Blogs from Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 46

Hi, folks. Well, as the outback has unsurprisingly poor internet access this will be mercifully short. We left you after our escapades in Mt Hotham whereafter we continued on our way to meet up with Marlene (a lady that lives near Melbourne and we last saw in Livingston in Zambia). We stayed with her in her beautiful house for a few days and nipped in to do a spot of snapping in the Victorian capital, enjoyed the use of a shower and ate some lovely food prepared by Marlene's son, Brent. Thanks so much to both if you're reading this. After Melbourne we headed down the great ocean road to picture the rolling coastline in the south before, eventually, arriving in Adelaide. Adelaide itself is probably the smallest looking major town that we've visited so far ... read more

UntitledWell we didn’t make it to Mount Dare, boggy hole or Dalhousie Springs as we decided to wait for a future trip through the Simpson Desert and put all these places into the journey. Also the desert parks pass would cost $90 and we had only planned to stay there for a couple of days. We have done the Mereenie Loop and saw the gorges which are sight to see. The water in them is freezing cold so there was no swimming for us. We stayed at Ellery Creek Big Hole and had the local dingos howling all night. Next up we stayed at Redbank Gorge for two nights while we did the local walks around the gorges. We also got our first flat tyre for the trip here. In doing the Mereenie Loop you need ... read more

Ayres Rock-to-Kings Canyon-to-Alice Springs Today we left before sunrise on the tour bus with Ricky and Chris. They drove us in the pre-dawn hours for about 200 kilometers while we slept some more to Kings Canyon, a cut in the Outback plain between Ayres Rock and Alice Springs. We had breakfast at the Kings Canyon Cafe - WAY out in the middle of nowhere - where they advertised the "worlds best bacon and eggs" (most definitely not, but good for where we were). It was about 1 degree Celsius (about 34 degrees F)...winter in the Southern Hemisphere remember. Saw some wild camels and some kangaroos in a pen - pretty cute really. Took the guys who run this place 5 years to find the water to setup business. We are talking about land more desolate ... read more

Well we did head up through Port Augusta and then straight for Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges to set up camp for 4 nights. This was where it got cold. And it hasn’t got any better yet. The coldest we have recorded has been -1.1°C, that was in Alice Springs (a bit about that latter) but most nights it’s a brisk 4°C or there about. Wilpena pound is a natural rock formation formed by erosion over time. As there are numerous walks around the pound and surrounds we grabbed a guide and went to explore. We headed up Huck’s lookout and Stokes Hill first to get an idea of the magnitude of the ranges before taking a walk around Sacred Canyon. I didn’t like this place. There where some nice rock carvings at the end ... read more

Hi all, As promised here is the summary of our 12 days journey from Melbourne to Alice Springs . Here is a summary of the few facts we discovered in this journey : The story below is not meant for ones with bad heart 1. Australia is huge . 2. The roads never ends . 3. Even in the Autumn, the Australian desert is very hot . 4. Meat (Beef and lamb) are very cheap . 5. Beer is very cheep (If you buy it in 24 packs) . 6. Did we mention that this country is Huge ? During this lag we drove 3800 KM (During 12 days) and been in some of the most interesting places in this land so here it's starts : After returning from Tasi we spent 2 extra days ... read more