21st July Saturday
Another cold night. Went into Longreach to library but couldn't upload photos, got a bit of shopping
and heat beads for BBQ then onto swimming pool for not very hot showers, but feel clean. Back at camp sat in sun for a while then went for a walk collecting firewood, our neighbour Jim (originally from Scotland) took his vehicle out to collect some bigger bits of wood. The heat beads we had bought needed firelighters, oops forgot !!! Got the BBQ going using just wood then coals. Big rump steak for dinner tonight enough for the two of us, cost $5 (£3). Eventually had dinner, the steak was lovely, had enough left over for steak sandwich tomorrow, which we put into a container to cool down. Lit fire and sat chatting to Jim and Julie till 10pm, got back to tent to find the steak had gone from the container with the lid on the floor, we think it was a feral cat as we've seen some on site in the evenings, (hope it bloody chokes).
22nd July Sunday
Not so cold last night, sunny day ahead. Went into Longreach to the Stockmans Hall Of Fame to see the show at 11am, it was very busy. The show is led by Luke who tells jokes
and does tricks with his horses, he told us about how camels
played a part in early Oz exploration and when they were of no further use were set free into the bush,(owners could not bring themselves to kill them as ordered), there are over 1 million living in the bush. He had 3 dogs that rounded up a small herd of bullocks, (bullocks have no bollocks according to Luke), then he yoked up 6 bullocks collected a log and then used the strength of them to pull the log up onto a cart.
Whilst yoking them he quoted a poem from the early 1900s that lasted about 10mins wiyhout any notes. It was a brilliant show, worth going to see. Back at camp Colin had a look at the brakes (not stopping) to find the nearside front pipe had 2 small holes in it, so we will not be leaving tomorrow, more repairs. Spent evening round campfire again with Jim and Julie, after we spoke with Natalie and Liz, another great evening.
23rd July Monday
Up and into Longreach with brake pipe, first stop Autopro, they didn't have enough pipe so we went to an engineering shop 2 blocks away, they had enough pipe but nobody to spare to flare the ends, (they use steel here and not copper) so back to Autopro for them to flare the ends, it has taken us nearly 3hours. Colin fitted the pipe and tightened up wheel bearings on front nearside, so back on the road tomorrow. Another BBQ and campfire before turning in. Not a bad day after all.
24th July Tuesday
Eventually left site (why does everybody want to talk when you leaving ?) first stop swimming pool for hot showers, then food shop and fuel, left town 10.30 heading east to Ilfracombe and Barcaldine. Stopped at Ilfracombe to look at some of the Great Machinery Mile, it covers 1km and is made up of machinery, equipement, farm implements, vehicles and wagons from yesteryear,
quirky. Onto Barcaldine our camp for the night at the showgrounds, a bargain $5 per night for a tent. Had a walk into town to look at The Tree Of Knowledge. In 1891 there was a strike by the shearers, the unions wanted to stipulate who could work in the shearing sheds and to work according to union rules. The Tree Of Knowledge became a symbol of that period,
also the Labour party was born. In 2006 the Tree was poisoned, the council received funding from many sources to preserve the Tree and built an architecturally designed memorial, which opened in 2009.
Reading the Heritage Trail signs along the street, it seems a lot of the buildings burnt down and were rebuilt only to burnt down again some years later. The original are characterful and charming. Whilst having dinner there was a rugby training session going on with what looked like under 10s followed by teenagers who were put through their paces.
25th July Wednesday
Warmest night in quite a while. Stopping another night. Woken up to hearhorses galloping past, later saw 2 riders excersing their horses. Sat in the sunshine eating breakfast, just what we needed. Had a walk into town for laundry and treated ourselves to a coffee at the bakery, we were going to upload photos but battery was flat on computer. Strolled back to camp site and relaxed in the sunshine for rest of day. Not feeling so tired now. Rugby training again tonight, the little lads are practising tackling, had a walk round campsite, not much happening but it's lovely and warm.
26th July Thursday
Cloudy start, forecast 25degs, away by 9.15 heading to Blackhall. Either side of road is very green, but also a lot of dead Roo's at side of road. Road surface is not good, back to potholes and corrugations on the bitumen. Stopped at Blackhall and saw the big ram
in Ram Pk, the park
is being set up as a living history of the district, the Ram signifies the importance of the sheep industry for the area. We saw statue of of Jacky Howe
the legendary shearer, he is Australias most famous shearer who shore a record 321 sheep in 7hrs 40mins in 1892. Walked to the memorial park and saw the statue of Leiutenant Turner,
a local man who won the Victoria Cross and Military Cross in WW1. We have noticed all the towns we travel through are very proud of the achievements of their local people. We carried on along the HWay and stopped for lunch just north of Tambo, we were going to stop but decided to drive onto Morven, we made good time despite the many roadworks (the roads were very badly damaged due to the floods over the last couple of years). We arrived at 4pm. Camping at the Rec Ground is $5 per night with power, unbelievable. When sun went down it got very cold very quickly. Colin rang Laurie after dinner to find out how Marion is after her knee operation. She was in a bit of pain last night, they have bandaged her from ankle to thigh and at the time of calling she was trying to get in the bath, keeping the bandage dry, it made us chuckle.
27th July Friday
FRIDAY FACT - The name Australia comes from the Latin Terra Australis Incognito which means the Unknown Southern Land.
Craig's birthday. Very cold night, frost on roof of LRover. Warm weather gear has come out again. Had a walk into Marven which was founded in the 1860's and named after a town in Scotland, it was a stop over point for Cobb and Co. Coaches and Bullocky teams. We visited the Historical Museum, (Colin got a concession from $2 down to $1, every bit helps), it is a small museum but manages to cram in a lot of bygone era bits of bric a brac, old machinery, and Aboriginal artefacts. In a separate building is a miniture display of wooden buildings
as they would have been in the original pioneering days, amazing attention to detail. Outside is a hut made entirely of Kerosene tins
from the 1930s, at that time during the depression it was the only accomodation available. It is a fascinating town. Backat site the sun is out but the wind has got up, several people have lit fires and after dinner we joined one of them, the old boy got out his guitar and sang songs and recited some of his poetry
and told us of his times as a stockmans cook during the 1950s, it was a great evening and gave us a bit more insite into the hard lives of those days before mechanised transport. Into a cold bed with our hats and gloves on.
14th July Saturday
Harry and Ellie 6 today
Phone rang at 7.30 this morning, Natalie for a chat with Colin, really nice to hear from her. Cloudy and not warm. No leaks from LRover. Drove into town for a mooch, it's not very big and for a Saturday not very busy, ended up at a visitor centre, but staff not the most helpful and not a lot there. Mount Isa was founded due to the discovery in 1923 byJohn Campbell Miles of lead ore, Mount Isa Mines was set up and in 1931 smelter operations commenced. In 1943 lead mining ceased in favour of copper mining for WW11 needs, in 1946 it switched back to lead mining and in 1953 both lead and copper mining started. The town grew until 1968 when it was declared a city. There is no mountain in Mount Isa so the town name can't be shortened to Mt Isa. Just after 5pm we Skyped Harry and Ellie to wish them happy birthday, it was really good to see them and see how much they have grown, Harry got some golf clubs, bag and some "golfs"? for birthday and Ellie had a princess dress and a fashion wheel, as usual the connection not very good so in the end we rang them and had a chat. They really seem so grown up. It was lovely to talk and see them, missing them so much. End of another day and time for bed.
15th July Sunday
Packed up and left site
by 9.30 Filled up with fuel then visited the Sunday market, expensive and a lot of jewellery, didn't stay long as very ordinary. Travelling East along Barklay HWay towards Cloncurry. Landscape very green with rolling hills in the distance. The top edge of the clouds are straight along the horizon,
looks like a snow field. Past Cloncurry onto Flinders HWay then turned off onto Landsborough HWay towards McKinlay. The landscape has flattened out and the trees have disappeared for a while, reminded us of the wheatfields in the south. Quite a few military vehicles passed going the other way, some of them were LRovers (the Australian army hasn't got rid of all of them yet Laurie). Arrived at the Walkabout Creek Hotel
at 2.30 approx, our camp for the night, the Hotel is famous for being in the film Crocodile Dundee,
it has memorabilia scattered through the bar area.
McKinlay is named after the explorer John McKinlay who discovered the region. The town has Queensland's smallest library (only opens on Thursday's) to serve a population of 20. Sleeping in LRover tonight, much too windy to put tent up.
16th July Monday
Colin cold in the night, only had light sleeping bag on, Rose was fine (she had all the sleeping bag). Left at 9.15, wind is gusting very hard, there are no trees to stop it, it is coming from the East and we are driving straight into it. On Landsborough HWay to Winton. There are more cows than than there are trees in this part of QLD. We did see a few hills for a while then back to flat scenery, this is really outback QLD. Got to Winton just after lunch and staying at the rear of The North Gregory Hotel for free for 2 nights, will go in for a roast dinner $10 a head, which is cheap. Had a walk into town after erecting tent, it is a town with character, might visit the Waltzing Matilda Centre tomorrow. Wind is gusting, only got 430kms from a tank of fuel as heading into the wind most of the drive. Went to see Helen the entertainer in Happy Hour 5-6pm, she was good, told us the story of how the song Waltzing Matilda came about and sang a couple of different versions. It's tune dates back some 300 years to an Irish tune when an Ozzie changed it into a marching tune in the 1800s, where a young woman was heard humming the tune in front of A. B. "Banjo" Paterson who then wrote the lyrics, Waltzing Matilda was first performed at the original Gregory Hotel in 1895, it is recognised now as the unofficial Australian national anthem. Had roast lamb dinner, our second meal out since leaving Brisbane all those months ago. Time for bed.
17th July Tuesday
Good nights sleep, even though we are in a town it was very quiet. Blue sky and the wind has dropped finally. Saw Helen and bought her CD of the different versions of Waltzing Matilda, with history. Went to library and brought blog and photos up to date. In afternoon just chilled in the afternoon sunshine after deciding not to visit the museum. Arno's wall is just behind the hotel, the property owner who is originally German built the wall of concrete inserting all sorts of metal bits e.g. motorbikes,
sewingmachines, tv's microwave ovens, typewriters,hubcaps even a kitchen sink and other bits of Ozzy eccentricity.
Sat down with our neighbours Ron and Ellie late afternoon till dinner for a great chat. They had left the site in the morning to go south on a dirt track only to find it closed due to the mud. They also told us of a good free camp site near Longreach. Warmer night.
18th July Wednesday
Cloudy this morning and it feels damp. After lovely hot showers left Winton back on the Landsborough (Matilda) HWay east towards Longreach. Weather has not improved, very cloudy and drizzly, so much for being the dry season. Landscape is very flat and open with cattle in the fields. As we got closer to Longreach we are seeing water in the creeks and trees. Arrived at the rest area just about lunchtime, it is situated 4km west of Longreach. It is a flatlarge site but you can see the ruts left by vehicles from a few days ago when they had rain, there are 2 toilet blocks with signs stating you can get hot showers at the local swimming pool for $2.50 bargain. Blue sky is starting to come through as we set up camp, with no wind. Put all bedding out to dry off in the sun. Met a couple of blokes one in a Disco and one in a Range Rover, the guy in the Disco was just finishing off putting a new gearbox in his vehicle, he'd had to be towed from Winton last Saturday, he only got the Gearbox delivered that morning and fitted, by 2pm they were on their way to Brisbane, all credit to them with no assistance of any lifting gear. Lovely sitting in the sunshine for a change talking to the neighbours. We are staying a few days to recharge our batteries as both very tired physically and mentally.
19th July Thursday
Sunny morning, bacon and egg butties for brekkie. Warmed up in the sun before driving into Longreach for a look around, another town with lots of character, bought a few bits and pieces and picked up some info about the town, will look though and see if anything we would like to visit. Sat out in sun rest of day and read, Rose even got sunburnt. as evening drew in it got a lot colder. Spoke to Dee and then Laurie on the phone.
20 July Friday
FRIDAY FACT - WALTZING MATILDA MUSEUM IN WINTON IS THE ONLY MUSEUM IN THE WORLD DEDICATED TO A SONG
Cold night 6 degrees this morning, but sunny. An old Model T Ford
from the Qantas Founders Museum was driven onto site, in 2009 it drove from Longreach to Darwin renacting the original drive in 1919, they give the car a run every Friday. Qantas was founded in Winton in 1921 but soon moved to Longreach where a hangar and the country's first purpose built landing field were constructed, the museum opened in 2002 and is built around the original historic hangar. We have done nothing today.
7 July Saturday
No hats or gloves in bed, definitely warmer. Left site at 8.50am, bakc onto Plenty HWay, just after 10 stopped for coffee having travelled 70km without seeing another vehcile. Continued on for a bit when Colin pulled to side of raod,we have a problem. The spring hangar on the nearside has got detached from the chassis.
Colin managed by using the towing strap and a small strap attached to a ratchet to move the axle forward, then using a hammer and cable ties got the exhaust away from the tyre, after 90 mins when only 2 vehcicles stopped to make sure we were ok, we drove at 25kph to Jervois Station 40 kms east of us, hoping they have welding equipment. Nearly 2 hours later arrived at Staion, booked in and explained the problem to lady owner, she said she would talk to her husband that night when he came in from mustering. Set up camp, we have showers, toilets, drinking water and plenty of food, there is also a payphone. Jervois Station covers over 2700 square kms and they farm beef cows, some of which wander through the camp in the evening, it is also a weather staion for the Bureas of Meteorology.Site soon filled up with campers and also people coming in for fuel (diesel $2.13). Not such a cold evening.
8 July Sunday
Woken by fellow campers up very eraly packing away, even though they din't leave till nearly 9am. Lady owner drove up to tell us that husband should be back this arvo to look at Lrover. We are the only ones left in the camp but lots of vehicles coming for fuel. Colin put his cruffs on and jacked LRover up, he managed to get the spring hangar off and cleaned up, it just needs welding back on :), he checked the offside but that appears to be ok. 6pm and no sign of anyone. After dinner rang Laurie from payphone, and explainednthe problem, it seems Dodzee is in Longreach and was hoping to meet up with us, Laurie had Dodzee on the other phone talking between us, plan is for us to ring Alice to find out cost of recovery from there and Laurie/Dodzee will do the same their end and we will speak tomorrow afternoon to decide what we will do. Rose feels much better knowing that Laurie is there to help us.
9 July Monday
We are getting warm temp 12 deg in LRover. We decided to catch up with writing journal onto computer today and a few other chores. There is nothing to do here. Just after 8am Colin was told he could use the workshop, things are looking up. Colin spent all day making plates for welding, one of the workmen Luke (2 dogs), he had already helped with advice, said he would be back at 6pm to do the welding. There are campers coming in from Tobermory saying they've had rain and road is muddy, later on heard a Road Train had got stuck and a camper trailer gone over, The Plenty is closed at Tobermory. Denise the station owner came over with a weather report, there is more rain coming from the east in a few days and the road is definitely closed, looks like we may have to go back. Spoke to Laurie and he told us if we could get to Mt Isa Dodzee's son Daniel might be able to give the Landrover a once over to make sure everything ok. Luke came and spent a couple of hours welding, it doesn't look pretty but it is strong.
Got back to tent at 9pm and straight to bed, very tiring day. Rang Laurie and told heim we were acktracking and would ring again when we could.
10 July Tuesday
Fellow campers up and away very early, we think one blloke will be going through the closed road. Slowly packed away, Denise came up to tell us road from Tobermory now open so that is where we are heading, rang Laurie and left a message to let him know. Went to settle bill and were charged $150 which we thought was good. Left site heading east, road quite good and firm in places
but then you hit some soft sand, when you get to a crest the views are amazing. We even went through roadworks. Made good time and arrived at Tobermory station
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just after 1pm. The campground closed in 2007 and reopened in May this year, as a duty of care as asked by the authorities, it is a nice site only thing no phone. Road to Boulia is still a bit messy but road via Urandangi to Mt Isa is clear, so hope no more rain. the site does have a noise problem with hundreds of Gallahs and a generator at night but we've got ear plugs. Camp hosts Steph and errol came and sat with us for a while before the rush started and it soon filled up. Lovely hot shower and bed.
11 July Wednesday
Earplugs are a good invention, slept right through. Tent wet due to fog, hopefully won't take too long to lift. Left site just before 10am QLD time. Errol showed us short cut to Urandangi track, the dirt road is very smooth just like the last part of the Plenty. Then Colin found the mudholes, he even managed to get mud on the windscreen, he had fun. Landscape is getting more barren with very few trees. Passing quite aq few cows which move quickly off the road. Stopped at the Dangi Pub for a cuppa and sausage roll, chatting to Pam we were told we were the 3rd vechicle through that day, as we were leaving a Landrover 110 TD5 pulled in so Colin had a bit of a chat. After our muddy adventure the fan has stopped working. Arrived on the bitumen at 2pm and it is 28 degrees, at one stage nearly ran out of trees
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in the landscape, very barren,
on the Diamantin Developmental Road straight into Mt Isa.Found the visitor centre and they gave us a list of caravan parks, we chose Sunset caravan Park and arrived just before 4pm to find only 2 spaces left on unpowered area, beside the creek, booked in for 2 nights. Put up tent and had dinner out of cans, rang Laurie to fill him in on our adventures. Still 20 deg when we went to bed.
12 July Thursday
Up early, laundry done. Rang Repco to see if they had a water pump, they did, when we arrived wrong one but they have orderd one for tomorrow from Townsville. Back to site and we've booked a further 2 nights and asked if we could move pitches to be in the sun, no probs, threw everything in Landrover and carried tent approx 100 metres. Colin has bonnet up, fan now working, washers now working. Rose is cleaning Landrover trying to get rid of the dust, even washed the curtains. Finally sat down after a hot power shower, checking emails and updating security on computer. It is still warm but more cloud than blue sky.
13 July Friday
FRIDAY FACT - HARRY AND ELLIE WILL BE 6 TOMORROW
Warm night, met and English girl in camp kitchen who is now living in Oz with Ozzie partner and child, she worked in Northampton for a couple of years but lived in Rothwell, another small world moment. At 9.45 got a call to say water pump has arrived so scooted inot town to pick up and do a bit of shopping before returning to camp for Colin to fit part and Rose to upload photos to blog. Colin had to also change the fan belt which had been damaged due to the water pump moving. Rose spent hours uploading the photos, wifi very slow, so caught up with correspondence as well. Had message from Emma, it will be ok to Skpye tomorrow for the birthday kids, looking forward to it. Vehicle now back in one piece. Few clouds and some drops of rain, but not enough to get wet. BBQ Pork chops for dinner filled the plates. Just read for a bit after dinner, both tired.
30 June Saturday
Colin warmer, Rose still cold, both of us wore our beanies in bed which helped a bit. doesn't take long for the sun to come up. Packed up and left camp heading towards Redbank Gorge, the raod to the gorge is sandy/rocky/corrugated/twisty and uppydowny, a bit rough in places, Colin enjoyed it. Just walked to the lookout, back onto main road and stopped at Tylers Pass lookout,, the views are stunning there is a big red rock
sat in the flat landscape in the distance to the south of us. as we continue along the main road we found a dirt road which led us to that rock, it's called Gosse Bluff. A meteorite crashed into the earth over 140 million years ago on this site causing the underlying rocks to lift up to what we see today. We walked to the edge of the crater.
The impact was said to be larger than the Hiroshima bomb. Amazing scenery. Back to the bitumen tto the junctionn with Larapinta Drive where we turned east towards Hermannsberg and the campsite at Palm Valley in the Finke Gorge National Park, 43 kms of dirt road. We drove into Hermannsberg but everythign closed for lunch so drove back to main road to fine road to Palm vally. Colin let the tyre pressures down. scenery going in is stunning along 21kms of gravel, sand, river bed
,and the biggest corrugations we've driven yet, more challenging than the Gibb River Road, the sign at the start of the track says allow 3 hours but we didi it in less than 1 hour. Lovely campground with hot solar showers. a family came in driving a D4 with camper trailer, Colin and the dad had a long chat about landrovers, we then had a walk down to the river. Cooked on camp BBQ as did everyone else, which then gets everyone talking to each other. After dinner joined 2 other couples round campfire, toasty before the cold night.
1 July Sunday
Blanket on top of mattress loast night, definitely warmer, still cold when we got up and we have a chilly wind. Just never expected to be this cold in Oz. spent morning warming up and talking to fellow campers, after lunch walked up to Kalangarra lookout,
good walk and wonderful views, nice to get out of the wind at times, we gathered some firewood for campfire. got cold very quickly and had a big soup with veggies for dinner followed by hot rice pudding with weetabix and jam, comfort food, then round campfire till bed. Dingos howling in the night.
2 July Monday
Very cold when we got up, just above freezing. Nothing folded or packed away well. Had hot milk on weetabix for breakfast to try and warm us up. Left site just before 9.30 for Alice, back along the 4WD track, it didn't seem as rough going back. Back on the bitumen we heard a bang, the solar shower bag went pop and water went up the windscreen, we think all the bouncing around was too much for it, just have to buy another. Uneventful drive back to Alice, arrived at G'Day Mate Caravan Park just before noon, set up tent and went into town for silicone spray (for tent zip) diff oil, on the way in we stopped at railway crossing for the Ghan train
to pass. whilst in town Rose bought some UGG boots
as feet constantly cold, even the men wear them. Back at camp to sit in the sum and try and keep warm. After dinner Colin spoke to Laurie then bed to keep warm.
3 July Tuesday
-5 degrees overnight, so cold. Rose put on 2 pairs of trousers when got up, till the sun came round and warmed her up. All the vehicles were iced over. A bloke called Jason stopped by for a chat with Colin, appears he saw us in Brisbane at the SLOW group, they chatted for 2 hours, eventually had breakfast and then to the Truckers Hall of Fame Museum, had a great time looking at all the trucks,
even found 3 old Land Rovers.
Saw a photo taken in 2000 of a truck pulling 79 trailers,
and a film of a pioneer trucker in the outback by the name of Tom Kruse, in the 1950s a film was made with the cameras following his everyday life, showing him digging his truck out of sand, climbing dunes, the film won and award at an international film festival, the early truckers were tough practical men. Back at camp bumped into Bob and Sarah, who we hadn't seen since Gladstone camp in WA, they broke down on the Tanami and were waiting for it to be repaired, it was good to catch up. Late dinner, it didn't seem as cold tonight. Spoke to Dee, she thinks it's hilarious it is freezing at night she thinks Rose should where her UGGS in bed as they are keeping her feet toasty warm.
4 July Wednesday
Woke up to hear someone scarping the ice off their windscreen, the frost is heaqvier this morning. Colin went to get some sugar and it's a solid block. Some fellow campers left their chairs out and they are covered in ice!! England is definitely warmer than Oz at the moment, when the sun comes up and you can get out of the wind it isw nearly hot. Spent day updating blog and sorting stuff in LRover ready to leave tomorrow. Rang Robyn she has a completion date of the house of 31 August, which is perfect as they will move out as we get home. She says the weather at home is warm but keeps raining. Had Kangaroo burgers for dinner, they were good and tasty. Axel and family invited us to watch the footie later with them but we were heading for the warmth of bed.
5 July Thursday
Another -4 deg night. Packed away slowly and after our goodbyes left site at 10 am. Took Ross Highway towards the East MacDonnell Ranges. First stop was Emily Gap, which is an Aborigine registed sacred site, it has a large roack painting depicting the Caterpillar dreaming.
At Jessie Gap the roakc painting is of Emu dreaming. Back onto Hway for 70 kms towards Trephina Gorge. The landscape isn't as sharp as the West Macs. Arrived at Trephina gorge about noon, the last 5 km on a dirt track, decided to set up camp here for the night, we were told it is warmer than Alice at night. After lunch and setting up camp, we walked up the edge of Trephina Gorge to the rim,
along the top for a while before descending into the gorge to walk back along the riverbed.
Hard work at timesw but the views were great, some of the rocks in the riverbed sand are a lovely pink colour. Both knackerd when we got back to camp. after dinner went to a campfire talk given by the Ranger Dan. He told us about the discovery of the gorge in the 1890s and how in 1966 it became a Nature Park under the care of the state. He talked about his role in the Park such as fire management, weed contral and pest control (they have problems with rabbits and feral cats). It was a good evening.
6 July Friday
FRIDAY FACT - NORTHERN TERRITORY IS AUSTRALIA'S LEAST SETTLED STATE
No frost - yippee. we've camped in shade so sun taking a while to get to us, stood in the sunshine to eat breakfast. Left camp and back on the bitumen towards Arltunga, after 12km onto dirt road, after follwing someone else's dust for 20km we stopped and Colin put tryre pressures down to 30psi, road is gravelly, corrugated and bit rocky in places. Road was twisty but where we stopped was very open with the wind cutting through you. Eventually reached to Cattlewater Pass Track, the book says allow 3 hours for the 55kms. The road constantly changed from gravel to sand, corrugations, roaks and small ditches, then there are the flat bits and twisty steep climbs,
very challegin 2hrs 20 mins, we saw one other vehicle towards the end. Finally reached the Plenty HWay, another dirt road, our route to Queensland. The Plenty is very wide with corrugations but we only had to do 50 km till our camp for the night at Spotted Tiger campground. We drove to local community store to pay for camp and permit but closed so just drove to campground, 8km south of the Hway. It is basic and rundown, no water just pit toilets. Set up tent and sat down by 4pm, a late finish for us. Sunny with very little wind. Colin had noticed temp guage went down , topped up rad and notice dripping under vehicle, looks like we need a new water pump, but we can get to where we are going ok. Sorted photos for blog then bed.
23rd June Saturday
Another very cold and windy night, decided to put tent down and move to other side of campsite
and sleep in LRover. Put some spuds in campfire coals for later, didn't take long to cook. Rose is wearing 2 Tshirts and a jumper. Wasn't too bad putting tent down in between gusts of wind. We are protected by the LRover from the worst of the wind on other side of site, got awning out ok so can cook in comfort. Had a walk into the Marbles on the east side of camp, not so spectacular heigt wise but just as stunning.
Was able to sit outside for a while and Rose got sun/wind burnt on her face. After dinner sat in awning with coats on as so cold. Went to bed early - warmer.
24th June Sunday
Much better nights sleep without the tent flapping also was warmer. Still only 10degs but wind not so bad. Take that back wind just got up again, bitterly cold. Packed up and left site just after 9amheading south, wind not making driving easy. Stopped at Wycliffe Well which claims to be the UFO capital of Oz. Inside the roadhouse are newspaper cuttings on the wall of UFO sightings over the years, outside there is a mural on the wall
with green men models
alongside, very characterful. Carring on south along the HWay the trees are disappearingand you can see red rcky hills in the distance, very reminiscent of the Kimberlys. Stopped at the John Mcdouall Stuart Memorial, he thought he had found the centre of Australia but it's situated just south of Alice Springs on the edge of the Simson Desert. Carried on to the Ti Tree Roadhouse Caravan Pk for the night, had just got set up and Colin walking back from toilet got bitten by a little white terrier, it drew blood(dangerous wildlife in Oz) Rose went to roadhouse and complained, they went to speak with owner. It is still windy but not so chilly. Both had lovely hot showers, but didn't take too long drying off before getting chilled again. Rose has put on her fleece pyjamas bottoms, bit warmer. Rang Dee after 6pm to hear about their cruise and when they are going to tackle the Gibb, she thinks it's hilarious we will have to buy winter clothes in Alice. Went to bed early as it's warmer.
25th June Monday
6degs this morning, it was cold last night, Colin wore his socks in bed. No wind initially but by time we left site it was getting up. Stopped at Aileron Roadhouse for coffee and spring rolls, only charged $8 with free coffee refils, then Rose broke one of their mugs ooops. Outside is the statue of Anmatijee Man on the hill,
a statue of a woman with child
and 2 snakes, one wearing a bra
. Scenery still green, wind gusting the LRover around. Have heater on again, so able to take jumpers off. Approx 25kms north of Alice we stopped at the Highest Point Cairn, it is the highest point on the Stuart HWay from Darwin to Adelaide. Arrived at Alice Springs
just after 12 and decided to go straight to K Mart, where we bought a blanket 2 fleecey check shirts with hoods and Rose also bought a body warmer and 2 pairs of jeans, all in the sale as they are getting in their summer clothes!!! also treated ourseves to chocolate biscuits and bars of chocolate - all in sale. We then drove to the G'Day Mate Campsite for 2 nights, it's a lovely place, very clean. After erecting the tent had a walk to the local grocer and managed to gloves and a beanie hat, now hopefully we are set for thereally cold weather with frosts at night. The caravan park is situated south of The Gap, which is a gap between the West and East McDonnell Ranges. We will be travelling to the West McDonnells when we leave here on Wednesday. Nice hot soup for dinner then to bed under our new blanket to keep warm.
26th June Tuesday
A freezing night, frost on the tent and LRover, temp in LRover was 4degs, good job we have extra warm weather gear.
Went into Alice to look around, lots of Aboriginal art and culture shops, could have spent a fortune but only spent a little on credit card. After lunch filled up with food at Woollies and meat at a butchers and fuel on way back to camp. Wind has got up but not so bad as last few days. Still wearing 3 layers though. Cooked 2 lovely pork chops with veggies on the BBQ (one way of getting warm), the evening not as cold as last night, so stayed out longer.
27th June Wednesday
Frost again, someone said minus 4. Blanket worked a treat, a lot warmer in bed. Cooked breakfast on BBQ, then had a leisurely pack up. Went into Alice to use internet to upload photos, ended up getting money back as only loaded 1 photo in 30mins. Drove out of Alice on The Larapinta Drive towards the West McDonnell Nat Pk. The Ranges are an ancient landscape sculptured over time by climate. The West Ranges stretches for 161kms from Alice with several gorges along the way, which are important refuges for plants and animals. Our first stop was at Simpson Gap
which is one of the most prominent in the Ranges, it is renowned for the Black Footed Wallabies,
we saw several amongst the rocks when we walked into the Gap. The area is a very important spiritual site to the Arrente Aboriginal people. It was a lovely place for a stop. Drove along the Namatjura Drive to our camp for the night at Ellery Creek Big Hole, which is a spectacular waterhole
in the Ellery Creek which cuts through a gorge that was formed by years of agressive floods. Reading one of the info boards it seems as though these ranges were once the same height as the Himalayas. It is a nice campground. Cooked dinner on the gas BBQ's(on site) as did several other campers. Not such a cold evening
28th June Thursday
It didn't frost last night but still very cold. Kept hearing dingos howling in the night, they sounded very close at times. The sun finally came over the hill so can now try to warm up (8.30am). Left camp at 10 am, first stop Serpentine Gorge, it was a lovely stony walk into the gorge,
very quiet and serene. Further on pulled into a lookout (up a steep hill) where the views were fantastic, from where we had to been
to where we were headed.
At Ormiston gorge we did the short walk up a very sttep climb (sheer drops) to the Ghost Gum Lookout, you can look into the Gorge where people look like little dots,
and down to the Waterhole where people are sunning themselves on the sandy bankside.
Had lunch back at the car, it really is a beautiful place, before driving to Glen Helen Resort our camp for next 2 nights. It is situated beside the Glen Helen Gorge, lovely setting. Sat sunning ourselves before dinner, cooked a chicken curry in camp ktichen, whcih will last us a couple of meals. Late in the afternoon 8 walkers came onto site a set up just behind us, they are walking10-15kms per day along the Larapinta trail and so they don't have to carry too much they have food drops along the trail. After dinner clouds started to build
up and with the sun setting the sky looked alive,
the colours were stunning. Able to sit outside quite late as not so cold.
29 June Friday
FRIDAY FACT - TEMPERATURES OF -4, ALICE IS OFFICIALLY COLDER THAN HOME
Night suddenly got cold, but sun soon warms you up. Sat out having a cuppa when on of the walkers came over and gave us 2 500g packs of Quinoa (like rice), they were too heavy for her to carry, now getting food parcles from backpackers!. wind has got up a bit, Colin doing maintenancethis morning, whilst in reception Rose weighed herself, she is 61kgs (approx 9 1/2 stone), can't remember when last that weight, but we are both fit and healthy, Colin's shorts are getting big on the waist so tucking his tshirts in to keep them up. After lunch had a walk to Glen Helen gorge, unfortunately due to the rains in the last few years the Finke River has quite a bit of water in it so can only walk to the entrance of the Gorge,
it is still spectacular. We walked back along the dry part of the riverbed to camp, then sat in sun till dinner. Trying the blanket under the airbed tonight to see if it stops cold coming up from ground, moon is nearly full.
