk. There was a recent burn off so we couldn't see some of the features of the flora.

1100 (4715 km) Standley Chasm. Apparently it is on private property and someone had started charging.

1200 (4775 km) Ellery Creek Big Waterhole. It was certainly a big waterhole. However, there were dead fish everywhere and the whole area stank of dead fish, obviously. In the cold weather, a protozoa lives on the gills of the fish and prevents oxygen from going to the fish and so the fish die. It's all part of the natural cycle according to the signs.

1315 (4790 km) Serpentine Gorge. We had sandwiches for lunch at the car park and then went for a walk to the gorge. A huge river red gum stood impressively in the middle of the gorge in the water hole. It is impressive that the tree survives with the base of its trunk under water. Then we walked up to the lookout. Hard work but worth it. Not good for those scared of heights - the path was quite close to the cliffs at times. We saw some lizards on the path.

1545 (4805 km) Orche Pits. The colourful Orche Pits, the Aborigines used them to make paint for painting on their bodies for the ceremonies. Different stripes of colours were on the cliffs.

1630 (4830 km) Ormiston Gorge. Quite a nice campground. There were several campers sitting around the outside of the information centre with their computers plugged into the wall for power. Technology in the middle of nowhere.

1715 (4830 km) Went home.

1845 (4969 km) Got home and cooked chicken burgers for dinner.

Tue 19 Jul 2011 Alice Springs

See Heavitree Gap between East & West MacDonnell Ranges

0900 (4617 km) Spent the morning talking to insurance companies, caravan repairers, assessors, etc.

1030 (4617 km) Take camper trailer to JC Detailing Caravan Repairs.

1045 (4625 km) Left camper trailer at repairers. Went shopping and bought lots. Really lots, as we hadn't had a decent sized supermarket for a while. SL (CK's sister) and partner arrived - flew in from Melbourne to join us for 2 weeks.

1300 (4633 km) Got home and spent half an hour unloading the car. Had roast chicken for lunch, hot from Coles.

1530 (4633 km) Went for a drive into Alice Springs.

1545 (4640 km) Alice Springs Visitor Information Centre. There was a lot of information and lots to see around the area. Went up to Anzac Hill and looked around - could see the whole town. The kids found the McDonald's straight away. Quite interesting to see the gap in the MacDonnell Ranges where we drive through daily to get into town from the caravan park and the dry Todd River bed running through it.
1715 (4648 km) Back at caravan park and checked out the pool table. Had dinner of fish & rice- it was really nice and yummy.
1900 (4648 km) Star gazing, organised by the the caravan park. Saw several constellations and also Saturn.

Mon 18 Jul 2011 Kings Canyon to Alice Springs

0845 (4124 km) Had toast for breakfast and left Kings Canyon resort.
1115 (4346 km) Mt Ebenezeer. Put in some diesel for $2.50 per litre. Yes, CK remembered diesel. Filled up.
1200 (4403 km) Erldunda. Filled up. There was a giant echidna and frilled necked lizard. There was also some live emus wandering around behind a fence area. Had lunch of Ritz, creamed corn, cheese, tuna sandwiches.
1245 (4403 km) Left Erldunda.
1530 (4611 km) Arrived at Alice Springs - amazing how close the McDonnell Ranges are to town. Got to JC's Detailing and Caravan Repairs, Elder St, Alice Springs. Got them to inspect the damage, they estimated it will take a week to fix.
1730 (4617 km) MacDonnell Ranges Holiday Park. What a beautiful park! Got a cabin so that we could arrange for the camper trailer to be fixed. Cabins 45 and 46. Had meatballs and potato for dinner. Did washing.

Sun 17 Jul 2011 Kings Canyon

At the rim of Kings Canyon

0900 (4103 km) Had breakfast of toast. Left for Kings Canyon.

0915 (4113 km) Kings Canyon car park - definitely warming up quickly today. Put on sun block, hats, loaded with water. Checked out information boards and away we went. It was definitely a difficult climb up but it was worth it. It was a magnificent view looking out at the top of the climb. We walked through the "Lost City" and saw lots of domes around forming the "city". Went down to the cool waters of Garden of Eden. It is amazing there is so much water hidden in the desert. Learnt about the geology of how it was all formed. Also saw some really tame Spinifex Pigeons.

1245 (4113 km) Left Kings Canyon.
1300 (4124 km) Kings Canyon Resort. Had pumpkin soup, pea ham, bacon and eggs. Checked out the swimming pool and found the water was freezing. Way too cold to have a swim but the boys tried to go in anyway.
1800 (4124 km) Had salmon mornay for dinner.

Sat 16 Jul 2011 Yulara to Kings Canyon

See the wild brumbies on the left?

0700 (3789 km) Yet another cloudy, rain threatening day. That means all the days that we have been here has been cloudy and wet. No sunrise and sunset photos. No climb. Had breakfast of toast and packed up. It was really difficult to pack up as there was mud everywhere and we had to wipe everything down as we packed - took a very long time.

1015 (3789 km) Eventually all cleaned and packed and left. Saw wild horses and camel farm. Sun came out - blue skies - yahoo!

1200 (3930 km) Kings Canyon turn off.

1330 (4077 km) Turned off to Kathleen Springs. Had a lovely walk in the sun, even took our jumpers off! Had lunch at Kathleen Springs. It was nice and cool. The water was 'black-as' and had good reflection of the cliffs above.

1500 (4077 km) Left Kathleen Springs.

1530 (4101 km) Check in at Kings Canyon. Cabin 3 and Site 3.

1545 (4101 km) Set up.

1645 (4101 km) Done. Set up was much quicker than packing up this morning.

1730 (4101 km) Had BBQ dinner - yummy sausages and steak. Free BBQ with tables next to the BBQ, really good arrangement.

2000 (4101 km) There were mice everywhere - there is a plague of them in NT. There were even mice in the cabin. There was mice poo on the bed sheets so we had to contact reception to get the sheets changed. Then we saw a mouse run behind the cabin fridge. Managed to shoo 2 mice out and found a dead one. Where is the pied piper when you need him?

Fri 15 Jul 2011 Yulara

0920 (3724 km) Breakfast of toast. Go to Uluru.
0950 (3746 km) Got to Uluru car park. Got ready for Mala Walk, a guided walk by a park ranger. Still drizzling and Uluru climb is closed for all the days we are here. The Mala Walk had interesting stories about the Mala (ancestral beings in the shape of a wallaby). We were also shown the tools and how they are made and used. There was a lot of focus on preserving the culture.
1145 (3746 km) Drive around Uluru.
1200 (3755 km) Stopped at Mutitjulu site. Had lunch of rolls and sandwiches.
1230 (3755 km) Went on Kuniya walk. There is a story about ancestral beings in the shape of snakes called Kuniya and Liru. In the fight that ensued, Kuniya struck twice against the rocks and there are 2 huge cracks on Uluru representing them. Liru's shield dropped and was represented by a large slice of rock that had fallen off.
1330 (3763 km) Cultural Centre. Very interesting cultural experience. Some of the wood works were quite good. There was also dot painting being done by artist-in-residence. Will get the kids to try that one day.
1445 (3763 km) Left for caravan park.
1515 (3786 km) Filled up.
1550 (3789 km) Clean up car, it was very, very, very dirty. Red dust. Red mud. Red dirt. Red sand. Fixed up the corner of camper trailer as much as possible. Let's see how well it will cope with the driving. Will need to see what we can do to get it fixed at Alice Springs. Kids updated blogs and journals.
1900 (3789 km) Dinner of creamy bacon spiral pasta.

Our computer station all set up for emails and blogs etc

Thu 14 Jul 2011 Yulara

1015 (3592 km) Breakfast of toast. Only slight drizzle so far, the constant rain had stopped. Walk to lookout near the campsite. We could see Uluru from there. After some photos, took the kids to the playground. Met a couple of kids and played with them. The campground was starting to build a mini golf course. There was only 1 hole completed. So, went back to the camper to get our putter and golf ball and had a few goes. The new kid almost got a hole in one! Note: always bring a putter and golf ball - you never know when it comes in useful.
1230 (3592 km) Lunch of Chinese porridge - most comforting in this cold and dreary weather.
1320 (3592 km) Drove to to Kata Tjuta (Olgas)via the Cultural Centre. Didn't visit the Cultural Centre, just went to pick up some guides.
1410 (3645 km) Went up to the Kata Tjuta viewing platform. Quite impressive. We could also see Uluru from there.
1440 (3664 km) Went for a walk to Valley of the Winds. Quite a lot of people jostling along. We only did the short walk to Karu lookout.
1550 (3668 km) Checked out the other walk - Walpa Gorge. The domes were amazing, and we could really appreciate how Uluru and Kata Tjuta are different geologically speaking - Uluru being a sandstone rock and Kata Tjuta being a conglomerate. The kids found a little stream that they started building a dam across. Kids love building dams.
1722 (3671 km) Left Kata Tjuta. Saw a dead camel by the side of the road.
1800 (3723 km) Shopping for dinner and next few days. IGA at Yulara has really reasonable prices. Some items are even cheaper than Port Augusta.
1815 (3724 km) Got back and cooked Indomie for dinner.

Wed 13 Jul 2011 Yulara

1030 (3542 km) Still raining and had been raining all night. Red mud everywhere. So much for complaining about red dust just a few days before. Had toast for breakfast and went shopping at IGA. Stopped at Information Centre and Visitor Centre. Great displays explaining loads about the lands, local fauna & flora and Aboriginal cultures and how the lands are being managed.
1230 (3546 km) Washing machine was eventually available! Very busy campground. Quickly got some washing in. Had lunch of soup.
1500 (3546 km) Went to Uluru.
1530 (3563 km) Since it is still raining, we got some uncommon photos of Uluru in the rain at the sunset viewing car park.
1545 (3569 km) Due to the rain, Uluru was closed for climbing, so there weren't too many cars and people. There were quite a few waterfalls along the Mala walk so we snapped lots of photos.
1700 (3569 km) Left Uluru.
1730 (3592 km) Got back to Yulara and had meatballs and potato on rice.

Tue 12 Jul 2011 Coober Pedy to Yulara

Skid marks all across the road




Checking the damage after the accident

 

0815 (2794 km) Left Coober Pedy. Had pancakes for breakfast on the way.

1145 (3104 km) Suddenly the car swerved and skidded and went sideways! Going all over the road and the camper trailer jack knifed and hit the car! Don't roll over, don't roll over, ... then the car screeched to a halt. But we were across the road, blocking the road, and a blind corner not too far away. With the speeds that vehicles are driving, this was a bad position to be in. CK quickly jumped out from the back seat, had a quick scan to make sure car and camper trailer were more or less intact, picked up some bits that fell off, swapped position with CK's mum and drove the car and camper trailer off to the side of the road. We were safe-ish. Cars were still zooming by at over 100 kmh. Then inspection time. Looks like the camper trailer jack knifed and hit the rear wheel. The wheel and car had scratches, the tyre looked alright. The corner of the camper trailer was not good. Had the hammer out and ropes to secure a flapping part. Also had to fix the camper trailer door as boxes were thrown around while being spun around. Suspect the car's Active Traction Control and Stability Control must have taken over to stop the car and prevented a roll over. It is a good thing we spent all that money on car technology. Drove a short distance and inspected to see if we were driveable. Camper trailer had a big dint in a corner but car looks OK, just a small scrape, so continued on.

1300 (3215 km) Stopped at Kulgera for sandwich lunch. Filled up.

1430 (3291 km) Erldunda. Cheaper diesel. Turn off to Yulara. Mt Connor rose abruptly out of the land. Could easily be mistaken for Uluru. Took some photos, as everyone else did. Some time later, Uluru came into view.

1715 (3542 km) Got to Yulara, Ayers Rock Campground. Very long queue at reception that we eventually was given Site 171. By the time we checked in, it was getting dark and raining. Yes, it was raining in the desert. Had to set up in the dark and rain. And the ground is just red mud. Very tricky set up. You hold it there, hold it up while I do this, no, don't drop it, hold it there, now move this way. After much stress and being wet, finally got set up and had dinner of yummy noodles with mince pork.

Mon 11 Jul 2011 Coober Pedy

0845 (2703 km) Breakfast of cereal and toast.

Is this Cooper Pedy or from a Star Wars set?

1000 (2704 km) Went to the Catacomb Church, an underground church. There was no one there, we had to turn on the lights and had a look around and took some photos. As we were leaving, some other people arrived and we told them to turn off the lights on their way out. Walked along the main street, visiting opal shops, museum, space ship, visitor centre, ... Space ship? What? Yep, there was an old broken down space ship, as seen in Star Wars.
1330 (2705 km) Had bacon sandwiches with spaghetti and baked beans.
1520 (2705 km) Went noodling - scratching around for opals. Didn't really find too much, just some interesting looking items. The boys found a chunks of gypsum - a type called satin spar - had to google to identify it.
1630 (2705 km) Went to Breakaways. Some of it was dirt road so let the tyres down.
1730 (2744 km) The Breakaways are these bunch of geological formations called mesas. They have a flat top of hard rock and softer layers beneath. There are lots of mesas around the area. This bunch of mesas are called Breakaways as they seem to be out in the middle of nowhere away from the others, as if they had broken away from the others. There is the couple of mesas, a white and yellow one. According to aboriginal beliefs, they represent a white dog and a yellow dog in a dreamtime story. Took lots of photos as the sun set.
1845 (2788 km) Back at Coober Pedy to organise dinner. Had rice with chicken and vegetables.
1900 (2790 km) Filled up and pump up tyres.

Sun 10 Jul 2011 From Hawker To Coober Pedy

0830 (2019 km) Left Hawker. It was amazing that we got away that early. Headed to Port Augusta.
1015 (2133 km) Got to Port Augusta and did some shopping to top up on fresh produce as we were unlikely to get a good range for the next week or so. We filled up diesel and filled up water as we were expecting strange tasting water in Central Australia.
1125 (2133 km) Left Port Augusta.
1330 (2317 km) Stopped at Woomera for lunch amongst the missiles and rockets. Quite interesting shapes. Do they really fly?
1400 (2317 km) Left Woomera. When we got to the train line, there was a very long train passing by. Turned off the engine and had a long wait to cross the line. Eventually, after counting 60+ carriages, the train passed and we crossed the line.
1405 (2323 km) Filled up at Pimba. Took forever to pay. There were 2 ladies receiving payment, taking orders for food, cooking food, serving food.
1900 (2702 km) Got to Coober Pedy Oasis caravan park. Lots of confusion with the booking. Anyway, fortunately there was one cancellation in an otherwise fully booked caravan park and we got in. Site 21. Went to Underground Motel to check in for CK's parents. Room 7. Nice place. Had dinner of Burritos. Washed up and showered and went back to caravan park.
2200 (2703 km) Set up camper trailer and jumped into bed.

Sat 9 Jul 2011 Hawker

Lunch at the Prairie Hotel in Parachilna

1015 (1761 km) Drove to Parachilna.
1115 (1853 km) Parachilna. Not much there except the pub and a few rundown houses. Didn't look too impressive initially but the inside was quite welcoming and trendy. We had arrived early and there were only a few cars around. By the time we had lunch, there was a busload of people of a tour having lunch there and heaps of other people who had rocked up in time for lunch. We had lunch and it was a very interesting menu. It was feral lunch of kangaroo, emu and camel. Not bad. Mostly like beef. It had interesting little flags with animal pictures stuck on the meat to let us know what we were eating! Whilst we were eating, the ground started rumbling ... no, it wasn't an earthquake. It was the long coal train between Port Augusta and Leigh Creek. People ran out of the pub to take pictures. Had some desert lime and berry ice-cream for dessert. Then bought sweet myrtle chili sauce. $10.50 a jar. Nice.
1315 (1853 km) Headed out towards Glass Gorge. It was a dirt road with creek crossings so we let down the tyres for the ride.
1345 (1871 km) Arrived at Angorichina. It was a hostel in the middle of nowhere, accessible only by dirt road and creek crossings. It had a sign that said "Only real people allowed, yuppies not allowed." We drove in and there were people carry boxes of beer to their cars, even the children were carrying beer. It was $1.799 per litre for diesel. Filled up. Got out of there as soon as we could. Then drove to Glass Gorge. Definitely a 4WD track with water crossings, some mud, some sand, some inclines. Spotted lots of different animals - wallabies, kangaroos, sheep, goat. Glass Gorge had glass looking quartz rocks on the river bed. After Glass Gorge was Blinman which was a small town. We didn't stop, just kept driving. We looked for the Great Wall of China. It was quite impressive. Huge cliffs in the distance that looked like a wall. Was a panoramic camera opportunity.
1630 (2018 km) Got back to Hawker.
1700 (2019 km) Filled up diesel, pumped up tyres. And tried to clean up the car as much as possible. It does not look like a new car anymore. Dinner was burger, Indomie and pasta.

Fri 8 Jul 2011 Hawker

On the walk to Wilpena Pound Wangara lookout

 

Day5

1000 (1617 km) Went to check out the Information Centre in the Mobil Station! Had interesting museum relics in there as well. Went to Wilpena Pound.
1120 (1705 km) Saw kangaroos and emus. There was an honesty box to apply for permit of $8.50. Checked out leaflets and maps. Went for a walk to Hills Homestead. There was an amazing sliding rock The boys, small and big, could not resist and ran up the rock. When we got to the homestead, we had lunch of Cruskits, Ritz, creamed corn and cheese. The homestead was all locked up but there was a public long drop toilet. There was an interesting story about the family who lived there. The story took us through the trials and tribulations from late 1800s to early 1900s. After lunch, we went for a walk to Warranga Lookout. It was a fair climb but the view was breathtaking. Maybe we were just out of breath from the climb. Or maybe it was the cold wind.
1530 (1705 km) Went back to Hawker.
1600 (1761 km) When we got back to Hawker, we did the washing and had a slight challenge in getting the washing machine going. We found out that we had to push in the coin slot and pull it out again. Had dinner of burgers. Yum!

Thu 7 Jul 2011 Mildura To Hawker

1000 (1024 km) Left Mildura.
1130 (1172 km) South Australian border. Threw out all fruits and vegetables that may have fruit flies. Renmark. Change time zone, move half an hour back. Have another half an hour to sleep.
1230 (1254 km) Waikerie. Had rolls for lunch on the river front. Filled up.
1340 (1287 km) Cadell Vehicle Ferry. Went on the ferry to get across the Murray River. Saw huge power wind mills.
1730 (1617 km) As we approached Hawker, Ming Jin piped from the back "Are we nearly there?". At Hawker Caravan Park, we were located at Site B1 and Cabin 6. Set up camp by torch/portable lights.
1930 (1617 km) Finished set up. dinner of spaghetti bolognaise. Very cold nights so far - luckily we have a little fan heater to warm up our cosy 'home'.

Only Day 4 of our journey and we had already traveled over 1500 km!

Wed 6 Jul 2011 Mildura

At Wall of China - World Heritage Mungo National Park

0945 (675 km) Shopping - top up on food supplies.
1100 (686 km) Left for Mungo National Park - 110km NE of Mildura, in NSW. Let some air out of the tyres. 85 km of dirt road with muddy patches. Went into 4WD a few times.
1300 (804 km) Arrived at Mungo National Park - a World Heritage area. So happened it was the NAIDOC week so there were some activities and guided tours. Had sandwiches for lunch.
1355 (814 km) Went to start of tour -Wall of China, a crescent of ancient dried up sand dune shores of Lake Willandra where ancient human remains (40,000 years old) were discovered. Latrobe University archaeologist took us through the sites to see hearths from thousands of years ago. Fascinating how rock tools, bone remnants are being exposed all the time with the rains and winds - so easy to walk pass them unless they are pointed out.
1550 (814 km) Left Wall of China.

1745 (967 km) Arrived at Perry Sandhills, just outside Wentworth, NSW at dusk. Tried to slide down the hill but didn't work. Took some great photos with new camera. Found small melons.

1815 (967 km) Left Perry Sandhills.

1900 (1013 km) Caravan Park. Filled up with diesel and pump up tyres. Wash mud off the car - there was a lot of mud.

2005 (1024 km) Caravan Park. Dinner of rice with tumeric chicken.



At Perry Sandhills at dusk -  'YMCA' against the setting sun



Tue 5 Jul 2011 Mildura

 0200 (525 km) Got to Ouyen and realised that we didn't have enough fuel to reach Mildura. Nothing open in the middle of the night - the earliest to open appeared to be at 0400. Anyway, we were all tired so pulled over and had a nap.

0400 (525 km) Filled up, with Diesel this time!

0545 (634 km) Arrived Golden River Holiday Park, by the Murray River - Site 45 and Cabin 56. We were too tired to fully set up, so we all piled into the cabin to sleep.

1000 (634 km) Set up camper trailer and had brunch of leftover pizza, curry puffs and waffles.

1345 (634 km) Went to Mildura Information Centre.

1420 (649 km) Orange World! Mario the tour guide was funny. The boys were invited to pick some mandarins which were juicy and delicious. The 10,000 trees on 50 acres are picked by only 4 pickers. They can pick 450kg oranges in an hour.

1600 (649 km) Left Orange World with mandarins, honey, orange peeler and stomachs full of oranges and mandarins.
1615 (664 km) Woodsie Gem Shop. Beautiful stones. Also, there was a maze which the boys instantly gravitated to. Had to make a number of decisions on choosing one way gates to get through. We eventually got through it!
1735 (675 km) Caravan park. Had dinner of Sang Choy Pau.

Mon 4 Jul 2011 Park Orchards To Mildura

0844 (0 km) All packed and we finally left - less than an hour behind schedule. Chi Keen driving, Huey Miin in front passenger seat, with Chi Keen's parents in middle row with Ming Kim while Ming Jin & Ming Han get the back row.
0930 (13 km) Went to Eltham fuel station. And then DISASTER struck! Inadvertently filled up our diesel engine car with unleaded! Realised it just before leaving the station so we had to make a number of frantic phone calls. Had to arrange the car to be towed to service centre and camper to be taken home. Not a good start.
1730 (16 km) Service centre managed to complete the job - drained the fuel, flush the system, changed the filters. We decided to drive over night to Mildura.
1930 (45 km) So packed again and we left, again.
2000 (74 km) Got to Hungry Jacks at Dalton Road. What a treat to eat dinner while on the road . . . . Delicious - must be because we were starving by then.
2300 (293 km) Toilet stop at Wedderburn. Nice clean toilets.

Schedule and Previous Trips

Schedule

Mon 4-Jul-11	Park Orchards	Mildura
Tue 5-Jul-11		Mildura
Wed 6-Jul-11		Mildura
Thu 7-Jul-11	Mildura	Hawker
Fri 8-Jul-11		Hawker
Sat 9-Jul-11		Hawker
Sun 10-Jul-11	Hawker	Coober Pedy
Mon 11-Jul-11		Coober Pedy
Tue 12-Jul-11	Coober Pedy	Uluru
Wed 13-Jul-11		Uluru
Thu 14-Jul-11		Uluru
Fri 15-Jul-11		Uluru
Sat 16-Jul-11	Uluru	Kings Canyon
Sun 17-Jul-11		Kings Canyon
Mon 18-Jul-11	Kings Canyon	Alice Springs
Tue 19-Jul-11		Alice Springs
Wed 20-Jul-11		Alice Springs
Thu 21-Jul-11		Alice Springs
Fri 22-Jul-11		Alice Springs
Sat 23-Jul-11		Alice Springs
Sun 24-Jul-11		Alice Springs
Mon 25-Jul-11		Alice Springs
Tue 26-Jul-11	Alice Springs	Tennant Ck
Wed 27-Jul-11	Tennant Ck	Mataranka
Thu 28-Jul-11	Mataranka	Katherine
Fri 29-Jul-11	Katherine	Batchelor
Sat 30-Jul-11	Batchelor	Darwin
Sun 31-Jul-11		Darwin
Mon 1-Aug-11		Darwin
Tue 2-Aug-11		Darwin
Wed 3-Aug-11	Darwin	Katherine
Thu 4-Aug-11	Katherine	Kununura
Fri 5-Aug-11		Kununura
Sat 6-Aug-11	Kununurra	El Questro
Sun 7-Aug-11	El Questro	Kununurra
Mon 8-Aug-11		Kununurra
Tue 9-Aug-11	Kununurra	Mabel Downs
Wed 10-Aug-11	Mabel Downs	Bungle Bungle
Thu 11-Aug-11	Bungle Bungle	Mabel Downs
Fri 12-Aug-11	Mabel Downs	Fitzroy Crossing
Sat 13-Aug-11		Fitzroy Crossing
Sun 14-Aug-11	Fitzroy Crossing	Nillibubbica Rest Area
Mon 15-Aug-11	Nillibubbica Rest Area	Broome
Tue 16-Aug-11		Broome
Wed 17-Aug-11		Broome
Thu 18-Aug-11		Broome
Fri 19-Aug-11	Broome	Eighty Mile Beach
Sat 20-Aug-11	Eighty Mile Beach	Karijini
Sun 21-Aug-11	Karijini	Tom Price
Mon 22-Aug-11		Tom Price
Tue 23-Aug-11	Tom Price	Exmouth
Wed 24-Aug-11		Exmouth
Thu 25-Aug-11		Exmouth
Fri 26-Aug-11		Exmouth
Sat 27-Aug-11	Exmouth	Coral Bay
Sun 28-Aug-11		Coral Bay
Mon 29-Aug-11		Coral Bay
Tue 30-Aug-11	Coral Bay	Denham
Wed 31-Aug-11		Denham
Thu 1-Sep-11		Denham
Fri 2-Sep-11		Denham
Sat 3-Sep-11	Denham	Kalbarri
Sun 4-Sep-11	Kalbarri	Cliff Head North Rest Area
Mon 5-Sep-11	Cliff Head North Rest Area	Perth
Tue 6-Sep-11		Perth
Wed 7-Sep-11		Perth
Thu 8-Sep-11		Perth
Fri 9-Sep-11		Perth
Sat 10-Sep-11		Perth
Sun 11-Sep-11	Perth	Busselton
Mon 12-Sep-11		Busselton
Tue 13-Sep-11		Busselton
Wed 14-Sep-11	Busselton	Albany
Thu 15-Sep-11		Albany
Fri 16-Sep-11		Albany
Sat 17-Sep-11	Albany	Esperance
Sun 18-Sep-11		Esperance
Mon 19-Sep-11		Esperance
Tue 20-Sep-11	Esperance	Moonera Tank Rest Area
Wed 21-Sep-11	Moonera Tank Rest Area	Ceduna
Thu 22-Sep-11		Ceduna
Fri 23-Sep-11		Ceduna
Sat 24-Sep-11	Ceduna	Point Lowly Rest Area
Sun 25-Sep-11	Point Lowly Rest Area	Corny Point
Mon 26-Sep-11		Corny Point
Tue 27-Sep-11		Corny Point
Wed 28-Sep-11	Corny Point	Coomandook Rest Area
Thu 29-Sep-11	Coomandook Rest Area	Park Orchards

Previous Trips

• Pilot trip - South Australia - http://arewethereyetpilot.blogspot.com/
• 01 - Anglesea - http://arewethereyet01.blogspot.com/
• 02 -Taggerty - http://arewethereyet02.blogspot.com/
• 03 - Lakes Entrance - http://arewethereyet03.blogspot.com/
• 04 - Bellarine Peninsula - http://arewethereyet04.blogspot.com/
• 05 - Park Orchards - http://arewethereyet05.blogspot.com/
• 06 - Pambula - http://arewethereyet06.blogspot.com/
• 07 - Echuca, Yarrawonga - http://arewethereyet07a.blogspot.com/