Blogs from Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 10

Soon after school term resumed I flew up to Alice Springs for my tour with WayOutback. The local Shuttlebus dropped me at Alice Lodge Backpackers, who had booked my tour, and were extremely helpful. After I got settled into a comfy little dorm I met up with a lovely 5W member who took me to her home for lunch. I discovered there was an Aboriginal festival happening that weekend, which I sadly missed; still she took me to a gallery to view some gorgeous paintings by local people. Later I walked into town searching for food for supper, passing several groups of Aboriginal people clustered along the dry river banks. The following morning I woke far too early, having forgotten to alter my phone clock... Melbourne time change to daylight savings, which doesn't happen in Northern ... read more

The red centre of Australia is not an easy place for neither man nor creature to live. Water is a major issue, and unreliably seasonal out here. A supply of food is difficult as well which is why our Aboriginal people wandered from place to place throughout the seasons. Reptiles seem to have survived here, and the variety is quite large, both snakes and four legged reptiles in quite a variety of breeds. The Alice Springs Reptile centre, right in town, has quite a variety of snakes, lizards, skinks and geckos, all native to the red centre. The great thing is you get to learn how to handle the non-venomous lizards, and how to not touch the venomous snakes. You do get a chance to wear an olive python, and most guests did do that. They ... read more

The time has finally come when we get the wheels rolling onto the next leg of our adventures! Boris is packed, fuelled, the bar’s full, larder stocked & one last job to update this here blog & then cheerio! Heading westwards then looping around to Kings Canyon and then onto Ayers Rock. After which we hope to get Boris into Molly’s old station “Old Andado” for a week or two. Road condition dependant……but by the next blog you’ll know if we made it or not! Since our last blog we’ve had a busy little stretch, first main event being the Finke Desert Race. The desert turned on a treat weather-wise & we camped out under a gazillion stars (with a gazillion other people) for two nights. Taking the south highway we turned left at Kulgera, along ... read more

First thing on the Monday morning Andy took Jack (The Landcruiser) to the welders so that we could have the sub frame welded up in preparation for the new tow bar, at that stage we did not know who would be paying for it but whatever happened we still needed the work carried out and whilst we were waiting for people to argue, we were sitting around gathering costs. Our week was still being consumed by the tow bar drama so we could not really go very far but late on the Tuesday afternoon we visited the Old Telegraph Station, which has a varied history attached to it, opened in 1872 as a Telegraph station played a very key role in the development of Australia reducing the isolation of Australians from the rest of the world, ... read more

Saturday 10 August We decided to dedicate this blog to our Dads, because of their strong connections with the Transport industry throughout their careers so John (Caroline's Dad) and Derek (Andy's Dad, passed away in 1994) this one is for you. The weekend arrived and nothing was going to happen with the tow bar saga which meant we could still not move the trailer, so we decided to make the most of the weekend and be tourists again, although I am feeling very much like a local right now. First on the list was the National Road Transport Hall of Fame which was back out of town on the way to the airport. This had been recommended to us by a number of people as worthy of a visit, and let me tell you they were ... read more