traveling0z

Sunday 21st June

Today we pack yet another picnic in the esky and head for Standley Chasm and Simpsons Gap - Just Breath taking - the pics will tell the story!!!

We are leaving Alice Springs in the morning and heading North.

The West McDonald Ranges:

Standley Chasm:

Simpsons Gap

A lot of water flows through here during the wet season!!!

Saturday 20th June

Matt takes the girls to the National Transport and Truck museum - they have a fantastic day with all sorts of displays including trucks from 1960's and a couple of Hybrids!!!! 

Caroline stayed back at the van and chased work in Katherine and Darwin (gunna have to stop soon for work :()

Friday 19th June

After watching Dinky perform we head off to Alice Springs.  We arrive around 11am and check into the Top tourist park "Wintersun" for 3 nights.

We head off to visit "The School of the Air" where the girls learn all about how school works in the outback, they watch a lesson take place and see a photo wall of all the 160 kids that are enrolled in the school of the air - they listened carefully to a talk and then we watched a movie!!! they LOVED it and know want to live on a remote cattle station!!!!!! :D.

Thursday 18th June

We sadly leave Yulara and the amazing Red Rocks :(.  We drive north onto "Jim's Place" at Stuarts Well Roadhouse (we free camp here the night) - we set up the van and have dinner, then go over to the roadhouse for a couple of drinks and to wait for Dinky to perform - he doesn't we are told to come in tomorrow at 7.40am, we get in at 8.30am (a bus load of tourist's had arrived) and the girls got to see Dinky perform!!!  what a hoot.

Wednesday 17th June.

We pack the esky and head out to the Olga's (Kata Tjuta - meaning "Many Heads"),  these domes are just fantastic, we did the Walpa Gorge walk and the Valley of the winds walk (most of the Valley of the winds walk - bit far for the girls) words cannot describe these amazing rocks!!!

We head back to Uluru for our picnic lunch, we then do the Lungkata base walk.  Totally AWESOME place!!!!!  Well worth the effort  the girls learn't so much and really appreciated the beauty of the place.

KATA TJUTA (The Olga's)

ULURU

Tuesday 16th June

We left the free camp around 9am, stopped at Kulgera NT for diesel $1.65 per litre :ohmy:.  We then stopped at the Ebenezer roadhouse for a stretch and lunch (thank goodness we don't need diesel as its $1.90 per litre!!!).  We carry onto Crystal Springs were we need more diesel (its such a long drive on the Lasseter Highway to get to the big rock however its so worth it!!) we pay $1.75 per litre at Crystal Springs.   

Kulgera!!!!!

One of the locals at Crystal Springs!!

We get to Yulara and check into the Ayers Rock Resort ($94 for 2 nights and then $25 per adult to get into the national park to see the rock).

We unhook the van and drive straight to Uluru - well its just magnificent much larger than we could of imagined!!! we did the Marla walk and showed the girls the aboriginal paintings - they were amazed. We were amazed at how green the trees were at the base of the rock (all the way around). We did not climb the rock out of respect of the Anangu people (traditional owners). We will come again tomorrow with a picnic lunch as we plan to see the "Olgas" in the morning.

Monday 15th June

We leave Coober Pedy and head for Uluru, we had to stop at Marla for diesel and we paid $1.58 per litre and $3.25 for a litre of milk!!!!  We decide to free camp at no: 71 (the border of NT & SA).  There are about 10 other Vanners here including Evan and his wife Florence (Evan as it happens it a country and western singer and has made a few CD's).  We had a FANTASTIC night sitting around a great camp fire and singing!!!  Even the girls got up and sang a song all by themselves!!!  Awesome night.

Sunday 14th June

We arrive in Coober Pedy around 10.30am, its still REALLY windy and VERY dusty here.  We decide to check into the Family Park $36 for a powered site - no water,  we pay 40cents for 40 litres of water!!!! - we all need showers after free camping, the showers here are 20 cents for 3 minutes.  We leave tomorrow and head towards Uluru.

The township of Coober Pedy:

Underground Shopping anyone??

Saturday 13th June

Left our camp no: 330 and headed north along the Stuart Highway towards Port Augusta.  We stop at Port Augusta and have the one of the tyres on the van repaired (screw in it), we also stock up on groceries, do the laundry and refill the gas bottles.  What an experience Port Augusta was.

The Stuart Higway on the way to camp No: 514

Head for Bon Bon (free camp no: 514 camps 5) on the way we see plenty of Wedge tailed eagles munching on dead roo's.  We have a terrible head wind which is really knocking the fuel economy about so we have to stop at Spuds Roadhouse - Pimba for diesel we pay $1.479 a litre EXTORTION!!! however better safe then sorry.

Sunrise at our free camp No: 514

Friday 12th June

We travel further today (keen to get to the warmer weather :wink:)  We are camping tonight at free camp No: 330 (camps 5) 15k's North of Port Pirie there are a few others here tonight as well.  We travelled via Bordertown, Keith, Tailem Bend, Murray Bridge (we stop here for supplies didn't like the town at all and won't go there ever again!!!), Adelaide.

The sunset at our camp:

And sunrise!!! over the Flinders Ranges: