We had a long drive back in the direction we had come from to get to Yulara which is the Ayres Rock resort. We checked into the campsite and drove to the Olgas, an impressive cluster of domed rocks which form valleys and gorges, they are also known as Kata Tjuta. They are about 30km from Uluru with mount Olga being the tallest standing 200 meters above Uluru. We decided to do the Walpa Gorge walk which took us through the centre of the gorge. The walls of the gorge tower so high above you that its impossible not to get a sense of just how small we are on this huge planet. We then had a rush on to get to the Uluru sunset viewing area on time. Allot is written about how all the ... read more

After breakfast we treated Hilda to an oil and coolant change and some new spark plugs. I think she appreciated it as she started and ran like a brand new van. We set off about 1pm and made our first outback fuel stop at Spuds Roadhouse in Pimba. We had decided not to risk carrying extra fuel in the heat, instead planning to stop at every place available to fill up. There are long stretches of the Stuart Highway with nothing to look at apart from the outback, and today was going to be one of those stretches. The outback was however looking much greener than we had expected due to an unusual amount of rain in the weeks before we came. We stopped in Glendambo, with its population of 20 for the night. It was ... read more

The morning flies made it impossible to do our planned maintenance. Not only were they trying to get up our nose and in our ears but they were very interested in the engine bay! We gave up and drove to Whyalla to find the camping shop. As we approached Whyalla we were greeted by the sight of huge steelworks pumping smog into the air. A seaside town with smoggy steelworks reminded me of places in the North East of England. We arrived outside the camping shop to find that it had long since failed and closed down. In fact it had been closed so long that a cycle shop had replaced it and also since failed. Disappointed we decided that since we were here anyway we may as well have a look around. We found that ... read more

We did have slightly sore heads in the morning but it was our own fault for not eating dinner. We didn’t want the previous night dinner to go to waste so we ate smoked salmon and avocado sandwiches for breakfast (don’t think we are extravagant it was all reduced price) a slightly strange breakfast but tasty non the less. After driving back to waikerie for cold drinks we got on our way. Our first stop of the day was in Burra. It was a centre for copper mining in the mid 1800s with many people from all over Britain moving there. The largest community was the Cornish. Evidence of this can still be seen in the local café where the speciality is their Cornish Pasty! We would have loved to have tried one but as with ... read more

After breakfast we made our way back to Mt Gambier. We got the sat nav to take us to the shopping complex. When we arrived we found ourselves outside a laundrette and a pie shop - not exactly what I’d call a shopping complex. After looking round the other shops we had no luck finding a bike so set off again. We drove through the Coonawarra wine region which is miles of vines as far as the eye can see. Some of them produce many of the wines we would recognise at home., but since we were already carrying 5 litres of wine (well you have to be prepared!) we didn’t stop. We were heading for a free camp area called Poocher Swamp. It looked like a good bet in the book but when we arrived ... read more