Woke up and still no wildlife around this place – Not sure
if it is the wildfires, or just a general lack of animals !! Anyway, having walked almost to the swimming
hole the previous night, we saw no reason to do the same 3.4 km walk again, and
decided to go and explore some of the other gorges and water holes. We can’t quite see the point of walking 1/2/3
kms to a water hole for a swim, and then having to walk ALL the way back in the
heat, so by the time you get back to camp, you are hot and sweaty again
!!!! So we went off to search for some
pools that were closer !!
Saturday 27 July 2013
0036 Katherine Gorge to Litchfield NP 26th July
Woke up with a need to find the fuse problem with the
interior lights. As usual during the
night, I had semi solved the problem, and decided that a fuse I had noticed in
the engine bay, on the lead coming off the deep cycle battery, must be the
problem. So rather than diving into the
fuse box located (as usual) in a very inaccessible place down near the pedals
guaranteed to give you a stiff neck, I
looked at this one fuse, and although it wasn’t fused, the terminals were
pretty scummy, and one part of the plastic appeared to have melted. Anyway, dug a spare fuse out of my box of
tricks, and hey presto – All lights working again !! Big grin, and made myself a cup of tea to
celebrate !
0035 Mataranka to Katherine Gorge 25th July
Mataranka Hot Springs really is an amazing oasis in the
middle of nowhere. While we were packing
up, we noticed all these kites flying around just a short distance away, and
when we went over, found a young boy throwing bread in the air, and the kites
were swooping and catching it in mid air. Just an amazing site. The peacock was still wandering around, as
were a number of little wallabies, several with joeys in their pouch.
0034 Banka Banka to Mataranka 24th July
Wind, wind, dust, wind, dust, wind. HORRIBLE morning, with very strong winds
blowing dust everywhere, making breakfast gritty, and packing up very
difficult. We eventually got it done,
and hit the road north to Mataranka Hot Springs.
0033 Alice to Banka Banka Station 23rd july
BORING !!! 650
kms of mostly straight flat road !!
But there were some interesting things along the way, I must admit. We got up quite early, and after showering
and packing the car, we had one of Randal’s special coffees (mmmmm), and then
hit road. 4.5 deg C !!! Thank you SO much Randal and Jo – We have
thoroughly enjoyed your company, your hospitality, your cooking !!! and your
friendship, It is what friends are all
about, and you have made our time in Alice something to remember.
0032 Alice Springs 21 / 22 July
Sunday 21st July.
Nice to sleep in a comfortable bed and have a toilet and
shower nearby !! Got up to be provided with a taco breakfast and delicious
coffee by Randal – What an enjoyable change from creeping out of a warm
sleeping bag into the cold of a camp site !!
After getting some washing organised, Janet and I took off to the local
Sunday markets down in the centre of town. Population is about 30,000, so it is
not exactly an enormous city, but the markets were surprisingly different from
those in Queensland which all seem to be the same parade of face oils, home
made soaps, signs and T shirts, and the standard range of Asian clothes and
artifacts. A lot more Aboriginal arts
here, and lots of interesting food stalls.
We started with a Korean pie type thing, and wandered on down the
mall. A large dedicated didgeridoo shop
that surprised me – Normally they are sold as a sideline in other touristy
shops, so to see a shop that ONLY sold them was novel. As could be guessed from the traffic signs in
multiple languages that I mentioned yesterday, there is a surprisingly large
number of tourists here, both local nomads and overseas ones – Or maybe it is
just that because The Alice is so small, they are more obvious ? Whatever, lots of shops and stands catered to
the tourist with a definite bias towards
a Northern Territory flavour. We also
came across a German Hot Dog stand with beautiful German sausages – Couldn’t go
past that stand empty handed either !!! Yummmmm
!
Sunday 21 July 2013
0031 Ormiston Gorge to Alice Springs July 20th
Woke up in the cool (5 deg) and slowly had breakfast. Went on the Ghost Gum Walk that took us up
the sdes of the Gorge, with spectacular views of the area, and then down into
the gorge itself.
Then back along the
creek bed, climbing over rocks and boulders before ending up at the water hole
(freezing cold water !!!). Amazing
little flowers brought out by recent wet wether, nestling in the most unlikely
spots in rock crevices. We also found out what “Bush Tomatoes” are – tiny weeny
little tomatoes on a bush !!!
Geologically this area is stunning, with folds and faults and everything
else showing the most amazing rock formations.
There is even a case here where there are two totally different types of
rock on top of each other, one of which came from over 2 kms away !!
0030 Palm Valley to Ormiston Gorge JUly 19th
We awoke to a cold but fine morning again, and packed up
over breakfast before heading further up the gorge to Palm Valley itself. This time it got REALLY quite testing for me
as there were several creek crossings, and some steep rock “steps” up which we
had to get the car to climb ! The photos tell part of the story, but suffice it
to say that the 4 km trip took about 40 minutes !!
0029 KIng's Creek Station to Palm Valley 18th July
After a leisurely pack
up, we went in to the reception area to say our farewells and found a small
podi calf lying on the door step ! Turns
out it was orphaned at birth, and its surrogate mother was the girl working in
the shop – so the calf lies on the doorstep until she comes out !! You want to go in, you step over it !! And the cockatoo was just free outside,
climbing in the trees in the yard !! A
lovely camp site with a difference – Chopper rides over the canyon and quad
bike rides if that is your thing. Well
run campsite and interesting property.
0028 Uluru to King's Creek Station July 17th
Up at 6 am as planned, and headed straight out to the
sunrise viewing point for Uluru / Ayers Rock.
Took our cup of tea with us and for about 40 minutes watched the sunrise
behind us, and Uluru slowly light up in front of us. Beautiful
way to spend the morning.
Then we
sprinted round (in Troopie, not on foot !) to the other side of the Rock to
join the Mala cultural tour round the foot of it. This was great, with a very knowledgeable
Ranger telling us the Aboriginal story of the Uluru, its position in their culture,
and its current place in their lives. I
had only ever seen the Rock from a distance before, so found it very awe
inspiring to be up close to it, and learning all about it. While hiking to the top is tolerated, they
ask you not to do so out of deference to the Aboriginal wishes. And as it is so
steep, and there was a high wind blowing, I decided it was not for me.
0027 Marla to Uluru July 16th
Woke up at our normal leisurely time of about 7 am, and by
the time we had breakfasted, packed up, and showered etc (usually all done simultaneously,
I might add !!) and hit the road, it was 9.30.
Another lovely sunny day, and about 7 deg C, so just nice. Last night we had asked the guy in the gas
station about the need for a permit to travel on the dirt track we wanted to
use to get to Ayers Rock, and he said yes we did, and it took about 6 weeks to
obtain. When I questioned him, he said
(rather shortly), if you don’t believe me, go ask the cops. So first stop this morning was the local cop
shop to find out if they knew if we needed a permit to cross Aboriginal lands
if we went in to Uluru on our planned dirt road, but as we were still in South
Australia, and the road was in the Northern Territory, he claimed ignorance and
said he couldn’t help us. Bugger.
0026 Coober Pedy to Marla July 15th
0025 William Creek to Coober Pedy JUly 14th
After the heavy rainstorm last night, it was bit of a wet pack up. Out here just a little water turns everything
to a thick red slippery mud !!
Groundsheet muddy, puddles everywhere, but hey, despite being a bit
squished, we were dry and warm. So what
is there to complain about ? Well, it
was cold with a clear sky when Janet went off to the shower, and when she
returned 15 minutes later dry, with a miserable look of her face, saying “I got
completely undressed and then found there was no hot water in that shower, so I
give up”. Not a happy camper !!! So we breakfasted and packed up, and hit the
road, hoping that the rain had not turn the Oodnadatta track to mud. Fortunately it was not too bad, and it
turned out the rain was very localised, and after about 15 minutes, there
wasn’t much sign of any rain.
0024 Marree to William Creek July 13th.
Janet woke first and set off on her flight over Lake Eyre,
while I eventually roused myself and started to pack up everything so we would
be ready for off when she returned. She
said it had been incredible – Seeing the vastness of the land from up there it
looked just like the dot paintings done by Aborigines !! We soon got away, up the usual straight dirt
road with not a lot to look at. I think
it was an hour before we saw our first vehicle travelling it either direction
!! Busy road !
0023 Iga Warta to Marree July 12th
Woke up to see the “beauty” of our camp sit at Iga Warta
!! Such a shame, because this could
actually be really nice – Just needs someone to give a damn about the
upkeep. ‘Nuff said.
After a cup of tea with the guys at the shop, we set off
down the dirt road again, heading north to Marree. First of all we passed through Lyndhurst and
Leigh Creek, which is the site of one of the biggest open cut coal mines in
Australia, so all about mining – Thus the earth mover tyres forming a part of
the city sign !! But not exactly the
most enchanting place to live !! At
Lyndhurst we stopped at the pub for lunch and a bit of wifi for the first time
in a week or so. When I worked on the rigs in Moomba in central Australia 30
years ago I had got to know this area quite well, but have to admit I didn’t
seem to remember much about it when I saw it !!! After Lyndhurst it was all pretty boring
straight dirt road, with just the normal due care required to avoid large rocks
or other uneven spots. We eventually
reached Marree where we decided to stop for the night, and this used to be a
main stopping place for the old narrow gauge Ghan train that went from Adelaide
to Alice Springs. However, since the
1980’s when the new wider gauge track was laid all the way through to Darwin,
and which followed a different (and much
shorter) route north, Marree has rapidly become a quaint by product that is
sadly becoming forgotten. Its main claim
to fame now is the Lake Eyre Yacht Club, which since Lake Eyre fills with water
so infrequently, is not exactly the busiest Yacht Club on earth !! But there was water there while we were
visiting, and the previous weekend lots of people had towed their small cats
and dinghy’s from all over Australia to compete in a regatta – Jut to say they
had sailed in the (normally dry) Lake Eyre !!
This is of course the scene in the past of World Land Speed record
attempts, like that of Donald Campbell in Bluebird, so to sail here when there
is water is a sailor’s dream !! I must
admit, seeing lots of yachts being towed down the road in the middle of
Australia was an incongruous sight, to say the least !!
A Stunning sunset that night over the old Ghan station and
engines was a major highlight, along with large numbers of kites )?) circling
above us as the sun went down. And Janet
decided that a flight over Lake Eyre
would be a good thing to do in the morning, so she could see it with water in
it, so went off and booked herself a flight before we turned in for the night.
0022 Arkaroola to Iga Warta July 11th
COLD !!!!! It has
been down around 2-3 deg C most mornings, but this morning we were down below
zero enough for frost to form on the bonnet of Troopie !! Once again I was up, made a cup of tea, and
took off for a hike up along the river bed.
Beautiful morning, with the cockatoos (and noisy crows too,
unfortunately) filling the air with their morning screeches as the sun came
up. Packed up over breakfast (hot
porridge !!), and then set off to explore the local area. There are a lot of
day hikes and mountain bike trails for those spending more time there, but as a
lot of the destinations are also designated 4WD trails, and because Janet’s leg
is still causing her grief and limiting the distance she can walk, we explored
by 4 WD – And had a ball. We took
Troopie (or should it be “Troopie took us”?) up creek beds and through gorges,
and a lot of other places where I never thought I would be driving !! First off was a relatively easy run to The
Pinnacles – 3 large granite volcanic plugs which were quite dramatic –
Especially when we sat on them and were glad we were there today and not 500
million years ago when they were still bubbling !!
Once again, little purple leafed succulent plants sticky
their heads up in the most unlikely places.
Then it was off to Bollabollana spring,
where we drove down a gorge and then parked on the creek bed to walk a
little way to the spring. After that it
was about 40 minutes in another direction to the site of the Bolla Bollana
Smelter, built in the 1850’s, with most of the kiln bricks imported from
Cornwall, along with the labour to run it.
In the middle of NOWHERE, all the equipment was hauled in by bullock
cart some 400 kms from Port Augusta !!
And it seems possible from the analysis that there is a possibility that
no copper was EVER smelted in it !!
Just unbelievable. By 1857 it was
abandoned !!! On leaving the smelter, a
big gang of emus were there to wave us good bye as we set back off up the rough
creek bed.
We occasionally saw “Road Closed” signs, but couldn’t even
see the road that was supposed to be closed !!
Some VERY remote and rough trails and tracks up here ! We then made it back to Arkaroola just in
time for the BEST hamburger – So juicy, and with ALL the Aussie trimmings –
beetroot, fried egg, pineapple – Plus all the normal stuff. We should have shared one between us – But
didn’t !!
After lunch, it was back into Troopie and down the trail to
a lookout over the local Arkaroola Station (ie farm, not railway station !!) from
which vantage point on the top of the hill you could see all the surrounding
hills. Then it was off to the Barraranna
Gorge, which took us on very steep trails past the Jasper Twins (two enormous
rocks), through another Pound (ie ring of hills enclosing a grazing area, used
to hold sheep or cattle safely), and then into the start of this dramatic
gorge. We eventually had to park and
walk a couple of kms up the river bed into the gorge proper, and it was well
worth it. Although the creek beds are
all dry at the moment, you can see from the height of the piles of debris in
the trees how much water CAN flow down when there is a big storm – We are
talking 15 or 20 ft deep through a very wide gorge, and the way the water has
smoothed out the rocks, and carved them, is just unbelievable. By now it was mid afternoon, and we wanted
to get moving up the road, so we set off, past camel signs, on the often
dramatic dirt road to the south west. We
passed though the Italowie Gorge, but couldn’t find the camp site referred to
on our map, so kept going to Neepabunna where a camp site was indicated. Couldn’t find it, and it was obviously an
Aboriginal township, so we went into the Information centre and were told we
actually were not allowed to stop there as it was a reserve !! But they told us that if we went up the road
about 10 kms to “Eagle Waters”, we would be out of the reserve, and there was a
campsite where we could stop. It was
already getting dark, and the roos were starting to come out, so we really
wanted to stop soon. Sure enough, 10 kms
later we came to “Iga Warta” !!! Nothing
to do with Eagle Waters – in fact it means Place of the Orange Tree in the
local Aboriginal dialect !! And the
camp site ???? Well, shall we call it
“interesting” and leave it at that ???
This lovely aboriginal guy Cliff showed us around and told us to pitch
anywhere as the only other tenant was his son !! He then invited us back to his place for a
cup of tea, and to “sit around the fire and chat” !! Well, to pitch the annex I had to kick away a
couple of well chewed (but very recognisable) roo legs, and a spine and few
other bones too !! Went to get water and
none of the taps worked – But the cup of tea was delicious and we sat around
the fire with a few of the family while Tom from Yorkshire who worked there
(don’t ask) played his guitar (Neil Young !! Can’t be bad !). Then it was back off to the boneyard where we
slept like logs after an exhausting and fascinating day of 4WDing in the
bush. A BIG thank you to my son Damien
for getting me to put a 2 inch lift in the suspension of Troopie – Everyone
looked at our car and said, ”Oh with that ground clearance, you can go
anywhere”, and sure enough we did !! Thanks
D – Big hug.
0021 Wilpena to Arkaroola July 10th
Morning was COLD !! 2
deg C. I woke up before sunrise and
left Janet sleeping while I took a hike up to the top of a nearby hill to watch
the sun come up. I made a cup of tea first in my thermal mug, and took that
with me to keep me warm. Lovely walk –
Got to the top and surprised a mob of 5 or 6 ‘Roos who had apparently spent the
night there – Not sure who was more surprised – Them or me !!! But they took off down the hill pretty
quickly. Then stood up on a rock at the
top and watched the sun slowly light up the surrounding countryside as it came
over the hill. I do love dawn – It is a
special time of day. Always reminds me
of the Cat Stevens song – Morning has broken……
0020 Wilpena Pound, July 9th.
Overcast and gloomy when we woke up at Rawnsley Station
campsite, but at least that meant it wasn’t so cold – +8 deg C – That’s warm
!! By the time we had breakfasted,
packed up, and showered, it was 10 am (must find a way to speed that up sometime
!!), and we set off out of the campsite.
We drove just 35 or so kms to the Wilpena Pound Resort to have a look
around and find out what we could do to see the Pound.
Saturday 20 July 2013
0019 Gold Coast to Wilpena Pound
Original plans were to leave on a trip to the bush in
Troopie in late June, heading due west from the Gold Coast, out to Innamincka,
then down the Strezlecki Track down to Wilpena Pound before heading NE to
Coober Pedy and then Ayers Rock, then heading up to Darwin and Kakadu. The purpose of the trip was to ensure that
all the changes I had made to Troopie were working OK, and leaving me a few
months at the end of the year to make any changes or final adjustments. But as usual, things happened at the last
minute to change all the plans, and suddenly my trailer was lent out for a week
just before someone purchased Elsie !!
So the trip was delayed a week, and changed to being a run down south to
Canberra where another Elise buddy was buying my trailer, and to where Elsie’s
new owner had agreed to fly up to from Victoria and he would then drive “his” Elsie
down across the Alps to his home. So we
prepared for an early start south on the Wednesday morning.
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