Another big travel day! It started with pretty well all of us independently trawling around Karlu Karlu before sunrise. The colours were amazing! A hurried pack before we were on the road around 8 for the 525km trek to Daly Waters. We stopped at Tennant Creek for fuel and some supplies as well as a tour of the telegraph station. I have to say that I found it surprisingly interesting. We found a stop along the way to replenish the…
We have just found out that our booking at Pardoo Station on the coast of WA has been cancelled. Pardoo was a direct hit for the category 5 cyclone Ilsa 8 or so weeks ago and they haven’t recovered sufficiently to allow visitors. Another reorganisation of schedule required. Today was a travel north day. There wasn’t a great deal to see along the route. We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, stopped at a well and found ourselves at Karlu Karlu just after lunch. We…
I guess maybe once a month even holidayers need a catch up day. Today was one of those days. Until this afternoon there wasn’t much going on that reminded us that we are on holiday. We have supported the local Alice Springs economy, completed domestic tasks and van maintenance. Once our chores were complete Bob and I went on a 10km bike ride along the Todd River bed. For the couple of days that we have been here we have…
This morning we had a relaxed pack up. Karen and Kieran headed out on a hike as they are staying an extra night and waved us off as we headed back to the Finke Riverbed drive out. The Finke is the longest river in the Southern Hemisphere and only flows end to end twice a century – it is very dry at the moment. We stopped off at Simpsons Gap on our way to Alice Springs. A lot more people…
So we are 4 weeks into our adventure! Some fun stats for anyone that knows my addiction to numbers…. We have travelled 4850km and spent 22 nights off grid. There have been 3 earrings lost (all Karen – I have found someone worse than me at hanging on to earrings). We are not counting the dollars spent on diesel, but can confirm the highest price paid was $2.84 per litre at Glen Helen. The coffee there was only slightly more expensive 🙂 . Tyre deflations…
The travelling 3-ship departed Ellery Gorge this morning and headed towards Standley Chasm. It wasn’t too far and we had arrived by around 1030 where the coffee connoisseurs (Bob and Kieran) got to rank the latte and flat white – apparently far superior than the lowest rated at Wilcannia. A short hike to the chasm where the wind was absolutely bitter, but it was definitely worth the discomfort. The others went on an extra hike while Bob and I stayed…
Today we slowed the pace a tad. We are camped 100m from Ellery Gorge so Karen pumped up the kayak and took it out early this morning (after her 3km hike). Bob and I wandered over just as she was finishing and both got to enjoy the morning light from the water. You are probably sick of gorge photos but each one is so different, so you get to see more 🙂 We chilled for the morning and had a…
A short hop up the road today with a few stops to fill in the day. Following a quick stop at the Mt Sonder lookout we headed to Glen Helen Gorge where we met back up with Jase and Sue. It was a short walk to the waterhole at the gorge but we weren’t up for the required swim to get through it to see the Organ Pipes 20min up the gorge. After a coffee and caramel slice stop at…
This morning Karen and I decided that we’d bike the 34km return to Roma Gorge. The boys weren’t interested in riding so they came along in our car for the gorge hike. Things were going well for the first 3km of dirt, the second 5km of tar, but the final river bed stony ride into the gorge was a different matter! For anyone that knows my riding ability, I took the sensible option and locked the bike to a tree…
Today is Sue’s birthday and Jase surprised her with a helicopter flight over Kings Canyon. We all gave our birthday wishes and the rest of us departed for a day of travel. The first 160km was along the Mereenie Loop Road – gravel for the entire length and corrugations for much of it. The rigs survived the shake up with only some tightening up on the Mitcho’s tv arm and reconstruction of the Scott’s 12V fan required. Once we were…