To Alice via Ellery Creek Big Hole

After four nights in the same site we were running short on food, water, clean clothes and nearing P's limit of continuous days camping.  On the way to Alice Springs we spent most of the day at another large waterhole, Ellery Creek Big Hole.  The largest we had seen, this swimming hole stretched 150m through the range.

We got through our books while the the boys evolved their sand games from Smurf Villages at Redbank Gorge to sand castle hunting at Ormiston and building swimming pools at Ellery.  

Will won the stone skipping competition with 10 hops and managed to narrowly miss every other swimmer during subsequent attempts to better the record.

After sunset we had a lucky entry into a serviced apartment in Alice, catching the receptionist at the front gate as she left for the day.  Following 4 nights in a tent we were all a little overwhelmed, Penne happy the washing machine meant we didn't have to sit in an Alice Springs laundromat for an hour, the boys rushing off to find the pool and games room.  Even the little one noted repeatedly "this place has everything".

Palm Valley

Another trip recommended to us was Palm Valley in the Finke Gorge National Park.  The home of Red Cabbage Palms that are the last remnants of vegetation from 20,000 years ago.

A nice spot but so hot Penne worried that Hamish's comical monologues being more odd than usual was evidence of heat stroke.

The road in was a "high clearance" 4wd track which had me worried because I wasn't sure whether ours still qualified when fully loaded.  We successfully negotiated a few dry river crossings and sandy sections when the road appeared to end in a bunch of large rocks, it took a moment before we realised that was the road.

After 30 mins of slowly bumping across, up, down, around these we arrived intact with no more dents than before.

Redbank Gorge

A kindly traveller in Marree had recommended Redbank Gorge as a camping spot and after some concern over fires (see earlier post) and dingoes (5 or so parked next to our tent and started howling) we settled in and stayed for four days.   It was a good base to explore Redbank, Ormiston Gorges.  All were swimmable, peaceful and not as cold as the warnings suggest.  The boys were rapt to give their lifejackets and surf mats a go.

Redbank was small and a longish walk to get to but we had it to ourselves for much of the day.

Ormiston was the largest, a short walk on a paved path from the picnic area.

At the end of most days we found ourselves at the Glen Helen Pub enjoying a "treat".

Mereenie Loop Track

The road from Kings canyon to Redbank was the one we were most concerned about.  As it turns out the only damage was to P's confidence in my driving - my insistence the best approach to the occasional corrugations was to drive faster resulted in a severe look each time we bumped over a washout.  There were possibly a few words spoken too but I couldn't hear anything over the rattling, which was so bad I thought we might have knocked another of Will's teeth out.

Then the road signs started to echo the looks I was getting ...

 And we saw some local wildlife ...

And our trip slowed (and grew bumpier).

Off to Kings Canyon and the West Macdonnell Range

For the next few days we will be out of mobile and Internet range. May not be back online for a week or so, but please do not worry about the thunderstorms predicted for the area. We'll be fine...

More quotes..

By popular demand, this post is dedicated to quotes...

Yesterday, on seeing the map at the top of our blog page with a string of red pins across the land, Hamish asks incredulously, "are we really going to drive all that way??!!"

Today, after walking for a few hours in the midday sun around Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), I ask innocently, "who wants to go for a swim in the hotel pool?" (Matt breaks into huge grin because he thinks I feel like our tent and campground (does have it's own pool) is as comfortable as a hotel. Actually, I was asking if anyone wanted to sneak in and swim in the HOTEL POOL..)

Our first night in the campground at Yulara (Uluru township), I am stomping around in a slight panic because I cannot find my rubber sandals anywhere and certainly not where I left them. Matt sneaks in a quiet, supposedly calming suggestion - "maybe a dingo took them..."

Will asked for a small tent this Christmas, because he wants to camp in our backyard when we get home...

Everyone (except me) rolls around laughing at the blog photo of Will and I at the Mount Ohlssen Bagge sign (on edge of Wilpena Pound). Apparently it is pointing at my backside and says Mount Oh So Baggy...

Picture this. Hamish taking his his singlet off in the tent. It gets stuck on his head so he can't see. He starts wandering about with arms outstretched, making zombie noises until he bumps into the tent wall. He falls backwards onto mattress and continues zombie noises while lying on back, moving arms and legs in zombie fashion right up until the camera is produced...

Reminiscing about the biggest candy store in New York (Dylan's Candy Bar), Hamish vows that when he grows up, he will go there everyday on his way home from work to buy his kids lollies.

Today, at the newsagent, I catch Matt surreptitiously looking through the 4WD magazines like they should be in sealed covers.

And finally, as we are lying in tent, Matt asks non-judgementally, "is that you playing Dave Dobbin ( song 'Slice of Heaven' ) on the iPad?". In reality, the nearby pub is having a Saturday night knees-up...

No...

You can not swim here...

School

M & P style...

What?

No souvenir?

Here it is...

It took awhile, but we finally found it.

The Rock

Almost 24 hours in Yulara and we have seen the pool, playground, supermarket, campground and lots of rain (overnight, no leaks) but we are yet to see the rock. Soon. No rush.

Across the border

Shortly after Marla the boys conceded a break in their programming to enjoy the novelty of another border crossing. This one a little more tasteful than the previous, a giant Dunlop tyre welcoming Victorians to SA.

From there we headed to Erldunda for a night in a hotel, burgers, fish and chips, beer and pool. Only on the way out did the barman tell us about the 1.4m deadly snake found in the bar three nights earlier, by a two year old.

Thank you

Thanks to everyone who sent lovely emails, comments and texts - it gave us much to smile about.

Today I am feeling thankful for many things (see list below) - staying in Coober Pedy had a positive influence on our spiritual side. Matt's theory for why there is a church in every third underground home is that opal mining requires all the help and faith a person can get.

1) It has not rained while we have set up or taken down a camp site.

2) children still laughing at our bad jokes

3) no safety equipment has been needed yet (car and occupants acting in reliable manner).

4) we are all healthy and uninjured (no scurvy, snake bites or tropical ulcers).

5) I can still have coffee, alcohol, chocolate, hot showers, and read the paper, all while being in the middle of nowhere.

6) water (for drinking, and for swimming).

7) Matt's excellent long distance driving skills, and cheeky sense of humour.

8) iThings. For finding out weather forecasts, amenities at next destination, GPS mud maps, phone/Internet/camera, children's entertainment..

9) sunglasses

Next post will be back to complaining.

NB. Incase you are wondering who is writing blog posts : if one line or less = M, if many lines, sentences with more than 10 words, with brackets and dot dot dots = P.
You'll be able to tell after awhile.

The Middle of Nowhere. 18/10

"The sheer monotony of it is interesting in itself.." says Matt.
It is actually quite beautiful, even more so when you realise you are driving along massive ripples in red sandy desert (disguised by low scrub and the very occasional tree).

Tuesday (18/10) was a 400+ km drive to Coober Pedy via Willam Creek. First stop Lake Eyre South - kids not fooled by white shimmering in the distance. Next stop Margaret Siding. The site of a crumbling railway building where my 2WD car broke down in the middle of a scorching December day in 1997. I shocked myself by feeling a rush of emotions long suppressed - fear, helplessness, and gross irresponsibility (at being in the desert relying on machine I don't really understand..). Surely everyone has had moments like this in their early 20's? As we hopped back in the car, Matt 'tried' to turn the ignition key, looking at me in horror..

Next stop, Coward Springs! This oasis was only 10km further down the Oodnadatta Track. (Photos to be uploaded in next few days - my IT guy is on "manyana" time)

As long as I have known him, M has done his best work after 5.30pm when all sane people have packed up and gone home.. (see photo of our tyre tracks in a red sandy hill a few hundred metres OFF the Oodnadatta track when no other car seen for the last hour..). As usual the kids barely noticed potential disaster, only briefly looking up from their current favorite iPad movie - Jimmy Neutron - Boy Genius.
The photo of M at the William Creek Roadhouse was taken before testing 4WD limits..

Finally made it to Coober Pedy for another glorious sunset. Stayed in an underground hotel room where opals had been found. Boys start 'seeing' precious stones everywhere they turn... (more photos to follow)

More about Marree.. 17/10

After leaving Wilpena pound on Monday morning we headed north through Blinman - a very cute outback town with an artsy cafe and proper food. We'd just eaten mounds of pancakes with our Canadian imported maple syrup, so just had icypoles on the side of the road. What a waste of the last good food opportunity! Heading west through to Parachilna was spectacular gorges that made us feel a bit dizzy with all that angled rock. Then nothing. The start of the big flat nothing. The boys asked if we could turn around and go back to Melbourne (but via the Mulwala mini golf on the Murray river first..). We told them they had to trust us, that it would be worth forging ahead..
Our plan to camp in the bush - a creek bed on the side of the road somewhere near Marree - went horribly wrong as I was attacked by a thousand biting ants that Matt had just stirred up. We scurried back to the town camp ground with the stench of Formic acid filling the car (apologies to those who only wanted the romanticised version of events..). Putting up the tent in 15knot wind and cooking dinner before dark was a bit "challenging", but the reward of an eerily still, big-sky sunset was sweet.
(photos not in order for some strange reason..)

Road to Marree, Monday 17th Oct.

We have well and truly left behind the gorgeous gorges of the Flinders Ranges.. The most exciting thing on the landscape dotted with salt bushes now is a communication tower.