29^th July

On the road again by 7.30am, not a good night’s sleep, there were road trains driving down the highway all night, so we wanted to get to the next stop early and have a restful afternoon.

We arrived in Daly Waters at 11.30am. An interesting place consisting of a few houses a souvenir stand and a tin dwelling that served as the main pub. It was also the reception center for the camping ground that we were staying in for the night.

The camping ground was a huge paddock with a few powered sites, when booking in we were asked if we wanted a powered or un-powered site, we requested a powered site. We were directed to a driveway by a young Irish man, and then a guy on a bicycle showed us to our site. We were parked very close to our neighbors; it was like this all over the camp.

We rested up for the afternoon, before we went for a look around the campground, there were quite a few campers parked here with more arriving as the day went on.

We went and had a proper look inside the pub, inside there was a bizarre collection of all sorts of stuff, from $ notes from around the world to business cards and library cards from students also from around the world. There were police patches and things hanging from the ceiling and on every space that was available. Outside there was a rustic looking beer garden, where we were going to have tea and watch some entertainment later that evening.

After a restful afternoon, in which I got some quilting done, we walked over to the pub to catch the first act while waiting for our meal which we paid and ordered for when we booked into the camp ground. The entertainment was a rock and roll singer who played the electric guitar and sung a lot of songs from the 50’s and 60’s. He was quite good, to finish off he played and sung the “Time Warp”, well what do you do when this song is played, you dance so I did, by myself, great fun!

The next act was a story teller, poet and singer all rolled into one. He was the funniest guy we had heard for a long time. Whilst telling his stories he talked so fast I thought he would pass out from not breathing, but he kept going. His poems were also told with the enthusiasm of telling them for the first time. He was just amazing and if you are ever up that way you have to stop at Daly Waters to experience the pub and the show they put on.

28^th July

Set off early this morning, Ian thought he would put the caravan over the weigh bridge this morning before anyone was around, we were told that if you got there before 8.00amno would be there, we were there at 7.30am and there were staff there already so we kept on driving.

We stopped at Devils Marbles for an hour or so, thought about staying the night but looked at the map and decided to drive on for another hour or so to even out the trip.

We did see a dingo at Devils Marbles Camp Ground. It looked like he was quite used to people and we took a couple of photos of him, but did not get too close.

We stopped for the night at a roadside rest area called Attack Creek (Stuart Monument), this seemed a popular resting place as there were lots of campers there when we arrived with more pulling up after us. We chattered to a few of the campers, some heading South and another couple heading in the same direction as us, it was great to hear what other travelers were doing.

Tuesday 27th July

We had a very busy day yesterday 26^th July, up at 6.00am to be collected by our tour guide for a trip to a place called Palm Valley and a little town called Hermannsburg. The tour was a 4 wheel drive tour in a quite interesting vehicle, it was a large bus like van which seated 16 including the driver and surprisingly comfortable.

It was quite chilly when we started out but as the day wore on the temperature started to rise. The first stop along the way was to the memorial of Rev. John Flynn, as we stopped there on Tuesday we did not take our cameras, but got out and had another look with the others.

Normally the next stop would have been Hermannsburg, but due to there being a funeral in the town and the whole town closing when there is a funeral our tour guide informed us that we would be going to Palm Valley first. With a quick toilet stop at Stuarts Gap, we set of on first sealed road then onto corrugated gravel and then onto real 4 wheel driving, over river beds and rocks to get to the valley. The river we were cris-crossing was called the Rinks River even though there was rarely water in it today we were lucky enough for it to have water in it, making for some great photos along the way.

We stopped at a campground near the valley for some morning tea and another toilet break, before the last few bumpy km’s to the valley. When we got there we were surprised on not only the amount of vegetation here but also the variety. Here we found a variety of palm trees, called Red Cabbage Palms, which had been here for millions of years, left over from when the Central Australia was much wetter. This is the only place in the world that you will find these trees. Our tour took us on a 40min walk around the top of the gap with some great views of the area. After this stop the next place was a look out with spiritual references. The rock with the lookout was the place where women would hold ceremonies to initiate the girls into womanhood. There was another smaller rock that was used for the men’s ceremonies, but as the Aboriginal cultural was matriarchal meant that the women were more important than the men.

Then it was onto Hermannsburg for lunch and a look around this town that was settled by Lutheran people trying to bring religion into the aboriginal culture. The first time this was tried it failed. The second time was a little more successful, this time there were buildings established and a school set up for the local children. Some of the buildings were still standing and it was interesting to see how they would have lived out here only 100 years ago. Lunch was in the main homestead that has been set up as a restaurant and was simple but nice. After another look around it was time for the long trip back to the caravan park and an early night.

Wednesday 27^th July

Today we went out to the Desert Park. This is a large area of land depicting the three types of desert in the Northern Territory. First there was the sandy desert then the river part of the desert and then the bushier part of the desert including the animals and birds of the area. There was also a display of birds of prey that inhabit the area. This was both educational and enjoyable. There was a small group of local school children in attendance that seemed to enjoy the show as well.

Once we had finished at the Desert Park we visited the National Women’s Hall of Fame. This was housed in the old goal in the center of town, giving 2 museums in one. The part of this museum that I was interested in was the Women’s Museum. This held information on all the women who had been first in their field of work. It also showed how women had endured the harsh climate of the outback when it was first settled.There was also a great quilt made by 100's of women from around Australia This was an interesting place to visit, with lots of information run and organized by volunteer women in the area.

After we finished here we returned to camp and stated to pack up ready to travel early tomorrow.

25th July

Well it's been a few days since we have caught up with everyone, so here is an update of what we have been doing in the last few days.

On Saturday 23rd July we packed up at Uluru and made our to Alice Springs, arriving at around 3 o'clock. We made a bee line for the supermarket to stock up on a few supplies then back to the caravan for an early night.

On Sunday 24th we had pancakes for breakfast, provided by the caravan park, very yummy, it included tea or coffee. We then headed down town to the Todd Mall Market, a small but interesting market with a variety of stall holders from different cultures as well as the locals.


Then it was off to the Road Transport Hall of Fame. Here there were 4 large sheds full of cars but mainly trucks from the early times to the latest model. Some interesting information on the history of transport in the area. We had afternoon tea and headed back to the caravan park to have a rest as all the travelling was catching up with us.

In the evening there was a demo of didgeridoo player, he was very good and involved some kids who had a go at playing, they were not too bad either. Great end to a long day.









Monday 25th, time to explore West Macdonnell Ranges. We drove out to the furthest point of interest to then work our way back.

First stop was a place called Ormiston Gorge and Pound, we choose an hour walk into a near permanent water hole this was a relatively easy walk with the red walls and fantastic scenery was worth every step we took. This was one of our favorite places on this part of our adventure.

Next onto a little known spot called the Ochre Pits, this was an important place for the Aboriginal people who used it as a place to mine ochre. this was then used for paintings and ceremonial events. The cliffs held amazing colors and you could see where the Aborigines got their colors from.


After the Ochre Pits we moved onto Stanley Chasm, even though we missed the midday viewing where the walls go red from the suns reflection over head, the experience was still amazing. It felt like we were in a Harrison Ford movie going into the secret valley looking for treasure. We found it at the end of the1.5km walk just breathtaking. There was water on the valley floor and there were small animals in the pools developing fast before the water dries up.

Our next stop on the way was Simpsons Gap, this attraction was the closest to town and even though there were several walks to choose from with all the walking we had done that day we chose to do the shortest of these walks a 15 minute walk along the river bed that showed of the Gost Gums that I have become so fond of.


Our last stop for the day was the resting place for Rev John Flynn. This is a memorial monument to commemorate the life of this amazing man and the work that he had done in this community. His ashes were scattered here and over the mountain ranges above as were his wishes, but this was not without controversy. The stone that is there is not the first stone to be placed there. The first stone was one from the sacred sight of the Marbles, taken without the permission given from the indigenous people from that area. After some negotiation between these people and the people from this area the original stone was returned and another from a site from with in this area was put there.

22July 2011

Wow!!!!
What else is there to say about Kings Canyon.
We ventured out early this morning, before the sun rose to head out. We got to Kings Canyon at around 10am and spent the first 10 minutes deciding which walk to do. Walk 1 was a base walk which took around an hour, easy, walk 2, to the top of the canyon and around it. 6km or 3hrs and challenging, walk 3, a 2 day walk or 22km, this one was out of the question as we were not prepared for this walk nor would we ever be. So we decided to do walk no 2, up and around the top.

The first 1/2hr was a killer, all steps uphill with a few stops on the way to catch your breath and take a few pics of the surrounds. Finally making it to the top. after the initial heartbreak hill climb the rest was challenging but not too bad and the views from the cliff edges were well worth the climb .Along the way we meet some other travelers also taking the challenge. There was a lovely Norwegian family who offered to take a phot of Ian and I next to a beautiful ghost gum that were growing all over the canyon, growing in all sorts of places.













The sheer cliff faces looked as though they had been sliced through with a large knife they were so smoth and vertical.

There was a permanent water hole near the end of the walk that was surprising and you could see on a warmer day people would be able to swim in it.
At the end of the walk we were ready for a well earned res,t but we had a long drive back to the campground to cover first. So we got underway and were back at around 4pm for an interesting meal, where you bought your meat from the counter and proceeded to cook it yourself, with a salad bar thrown in for good measure. There were some interesting choices amoung them crocodile and kangaroo meat. Ian choose steak and I chose Baramundi.
An early night was called for as we were getting up early again in the morning to make our way to Alice Springs.

Today we ventured out to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), these ancient rocks vastly different to Uluru, as combined they would be around the same size as Uluru but because there were many different size rocks scattered around, it made the Olgas as a group look much larger.

We did 2 shorter walks today and even though they were shorter, they were more strenuous than around Uluru. The walks were over rocky ground and involved some hill climbs.
On the first walk we went through a valley which was more like a a forest than a desert. The end of the walk we were treated to a magnificent view of a valley floor and because it had been raining, was green and lush. Both walks were about an hour return.
The second was very different it was more arid and dry than the first one until we reached the end, where again we were surprised by lush green valley reaching into the distance.
We started back to camp stopping at a viewing platform for lunch, here you could see The Olgas in their entirety.

Today was our first day of our Trip North adventure.
We spent the day at Uluru. Watching people climb up the rock we decided that that was a little hard for us, so we took the easier option of walking around it, all 10.6km of it. Even though it was a flat, easy walk, it took us 31/2 hrs to get around it.

This was an experience that was well worth the 3 days of continuous driving to get here.

Walking around the rock there were different scenery on all sides of it. Because it had rained in the last few weeks it was quite green around and there was water in the water holes where they are usually dry.

Because of all the rain the wild flowers around Uluru were in full bloom and there was lots to see.





This evening we went to look at the sunset at Uluru, this again was something you need to experience to understand the enormity of it. There were hundreds of people from all different countries lining up to see the changes of the colors of Uluru, at first you don't see much of a change but all of a sudden the changes start from the bottom all the way to the top of the rock it is stunning to see. Then as quickly as it started it was over, the rock had gone to a dull brown color ready to start a new day tomorrow.