This is a record of our trip to Alice Springs and back. For those who just want an outline, THERE IS A SUMMARY AT THE END woo hoo, so go directly to that by clicking here SUMMARY OF OUR TRIP As it is our record there might be too much detail for a casual read by others. Some of the entries may be amended as and when our memory kicks in. Photos are still being added and if there is something you thought we might have photographed but didn't include, just email us. Most of the photo selections are Geoff's without any regard to bad-hair days or significance to the general public, ha ha.
Left home about 11am with a roaring headwind. It was very cold, but sunny, but knew it would get colder as we were heading for Toowoomba which lived up to its reputation and was 13 degrees. Petrol had been 147.7 near home but had nearly a full tank. Passed a petrol station half-way to Toowoomba, too late to stop, 137.9 but thought it would be similar at Toowoomba as it is supposed to have the cheapest petrol in Qld. Well it was all about 145.9 up to 150.9. Found a Freedom Petrol at 142.9 BUT you had to buy 40lts to get that price, but that was OK. First time we've come across that type of discounting before. Anyway, I'm putting this in as we will keep tabs of petrol prices as we get further into the outback for future reference.
The guy at the Info Centre at Toowoomba said if you are looking for motel accommodation to ring first as everything is booked out by people working in the mines. So from Toowoomba through Dalby and out most of the traffic on the road was road trains and tradies or mine utes and the occasional caravan. Stopped overnight at a tiny little place out of Dalby called Warra on the Warrigo Hwy. It has a park with an old historic railway building and some small rolling stock and an old school house, all obviously transported from elsewhere. Parking for caravans was at the back and there was one other van, so safety in numbers. There was a pub within throwing distance. It was freezing and the wind was still cutting. Magnificant sunset with an old windmill in the foreground. Pulled the pop-top down as it was really cold. It had been 2 degrees the night before. Flush loos, handwash, paper towel, toilet paper, - in the old building, elec bbq and tank water.
It had drizzled last night and still very cold in the morning. The whole area had had a heap of rain a few days beforehand. You can see why it flooded recently, the water has nowhere to go. Drove past Chinchilla then on to Miles. Road trains everywhere, mining machinery in all the towns, the Warrigo Hwy was like Bourke Street the whole way. We were even overtaken by a house. Stopped for petrol just out of Miles, 146.9 E10. We only got to put in $10 worth when it ran out of fuel, so on to Roma. Still more road trains, road works. At Roma we found a Woolies Petrol, 142.9. Roma has lovely Bottle Trees and lots of road trains and tradies utes. Stopped for lunch then moved on. There were still a few road trains, but for the first time felt we were on the open road and going 'where no-one had gone before' (for all you Trekkies fans out there), as we hadn't been any further west than Roma before. So with our TARDIS II in tow, (ie small on the outside, just as small on the inside) we headed past the sign that said you are entering the 'Outback'. Drove in to Mitchell and the caravan park was chockers, I guess we found all the grey nomads (we were beginning to think there were only road trains) and wondered how we would go at the free stop at the Mitchell weir. Turned on to the road wondering if it would a lonely backlot place and found the free stop. Probably about 20 vans already there. A huge area along the river, very wide grassed picnic area, grassy (but very soft and muddy in places) and a very wide paved car park. Flush loos, electronic hand wash, paper towel, toilet paper. Very civilised. Very pretty spot with trees lining the river. You could see how high the floods had got recently. 48hrs limit, but I think some stay longer. After thawing the steak to have on the bbq which was marked in the book, we found the bbq didn't work. Anyway, even though it was not as cold as last night, it was still a bit cool to cook outside. Talked to one couple from Wollongong who told us about a very nice place which we had by-passed, hmmm and Geoff had found a talking mate while I explored the other end of the camping area.
Woke to our first sunny morning. Very cold though. Took some good shots of the mist on the river. Headed off from Mitchell towards Morven. On the way, at Mungallila we found public toilets and showers. Cute little town, just a crossroad, a post office and a pub. Got petrol in Morven 157.9 and headed north towards Augathella and nothing in between. Augathella was a pleasant surprise, a nice little main street, old pub, grocers and a few services. Found a park opposite the pub which the Camps book said 'day use only', but we found two vans who had asked the local policeman who said it was OK to stay. Very wide area, grassed picnic area, tables, trees, all backing on to the levee bank of the Warrigo River. From the information wall, the river was subject to constant flooding and we often hear about flood warnings for the Maranoa River. Moved on towards Tambo, quite a few road trains, but not a problem as the road was wide enough to pass without going to the side. We were overtaken by mining machinery today. Tambo is another nice little town, even though we didn't see much traffic on the road, all the vans were at Tambo at the roadside stop/picnic area, next to the Barcoo river lagoon where we had lunch and Geoff fed the ducks orange and banana peel. Leaving before the ducks curled up their toes, we took note of the overnight stop not far out of Tambo, which was already fairly full at around 3pm. We decided to move on towards Barcaldine, but as it got later decided to stay just out of Blackall. Blackall is a much bigger town (IGA big) and we got fuel, 146.9. We even got a 4c/ltr discount with my seniors card, apparently all BP service stations do this. Thought we would stay just north of Blackall but it turned out to be just a truck stop, with a runway type pull-in so decided to go another 50km to just outside Barcaldine. On the way past we saw a stop which said only vans with self-contained toilet facilities, so armed with our 'pina colada' bucket which has a tight lid, we stopped for the night. Off the hwy a little and only three other vans in a huge area, next to the Barcoo River. After having left Augathella we had descended (only slightly downwards) into the Lake Eyre basin which is about 1.5 million square kms. When we looked at the map sign about the basin river system, we realised that our trip will be around the Lake Eyre basin. It has only been the last 200km that the countryside has got a bit more scrubby, whereas it had been quite treed up until then, even as far as Roma and Mitchell. Another magnificant sunset tonight and not quite as cold, but were about 300km further north.
Left around 8am and Saw our first 4-trailer road train today and a school bus stop 100's kms from nowhere and the vegetation treed up again, mostly Acacias. Headed for Barcaldine and the Tree of Knowledge the birth of unionism. Someone poisoned the tree in 2006 so they built this huge wooden structure around it, quite impressive. Moved on the Longreach where he hit a dead kangaroo along the way. We were behind another van and didn't see it until the last minute. It was already rotting so when we stopped we could smell this awful smell, it has squooshed under the car and the van. We are hoping it will dry out a little tomrrow, but at the moment it really stinks and hard to get to. Impressive view driving along the road and then seeing a 747 in the distance. Stopped at the Qantas Museum. Quite a view out the caravan window with a 747 about 20mtrs away. Stopped at an overnight camp next to a river with around 100 other vans. Hopefully they are locals here for the week-end, otherwise we might be competing with all the other grey nomads along the way for space. I think it is the only river around so it attracts many people. Much milder tonight, but still cold but it was a magic day, cloudless, windless, sunny and high 20's. Petrol BP 162.9 (minus 4c/ltr senior discount), got water at the showgrounds.
Sunny morning, wind blew last night. Headed for Winton. Unfortunately a lot of the attractions are 60km to 100km into the desert area and unsealed roads. Will do some of this trip again when we have our 4wd. Petrol at Winton 155.7 Caltex (BP didn't do Seniors Discounts). At Winton we took a photo of Banjo Paterson statue, of the Swagman statue, got water at the local park, went to a shop that sold opals, jewellry and hydraulic and tool stuff - Geoff bought some fuses. Saw Arno's wall - concrete and rubble embedded with junk from the tip, old car, machinery parts, typwritters, even the kitchen sink. The Gregory hotel has free van parking out the back, I think for overnight, free showers and toilets, but it was too early for us to stop. There was an American guy getting his photo taken by his wife against the Banjo Paterson statue and he said 'the home of Waltzing Matilda', I think he was really excited. Back on the road and was heading for Combo Waterhole, the place that inspired the song Waltzing Matilda. Stopped at a very bare truck stop for lunch and to scrape of the remnants of the next dead kangaroo we hit this morning. Geoff spoke to the Road Train driver for a while who said he stopped counting after 100 the number of live kangaroos he hit in one trip. So our two dead ones can't compare. At least I don't feel guilty about killing anything. Very interesting rock formations near this stop, sandstone erroded, but looks volcanic with a central tube and erosion all around. The only hills we have come across in many 100's of kms. Decided we would stay at the next stop with toilets as it was getting on to 2.30pm and the next stop would be around 200kms away and we'd have to fit in the by-trip to Combo waterhole. This stop was just as bare but had a picnic table and toilets and tank water. When we lowered the stabiliser legs we found pieces of kangaroo bone tucked in the legs. So much for beating the hoards of other vans, we had been here an hour and only about 10 cars had driven past on the road and two vans and a cattle truck stopped for a loo break then left. But later a family with two young children in a rental campervan, a couple in a motorhome with a generator near our back door with noise and fumes and trucks coming and going all night meant we were not alone. The sunset was beautiful, right on the horizon and we could see millions of stars.
Sun doesn't rise till 7am so we were awake to see the sunrise, again on the other horizon, beautiful. It was very cold and was still cold at 10.00am. Stopped at Combo Waterhole, the actual billabong that inspired Banjo Paterson to write the song, Waltzing Matilda and a swagman actually did steal a jumbuck and he actually did jump into the water to escape capture and died, (even though the policeman was actually out looking for the murderer of an aboriginal boy and happened across the swagman). We (I) was undecided as to whether we'd go down the 8km dirt road to get to the carpark, but it was a good road and we are glad we did. It was a 3km return walk, across many channels of the Diamantina River, with stone overshots (dry-stone dam walls) damed up by an old cattle station to give the stock year round water. First thing we've really only been able to see as everything else needs 4wd to access it. Moved on to Kynuna and got petrol at the roadhouse - 159.9. Next stop was McKinlay, home of the Walkabout Pub (Crocodile Dundee). It was moved from around the street to face the highway after the film and we took the obligatory photo. The park around the corner had photos of lots of the other old buildings, which was much more interesting. We pulled up in a dry little town in a dry little street across from the park, just outside the police station and got bogged, whatthe? turns out the street is irrigated with huge pipes and the place is watered to death, everything is soggy or muddy. Just our luck to churn up the naturestrip outside the police station - no gutters, just roadway then dirt (mud). Just managed to reverse out, so all good. Moved on to Cloncurry, went to the Mary Kathleen display, but the place was closed (closes 3.30pm on Sundays during tourist season, go figure) and got more petrol 169.9 BP, (and no seniors discount again). The fuel gauge didn't go up much so Geoff thought the bowser wasn't working properly so tried to put more fuel in. The petrol squirted out so Geoff thought the fuel filler on the car wasn't working and tried to force more fuel in, hmmm. So went in and paid another $7 from one bowser and 44c from the other. After my cleaning up all the spilt fuel, as we drove along, the fuel gauge went up, it was just a sloooooow fuel gauge, so all was well again. (Also found a Woolies petrol just after we filled up and the Woolies supermarket was closed -haven't seen a woolies store for about 1,000kms). As it was getting late we left Cloncurry and headed for a stop just short of Mt. Isa (Fountain Springs). The countryside changed dramatically from the last 1600kms to very rocky outcrops, low mountains, red cliffs, different eucalyt forests, lots of small termite mounds, very stunning (previous countryside was mainly vast plains of Mitchell grasslands). Anyway, we arrived at our destination and the those hoards of caravans. Found probably the last one or two spots. A little bit back off the highway, a few trees, flush loos, no paper, covered picnic tables. There are about 40 vans here. Everywhere you go people are very friendly and everyone talks to everyone. We met Helen and her hubbie who had been camped behind us at Longreach and two Czech travellers who were going to Darwin for the beach so Geoff burst their bubble and told them there are no beaches (which is not exactly correct) and I reassured them that the spiders and snakes don't lay in wait for people. They were surprised about the crocodiles, but had come from Cairns so I guess they were a bit savvy. One thing about Grey Nomads, all is dead quiet from around 8pm.
Another cold night, another beautiful morning, another beautiful, still, sunny day, mid 20's. Went on to Mt. Isa to get gas, food and to look around. The countryside was similar to yesterday, really nice. Turns out it is the Selwyn Ranges and of course there is iron ore in them thar hills. Arrived in Mt. Isa to a nice little town with a huge mine and chimneys dominating the end of the town. It was a Public Holiday and the only thing open was BCF so we were able to gas as the large cylinder ran out the previous night; and IGA, so we got our food - Coles, Woolies and KMart were all closed. There was no access to the mines, nor a road near it or a viewing area, but a nice lookout over the town. There was a nice park, but it was part of the information centre conglomerate of Outback Experience costing $12. The centre also had a local mine tour (literally below the centre) for $49. As that was really all to see, we decided to move on. There was a group of aboriginal boys playing football in the car park next to IGA, another group siting under the trees near the information centre (family group) and another group (two couples and a child) in a park where we stopped to get water. They showed us where the tap was. Sometimes I think it would be nice just to sit in the sun, under a tree, but not in summer in Mt. Isa. Mt. Isa is apparently very multicultural with the early settlers from all around the world. Got petrol, 152.9 at United and had $2 shower at the Outback Experience Info Centre. Anyway, having got water from seemingly the only tap in Mt. Isa we left the town and noticed a sign to the Bureau of Meterology, which I'd read something about. Turns out they have tours on Wednesdays only and the gate was closed and we couldn't turn around so had to back up for about 100mtrs before we could turn around. Went about 60kms further towards Camooweal and stopped at an overnight stop 'WW11 airstrip' according to Camps 6 book. No airstrip, but information on the road built during WW11 so was interesting. There were about 20 vans by nightfall, a wide stopping area, red soil, lots of spots back into the bush, smallish trees, thickish grass, push/pull loos, hand washing water. Again ran into people who'd been at stops where we had been and more O/S tourists.
Another cold but just bearable night (about 5 degrees), saw the sun rise again. Another van with o/s tourists pulled up in the dark last night almost close enough that we couldn't open the back door. Not sure if it is because it was dark when they arrived or if they are used to being squashed with other people in Europe. They had a huge area to choose from. Anyway, headed for Camooweal 13kms east of the NT/Qld border. Petrol at Camooweal $1.93/ltr. Just a roadhouse, petrol station, park and that's about it, oh yes and drinking water. Stopped at the border, along with another 5 vans, most of which we'd seen on previous days. Started the long trek west 450km, one roadhouse and a few free stops (only one of which has a toilet). Stopped at Avon Downs rest area 69kms west for a toilet break. A few very small trees, picnic tables, not too bad, but too early to stay overnight. Across the road is a police station (not sure why, maybe because it is almost one end of a very long stretch of road), with free tea and coffee and Avon Downs station just up the road but nothing else. On the long stretch we saw early enough 3 kangaroos just sitting on the highway as we approached and we hit our first live being - a hawk/kestrel which started to land just in front of us as we approached. Poor thing, it is now an ex-Kestrel. Makes you stop and think about your own mortality - flying around happily one minute and then, no more. Eventually stopped at Wanorah Bore rest area, 43kms short of Barkly Roadhouse. No loos, tank water, lots of little tracks and inlets for vans amongst very long dry grass -snake heaven. Met the Dutch couple with the two young children we had met at the overnight stop 2 days earlier. We'll probably see them at the Devil's Marbles in 2 days. Travelling outback, especially on the highway is like travelling in convoy, but at your own pace. We have seen so many vans that have stayed in the same place as us previously. If only we could remember which ones had the generators and which ones insisted on lighting campfires near other vans - but it hadn't been a big problem, it's just some people don't manage that part very well. The landscape changed markedly once into the Northern Territory, as if the vegetation saw the border sign. Much drier. The best scenery has been from Cloncurry to Mt. Isa. Today felt like about 30 degrees, quite pleasant, very dry. In fact it's so dry, last night we both kept getting zapped from static of our camp chairs. The day starts to cool about 4pm and by sunset it gets quite cold. I definitely wouldn't like to be here in summer though.
The night was again mild compared to the previous nights and the sunrise was beautiful again. Travelled to Barkly Homestead Roadhouse and got fuel (195.9) (premium unleaded was 205.9). Spoke to a couple who had stayed in the same place as us last night and whose van had passed us yesterday and again just this morning (we've been leaving earlier but doing only 80km/h in a 130km/h zone, so got passed by lots of things.) Another long stretch and we saw flocks of budgies, darting across the sky. Too quick for a camera shot. Didn't see any kangaroos today, nor any kangaroo road kill at all which surprised us. But we did see a number of road kill cattle on the side of the road, so that sharpened our lookout. Again the vegetation surpised us, lots of grassland and low scrubby trees, most Acacia bushes, so we couldn't actually see the landscape. Anyway after 230km we arrived at the intersection at the Barkly Highway and Stuart Highway, turned left and headed south towards Tennant Creek. Saw another sign to another Aboriginal settlement and these settlements are all the way through to Alice Springs and beyond. Stopped in at the old Telegraph Station and got to walk all around and inside most of it (you could borrow the key from the Tourist Information Centre 15km down the road, but we saw what we wanted without it). The stone walls were about 1ft. thick with very wide verandahs, so it was instantly cooler in there. Today was about 30 degrees, the dead of winter, so imagine how hot it gets in summer, around 50 degrees c. I think. Moved on after replying to a few emails that arrived when we got an internet signal and went to Mary Ann Dam, a little oasis. Green lawns, largish lake and, surprise, hot showers. Not the cleanest, but with my plastic ugly shoes I was safe. Got petrol at the BP (171.9 a little more reasonable), then went up to the Battery Hill mining exhibition with old mining machinery, etc. Quite interesting. Went to the first lookout in 2,600km overlooking Tennant Creek- it really is beautiful country from higher up. Saw some of the locals in town - 5 young guys and 2 slabs of beer. Having seen Tennant Creek our next aim was the Devils Marbles, some 115km down the road. The brochures say van sites are a premium and to get there early, so as it was getting late we decided to stop short at a stop called Bonney Well. On the way we saw a car on the side of the road with rear and front windscreen smashed in (abandoned? stolen?) and a sedan doing 75km/h which seemed strange. It was a family of locals with 2 young kids jumping up and down with no seat belts. Bonney Well is a heritage listed site, with an old well and bore (1870's) and a windmill shot with .303 bullets from WW2 soldiers who camped there on their way to Darwin. We spoke to the other caravanners and Geoff ended up giving lessons to a couple on how to use their new IPad as they didn't know how. Diane and John were very grateful and she insisted on giving us a can of coke, pepsi and a bag of lollies. We insisted 'no, it was a pleasure' but she said she's a country girl and that's what she does, so we relented. We could earn a living on the road doing lessons and live on coke and lollies, ha ha. When at Fountain Springs the Czech girl gave us their pasta and rice as they had bought the wrong gas and couldn't cook it and at Mt. Isa the guy getting petrol in front of us gave us his petrol voucher as he was getting diesel - there seems to be a pattern of charity here - do we look that hard up? Whilst Geoff and John moved on to mobile phone deals, Diane and I went to take photos of yet another beautiful sunset. By nightfall, there were 4 vans, 2 combis and a camper trailer - again safety in numbers. (Bonney Well - no loos, tank/bore water, some shade, tables, fireplaces, bins, mostly paved oblong road with vegetation strip down the middle.)
Some broken sleep last night, the trucks, even though there weren't too many, rumbled and roared as they drove past, a couple of cars arrived late and there was some really load snoring - ALL NIGHT. It sounded closer than the van across the way and too loud to be coming from the car not far from us. Then I was fully awakened by a road train that sounded like a freight train, then I realised there was the Alice Springs/Darwin railway line behind us, it WAS a freight train. Looked out the window to see someone laying in a sleeping bag under the tree near our van - the snoring culprit. It was an aboriginal family of 6. They were lighting a fire and asked if we had any drinking water and some tin to boil it in. We gave them one of our bottles of water and half a can of baked beans to eat and use as a boiler. They had broken down (fan belt) but were going to get one from the holden they saw back up the road!! They were heading back home into the Davenport Range, east of us and into 'no road' territory. Strange them asking us for water, particularly as there was a bore water tank and tap at the other end of the rest area. We moved out and headed for the Devil's Marbles (Karli Karli) some 10km down the road. There were lots of vans there when we arrived about 9.30am and gradually most of them left, so we had a choice of sites and was watched by a dingo who hung around for a while, slept in the middle of the road, then wandered off. We set up camp and then went for a walk around 11.30am by which time vans started to arrive. By 2.30pm the place was packed and by nightfall they were doubling up, but everyone was great, some moving to make more room for others. Whilst we rested after our first walk, it was interesting to just sit and watch as people arrived - I'm glad I'm not the only one that has to have the 'right' spot. All up there are 46 vans here and there is no overflow area, when it's full it's full. Oh yes, Devil's Marbles, a whole heap of rocks on top of one another, sandstone weathered away to expose granite which had pushed up through the sandstone due to volcanic activity some 1,700 million years ago. Granite, but red. Very impressive. Went for another walk to another section and then back again at sunset. It's been hot today, at least 30 degrees but a coolish breeze, but very hot in the sun. Despite some ants slowing him down, Geoff got his fix of climbing as high as he could whilst I waited half way down thinking about the film 'Picnic at Hanging Rock'…“Meranda, come back…..”. We took a zillion photos of the spectacular colour of the rocks as the sun set. Geoff saw in the dark what he thought was the dingo but maybe a marsupial of some description. We didn't see any snakes on our walks, but we tried to take care as most of the walking was through grassy tussocks and over rocks.
A nice mild night and photos of sunrise on the rocks, very nice. The dingo was back wandering around looking for a feed. Headed out, aiming for Alice Springs. Stopped for fuel at Wycliffe Well (199.9) and its UFO theme, passed Wauchope (a roadhouse you can miss if you blink), stopped at the Telegraph Station at Barrow Creek (the location of the outback murder a couple of years ago) and photographed some wild Budgerigars, very interesting pub and caravan park - we moved on quickly. On passed another community with a sign that said “We still support the Lions”. Some interesting stuff the break the boredom - roadworks. Geoff was a little frustrated that he was on a 130km/h road and could only do around 90. On the travels we saw 3 burnt-out cars and two groups of locals on the side of the road-presumably with car troubles. On through Ti Tree which services many aboriginal communities, stopped at Tropic of Capricorn rest area just short of Alice Springs. We must be getting closer to Alice Springs as the road signs now have bullet holes. About 30kms out just after the Tropic of Capricorn rest area we saw our 3rd policeman in 3,000 kms, pulling over outgoing traffic for an RBT. After some 500kms, we arrived in Alice around 5pm, just in time to see the sunset on Anzac Hill with Ivan and Marg.
Ivan & Marg K and Geoff and I Went to the Olive Pink Botanical Gardens where there was a talk about Olive Pink who'd made quite an impact on the area in the 1st half of the 20th century, then had a good walk up Annie Myer's hill and saw our first kangaroos in the N.T. Also saw a small rock wallaby. At the top there was a wonderful view of Alice Springs and the surrounding hills. We could see Ivan and Margaret's house from the top of the hill and took a photo of our washing on the line (among other photos). Then a visit around the local sites - Albert Namatjira's grave and Lassiter's grave at the local cemetery, the art gallery to see some of Albert's original paintings, basket weaving classes at the front of the gallery, the Sturt Desert Pea flower in bloom. Then in the afternoon went to the Alice Springs Telegraph Station heritage site and had a picnic, walked around the Telegraph station and saw the springs that started it all. Actually a damp spot in the middle of the dry Todd River and on the side of the river bed, hidden under a rock was a quite deep waterhole - the springs named after Alice. Marg and Ivan were a font of knowledge on the aboriginal sacred sites and the dreamtime stories of how the landscape was formed. Marg has worked in remote communities in aboriginal health for the last few years and has a lot of knowledge (and stories) of how the indigenous population live - although she says she's still just learning. Today was low 20's, but sunny skies and the nights are cooler than just previous.
There was frost on the car this morning. Today we went for a drive to the West MacDonnell Ranges. Stopped at John Flynn's grave, a couple of lookouts (overlooking mountains, a meteorite crater and the Finke River), went for a walk to Glen Helen Gorge (The older and rustic Glen Helen resort has a bar, restaurant and camping/cabins), down into Ormiston Gorge, Ellery Creek Big Hole and the Ochre Pits - all very spectacular. Being late afternoon nearing Alice again, the hills' colour changed to brilliant orange. The day was low 20's and very cold in the wind, but we had sunny skies all day.
After some housekeeping, Geoff and I headed in to town. Went to the Residency which has been the Government Administrators residence since the 1920's and where the Queen stayed in 1963, lots of old memorabilia. We've never been in a bedroom or bathroom where the Queen had actually stayed. The residents didn't actually have a comfortable existence - even though they put on morning teas, often daily, for visiting officials and dignitaries, they didn't have a coffee pot and had to borrow whiskey glasses from the Inn across the road. Some other old buildings included Adelaide House, which is the old hospital and the old goal. We visited Ivan in the gallery where he works then home to pick up Marg and then we headed for Simpson's Gap just before sunset. Another spectacular gorge, with red rock, dry sandy riverbed with eucalypts and where the gorge narrows, large water pools - stunning. Weather was the same as yesterday.
Another icy start to the day. Bought a new gas bottle, went back to the Telegraph Station, saw Alice Springs again and then to the School of the Air, then some shopping and van housekeeping.
Went for a drive with Marg back to Simpson's Gap and Honeymoon Gap, both on a dry river bed with beautiful Eucalypts and stunning red cliffs. Dropped in to the Clay Pans and Marg did a bit of bush bashing, passed the burnt out car and along some tracks back to the highway. Back to pick up Ivan from work then to a Thai restaurant for dinner.
Went to the Botanical Gardens to walk around. It is gardens of local plants which are used by the aborignals, with explanations as to whether they are medicinal, food or other. Very interesting and a pleasant walk. We then drove to the railway station where the Ghan was stationed - a veeery looong train. Then, in the middle of an industrial area, we came across a cemetery for 'Stuart' which was the old name of Alice Springs, with graves dating back to 1889. There was a lady in there and Geoff thought she was dropping off drugs, then an artist looking person walked past with some artwork and Geoff thought he might have been the pick-up person……It's usually me with the imagination like that. The weather has been getting colder during the day was well as overnight.
Went to look at the East McDonnell ranges (East Macs), stopped at Emily Gap, Jessies Gap, the Corroborree Rock and Trephina Gorge. The wind blew very strongly for most of the day and it was only 12 degrees in Alice. We walked up the Panoramic Walk which was up - but we got some spectacular views from the ridge at the top of the gorge. I had started out with a jumper, vest, quilted coat, parka and my angora cardigan wrapped around my neck and head. By the time we got nearly to the top of the ridge I was carrying most of it, but it was a good, strenuous walk. The gorge from the ground is beautiful, just a trickle of water in a huge sandy riverbed of the Ross River, edged my river redgums and red rocky cliffs either side. Being Friday, Geoff needed his fix of chips, so we bought frozen chips at the supermarket and had chip entre to Marg and Ivan's pasta dish.
Left early to go to the Beanie Festival. Arrived at 9am only to be told by an organiser that they'd partied last night, so they will open at 10.00am. Apparently that's the N.T. way even though people come from all around Australia and overseas to the event. So went and had a coffee and then went back to hundreds of beanies, all colours, shapes and sizes. Near the entrance, there were aboriginal women spinning wool, using their leg to spin the spindle and another (and helper) cooking damper and kangaroo tails. Other groups were basketweaving. On the way back we stopped to see a freight train which turned out to be just about to leave. Geoff and Ivan spoke to the driver and then he was off - with Geoff and Ivan getting their fix of big-boys-toys. The train was 1.5kms long, so the railway crossing was held up for at least 15mins waiting for the train to pass, with the train stopping for a few minutes in the middle of the crossing.
Market Day today and Ivan has his stall selling his photographs which are stunning. Geoff left early to help Ivan set up and I went with Marg who was picking up Marlene (from Kintore) to take her and her granddaughter to visit her son in gaol, which was about 30kms out of Alice. We returned to Alice and Geoff and I did a spin of the markets, bought a couple of hot water bottles (-1 degree in Alice this morning) and finished off looking at the town. We went to Ronnie and Noel's for a pizza dinner tonight.
-2 degrees last night, but another sunny day. Dropped in to see Alice Springs airport on the way out. The Wind blew most of the day. The landscape was quite nice with red hills and ranges (not as spectular as Alice Springs). But at least it was not dead flat. Passed a couple of rest areas and the Finke River rest area was quite large (for future reference). Got fuel at Erldunda Roadhouse (180kms south of Alice Springs - $1.94/ltr) then headed West to move on closer to Uluru to stay at Mt. Ebenezer Roadhouse (with power for the heater). However, when we got there it was closed : no fuel, no toilets, no shop, no caravan park. Another couple had just arrived and found the same thing, they were heading out from Uluru. They didn't want to travel any further. We thought about going an extra 40kms to the next rest area (and it was 60km back the other way), but it was getting late and we wanted to get off the road, even though we didn't see any kangaroos, there was a road sign warning of camels and we certainly didn't want to hit one of those in the twilight. Anyway this road house had had a caravan park at the back, a store and bbq facilities in the front and motel units to the other side (all closed). The couple backed in their van in front of the motel units, so we did the same and then another couple who'd just pulled up did the same. Safety in numbers. Even though it was just off the road behind some trees, it was private property of the roadhouse and so we all didn't feel totally relaxed about it. But we all agreed that we were potential paying customers with no-where to go late in the afternoon and that was our excuse. We are fairly sure there was someone living in the house behind the roadhouse and in another house behind us and a car drove in to the back, but no-one came to move us on. There was a generator going all the while and cows mooing and a 'for sale' sign across the road for the Mt. Ebenezer Station, so I guess it is all part of the same place. We chatted with the other two couples (Warner and Bonnie; and Margaret and Alwyn) for quite a while, took photos of each other and Geoff again found someone interested in hearing about digital camera operation. Had dinner and rugged up for a cold night.
-1.3 degrees and no heating- quite a cool night, brrrr. We said good-bye to our fellow squatters and headed for Uluru. On the way we saw Mt. Connor, higher and older than Uluru. We stopped at the lookout/overnight camp and walked up a red sand track across the road to get a higher view. When we got up there on the over side was this huge salt lake, it was just stunning. We were the first ones up there for the day, there was only our tracks and a multitude of dingo tracks and, what I first thought to be, puppy tracks alongside the dingo tracks, but was probably marsupial tracks - I wonder it they got away . Travelled on towards Uluru, taking heaps of phots of the first sighting and stopped in at Curtain Springs Homestead. We booked in for a powered site on Thursday ($25) for our return after two nights at Yulara/Uluru. Petrol there was $2.30/ltr. After taking heaps of blurred photos of the first sighting of Uluru, we arrived at Yulara campground around 11.30am and they had no powered sites left - so another cold night tonight. We booked a powered site for tomorrow night. Settled into our red dust site and headed out to Uluru. Geoff wanted to climb, but UNFORTUNATELY (phew) it was closed due to strong winds on the summit. Did the Mala walk, then drove around the rock to another site which is good for the sunrise (we beat the crowds by going there just before sunset - don't know what all the fuss is about - ha ha). Anyway we still saw the Olgas (Kata Tjuta) and Uluru together in the one shot - will be stunning at sunrise if we make it back early enough tomorrow. All the car parks in the National park are huge, and the Uluru sunset car park caters for around 140 cars, but stopping areas are very restricted and they have separate bus and car parks. It's just like peak hour when the sun has set with everyone heading back to their accommodation. Mala walk and sunset on Uluru were both beautiful. Will head to Kata Tjuta tomorrow (campsite : $36 unpowered, $41 powered- amenities below average, only warm water in showers, old)(National Park 3 day pass $25pp).
-1 degree last night, so cold we didn't get out of bed to see the sun rise over Uluru. Amenities closed for cleaning - AT 8AM!! Went to the others and, hooray hot water. We finally got our powered site for the night which was a better spot, backed on to red sand dunes. Did a quick walk and when we got to the top, low and behold, there was Uluru in front of us and Kata Tjuka (Olgas) on the right of us. This will be the spot for sunrise tomorrow morning. By the way the red sand is simply stunning and not as messy as red dust. As it was sand there was very little dust in the campground. Went to the Olgas today (Kata Tjuta) 48kms from the Park Entry. As we got a late start we decided, to be able to get to the sunset look-out that we'd do the small lookout and then the Walpa Gorge, but when get got to the first lookout, it was OK, but the serious and most beautiful part was the 2nd look out through a gorge and up. It meant getting back later (about 5pm) but decided to do the Walpa Gorge walk anyway. We are glad we did. Being late afternoon one side of the gorge reflected the light onto the other side and the colours were magnificant. We decided this was nice so didn't hurry back, so when the paparazzi look at their photos closely of their sunset photos they'll see Geoff and I in the photos. By the time we got down and drove around to the sunset viewing area the colours had gone, but we got some good shots of it purple - but not regrets the gorge was lovely. Of the hundreds at the viewing area, only 3 remained to get some nighttime shots - photographers who knew their stuff - but again Geoff talked to them about Cannon hack and how our little camera can do magical things and they were suitably impressed. My the time we left it was dark and the park closes at 7.30pm and we had 48kms to get to the entrance (which I realised shortly after that there was no boom gate so we wouldn't have got locked in). We were very careful looking out for kangaroos but all was good. First night with a heater - comfortable at last.
Don't care how cold it was last night - we were WARM. Got up to do the sunrise thing and got our photos - it was freezing but worth it. Packed up the van, had a HOT shower and went to IGA to buy stuff. Given that there is a resort in the middle of the desert, they've done a good job of blending in. The 'township' has a post office, police station, fire station, medical centre, 5 hotels/apartments and a small town square in a circular design. In the middle is around 20 acres of natural desert bush/vegetation. No green lawns or introduced species - all natural. With our van in tow we headed for Uluru as the wind had died down and the climb had been closed for 2 days - it was open. Geoff planned to climb and I planned to do a flat walk, but after he left I thought I'd just go up about 100mtrs up and wait. That was steep enough, but then I thought I'll just go up a little further and meet Geoff on his way down. I went a little further, then a little further, then reached the top of the chains, had a rest for a while then started walking again and met Geoff about three quarters of the way up, then went up to the top. There's still life in the old girl get. It's not for the feint hearted and is not just a nice little climb - about 35 people have died on the climb over the years. The view from the top is wonderful and a full view of the Olgas is an added bonus. Chatted to people on the way up and on the way down. After re-assuring Kristi and Glen that we had survived, we left for Curtin Springs station where we had booked a powered site on the way through a few days ago. It has free un-powered camps, just a big area with a few trees and $25 powered site (of which there were only 6), plus $3.00 for a shower. Bit rich seeing as we were already paying $25 for just power. Only one tap at the back of the very old tin shed loos. Again, great for a free camp, but not when you are paying $25. Enough said. We had power so another warm night. Stats : (IGA not astronomically expensive, Shell servo $1.99/ltr)
In the morning, before we left Curtain Springs station, (fuel $2.30/ltr but we didn't fill up there) we met the local emu and looked at the bird aviaries with different kinds of parrot, cockatiels and cockies. Stopped at the Mt. Connor lookout again to collect some red centre sand (not allowed to do that in the National park) and continued back to the Stuart/Lassiter highways intersection at Erldunda for fuel ($1.93/ltr) and a last chance to send emails. (240km from Uluru to Erldunda) You can feel in the middle of nowhere until you come to a roadhouse and it's a queue for the fuel, loos, etc. We were glad to get back to the Stuart Hwy. Even though there were very few road trains, the Lassiter Hwy is narrower so a little less wriggle room when passing or being overtaken. The landscape changed as we moved south on the Stuart Hwy to more scrubby land and then some rocky outcrops appeared as we got further down the highway. As we got a late start we stopped at Kulgera Roadhouse which had a caravan park - next powered site would have been about 200km further south. Kulgera Roadhouse is just that, a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere which looked like a very remote, little dive of a place when we pulled up, but it had very good customer service with some take-away, tourist sales and nice little pub attached. They had powered sites so we booked in. Only a few vans there when we arrived at 2.30pm but by 4pm the place was packed with about 30 vans. Lots of camps with families also. Tomorrow we head for Coober Pedy about 400km away. (Today's stats : fuel $1.95/ltr, powered site $20 with reasonably good amenities (and a pool!) - much better value than last night). The nights have been a little milder, but still around the 5 degrees. Nothing to see here except an airfield across the highway which Geoff checked out of course. It's been another sunny and mild to warmish day.
This is getting boring - another freezing night another sunny (but cold) day. Today we head for Coober Pedy and the vegetation continues to change to very scrubby, barren land. Seems like overgrazing over the years. We have seen many wedge-tail eagles on roadkill - interesting to see them up close and are often perched on the only high things around a 3mtr burnt out tree or a sand dune ridge. Got a couple of photos, but you need to be quick so some are blurred. Also saw many dumped stripped cars along the way. Have seen loads of Zebra Finches, usually around the smaller mulga bushes and we saw nests the size of two fists hanging from trees. Thought these might have been the finches nests - either that or giant inspect nests so we decided not to poke it with a stick to find out, ha ha. Came across a trailer which had overturned after loosing a wheel bearing. Luckily the car, which had done a 180 degree spin, stayed upright (a Statesman which had some weight). They were a couple of concreting contractors who had to be in Victoria by Monday (I doubt it they would make it even if they didn't have the mishap). A mum with 3 young children who had camped beside us last night, had just been overtaken by the trailer as it overturned so the outcome could have been quite different. She was blinded by the dust as the car and trailer spun. This trailer had overtaken up about 10 minutes earlier. Anyway, in the middle of no-where there were 6 assorted vehicles who stopped, Geoff gave them GPS co-ordinates, others had straps and pullies to upturn the trailer and get it off the road, yet another had a satellite phone and no-one was injured. The lady and her kids ended up staying at the same place as us at Coober Pedy. Oh, yes Coober Pedy - the landscape changes about 35kms out, all you see for miles is mullock mounds - 1 to 50 mtrs high - a blight on the landscape, but certainly something to see. Stopped at Riba's caravan park. Their mine visit was interesting but not really worth $22 each. (Stats : Marla fuel $1.77/ltr, $25pwr/night did not stay, large roadhouse with small supermarket)(Coober Pedy - Riba's caravan park, clean amenities but very basic, no trough in laundry just machines - $28pn for powered site (covered by shadmesh)(They also have underground camping sites.)
First cloudy day for 4 weeks. Went into Coober Pedy to see the town. A bit more structured (and civilised?) than I expected. I didn't see any rednecks on backs of trucks shooting off their rifles. It even has an IGA and another supermarket. Many of the places in town are actually underground, with entry from the side of the hill. Went to three opal places, all had heritage information for free, one of which had quite an extensive display of the geology, aboriginal cultural, ancient dinasour history and of course opals and an opal shop at the end of the tunnels. This was much more interesting (and free) than the mine tour where the guy just talked and there was a few implements. Went up to the highest lookout over the town, visiting the noodling area (fossicking) where you can fossick (but as most people know, don't dare go on to anyone's claim). Of course you really couldn't do this accidentally as the town is no longer an active mining area and the opal fields are clearly marked at different access points and plenty of safety signage - I guess they learned the hard way. At the fossicking area we saw Zara and her kids again (the 7yo) and we'd just wave out and talk as if we knew each other. We then drove along the Oodnadatta road for 15kms and turned at the Dog Fence (erected to keep out all vermin, but mainly Dingos today, as we know it didn't work for rabbits.) It is 5,400km long. Anyway we headed back north for anothert 14th on a very good dirt road and came to the Breakaways, a smallish mountain range which had erroded over millions of years. The colours/ochres were white/yellow/orange and very beautiful, often it looked like a moon-scape. It is a reserve and protected and an aboriginal sacred site, so what took nature billions of years to wear away the original landscape, it took opal miners less than 100 years in the other areas around Coober Pedy - all for something pretty, not even justifying by saying it is for energy. Took our heaps of photos again and sent back in to town as it was 1.5 hrs to sunset. Visited the local underground catholic church. It was just simple and beautiful. I crossed myself on entering so I didn't feel like a tourist, but still took photos (they do encourage people to visit). We didn't get to the Serbian church which is supposed to be very beautiful. Coober Pedy has traditionally been populated by a diverse range of nationalities and had a smaller, but good range of international foods to rival that supermarket in Glenroy Road. Found a range of petrol prices (Mobil 163.9; Caltex Roadhouse - the main one the tourists go to 161.9; and BP 155.9). Due to some cloud cover there was a magnificant sunset. We didn't stay to watch the sunset on the Breakways as I didn't fancy travelling 30kms back into town much of it on a dirt road in the dark, although there were people arriving with chairs to do just that.
Started sunny, then clouded over as we headed south - bit like when we'd go to Torquay for the holidays. Our wildlife tally for today was one fox crossing the highway, heaps of finches (feeding from the tank water drips and sitting on the fence), one roadkill pig and a number of emus. The rest area we stopped at had rubbish everywhere. I'm not being discriminatory here, but I'd bet the sheep station that it's not the Grey Nomads. Unfortunately, they'll eventually close these overnight stops and the people who suffer will be those who don't make the mess. From observation most Grey Nomads are clean, tidy, use bins or take their rubbish with them and often leave it cleaner then when they arrived. And given that most of them stop and have a cuppa, it's not them that throw all the drink bottles and cans around. What's really bad is all the toilet paper laying around and this stop has toilets!!!! Enough grumbles. Geoff finally found a place to stop at one of the many radio towers so he got his fix. Vegetation was bare for most of the trip and bushed up a little again. We made a note and took a picture of when we passed the nearest point to the Woomera Restricted Area some days ago. Well today we found that the highway goes right through it. Also interesting is a stretch of road which also doubles as the emergency RFDS landing strip with stripped thresholds and all. The road seemed smoother and it was wider with no white markers. Decided to stop early today (we'd only done 260kms) at Glendambo. Caravan park behind the pub. When Geoff and I went for a walk we came across the lady (Zara) and the 3 boys again . Her headlight had blown and the new one wasn't working. A guy was trying to help but couldn't so Geoff got his multimeter and then dropped one of her fuses. She (Zara) got one out and she dropped it also. After going to the petrol station to buy one (wrong size) then back again, there was no solution. She still had high beam and decided to head to Woomera 114km away and hoped she'd get there before dark. So we had seen this family 4 days in a row. They had been on the road for 6 months (I don't think I'd have the patience to do that for 6 months, in a tent, with a 2yo, a 7yo and 10yo. Stats : fuel BP $1.71, powered site $20.50 which we got (unpowered $16.50). Tank water only, huge area behind pub, all gravel. Reasonable amenities.
Vegetation changed from small clumpy bushes to virtually nothing across bare plains, then sand dunes. Geoff was happy he saw another train. More kangaroo roadkill on this stretch. Stopped at Lake Hart salt lake, looks full of water from the lookout, but when you walk on it the salt goes way out, quite spectactular. Stopped at another lookout to view Island Lagoon, a huge salt lake (these are only a fraction of the size of Lake Eyre). Arrived at Woomera and Geoff went to the museum where they have rockets, planes, etc. Turns out Lake Hart was the site of a first rocket launch. The town is eerily quiet with the only traffic you see is the tourists to the museum. Down all the streets seems empty, but then we saw one or two cars. The town reminds me of Olympic Village in Heidelberg, maybe because it's all low-rise, architecture everywhere is very similar. It's seen better days (obviously when firing rockets was popular and the Yanks had some input into its set-up) and the information board I bet has been there for 30 years, so too the caravan park. It is run well and amenities clean, but camp kitchen, bbq, all old and yuk. ($25pn good value, pwr, water and sullage to site, laundry trough, drive-through sites, gravel, the occasional tree).
Forgot to mention it was a wonderful sunset last night right on the horizon. Also Woomera now has only 100 people but the town had catered for 6,000 in its heyday, so more than half the houses are empty. That explains the ghost town feel. Today started clear but got cloudy as we headed for Port Augusta. Another very ho-hum trip, but the vegetation changed from Gibber Plains to empty lakes to red sand dunes and more Mulga (some of which can be up to 1,000 years old). We've learned a little about the outback vegetation, funny how it seems more interesting when you know more. Occasionally Geoff would look around and verr a little, but I told him it wasn't a good idea to do that when there was a road train with explosives approaching! There is a bit more road kill and we saw more dead cows than kangaroos. (My only memories of Port Augusta was a pipeline, a take-away shop where we bought an ice-cream and kept going, obviously we didn't go to the town itself). Port Augusta is quite a nice town, with old ports, old buildings, foreshore areas and an Arid Zone Botanitcal Gardens with a groovy sundial thingy and the gardens which back on to the upper reaches of Spence Gulf, with it's red cliffs and backdrop of the Flinders Ranges. Did our shopping, went to Westpac (as Woomera Westpac couldn't help us) and fueled up and went to a lookout and by that time it was dark. We need to make the most of everything as, except for Broken Hill, it will be back into the outback until we get closer to Brisbane from the west.
Left Port Augusta and did a divert to Quorn, which is on the way to the Flinders Ranges (which we'll do in more detail on another trip). We found the caravan park at Quorn where Geoff and I stayed about 37 years ago in a tent. It's a lovely old grain town, lots of old stone buildings. After a quick walk we headed back to our original route which was towards Broken Hill. Just before Orroroo we stopped at the 'Big Gum Tree', a huge Eurcalypt - River Red Gum with a 10.9 metre girth - it was huuuuuuge. Went through Orroroo which has public toilets in an old heritage building with curtains on the toilet door and HOT water in the band basin, very civilised. Moved on to Peterborough, an old town, but larger and Geoff went to the Motorcycle Museum. We have missed quite a few photo opportunities by not getting to the camera quick enough, one of which was the sign that said “Road Closed” and placed just in front of a huge pile of tar road slabs (you had to be there!). As time was getting on we decided to stop at Yunta, a truck stop about 200km short of Broken Hill and the only place to get power for the night and the last loo for 200km. I was thinking I hope we get there before it fills with other vans as we wouldn't be there until 4.30pm and didn't want to drive when the 'roos and moos are around. No problem, we were the only ones there. Our exclusive camp site was directly behind the roadhouse work shop and the power was connected inside their shed. I think one more van pulled in later. A lot different from the hoardes of vans encountered when we are some 400km between places - this is, after all, only 200kms from anywhere. Anyway, we are not far from the truck fill up bowser, turns out there is a light directly above the van and across the road is the railway line as we found out when a freight train rumbled through and the van shook. We didn't photograph this one, but we have every other train we have seen (and videoed as well). Surprisingly the fuel dropped in price down to around $1.349 in the small towns we went through today, much cheaper than Port Augusta. Even at this road house the fuel is only $1.349, a bit different from the Mt. Ebendezer roadhouse at $2.50/ltr). I wonder if South Australia has cheaper fuel than Brisbane? (Stats : fuel $1.349/ltr, $20pn pwr site, clean toilet and shower (used by truck stop users also, no drinking water). Calls itself a caravan park, but just a gravel area to the side of the truck stop.
Minus 2 degrees last night, no water in the loo or hand basins as the pipes had frozen, there was ice on the car and in the sink waste bucket under the van. Beautiful sunny morning. We were on the road by 8am because it was warmer and so far still no clouds. Headed east towards Broken Hill. On the way we saw a large flock of cockatoos bunched together, sitting on a stony pullover, presumably to get warm from the stones. There was still ice on roadside rubbish. We saw railway workers pulling up the railway line (had to get a photo of the line, if not the train) and a few emus, one of which was walking along the side of the road. Had to pull over for a truck with a very wide load which took up both lanes. Eventually got to the S.A./N.S.W. border. Not as grand as going from N.T. to S.A., just a little plaque on a cairn and a sign next to the cafe. Strange thing is, it's right in the middle of a town. Wonder if half the town is in South Australia and the other half in New South Wales. Eventually arrived at Broken Hill and booked into a caravan park (after going to the info centre and borrowing a couple of Lavender flowers from their front garden). Picked out the sights we wanted to see and headed out. First stop was the Jack Absolom Gallery (famous painter, author and Australian traveller/explorer/adventurer). The gallery is in a home and you go to the front door and ring the bell if it is locked. The gallery is quite big with a lovely stained glass entry. He has, what they say, is the best collection of opal in the southern hemisphere - absolutely stunning, including opalised fossil shells. The collection is in a huge case made of polished W.A. Jarrah. Jack was there, dressed in trackies and jumper. What a character. He said hello and I recognised him even though he's 80-something now. Geoff, bigmouth, saw a portrait of Jack on the wall and asked him how you paint a self portrait and that it didn't look like Jack's style of painting. Jack said, I didn't paint that, it was painted by someone else for the Archibald prize. Geoff said, I don't know anything about painting and Jack said, as he put his hand on his should, “I can see that”. He is a very no-nonsense person. I asked (as most people do) if he still paints and he said emphadically, yes, and he's only been home 14 days from a 2 month trip near Alice Springs. I said, yes it's a bit cold there now and he said, not really you just get a big camp fire going. Turns out the opal collection all was mined by him and some pieces he said he mined when he was 12 years old. Thankfully Kristi rang Geoff about some technical thing and he went outside, preventing him from putting any further feet in his mouth. Jack went into another room and I selected a lovely print of his original painting “The White Bull” (the $15,000 for the original hanging on the wall was in my other pocket so alas the print would have to do) and two postcard size prints of West McDonnell Ranges (Mt. Sonder) near Alice Springs and the Breakaways at Coober Pedy, both of which we'd been to on this trip. The larger print, “The White Bull” I wanted to know about so I asked the lady who came to the till (presumably his wife - also no-nonsense) was there a story behind the painting or where was it painted. She just said “I don't know” and shrugged her shoulders. Hmmmm. By that stage there were 6 other people in the gallery and I was hoping Jack would come back out so I could ask him as I'd really like some background to the painting. We hung around for a while, then I sent Geoff out to play on his phone. I hung around a little longer then gave up. I got into the car and then said, I'm going back. Went back inside and there was Jack again, so I waited till he'd finished talking and then asked him what location is it and is there a story to it. “Of course there's a story to it….it's the Sturt desert plains which gave the explorers so much problems and the figure in the painting is Captain Starlight and the White Bull…..here” and he gave me a printed sheet “I had these printed because I couldn't be bothered telling everyone the story when they asked”. What a hoot, I was happy I'd got the story (albeit in writing) handed to me by the painter himself. With only a few hours left of daylight we went to a couple of old mines. (Better than Mt. Isa where there is nothing to see except a poppet head and an underground tour next to the info centre). These old mines at Broken Hill (as opposed to the still operating ones) had been huge operating mines from 1890's onwards and there was plenty of information on them, terrific views from one to another and you could walk around the Junction Mine and see all the equipment, with interpretive signage. Ran out of time to do anything else except get potatoes for Geoff's chips. Tomorrow we'll see more. For our reference later : Caravan park looked a little dodgy with no signage whatsoever except one of those little blue signs you see on the main streets directing you. Anyway it has fuel, a little shop with take-away (wonder how they make any money with no signage), clean amenities and a concrete slab on the site [backed on to a cabin], laundry trough, all that we needed so we were quite comfortable.)(Petrol $1.469 without a fuel voucher - obviously NSW is dearer than S.A. or the prices have just gone up for the week-end, as the roadhouse in the middle of no-where, where we stayed last night, was aroun 10c/ltr cheaper - Caravan site $25pn pwr)
More sightseeing today. Firstly went to an out of the way place on top of a rise, White Cliffs Reserve. Turns out this was the site of a gun battle between police and two Turkish sympathisers who had attacked the picnic train on it's way from Broken Hill to Silverton on New Year's Day, 1915. One was a local ice-cream vendor and one a local butcher. They killed four people. The only World War I fighting (and fatalities) on Australian soil. Didn't get a chance to visit the Pro Hart Gallery but headed out to Silverton, 25kms north. It is an old silver mining town. Lots of old preserved buildings, the old goal museum, the old school museum, a few churches still intact and a few ruins. There used to be 11 pubs, 2 breweries and heaps of other things servicing over 600 residents. Its heyday lasted only about 40 years before decline set in and during that time it was declared a Town, then a Municipality, back to just a Town and they built their own railway to the S.A. border as the N.S.W. govt. wouldn't come to the party. Now there are 52 residents. The only pub remaining is the Silverton Hotel and the setting for movies such as Mad Max II, A Town Like Alice, Razorback (if you remember gory, B-grade Aussie movies) and many more that I recalled. Lots of memorabillia inside and it still has some of the cars from the Mad Max movie outside. There are 2 cafes, 2 galleries and an opal shop, but that's just about it for commercialism. It is a huge area with wide streets and everyone just wanders through the dusty streets. Had lunch behind the old Court House and went another 5km to Mundi Mundi Plains lookout. This is where you come from rolling hills up a crest and at the top you overlook thousands of square kms of flat plains. This is the spot where you can see the curviture of the earth - very impressive. Would have made a great sunset shot but that was a few hours away. Came down the hill to find the road turned sharp right and followed the base of the hills around to the reservoir (water supply for Broken Hill and surrounds). Coming from absolutely no trees to arrive at the base of the reservoir with giant river red gums was a big surprise. We've seen very few Eucalypt trees since Alice Springs, let alone huge ones. Drove into the road leading to the pumping station as there was a Steam Museum. I stayed outside marvelling at the Eucalypts and the line of lemon and orange trees all in fruit (I may have picked a lemon and an orange, shhhh), along the driveway (we are supposed to be in the desert). Obviously there is some controlled watering here, given the dam wall is just behind. Went up to the top of the dam wall to view the reservoir which was very nice and totally out of character for the region. The only water we have seen over most of our trip (about 5,000km) has been via bores and permanent water holes. All the rivers are dry. Headed back to Broken Hill and saw the emus we saw coming in - again I didn't get my camera out in time. Back at Broken Hill the Riddiford Arboretum we had looked for, turned out to be across the road from the shopping centre so we did a quick walk through just before sunset. All in all, a most enjoyable day. This was only a 60km round trip, a bit shorter than the 490km round trip to Uluru. Oh and by the way, WE decided that the 600km round trip to Maree to do the Lake Eyre flight was a bit much. We could have flown from here at Broken Hill but the cost was $940 each - a bit out of our budget. We decided to eat out tonight, probably the RSL or one of the clubs, but then neither of us wanted a late night, and didn't know where the clubs were so we decided on a quick take-away on the way back to the caravan park -Maybe a nice country style juicy hamburger or fish 'n chips. We trowled the streets looking for the little shops with blinking bulb lights around their verandahs with bunches of cars parked out front or maybe a whiff of solid cooking fat that smells so nice - but nothing. Couldn't find Red Rooster or KFC on the internet. Then we saw Hungry Jacks - ah well maybe next time. At the caravan park it turns out that the they have bowsers but no petrol and the take-away shop has no take-away. I think the lady prepares stuff for the people staying in the cabins, who obviously work at the mines (out during the day, leave at 6.30am, drive utes with orange flags). The guy living in the van up from us is a road train driver who drives from Broken Hill to Wentworth and return (north west of Mildura) 170km on dirt road, 5 days on, 5 days off. His wife and kids were meeting him here for the week-end. He says to be careful if driving on that road because there are heaps of road trains, 3 and 4 trailers at a time. We are not going that way anyway, thank goodness. Tomorrow we'll be heading back into the outback with only 1,500kms to home. Next stop Wilcannia.
Left Broken Hill into a headwind, so our fuel consumption will take a battering today. Passed the time zone change some 40km east of Broken Hill even though that's about 100km inside N.S.W. Saw more emus along the way. There are a lot more water holes and Eucalypt trees. The vegetation changed a couple of times from open plains to a series of hills (mainly sand dunes) with Mulga scrub and smaller plants and back again. Arrived at Wilcannia (195kms from Broken Hill) only having passed one sign of civilisation - a roadhouse). Wilcannia is a strange place, a bit forgotten. Some really nice old stone buildings of yesteryear, some of which are just derelict. We saw an old rundown building which had a supermarket sign and an IGA sign whited out. Was it operating? It was Sunday, so maybe it was just closed, but it was boarded up with metal screenings as did another shop which also looked closed down for good. Is there a vandal problem here? Stopped at the park near some other travellers and their vans. The park backs on to the major river, The Darling. The first river we have seen in 6,000km which has water in it. Wilcannia used to be an old river port, but there is not much going on now. It gives you that 'Deliverance' feel. All that was open was the Liberty Fuel ($1.589), but found later, after we filled up, a BP tucked around the back on a dirt road 10c/ltr cheaper, hmmm. Heading out of Wilcannia there were wetlands and the creek had water in it. Along the way there were heaps of goats, some of them grazing beside the road. We changed drivers just out of Wilcannia. As we travelled closer to Cobar (453kms from Broken Hill) it became more treed. We were passed by about 5 road-trains (triples), but the highway was wide enough. Our only incident was a sheep running across the road ahead of us, followed by her lamb, but luckily she was far enough ahead for me to slow down and brake gently, but for a matter of 5 seconds it could have been a different story. Arrived at Cobar at about 4.15pm and the sun was low in the sky. Put the van on the site and went to see the sights. The information centre is based in this magnificant building which used to be the administration buiding for the mine back last century. The lady was still there after closing and gave us a bundle of info, so as the sun set we headed for the viewing lookout over the opencut mine. The sun had set but hopefully the photos come out. It's quite large as a hole in the ground, just not sure how big it is compared with other open cut mines. By the way it is mainly copper mining. Geoff found his potato cake and all was good. Tomorrow we'll see the rest of Cobar. (Stats: fuel at Cobar Caltex $1.539; caravan park $32pn pwr - much more than anywhere else - captive audience. Nice big concrete sites with wide expense of green grass between sites, but amenities ordinary (small, not enough for the huge no. of people, basins only no benches to put your stuff on, stainless steel showers for easy cleaning-but they weren't particularly clean), and you had to pay for your bbq in the camp kitchen which was almost non-existent (tables, power point, bbq - that's it) (we had power so it didn't matter, but those camping have already paid enough)(not value for money). It is a mining town, so is fairly prosperous and active (unlike Wilcannia where it didn't look like anyone cared).
Very mild night last night - we could have stayed at the camp about 60km back (two vans, loos, trees - nice). Did some washing last night and by 2.30am it was almost dry, so brought it in and finished it off with the heater (what else do you do at 2.30am when you are wide awake and can't sleep). Geoff went to the Bureau of Met to see the launching of their weather balloon this morning. Packed up looked at things we missed out on last night. Cobar has a town population of 5,500, shire population of 7000, shire area 44,065 sq kms. Left Cobar and headed north for the first time and aiming for Bourke tonight. We had a very strong headwind, luckily it is only a trip of 170kms. The vegetation become more treed and more normal (other than desert/outback landscape). Bourke is supposed to be the last town before going into the outback and that's why they coin the phrase Back 'o Bourke as anything further west is back o' Bourke. I imagined it to be a dustry outback town, but it is not a lot different from any other town in country N.S.W.. Booked into the Mitchell Caravan Park, sat and had lunch in the sun and stiff breeze deciphering the information mud map then went on the first of a few drives around the area. First stop was the Bourke cemetery viewing gravestones of those long gone, young children struck by epidemics and a picnic tragedy where the horses reared up, the wagon collapsed and 6 young children died. The gravesite of one of the policemen shot and killed by Capt. Starlight the bushranger (and the subject in my Jack Absolom print), the grave of a famous bush poet, someone Brown (I need to check my brochure for his name-apparently not that famous) then, of course, Fred Hollows grave. Marg K, we took a photo for you. As we followed the mud map, we eventually came to wetlands, vast. I always thought Bourke would be very dry, but it is on the Darling River, in fact it becomes the Darling just north of Bourke where about 3 major creeks/rivers diverge into one. We were heading towards Major Mitchell's stockade where he and his party built a stockade out of logs, etc. to protect them from attack from the local indigenous people. After having passed a number of water canals and cotton gins, we realised that the water from the Darling has been diverted into these artificially created wetland and the road we were on is a 4km levee bank. The Darling is a very deep river and very low, hence very steep sides, but from where we were standing with the river to our right about 10-12 metres below us, to our left the water level in the wetlands was about 1 metre below us. We were standing on the levee bank. No wonder they are having problems in the Murray/Darling basin when the Darling at the start is robbed of its water by an industry that has a less than perfect reputation. Apparently the cotton industry has a lot to answer for in many other regions also. Enough protesting. Headed back to Bourke, checked out the old wharf, but missed the sunset as we were on the wrong side of the river. We'll do the other trips tomorrow.
Another mild night and rained a little. Woke to a cloudy day. We decided to stay another night and finish off the mud map tours today. The caravan park is quite nice. Average size, with sites around the perimeter and a large rectangular lawn area and bbq in the middle. It is fairly treed and our site is quite nice and a little grassy - unfortunately we don't need the trees, just the sun of which we won't get much today. Sites are quite wide and there is an open feel, not cramped at all. Amenities are relatively clean, but have seen much better days and they haven't quite got the physics of water drainage right. $26pn pwr. Went for our first drive to the old weir and lock on the Darling River, for the paddlesteamers of times gone by. Lots of water birds. Just as we got back on to the sealed road, it started to rain and we went back to the wharf and left the car to walk the historic buildings, seeing poets corner celebrating Henry Lawson's time in Bourke and then back to see the Crossley twin cylinder diesel stationary engine (1923) with an explanation before start up - it actually was very quiet. It was still raining as we headed back to our pond for lunch. Our nice grassy site was under water, I was right when I said they didn't understand the physics of water drainage only this was on a grander scale. So instead of having a leisurely lunch and then off again, we were wading in water and had to pull the van out wth a rope on to solid ground otherwise the car rear wheels would have got bogged. The owner was fairly ineffective as he watched us move. Moved to the next site over, which was dry, but as we walked on it realised it was just dirt (mud) covered by fine gravel - mushy. At least it was solid enough for the car to pull out in the morning. In the background the owner was in the street trying to create a bigger channel for the water to drain away into the street and off our grassy site. Oh yes, what we are here for. Went out to do the Maritime Trail and stopped at the 'Back O' Bourke' touristy thing and they said all their unsealed roads were closed so the only thing we could see was the old bridge at Bourke North and luckily we saw the paddlesteamer as it went by. Our Maritime Trail road was now closed so we didn't get to see the other sights such as the wreck of an old paddlesteamer and the billabong where a man drowned, which is also the subject of Henry Lawson's poem, “The Union buries one of its own”. These poets seem to get a lot of inspiration from people drowning in billabongs. The roads to the drive we did yesterday and the one this morning were also now closed, so I guess we were lucky in some way. It actually didn't seem to rain very heavy, just a constant light rain, but even the gutters and every little depression in the town was filled with water, I guess also the town doesn't know anything about the physics of water drainage, however, Bourke is surrounded by a levee bank (a bit like a Roman wall). As can be seem by the marks on the trees by the river, the water level does get up very high, about 15-20 metres. Anyway, after walking across the old bridge and videoing and photographing hundreds of noisy Corellas, flying and nesting and then seeing a group of red-tailed black cockatoos, we visited the airport named after Australia's first female commercial pilot, Nancy Bird Walton. We met a man and his daughter who were heading west to Cameron's Corner (intersection of Queensland/SA/NSW), but they can't get through now for about a week with the roads closed. Their only alternative is 200km south, head west then try and get back up through the desert somehow. So we shouldn't really complain about our little road closure, but they hadn't seen rain for months and all we wanted was just another 2 dry hours. Got fuel and headed back to the van. (Fuel $1.58/ltr) (Caravan park $26pn pwr and connected water - and plenty of other water!)
Woke to a foggy morning, but no rain thankfully. Packing up was a bit muddy. The caravan park had rows and rows of Iceberg roses in bloom and one beautiful yellow rose, so on leaving I thought they needed a little pruning, so I took a cutting of each. We headed east for Brewarrina and then Walgett. Not much happening for the 200km, but the highlights as follows. Marg and Ivan K, we saw an abandoned pram, ha ha. not far from the aboriginal community centre. Spoke to a guy last night who was with a group of walkers, walking from Lightening Ridge to White Cliffs, I think he said about 700kms, well we saw the walkers on our way out today, he was the lucky one in the accompanying vehicle. Took a cotton souvenire from the side of the road, straight out of the cotton flower bud. Whilst concentrating on giving Geoff some lolly jubes and the oncoming road train, I again missed a photo opportunity for an emu standing right on the edge of the road. I'm so glad he has road sense, not like the kangaroos. Stopped at Brewarrina, a small town on the way to Walgett to look at the weir and the aboriginal fish traps. It is a heritage listed site and very impressive. The aboriginals used to place stones in the river, coralling the fish to make them easy to spear. This also dispelled the thought that all aboriginal tribes were nomadic, as this area was obviously occupied constantly. And why wouldn't they, the Darling River here is wide, accessible and plentiful with fish. The road between Brewarrina to Walgett was not really good, with a lot of deepish, very sharp-edged pot-holes. This is section was the last to be sealed a couple of years ago. Arrived at Walgett and went to the local IGA and got fuel. ($1.37/ltr - are we back in Brisbane?!)(back at Brewarrina it had been $1.61/ltr and we had only gone about another 150kms further on to Walgett). Anyway I had remembered from my childhood a poem about a guy in Walgett and a stone but couldn't remember much else. When we pulled into the Apex Park (24hrs camping allowed) we did a circuit of the camping area which was muddy from yesterday's rain and pulled over on the gravel next to a rock with a plaque. It was a plaque celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of a poem by Banjo Paterson, “Been There Before”. It had the full poem written and it was on the rock right next to where we stopped. Amazing how ones memory clicks, as that it all I remembered about a place called Walgett. Went for a walk to the little pond and occasionally saw aeroplanes take off from the airport behind then across the road to the cemetery to look at some old gravestones. I think their answer to weeding is to bulldoze the top layer of soil, leaving only mud/clay across most of the cemetery. By the time we got to the other side were were both taller and our shoes where 10 times heavier than when we started. We were so intent on being able to walk we forgot to take a photo.
It rained last night, but luckily was just drizzling when we packed up. Luckily we chose to stay last night on the gravel instead of the grass area, which was already very spongy. Had a quick breakfast and left the camp by 7.45am, a record for us. Stopped on the way out to look see the airport and then to the local swimming pool where it had a thermal pool at 40 degrees, next door. Opens at 8am and is free, unlike a lot of towns around which charge. Met the guy who looks after about 5 parks in the town and got his life story. We also saw more red-tailed cockatoos across the street to the pool, (and Brewarrina yesterday) they seem to go for the pods on the Desert Ash trees as each of the 3 sightings they were all in the same tree type. The rain got heavier as we got nearer to Moree and as we had internet connection we checked the Bureau's website and Moree was coping it badly which we went into as we got closer. Didn't stop the road trains from overtaking us. The road in many places had water over it so we needed to be careful about aquaplaning, again the trucks didn't care, they just ploughed through. The landscape got more treed and the distance between property signs got less (every 10 or so kms). There are a lot of cotton gins between Walgett and Moree and there are a lot of green crops. Whilst driving through Moree each Christmas for the last 15 years down to Melbourne, I always thought Moree was out west, but coming into Moree from the west this time felt like were we back in civilisation. Summary of today : learned a new word “warrambool” which is used on many of the bridges, I think its like a backwash or billabong to a named creek. We saw another eagle only the first in about 2 weeks, more emus and 2 burnt out cars. Up ahead we weren't sure if someone had broken down, but as we passed we saw all was OK and it was a trailer with lift out sides (like a tradies trailer), it had pink stuff and toy looking things and as we passed, the sign on the back of the trailer said “Clown Wagon”, not something you see in the outback very often. Anyway arrived at Moree, found that the front window was leaking - from somewhere, bought silicone, went to the showgrounds for a powered site and found it very soggy so moved on. The rain was very heavy and decided 41kms out of Moree that we didn't want to be on the road, holding up traffic in the pouring rain with road trains overtaking us, so we pulled into a free stop. One other van pulled up later and we had a chat to him, travelling on his own with a slide-on van. It will be noisy tonight as the trucks are continuous on the Newell Hwy, but we are off the road and the rain has broken. The sun as it sets is peeping through the clouds and is quite beautiful.
Last night was very mild, around 17-19 degrees, but humid from the rain. Stayed on the Newell Hwy as going east then north would have been nicer, but longer and it was time to head straight home. Got fuel at Goondawindi and headed home via Toowoomba on the Gore Hwy instead of staying on the Newell. We chose this route as we hadn't taken this way before, turns out it is around the same distance as staying on the Newell via Warwick and, although it has the descent through the Toowomba Range it is steeper, but shorter distance down than Cunningham's Gap which is longer. We also thought maybe there would be less trucks, but not so. Stopped at Millmerrin for lunch there was a little museum but the lady said it was closed, had the second of only two incidents with a road train. This one overtook us with on-coming traffic and cut us off as he had to come back in. Geoff slowed and pulled to the left so, whilst it was not an accident I believed it was an incident (the fact of which Geoff and I debated for some time after. It started raining again so we knew we were getting closer to Toowoomba. Getting through Toowoomba is fairly direct, but there are about 15-20 traffic lights and heaps of city traffic, including all the trucks passing through. Coming down the range, both lanes were very slow as the huge, long trucks did about 15kms/hr so the large trucks wanted to overtake but they could only do 20-25kms/hr so all the other traffic were behind. It's bumper to bumper but we didn't really want to go any faster anyway. As I said it's not a lot different from Cunningham's Gap, but the descent doesn't last as long. Got down to the Lockyer Valley and as we passed the signs to Murphy's Creek and Grantham I thought of those caught up in those tragic floods. Passed the usual roadhouses and fruit outlets dotted almost all the way to Ipswich. As we passed Redbank I pointed out the direction where I had been working recently at HVAC. At the on-ramp a HVAC ute pulled on immediately in front of us, what a co-incidence and I think I know who was driving. Over 8,000kms and for these two cars to come together exactly, we backed off the let him in, the stars must have been aligned. Anyway, got home just as it started to drizzle, so we had been quite lucky with the weather today. Home safe and sound. (stats : fuel Boggabilla Shell $1.409; Goondawindi BP $1.449; Captains Mountain $1.359; Toowoomba $1.459; Lockyer Valley 1st fuel from Toowoomba Liberty $1.299; $1.27, then got higher coming into Ipswich/Brisbane $140.9. All on the same day.
A lot of driving, over 8,000kms in 6 weeks, saw some wonderful things, had a great time with old friends, have a better understanding of the arid vegetation and saw it change many times, a better understanding of the indigenous population in Alice Springs, fossicked for opal, walked Uluru to the top, walked on a salt lake, talked to a famous painter. Saw eagles and emus close up, saw very few kangaroos (except a lot of dead ones as roadkill), other roadkill we saw was lots of cows, a couple of pigs and couple of goats, the rest were kangaroos. Saw lots of movie locations for films such as Crocodile Dundee's Walkabout Pub at McKinley, Pricilla Queen of the Desert, Mad Max II, Razorback and more just near Broken Hill, Coober Pedy where the film 'Pitch Black' was made (and the spaceship they used), saw the billabong that inspired Banjo Paterson's Waltzing Matilda and the town (Walgett) the subject of his famous poem'Been there Before' and Bourke where Henry Lawson lived for a while.
On the whole didn't have any problems with the road trains (but we were on wide-enough roads most of the time). For the first 5 weeks the nights were minus zero (coldest -2) up to 3 degrees but the days were sunny. Fuel : Dearest fuel we paid was $2.07/ltr, the dearest we saw was $2.30/ltr ($2.50/ltr at a roadhouse that had just closed down) Average in the outback was around $1.95/ltr. Cheapest fuel was just out of Toowoomba in the Lockyer Valley at $1.279/ltr, but in our travels the cheapest was $1.349 at Peterborough a nice town between Port Augusta and Broken Hill. Dearest powered site was $41pn at Yulara resort campground at Uluru ($36 unpowered), best value for money was Kulgera Roadhouse $20pn, pwr, good amenities, a pool (not that we used it). Survived the roadtrains on Friday 13th.
Accompanying photos are mostly Geoff's choices so I think maybe there are a couple reasonable photos which didn't reach here. If you have a special request for any of the locations, please email and we'll add it in.