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.
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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!
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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!
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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

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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.
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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.
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Schedule and Previous Trips

Schedule
Mon 4-Jul-11Park OrchardsMildura
Tue 5-Jul-11 Mildura
Wed 6-Jul-11 Mildura
Thu 7-Jul-11MilduraHawker
Fri 8-Jul-11 Hawker
Sat 9-Jul-11 Hawker
Sun 10-Jul-11HawkerCoober Pedy
Mon 11-Jul-11 Coober Pedy
Tue 12-Jul-11Coober PedyUluru
Wed 13-Jul-11 Uluru
Thu 14-Jul-11 Uluru
Fri 15-Jul-11 Uluru
Sat 16-Jul-11UluruKings Canyon
Sun 17-Jul-11 Kings Canyon
Mon 18-Jul-11Kings CanyonAlice 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-11Alice SpringsTennant Ck
Wed 27-Jul-11Tennant CkMataranka
Thu 28-Jul-11MatarankaKatherine
Fri 29-Jul-11KatherineBatchelor
Sat 30-Jul-11BatchelorDarwin
Sun 31-Jul-11 Darwin
Mon 1-Aug-11 Darwin
Tue 2-Aug-11 Darwin
Wed 3-Aug-11DarwinKatherine
Thu 4-Aug-11KatherineKununura
Fri 5-Aug-11 Kununura
Sat 6-Aug-11KununurraEl Questro
Sun 7-Aug-11El QuestroKununurra
Mon 8-Aug-11 Kununurra
Tue 9-Aug-11KununurraMabel Downs
Wed 10-Aug-11Mabel DownsBungle Bungle
Thu 11-Aug-11Bungle BungleMabel Downs
Fri 12-Aug-11Mabel DownsFitzroy Crossing
Sat 13-Aug-11 Fitzroy Crossing
Sun 14-Aug-11Fitzroy CrossingNillibubbica Rest Area
Mon 15-Aug-11Nillibubbica Rest AreaBroome
Tue 16-Aug-11 Broome
Wed 17-Aug-11 Broome
Thu 18-Aug-11 Broome
Fri 19-Aug-11Broome Eighty Mile Beach
Sat 20-Aug-11Eighty Mile BeachKarijini
Sun 21-Aug-11KarijiniTom Price
Mon 22-Aug-11 Tom Price
Tue 23-Aug-11Tom PriceExmouth
Wed 24-Aug-11 Exmouth
Thu 25-Aug-11 Exmouth
Fri 26-Aug-11 Exmouth
Sat 27-Aug-11ExmouthCoral Bay
Sun 28-Aug-11 Coral Bay
Mon 29-Aug-11 Coral Bay
Tue 30-Aug-11Coral BayDenham
Wed 31-Aug-11 Denham
Thu 1-Sep-11 Denham
Fri 2-Sep-11 Denham
Sat 3-Sep-11DenhamKalbarri
Sun 4-Sep-11KalbarriCliff Head North Rest Area
Mon 5-Sep-11Cliff Head North Rest AreaPerth
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-11Perth Busselton
Mon 12-Sep-11 Busselton
Tue 13-Sep-11 Busselton
Wed 14-Sep-11BusseltonAlbany
Thu 15-Sep-11 Albany
Fri 16-Sep-11 Albany
Sat 17-Sep-11AlbanyEsperance
Sun 18-Sep-11 Esperance
Mon 19-Sep-11 Esperance
Tue 20-Sep-11EsperanceMoonera Tank Rest Area
Wed 21-Sep-11Moonera Tank Rest AreaCeduna
Thu 22-Sep-11 Ceduna
Fri 23-Sep-11 Ceduna
Sat 24-Sep-11Ceduna Point Lowly Rest Area
Sun 25-Sep-11Point Lowly Rest AreaCorny Point
Mon 26-Sep-11 Corny Point
Tue 27-Sep-11 Corny Point
Wed 28-Sep-11Corny PointCoomandook Rest Area
Thu 29-Sep-11Coomandook Rest AreaPark Orchards

Previous Trips
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