Rimmont

Day 161 Sunday 10 September 2006 Coober Pedy to Port Augusta (600 kms approx) This morning Graeme was raring to go. He woke up at 6am and had a shower in our nice motel room. He woke us all up and kept saying “come on we have to get on the road”. We all struggled out of bed - we haven’t been up this early for ages. We were on the road by 7.30am. I left the kids in the pj’s. We drove and drove, there is not much scenery here just dirt and weeds. We stopped at Gundambo for morning tea and as usual Graeme bought a pie. We stopped about 100 kms away from Port Augusta to have lunch in a roadside stop. We arrived in Port Augusta about 2.30pm with the red light ... read more

Day 159 Friday 08 September 2006 Coober Pedy Coober Pedy is surrounded by a moonscape like landscape dotted by shafts and mullock heaps from opal mining activites. It is known as the largest producer of opals in the world. The holes are not backfilled as they claim it is more dangerous to fill them in than leave them open. They claim that people can see the holes and will keep away from the open shafts. If they backfill them in they don’t know where the holes have been dug and you can still fall down them as the walls cave in. The population of this town is 3500. There are over 40 nationalities and approximately 400 aboriginal people. From November to March the weather can reach anywhere from 35 to 48 degrees Celsius in the shade. ... read more

Day 153 Saturday 02 September 2006 Alice Springs to Yulara (Ayers Rock Resort) (approx. 480 kms) Graeme decided to drive right through to Ayers Rock today as there was nothing much in between. We drove past Mt Connor which looks very similar from a distance to Uluru, the kids and Graeme started yelling and screaming but I told them (as I had been here 12 years ago on a coach tour) that it was not it. Mt Connor soon disappeared into the distance. We then came closer to the real rock and set up camp at Yulara. It costs $25 per adult to enter the national park to see Uluru (Ayers Rock) but we were fortunate enough to be given two tickets from a couple that we met at lunchtime at Mt Ebenezer. It was valid ... read more

***Sorry everyone it has been hard to gain access to internet but will be up to date soon*** Day 142 Tuesday 22 August 2006 King Ash Bay to Barkly Homestead (approx. 500km’s) Just a day for driving today and nothing in between (no towns and no places of interest). We need to get to Alice Springs because time is running out and we are catching up with Harry and Maureen from Echuca. They are looking after a campground at Ormiston Gorge which is approximately 100 km’s from Alice. Barkly Homestead will just be a stopover night. We had an encounter with a huge brahma bull today on the road. There he was with his heifer standing right in the middle of the road. Because this is only a one lane highway we had nowhere to move. ... read more

Day 137 Thursday 17 August 2006 Katherine to Mataranka We only drove about 100 km’s today to Mataranka via Cutta Caves which are limestone caves which host rare host bats. We never saw any but very pretty crystals amongst the stalactities and stalagmites. Mataranka is renowned for the famous thermal pools and the town of “We of the Never Never” book. We visited “Bitter Springs” which is a hot springs that is 32 degrees. Beautiful surroundings with all palm trees around and very deep. These have been only recently opened. Well over Graeme and my head. There were three caravan parks in town and all below average. Graeme checked into the only one that had a pool but when they went to see it there was all slime over it and covered with small bugs. Needless ... read more

Sorry guys it has been a long time but we have had trouble gaining access to the internet. Thanks for all your well wises and emails. Day 119 Sunday 30 July 2006 Daly River to Darwin We were all excited to visit Darwin as Nana and Pop were to arrive in two days time. On the way we stopped at Adelaide River - the pub with Charlie the buffalo from Crocodile Dundee. He is huge and stuffed sitting on the bar. We were a little concerned on where we booked as people had mixed reactions. Freespirit with it’s three pools, restaurant, bar and activities. We were very surprised when we arrived- really nice more a resort than anything. We set up the annexe and had some more space again. The kids found their friends again - ... read more