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NT Border
Sign at the border of SA and NTHi From Kings Canyon
We did our tour of Coober Pedy and visited a working Opal mine. Interesting to note that the first operation involves sinking a 1m diameter hole to approx. 30m deep. The shafts are then excavated horizontally from anywhere in that 30m profile. It seems to be pot-luck if you strike a vane of opal! The other point of interest is that none of the excavations are required to be backfilled. Hence the moonscape created by piles of spoil. We also visited an underground house and Serbian church.
We arrived in Yulara campground on Friday after a quick overnight stop at Mt Ebenezer Roadhouse, approximately 2hrs west. The overnight temperatures have taken a dive as we get deeper into the outback. 4 deg C ?? Shortly after departing Ebenezer, we spotted what we thought was Ayers Rock but, like most travellers who have never been up close and personal with the rock, we mistakenly got excited after sighting Mt Connor, which is a huge rock formation, but is some 150km from Ayers Rock. Apparently they call Mt Connor “Fooluru” due to the number of fools like us.
I have to admit that the sight of
Mt Ebenezer Camp
Campsite on the way out to Ayers Rock. the real Ayers Rock left be bedazzled, especially at sunset. The colour changes were spectacular and it was as if a bright red globe was switched on from within the rock as sunset neared the end. Even as we drove around the area, my head seemed to be locked onto the object, almost hypnotically.
On Saturday, we took a drive out to the Olgas, which are equally amazing. The different shapes and enormity of the rock formations again made our jaws drop.
Saturday evening saw us take a helicopter flight over Ayers Rock and the Olgas. Needless to say it was wonderful.
As expected, Rose has taken hundreds of photos of the rocks and choosing the best for the blog has been difficult.
I meant to mention also, that although known as the “Red Centre” after all of the rainfall of last summer, the area looked more like the “Green Centre” with heaps of grass and wild flowers around.
Following a 300km drive today, we arrived at Kings Canyon. Unfortunately, Rose has a bad cold and was unable to join me in a 6km climb and walk around the rim of the canyon. I took heaps of snaps
The Olgas
Arial snap of the magic rock formation. and video to show her on my return. The scenery from the top was awesome with huge vertical drops into the canyon. The vivid red layers of sandstone were very interesting.
Next stop is Alice Springs!!
UPDATE:
Just arrived in Katherine after a couple of days hard driving from Alice Springs. Unfortunately we’ve been in a network blackout for a few days so I haven’t been able to publish this blog.
We had a couple of days in Alice, where we did a day trip out to Glen Helen and a few other gorges along the way with some lovely people we had met who came from Hope Island. It turns out this couple, Bob and Yvonne, are very good friends of the lady who performed the ceremony at Rosemary’s mum’s funeral. Small world???
The temperatures have changes vastly since we left Alice. We had an overnight stop at Banka Banka last night and the daytime temp. was 32 deg. Compared with the tops of 21 etc. down south. We arrived in Katherine today to 34 deg. The overnight temp. is expected to be 16 deg, so I expect Rose to feel a bit uneasy over the
Uluru Flight
Happy folks after flying over Uluru and The Olgas coming weeks until we move a bit further into winter.
Cheers
John & Rose
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