Central Australia

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Edith Falls - Pine Creek - Kakadu (Gunlom)

Day 128
June 30

Primarily a traveling day but into the World Heritage area of Kakadu National Park. After stopping off at the unstaffed ranger station / information centre and getting various bits of information we headed off into Gunlom along a very corrugated road. Gunlom has a nice scenic waterfall which cascades into a deep pool - also a very cold pool as we were to find out during our now obligatory swim to the base of the falls.

Kakadu : Gunlom - Coronation Hill)

Day 129
July 1

Drove out to the infamous Coronation Hill where all the fuss about Uranium mining was centred for a fair old while. Pretty innocuous looking piece of ground/ hill ! There was also an old historical mine along the way that was worked a fair time in the ‘50’s but no access was allowed due to potential for radioactivity.

Had another swim in the very cool , brisk waters of the Gunlom waterfall pool and then a quick dinner in anticipation of…..

Fireworks Day!

Some blokes had driven all the way back to Pine Creek and bought a whole swag of fireworks - still very much a tradition in the Territory. Although these weren’t supposed to be set off in the park, they were let off at the parking area where the probability of starting a bushfire was pretty remote. Anyway the bloke leading the charge was the campground manager - who must have been a pyromaniac from way back so everything was sweet. They might have been small and let off only one or two at a time but it was a great little show enjoyed by all who attended.

Kakadu : Gunlom - Maguk (Barramundie Gorge)

Day 130
July 2

After climbing up the track adjacent to the waterfall you end up at a series of pools just above the big dropoff into the main pool below. Although very ‘refreshing’ in temperature it is a magic little swim and looks like one of those “horizon pools” where you cant see the edge - but you can see off into the distance.

We then made our way to Maguk - or Barramundie Gorge, and to our surprise there was absolutely no one in the campground. Admittedly there are only basic facilities (pit toilet) but
It was a fairly reasonable little spot. A couple of other tour group characters came in later but as the area is spread out you still felt as if you had the place to yourself.

Kakadu : Maguk (Barramundie Gorge) - Jim Jim Falls

Day 131
July 3

Trekked out to the Gorge and, although it can get quite popular, we had the place to ourselc]ves for a little while. Swam out to the waterfall and did the obligatory swim under/thru/against the water flow. There were a few fish to be seen (no fishing though) - black bream I think of a decent size. In the pool and along a few of the larger rockpools along the walk there are also a few foam floats on rope to be seen. These are simply to help the rangers determine if there are crocs moving into the area as these floats attract the crocs who then have a bit of a bite and leave a few teeth marks - and then they know they have a problem. Luckily no teeth marks were apparent that we could see!

Rode back to camp (a couple of kms), packed up and headed to Jim Jim Falls along a very corrugated road. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it tends to filter out the traffic and only those that are keen make the trek / do the drive. Got to the campground which is well setout with very good facilities and parked up in this spot that looks out to the escarpment beyond. A magic little campsite with a fantastic view.

Kakadu : Jim Jim Falls - Malabanjbanjdju

Day 132 -133
July 4 - 5

Drove along the 4WD track into Jim Jim Falls, complete with a few small creek crossings until arriving at the carpark. A whole swag of characters do the day trip in and the carpark seemed to be filling up fast - even whilst we were getting ourselves sunblocked/watered/fed for the walk up to the falls. After rockhopping along the track we arrived at a small sandy beach where a few backpackers were sunning themselves - or maybe they had been for a swim and were thawing themselves out.

This main area is still a little way from the falls themselves so we decided to swim / climb to get a better view. The water we had to swim through to get to the last rock barrier opposite the base of the falls was pretty bloody cold and we half expected to see ice blocks floating past! After we climbed over these rocks we were but a 50m swim from the base of the falls and so with temptation staring at us in the face we just HAD to do the swim to the base of the falls. Now when we say this water was cold I reckon it must have been the coldest water I have ever swum in as it gets next to no sun because of the steep sides of the waterfall that surround the pool at the base. We got to the base of the falls and there wer some small rock ledges stand on. The volume of water coming over the falls was pretty small (comparatively) so we were able to stand completely under the falls themselves. It felt llike being bombarded with a continuous multitude of fine needles as the water pummeled your body in fine spray from ???? metres above. We stayed for a while and then headed back before hypothermia set in! Brayden was so cold I had to have him on my back for a a fair percentage of the swim back and his lips were starting to turn blue…still all for the greater good!!! On the swim back it was just sheer magic to roll over on your back and look straight up the barrel of the waterfall. Hard to put into words but an image indelibly inscribed in memory. Once we were back to the rock barrier we quickly found ourselves a small area of sun out of the wind to thaw out and warm up.

As is often the case with many of these places we go to after we do the swim thing - usually with kids in tow - other people build up the courage to do the same thing. Another man and his daughters started to do it but one of the daughters turned back when she reckoned it was just too cold. Cant blame her really.

Unfortunately the road to Twin Falls was still closed and so after retracing our steps back to Jim jim Falls campsite we hitched up the trailer and headed further north(ish) to another free camp - Malabanjbanjdju. It is most amazing to me to think that in this park there are still areas where you are allowed to free camp without any requirement to pay over the top prices, or in this case none at all!

Kakadu : Malabanjbanjdju - Merl Camp / Ubirr

Day 134 - 135
July 6 - 7

Kakadu : Merl Camp / Ubirr - Mary River

Day 136
July 8

[/h2Kakadu : Mary River - Moline Rockhole
Day 137
July 9

Kakadu : Moline Rockhole - (via Gunlom again) - Edith Falls (bush camp)

Day 138
July 10

Left Amanda and Brayden at camp whilst I took Rhiannon back into Gunlom to try and see if we could see her journal that she may have left there. This was not to be and we were out of luck. Interestingly in the time we had been away there was now a small kiosk in place and a couple of semi permanent tents for the “T/O’s” or traditional owners. You can see this then turning into a Cooinda or Jabiru place with too much development. If they bitumenised the road that place will no longer be as nice as it currently is.

Went back via a small waterfall that the camp manager told me about and decided to go back there for lunch after picking up Amanda and Brayden. It was nice with a few waterfalls and a reasonable sized clear pool down the bottom and it was warm (ish). We had a great swim, lunch and then headed back to the ranger station to pick up our trailer and do the run back towards Katherine - again. We decided to camp up near Edith falls again off in the bush and had a great little campfire that night.

Edith Falls (bush camp) - Katherine (again!)

Day 139
July 11

Traveled into Katherine for about the 6th time - almost regarded as locals. Been there done that move on….

Katherine - Larrimah - Daly Waters

Day 140
July 12

Headed down to the well known and well traveled stop at Daly Waters pub. Its almost an institution for all travelers, irrespective of their mode of transport. Certainly a classic pub with the quintessential show from “Larry” which has probably been the same for the last 30 odd years. A bloke by the name of Bob Magor wa a guest ‘artist’ and a bush poet of some note. He did a rendition or two of some of his best known material which essentially takes the mickey out of all the grey nomads and their habits. Like he said …“ you won’t recognise it in yourself but you will see it in you neighbours”.

The kids helped out in the audience participation arena and sang for their supper with a duet of “A duet of La la la l a la , la la la la la, la la la la la laaaaa, La la la l a la , la la la la la, la la la la la laaaaa.
This won them accolades from the crowd and a selection of their choice from the ice ream fridge. This kept them happy for a fair old while.

And so to bed ……to listen to every man and his dog snore and pass wind in a cacophony of noise unique to close quarters, el cheapo caravan park living (well bare patch of ground with the odd overloaded power point for the satellite TV and aircons of the Jayco crew). No disrespect intended of course!

Daly Waters - Elliot - Renner Springs - Three Ways- Tennant Creek - Devils Marbles

Day 141
July 13

Travelling day primarily heading due south down the Stuart Hwy. Passing many many many travelers / grey nomads / recycled teenagers / tourists / backpackers all going the other way heading north. Are we crazy or something?!?

Arrived, eventually, at Devils Marbles and squeezed ourselves into the campground along with every other man and his dog….dogs literally as despite it being a National Park and “No Pets” signs prominently displayed there were several there. Nothing against the dogs but with dingoes around if any dogs took off you end up with dingo / dog mongrels which create problems. Perhaps the ranger should just shoot the owners!

It was a chill wind as we cycled over to a different area to have a look at a few of the marbles - a significant site for the local aboriginal people. There were some amazing formations with rocks seemingly precariously balanced on others. Did the ‘standard kid balancing a rock on their hands/head; photo shoot. Scrambled up/down/over many of the formations - along with a whole swag of other characters. Wherever you tried to take a photo it seemed that someone would pop their head around and get in the way. Some character there was set up to take the postcard shot of one of the main areas which was “photogenic”and he eventually gave up as so many people were clambering over it he would never have got the shot he wanted.

Had dingoes ranging up and down the campsites that night whilst having dinner. Again despite numerous sign saying don’t feed the dingoes you still have morons who think it is a good idea. Another old fella just up from us kept putting on his ‘you beaut’ torch each time a dingo came around - at whicj point the dingo promptly slunk of to disappear into the scrub. He didn’t quite correlate his actions with the dingo doing the disappearing trick - if you just left them they would range just along the edge of your campsites light and you could get to view them without startling them.

Devils Marbles - Ti Tree - Aileron - Alice Springs- Trephina Gorge NP

Day 142
July 14


Mass exodus in the morning with the aforementioned every man and his dog packing up and setting off to wherever their destination dictated. Bit like a military operation as people spring into action - or in this case thaw out first whilst waiting for the sunrise and the magical photo shot.

Briefly stopped at a few spots along the way although we did want to make some progress to get to Alice and beyond. Ti Tree had a good art gallery that we perused for a while but nothing took our fancy - although one large painting did pique our interest until we saw the price tag at about $8500!!! Thanks but no thanks.

Ummed and ahhhed about a few didgeridoos but thought the better of it and after buying a real coffee (first in a long time) we jumped back in the warm car and continued south. Finally arrived in Alice - the day of the Imparja Camel Cup - but were too late to ‘go to the races’. Grabbed a bit of information, booked into the Sounds of Starlight didgeridoo show and also pre booked a fossicking tour at Gemtree.

Not really wanting to stay in Alice and then move on the next day we continued out to Trephina Gorge NP where we knew a ranger talk was happening that night around the campfire and then again at Arltunga the following day. As our previous experience with NT ranger talks has been fantastic we were keen to continue the experience. Found a nice little campsite in the gorge and although looking quite basic it had drinking water available along with free gas barbeques - all for about $10.80/night.

[an aside - the pricing structure is a little bit weird $7.70,$10.80,$15.40, I guess a function of some beureaucrat creating a formula and then having it modified by applying the illustrious GST component. You’d think though that for ease of payment they would round it up/down to the nearest dollar

Met a family at the camp who had kids the same age as our two so they had a bit of a run around together to catch up on their ‘kid time’. The ranger talk was quite good with an informative talk by the young ranger all about various management practices. It was a bit interactive on the fire management side when he threw in a clump of spinifex to show us all (but particularly the kids) how spinifex can almost explode because of its volatile resins. A chorus of ‘phhwoarrhhh’ from the assembled kid contingent was proof that this was a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

Another cold night.

Trephina Gorge NP - Arltunga Historical Reserve

Day 143
July 15

Trephina Gorge NP- Ross River - N’dhala NP

Day 144
July 16

Trephina Gorge NP - Ruby Gap NP

Day 145
July 17


Having spoken to the ranger and hearing him talk glowingly about Ruby Gap it was a bit like a red flag to a bull - just had to go. Back out along the badly corrugated Arltunga Rd and past the old workings onto a two wheeled track that heads out to Ruby Gap - the site of Australia’s first so called Ruby rush. As it happened the rush was short lived as when the stones that were offered up for sale in Europe were found to be good quality garnets the market soon lost interest - leaving many men at Ruby Gap with nothing to show for their toil other than debts to pay. This led to at least one suicide by a bloke going by the name of Fox whose grave is in the area.

Most of the day was spent getting to the Gap as it was pretty slow going mostly in 2nd and 3rd gear along the track. Our campsite was a great little spot in lieu of the gorge walls which shone brilliantly the following morning. There were n designated camps per se - although some obvious favourites from the people who have camped there. We found a naturally cleared spot and made our own camp and the kids immediately began creating their own “shelter” from twigs/bark/sticks against a large log nearby. Ended up being a pretty good effort too - we secretly recorded them on video creating it and coming up with their own rules for their living arrangements - good to see imaginations at work.

Ruby Gap NP - Glen Annie Gorge

Day 146
July 18

Dead set bloody freezing!!! I kid you not with photographic evidence to prove it. From our little thermometer it showed around -6o / -7 o Celsius. No wonder we felt cold that night!

We went for the walk up inoto Ruby Gap and thence way further to Glen Annie Gorge - originally named by Leichardt after his wife on one of his expeditions in the late 1880’s. Immediately when we got down into the creek bed Rhiannon found a garnet and she had the ‘fever’ - Ruby fever!!!! She was so excited and began rushing around - all of a sudden seeing garnets everywhere. Most are all small, generally less than 4mm or so but quite clear and of a nice colour. As we walked towards the Gap there were some areas that were just thick with small stones giving the area a purplish hue. We slected a few likely looking areas behind rocks on the inside of bends and got a fair selection of stones - again all small but it kept the kids pretty happy so we have a fair collection of garnets.

We continued up the river and eventually came to Glen Annie gorge which was quite scenic and still had several waterholes - shallow and very, very cold. Swimming or even a quick wash was well out of the question.

The trek back to camp took a fair while as the walk up the river with various stops along the way for garnet fossiking took us further than you think. Good exercise walking along the sandy river bed though.

Had a big cook up for dinner with the campfire cranked up. Made a great coconut jam slice that was better than a bought one as they say - soon to become a family favourite.

Ruby Gap NP - Arltunga - Corroborree Rock - Alice Springs

Day 147
July 19

The long slow drive back via Arltunga past an aboriginal sacred site called Corroborree Rock where we had lunch and thence onto Alice Springs for the night.

Alice Springs - Rainbow Valley

Day 148
July 20

Another cold night last night - down to -3 degrees. Packed and did some “stuff” around Alice. Post office, shopping, permits, booked in for the Gemtree fossiking tour and also for a didgeridoo show when next we return to Alice to get the car serviced. After what seemed like ages we had done all our logistical requirements and had to come good on our promise to the sprogs (kids) that we would take them to see a film. The Fantastic Four was the selection so, with oversized popcorn and drink in hand we settled in for our cultural experience of popular American cinematography! The kids enjoyed it as a rare treat of the “normal” variety - as opposed to the continuous treat of having been taken around this great country of ours.

Headed out to Rainbow Valley just south of Alice (about 80kms) to arrive just in time to set up and see the colours of the rock change with the setting sun. The vista was quite stunning with the sun setting and the vivid changes of colour from reds, oranges, browns, yellow and white. Very reminiscent of what you expect out at Uluru but without the tour buses and the crowds.

We did have a modern day Rambo / Crocodile Dundee character out there though who was trying to impress a new lady friend. Apparently he had duck roasting when the ranger swung by but perhaps that didn’t turn out so well as we heard them debating the pros and cons of the best way to cook snaggers later on. He continued to impress his lady friend , who, dressed for the outback in light pink top and white tracksuit pants, was suitably impressed no doubt with the impromptu concert (that we were all treated to whether we liked it or not) of Rodney Rude on his car stereo. We were waiting for the Austen Tayshus tape to also be put on but that was not to be….I mean how much can a Kang-a- roo or a koala bear?!? This was all capped off with his camouflage jacket and his knee length ugg boots displayed the following morning. If you were a betting man you would have put money on seeing a fair dinkum, full on mullet hairdo under the new Akubra hat.

We were treated to a good talk from the ranger, an indigenous bloke, which was quite good. Pretty informal but informative none the less. Unfortunately Ranger Garth had a snore on him like a Stihl chainsaw working hard so a nice peaceful nights sleep was not to be. Sleep was even more difficult with the temperature plummeting to untold depths. We didn’t have the thermometer out but I had placed about 30mm of water in one of the wine glassed and this was frozen SOLID the following morning. All the taps had frozen up on any water containers so it must have been well below freezing. Very cold. Still you cant be everywhere at the perfect time of the year on a long term journey so you have to make do - having said that I’d hazard a guess to say that this cold snap is a little more unseasonal compared to the average. As the newspapers said in Darwin during June when the average temperature was 22-23 degrees…..”Bloody Freezing” (and we have the newspaper headline to prove it!!!

Rainbow Valley - Maryvale Station - Chambers Pillar

Day 149
July 21

Having spoken to “Ranger Garth” the previous night we found out about a back route onto the Old Ghan Line. We had to travel on a prohibited road adjacent to the current railway for few kms but as he said no one is there to police it so we took our chance as it saved us about 100kms of corrugated road. Mind you this little section of road had corrugations you had to drive up and down and most people would liken them to hills or sand dunes!!!

The back route got us onto the old Hugh river Stock Route road which was in good nick and we made reasonable time for a while until we hit the old South road from Alice springs. At this point the road parallels what is now the infamous Finke Desert Race., which travels down the route along which the Old Ghan rail line traversed. Unfortuntaely it appears that once the race has been run everyone just walks away leaving all their rubbish and other junk wherever it lay. This was disappointing to see as you would expect that the organizers would be required to do a bit of a clean up at the end of the proceedings - or at least place in trust a bond os that offialdom could clean it up at the organizers expense. Then again it is the northern frontier of the territory and maybe they just don’t give a hoot because it brings in some money perhaps - I don’t know. It is a shame though to travel along the ol Ghan route to navigate by bottles/cans and rubbish!!!

Anyway……

Visited one of the old railway sidings (Bundooma) at the turn off thru Maryvale station to Chambers Pillar. It was a standard design that we were to see at several of the other sidings later. There was simply a large concrete structure with a number of rooms either side of a main kitchen area. Almost looked like they had used prefabricated sections of concrete like buildings nowadays.

The rod in was quite corrugated and took a little while to traverse than we had counted on. After stopping for our obligatory stop at a good firewood collecting spot and suitably flush with the necessary material for warmth generation we finally made the last section into Chambers which is a series of red sanddunes.This section would have been a little more challenging in previous years as the red sand hills are very soft and boggy and momentum is required to get up and over. This is all well and good - as long as no one else with the same aforementioned momentum happens to be coming the other way at the same moment in time. Recently the Parks and wildlife commission have placed gravel on these crests which reduces the need for speed - but also reduces the challenge!!! Still precaution should not be abandoned and radio calls for inward and outward bound traffic is a definite must, although as our antenna had recently just given up the ghost from the multitudinous corrugations over the last 5 months our two way range was limited.

Luckily we got to camp and squeezed in to a spot that was left. The small camp was near on full with about 8/9 campers - you come a long way to live in close confines to a whole swag of other people!
Climbed the pillar, viewed the historical inscriptions and took the sunset photos as the colours changed.

Chambers Pillar was used as a significant landmark in the times of the first crossings of the continent from south to north and then subsequently for the Overland Telegraph Line route and then for the multitude of travelers to follow seeking fame and fortune looking for gold/rubies/opal/pastoral riches. It is still a beacon for travelers and tourists today and seems to have a large number of visitors. It is historically significant due to the reason indicated above but also due to the old ‘graffitif’ which identifies many of the early explorers and officials responsible for opening up the central corridor of Australia prior to the Ghan railway making it more accessible to the general populace. Accordingly there are names inscribed into the sandstone from John MacDouall Stuart, John Ross and many other notables from the late 1880’s. A number of inscribed names bear the mark of the Hayes family who still have a significant presence in and around these parts today. Unfortunately there are a lot of more recent inscriptions from people who perhaps thought to immortalise their names but have served only to prove themselves morons and mental dwarfs who really should be removed from the human gene pool. These more recent ones date from the 50’s, which have some historical context in that it would have still been a major challenge to get there at that time but the ones I really find difficult to understand are the ones which have appeared in the last ten years and any ones which have appeared (we saw a few ‘06 and ’07 inscriptions) since the walkway has been put in really are indefensible.

‘Ranger Garth’ had also come out to Chambers from Rainbow Valley and gave a talk at our campfire with most of the other campers in attendance. It was good to get his viewpoint and insight as he is an initiated man from the Southern Arrente people so we may have had a bit more info on the dreamtime stories than you might get from a whitefella.

Chambers Pillar - Simpson Desert edge / North of Finke

Day 150
July 22

A long slow day of driving along one of the worst roads we have traversed to date. The Cape Leveque road was worse in some sections but for consistency of corrugations the ol Ghan road was bad all the way. We spent the vast part of the day in 2nd/3rd gear so barely ever got to a speed greater than 40km/hr. Having said that the road is officially “unmaintained” as it was originally cleared for an access route for the Finke Desert Race so you cant and shouldn’t expect anything better. Hence the corrugations get worse and never get knocked over. It is however now part of the ol Ghan Explorer way and gets traffic throughout the year, not just over the 1 weekend of the race.

The route literally just traverses what used to be the track - minus the track of course!!! You travel thru the cuttings and over the embankments where the train passed up until 1981. Some sections still have the sleepers embedded in them - but you don’t feel the difference between that and the corrugations. You do need to be wary of the railway dog spikes which litter the track - we have collected a dozen which will be worked into a unique momento of our trip around Oz. I also ‘souvenired’ a section of a sleeper, many of which still litter the roadside. Now whilst I struggled, initially, with the concept of cultural vandalism by taking this bit of sleeper, the fact that the remains of the sleepers are collected and burnt at various points around the area I decided that this was a valid way of retaining some physical aspect of the Ghan and affording it the respect it deserves. In this way we honour our forefathers for the work they did in opening up Central Australia. Sound good? That’s my logic anyway!!!

After visiting a few of the old Railway sidings along the way we finally got into true sandune country on the edge of the Simpson Desert just north of Finke. We pulled off the road and after nearly getting bogged on a small red sanddune (by jeez they are soft!) we set up camp in the scrub - alone in the world just us and the amazing stars of the night sky - devoid of any pollution - light/rubbish/noise. Brilliant.

North of Finke - Finke - NT/SA Border - Mt Dare - Dalhousie Springs (Witjira National Park)

Day 151
July 23

With plans to meet Amanda’s folks in Cairns on the 19th August heading into South Australia doesn’t seem like the most logical route to take. All very true, but, were we to leave this area and try and come back through on our southern leg we would probably have been running low on time and the daytime temperatures would have been less than pleasant. So our logic went along the lines of a better to do it now than later. Just means a few more hard days driving to get back in time.

We ‘ummed and ahhhd’ as to whether we would just prop for the day but eventually decided to push on through as our time would be limited and we had decided to bite off a reasonable distance before being required back in Alice Springs for the car service. The majority of the road wasn’t too bad, although still variably corrugated, until the last section that was very rocky and slow going. Along the way we passed an amazing array of different landscapes from sand dune country, open barren plains, rolling hills, mulga scrub country, rocky gibber plains and finally the mound springs country around Dalhousie.


It had been a long day and we arrived later than we would have liked but after reversing into ‘our spot’ I we decided to leave setting up for later and head straight to the thermal pool. Talk about absolute bliss after the last few days of hard going. The pool was big, warm and better than your average day spa and a darn sight cheaper. After a short while in the pool, soaking away the days pains and soothing sore bones and muscles, we felt a multitude of small nips - we were surrounded by hundreds of small ‘goby’ fish which were pecking away at our dead skin and having a bit of a feed. Takes a little getting used to - as does any symbiotic relationship I guess! We stayed in the pool until it was almost dark and the mozzies came out (which happened to coincide with looking like prunes and being all wrinkly) and reluctantly headed back to camp to set up for the night.

We were afforded a beautiful view of the night sky accompanied by a whole swag of the local resident dingo pack howling at the sky - or whatever it is they howl at. There seemed to be several of them surrounding the camp as you could hear one begin to howl which was responded to by another somewhere else and then another elsewhere etc etc. Much later in the night they must have come together for an encore as they cranked up the volume and went for their signature piece!

Dalhousie Springs - Pedirka Siding - Hamilton Station - Oodnadatta - Coober Pedy

Day 152
July 24

Several of the aforementioned dingoes were around camp the following morning - although most seem to keep their distance. I was making a coffee and one silently came up behind me to sit on his haunches but 3 metres away - just watching and waiting. Masters in patience and the seizing of opportunity I guess.

We also had some amazingly friendly small birds dart around us whilst eating breakfast. So friendly in fact that whilst I was eating my muesli it landed on the edge of my dish, jumped on my hand and grabbed himself several mouthfuls!!! They also did the same with both Rhiannon and Brayden - much to the kids delight

After a slow start to the morning - (all becoming a bit of a regular theme really) we went for a leisurely swim in the superbly temperature controlled Dalhousie spring. This exists at a superb 34-38oCelsius and is perfect for a long soak. You can vary the temperature by moving either west (closer to the source and hence warmer)or east (outflow to other pools and colder) in the pool. With a long slow drive ahead of us we had to pull stumps eventually and dragged ourselves out of the spring to head, very slowly due to corrugated roads, to Dalhousie ruins, and thence via Pedirka Siding (old Ghan railway siding in the middle of nowhere), Hamilton station and onto the infamous Oodnadatta and the ubiquitous Pink Roadhouse.

After the 2/3rd gear driving of the last three days it was shear bliss to get onto the road to Oodnadatta from Hamilton station which must have recently been graded and felt like an asphalt highway. All these things are relative though so if you had just come off the black top you might be thinking that road was rough.

We fueled up at the Pink Roadhouse and did the obligatory photo shoot - its surprising they are not charging for this yet….although Im sure that will come.Then again they make their money on the prices they charge I guess so they are not losing out. We had decided to try and make the campsite out along the painted desert road but by the time we arrived at the turnoff the sun was low and we would be driving right into it for the next 2 hours. As it was already on dusk, the Ooodnadatta track we were on was graded and in good condition we made the executive call to hoof it straight to Coober Pedy. We traveled through the Moon Plains, which was absolutely barren with no vegetation to be seen. In fact this area was where Mad Max was filmed and a few other as well. We crossed the Dingo fence approx 15kms from Coober Pedy, which separates the cattle country to the north (which has dingoes) from the sheep country to the south where they wish to be dingo free. Coober Pedy had more lights blazing than we had anticipated and it turned out to be a more substantial town than we had originally envisaged. A quick feed and hit the sack to explore the town and surrounds tomorrow.

Coober Pedy and surrounds

Day 153
July 25

Day dawned after another coolish night but nothing compared to what we have experienced over the last 2 weeks or so. We rode our bikes to the infocentre which was pretty informative (surprisingly as we are coming to not expect too much from some of these) and got all the necessary brochures to confuse ourelves with the things to see and do. We took ourselves off to an underground Café where the owner, previously a miner, now an art dealer/coffee shop owner/didj player made us what he claimed to be the best coffee around. Surprisingly he had an array of aboriginal art and an amazing collection of didgeridoos. Some of these were not for sale but others got up into the 1000 category and decorated withmuch more detail than we have seen previously. Some were carved with goannas, snakes, turtles and other wildlife and had their detail picked out by burning lines. Quite spectacular.

Amanda had been looking through the art and found something she liked - surprisingly it quite grabbed my eye as well (a rare occurrence in our “refined” art tastes to both confer on one piece) When it was obvious we were legit the owner indicated some negotiation could be in order, at$395 ticket price we were keen to see any reduction so after a phone call to the artist and a guarantee of a cash sale we had it in our possession for $250 - hopefully we will be just as happy with it when we get home.

The owner was a little more forthcoming with information after the sale and took us down to his underground café section where he had the flash didgeridoos and gave us one to try. It really is like comparing your $50 guitar to a $1000 instrument - there is such a difference in tonal quality. Compared to our humble little $100 home made didj there really was no comparison. So maybe if one of us sticks at it we might have to be extravagant and lash out on a flash didgeridoo one day! With the kids showing exemplary manners throughout this the owner gave them a number of bits of Opal “potch” - essentially opaline rocks which has limited value but has some displays of “colour”. So the kids were pretty happy - and so were we when the owner praised them for their behavior - as he said he sees many kids with less than acceptable behaviour.

Went to the Umoona museum/home/interpretive centre/opal jeweler. We had the tour to ourselves, as the normal caravan trade has everyone doing it during the 10 am (or first) session. We got a more informative and informal tour from the lady which was pretty well tailored for us dependent on our level of interest - this was high from all of us and she responded accordingly. Getting a decent look at how things have been mined and their underground homes was really quite fascinating. After the tour we perused the opal jewellery and something caught my eye - a fossil ammonoid which had alternating blue/green opaline chambers - very unique and pretty exquisite. As I am not generally a huge fan of opal, or jewellery in general, it was unusual for this to grab me and Amanda and the kids all quickly took a shine to it as well. After a little bartering we had acquired a fossilized ammonoid with opal sections split in half and currently cast as a set of earings - this will soon change to matching pendants which looks much more refined and suits the piece much better. A mother and daughter matching set - although Rhiannon wont be wearing it any time soon despite her thoughts on the matter.

Although the town still has some of that frontier feel to it, it would have been an amazing place during the 20 - 70’s when many people made, and lost, fortunes…some a few times over. The number of miners is decreasing nowadays as the greater mining industry and labour market focus’ attention on a more stable lifestyle with a consistent earning profile. The days of being told not to bring your explosives into the picture theatre are well and truly gone it seems! Although its fair to say that the characters still exist in abundance - as evidenced by the sign on one claim which says “No Noodling - Piss off!” (Noodling is a local term for fossiking)

North of the town the fields of mullock dumps and blowers seemed to stretch for eternity. We finally saw a couple that appeared to be working as most that you see around seem to be inoperational - which is really not surprising as they all seem to be cobbled together bodgy little numbers. Every yard in the town area is a veritable smorgasbord for the average hoarder with any bit of mechanical apparatus having been put to multiple and varied uses to be reincarnated many times until metal fatigue renders it completely inoperable. A bower birds paradise. Obviously local rules for Occ .health and safety apply as most of these bits of gear would be found…..lets say “wanting” in the Department of Mines Compliance rules I would hazard a guess to say. Apparently they have had minimal fatalities - which is probably more from good luck than planning. Still it is a uniqu

Coober Pedy - Marla - Marryat - Kulgera - Erldunda - Mt Conner roadside stop

Day 154
July 26

Another driving day to complete our fast lap into SA. The plan was to drive hard to get to either Yulara, if we made good time, or take it a little cruisier and stop at Curtin Springs. After our obligatory slow start to the day we eventually were packed and made our way out of the ubiquitously named Oasis caravan park after a disturbed nights sleep where every dog in Coober Pedy obviously needed to voice its opinion on something or other. Unfortunately it only needs one dog to bark at itself as its own bark reverberates off all the hills and dumps let alone all the others joining in! Part of the charm of Coober Pedy I guess. Still we had enjoyed our time there and there was more to see and do so we will probably be back again at some stage.

It was a windless day and we hopped into the north heading convoy of caravans, cars, rental vehicles and trucks, fueling up at Erldunda at a highway robbery price of $1.61 - hell Oodnadatta was less than that and their overheads have to be a lot more I’d reckon. Still if it was my profit margin I was looking at I’d slug travelers and tourists too!!!

Headed down the Lasseter highway on route to Yulara but at approx 4:30pm we found a good roadside stop just east of Mt Conner so decided to park it up for the night and try and get the kids to catch up a bit on some schooling which has fallen by the wayside whilst we have been traveling hard. The camp was good in sight of Mt Conner and pretty quiet for a near roadside stop. The number of roadtrains heading in and out of Yulara was quite surprising and you realise the volume of tourists visiting Uluru must be phenomenal.

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Photos

Ubirr Rock sunset
Nice View - several hundred people though..most of whom could talk the legs off an iron pot!

Injaluk Art site
Near Oenpelli Community and outside Kakadu. Great tour @ $150 and we had a local guid to oursleves and another family for ~3 hrs . Art is much better than seen at Kakadu.

Jumping Crocs at Adelaide River
Leaving our kayaks on the trailer for the majority of the NT was a good idea...makes you wonder how sae you are when fishing in a tinny...?!?!

Aussie Icon Dunny
Simplistic perfection and maintenance free!

Daly Waters Pub
The "La La La" kids

Kids Spoils from stardom
Open slather at the ice cream fridge after helping out with the show at Dlay wtaers Pub

Exciting Times
Concentration span sometimes wanes a tad....

Ruby Gap cold morning
The thermometer never lies. She was cold alright

Ruby Gap / Glen Annie Gorge
Garnet Hunting - previously thought as Rubies and started the great central Australian ruby rush. Obviously short lived

Russell's Breadmaking proofing oven
Amazing what necessity brings about in terms of ingenuity. Clear storage box works well in the arvo sun to let my dough rise before hitting the Bedourie camp oven.

Rainbow Valley
Coldest night weve had everything froze solid!

Lamberts Centre
If you balanced Oz on a pin this is where you'd need to balance it!!!Dead set smack bang in the centre.

Race Around australia
Drove around, biked around and ran around australia - all in a few minutes!

Lonely signage
You can imagine the workers and the foreman arguing as to where the sign should be put 1 foot this way or the other....

Dalhousie Springs
Heaven! A true oasis.

Pink Roadhouse at oodnadatta
The ubiquitous Pink roadhouse

Coober Pedy Underground house
Rhiannon loved the bedrooms underground

Infamous dog fence
Stretching from QLD to WA
Cattle country on one side sheep country on other.

Brayden making dessert
Chocolate chip biscuits Yum oh!

Comments

[Brett + Robbie]

Howdy Panting Clan !
Hi Guys, and a BIG Happy Birthday to Brayden for last week. Its great to keep up with your travels. Brayden + Rhiannon look like they have grown heaps. Not many pix of Amanda tho' ? Must be a bit shy... Russell, something that we've been wondering - A lot of miles travelled now, but still the Tojo looks spick + span ???? How do you do it ? Miss you heaps, stay safe.