Ti Tree to Alice Springs

Day 21- Ti Tree to Alice Springs
Survived the night at Ti Tree actually it was quite nice except for the toilet facilities. Up early packed and just about to head off when a young fellow came over asking our advice about his new caravan. John tried to help, he had just bought a van and was working building community homes in the area. Think he was a bit lonely. As we travelled along the road we came across a marker so we pulled in and took our photo standing at the Tropic of Capricorn. We then stopped at the Highest Point on the main route from Adelaide to Darwin.
Driving into Alice you see the Macdonald Ranges it is so green here. First view of the Todd River no water in it, amazing. We are staying at the Winter Sun Caravan Park. Set up camp and enjoyed a swim , some dinner and bed.
Day 22 – Alice Springs – Rest Day
We had a lazy morning and then took ourselves to the Todd Mall markets, much the same as we have at home. Lots of local aboriginals selling their paintings, we saw someone hand over $70 guess that would be spent of some grog for the evening. We checked out the Big 4 caravan park but decided we were happy where we were. We have now settled here until 6 April.
Day 23 – Alice Springs – West MacDonnell National Park
Today we explored the West MacDonnell Ranges.
Ellery Creek Bighole. You can camp here a small walk down to the hole and it was just beautiful. A hugh swimming hole – really pretty. We had a good look around. The water was like ice. There were a couple of families camping and the lady on the shore said her family with out there somewhere. You could swim right around the rocks out of sight. We also did a walk down to the river, very rocky going.
Serpentine Gorge – Off we started trekking when I realised this walk was quite alot of rock climbing to the lookout. So off John went on this adventure by himself. Guess he was gone a good half hour, we could see each other him at the top of the mountain and me sitting on a rock at the bottom. When he got back down he said it was difficult and agreed I would not have made it. We continued onto the gorge this was not as nice as the previous waterhole we had just visited. We ran into a busload of boys from Victoria who were on a school camp. Bulldog supporter.

Ochre Pits – This was an interesting place, the aboriginal people use this place as a orchre mine. They use the rock for paintings and body decorations. You are asked not to take any of the rock away or remove it from the rock walls.
Glen Helen Gorge – 132 km from Alice Springs is Glen Helen Resort. The Fink rivers runs and continues on towards the Simpson Desert. Towering gorge walls are the background where the permanent waterhole is. We were going to have a swim here and was about to change into our bathers when a bus load of tourist arrived. That was the end of that.
Ormiston Gorge – Our last stop for the today and I would say the best. What a place , shady cool water, towering rock walls. Could have stayed forever. Took a swim – we both loved this place. Chatted to a couple on the sand, they arrived a few weeks ago and love it so much has started work at Glen Helen Resort. Seems alot of folks do that up this way, come for a visit and stay. We will be home.
Day 24 – Golf & Visit National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame
Today I walked the Alice Spring Golf Course with John. We had a great morning, it is such a pretty place. Lots of birds and grasshoppers. I have never seen so many grasshoppers. John had a good round and booked in for Wednesday to play in their comp calls WAGS. I visited the National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame. I was enjoying , lots of reading. How difficult it would have been to live back in the early days. A pioneer woman is not only a colonist, explorer or settler but is anyone who is an innovator or developer of something new. Eg doctors, lawyers, aviators I saw names like Dawn Fraser, Margaret Doyle.
Celebrating women’s achievements over past 100 years, the 3 m x 2.5m signature quilt Patchwork of Empowerment contains 343 signatures of women who were first in their field. See attached list of some of the names on this quilt. This was very inspiring.
The display was founded by Mrs Molly Clark of Old Andado Station in 1993 and is dedicated to preserving the place of women in history and their special contribution to Australia’s heritage. I was told this wonderful lady, Molly is now 94 years of age.l

Day 25 – Eastern MacDonnell Ranges – Emily & Jessie Gaps
Unfortunately we are unable to see a couple of beautiful spots. The road has been closed due to all the rain they have had so we cannot get to Trephine Gorge or Palm Valley. With a bit of luck when we come back here in a week or so it may be opened. Today we went to Emily Gap which is really pretty. Very peaceful could have spent the whole day there. We had to wade through the water and found Aboroginal Rock Art. Thought we were there all alone and set up the tripod for a picture of the two of us and then a bus load of tourist turned up. We seem to keep running into these tourists. Finally sorted the camera and got our shot. We drove onto Jessie’s Gap – nothing there no water, very hot.
This afternoon John played in the Wags competition and I walked around. Much cooler today. Johnny said I was to say he had a tough day at the golf course. Leave it up to your imagination.

Centre of Australia

Today we stood at the centre point of Australia. See pics

Matranka /Katherine/Ti Tree

Day 14 – Matranka
Barra Feeding/Thermal Pools/Barra Fishing
We started our day by watching the Barra in the Billabong being feed. They hand feed these fellows, and Darryl asked if anyone would like to give it a go. Mike volunteers. He succeeded in feeding one of them, lost a bit of skin off his finger. The day gets better.
Off to the Thermal Pools, Bitter Springs was just up the road, this is a natural swimming pool. Very erry as we walk up the path. I was not at all sure of going into this water. Finally took the plunge and it was fantastic, mind you did not venture far from the steps. The boys decided to do the swim up the creek where you climb a ladder to exit. John took the lead and Mike was following behind filming under water. He said he got the fright of his life when we felt this slimy thing rubbing against his chest. He swam as fast as he could up stream. Just another of Michael’s adventures for the day.
Next stop was the Matranka Thermal Pool, this is man-made and feeds from a spring upstream. Once again I was not keen at even entering this park, bats lots of bats, 200,000 bats hanging from the palm trees. John insisted I go so off we went slowly. It was an amazing place and I am now glad I did do it. The pool was nice and clean and we ended staying there for quite sometime. There was a young family swimming and the little girl took me down towards the gate where she assured me
We then had a snack on the verandah of the old homestead where the movie “We of the Never Never” was filmed.
The boys had been very patient all day so it was off to do some Barra fishing. Once again I was not keen on walking through the bush to the Roper River especially when the signs are warning you about freshwater crocs and maybe some salties. Off we went and it didn’t seem that bad. I was well back from the bank. The boys threw in their lines and all was going well until Mike got a snag, moved closer to the edge to retrieve his lure when all of a sudden his feet went from under him and yes he was it this river. The worst part he could not get his grip to get back out, so Trice goes to his rescue and she also slips (not in the river), then I try and help and find myself slipping. I am not sure how but Mike managed to get out and we were all wrecks. You may ask where was John – he was upstream fishing and finally comes to see what’s going on. He did take photos of the three of us covered in mud. After all this , it was time to pack up and head home before anything else happened to Mike.
We ended the day having dinner together, along with a few drinks.

Day 15 – Mataranka to Katherine
Katherine - We arrived Sunday lunch time from Mataranka it was a short drive only 112 klms. We booked into The Shady Lane Caravan Park. Very very nice, 5kms out of town so it is very relaxing. We are staying here for three nights. It is good to have a break from driving.
We had a relaxing afternoon, did some shopping to restock the cupboards. Michael got hold of the clippers and took to Johnny’s hair, he now has a haircut he had when he was a schoolboy. Few drinks and then off to bed as had to leave here 8.15am to drive to where we had booked a cruise on the gorge.
Dat 16 – Katherine Gorge
We were expecting to be the only ones, but to our surprise there were 47 people on board. Our guides name was Taffey, happy gentlemen with a snowy white beard. We can only see two of the thirteen gorges today as they have not opened the other cruises. The first gorge was not as impressive as I thought it would be. We then left the boat and walked for a few hundred metres to board a second boat. This boat took us into the second gorge which is spectacular when we were just gliding along is was very quiet and spiritual. We were lucky enough to see one freshwater croc lying under some bushes in the sand.
This gorge feeds from the Gulf it is just amazing how far this water comes from. The guide told us that the river can flood even though there is no rain here at Katherine.
Day 17 – Katherine – Edith Falls
Today we tackled the walk to Edith Falls upper pool. Even though it was only 1km it was steep and lots of steps. It was well worth the effort. The waterfall was beautiful and there was a big pool which the rangers had only opened the day before. Trice and I just sat on the rocks on the edge the boys were a bit more adventurous. You had to be careful you didn’t get caught in the current. Yes you are thinking how did Mike go well he got caught and it took the three of us to hold onto him and drag him back to the edge. All in all we had a great time. After our swim it was off to trek back down to the car. We went and had a look at the lower swimming pool which was still closed. Apparently the crocs come in during the wet and they do not open them for swimming until they have done their checks. We checked out Knott’s crossing on the way back, some locals were there Barra fishing. When we got home the boys walked out the back gate to check out the river, they said it was a bit muddy.
Day 18 – Katherine
Today, Trice and Mike headed off the Darwin, we all felt quite sad. John and I decided to head down to Alice Springs. John and I spent the morning doing some housework etc. Off to town to stock up on some meat and food. We took a drive in the afternoon, visited Springvale Homestead, i t was closed but we were able to drive around the complex. John tried his luck at Barra fishing in the Katherine River at a place called low level. No luck. As we were leaving a storm came from nowhere, by the time we got home everything we had left outside was wet. Not fun.
Day 19 –20 Katherine – Renner Springs – Ti Tree
Today we start our trip to Alice Springs – the roads are long and straight. We spent the night at Renner Springs, this is a roadhouse with caravan park attached. This fellow Brian assist you in getting set up. He helps with the power and water and goes on to tell us about the good food they offer especially the rissoles and gavy. We did take him up and enjoyed a nice meal. We were both in bed at 8.20pm – first time ever for John and I. We were on the road by 9am this morning. As we travel south the landscape is changing. We saw a dingo on the side of the road, first time since we left home. Pretty uneventful day and we are staying at the caravan park at Ti Tree, once again a roadhouse come pub but open the gate and here is an oasis of green grass. Not a bad spot at all.
Just had a phone call from Trice and yes Mike in more trouble, he has had a sore ear and turns out some bug decided to lodge itself in his ear and die. He has been to the doctor and had it removed. Poor Mike.

Day 13 - Elliott to Mataranka

After our interesting stay at Elliott we moved out this morning. We came across a backpacker who was asleep on the side of the road. All types up here. First stop was Daly Waters Pub, very interesting, lots of undies, bras, thongs, business cards, flags, teeshirts, caps everything you can think of. As John and I didn't have a business card, we left a Carby Bakery card and John wrote our names on as customers. I tried to get John to leave his North Melbourne stubbie holder but he refused. We had a yummy barra burger and chips and a nice cold beer. There was this beautiful pool there but it was full of foreign travellers all young so I passed on a swim. The barmaid had only been in town for two weeks, she and her hubby retired and were travelling around Australia, got to Daly Waters fell in love and bought some land with a tin shed and are planning on staying. They are also re-developing the overgrown golf course. You do meet all types when you are travelling. This lady told us about the WWII Aerodrome and she said you can actually drive along it. So, yes off we went to do just that. I must admit it was fun and a strange feeling. We also saw the tree where John Stanley Stuart carved his name. Lots of history we also saw the Telegraph Line that was erected many many years ago. We are planning on staying here in the Manor Caravan Park for tonight and tomorrow night. We are off to the Thermal pools and Rain forest walk, will fill you all in on our day tomorrow night. We skyped both the girls tonight and it was great to see everyone.

This park has wildlife, we have peacocks walking around our van. They also have Barra feeding twice a day.

Pics: Daly Waters Pub Driving on the Runway

Day 9,10,11 Mt Isa - Wanorah Bore - Devil's Marbles - Elliott

Hi

We have been out of service for past few days so here is the update.

Left Mount Isa (late start 11am) enjoyed a lovely swim. Arrived at the Northern Territory Border at 2pm of course we stopped for pics. This road is known as The Overlanders Way. You can see the horizon it seems to go for ever. Very green, I am sure this is unusual. We spent the night at a Free Stay - Wanorah Bore, very nice. There was a pretty Sunset and Trice had me up early for the Sunrise.

Off early and headed for Barkly Homestead we had a look around here, lots of Eagles. We were parked behind each other and along came this Road Train and dewharfed our cars and vans. Barkley's is used as a change over from Darwin. We went into Three Ways to see what that was like, just truck stop. Next stop Tennant Creek, decided we would not stop here but we ended up having lunch in a back street as Mike needed some repairs to his Anderson Plug. Off again and we arrived at Devil's Marbles - how beautiful this place is. We camped down here for the night and caught up with a family we did the Mine tour with. There was about 10 campers in all. The sunset was lovely. We climbed up the rocks to take pics. Trice and I went for a long walk to explore. The boys did the adventureous walks and climbs, I am sure they thought they were mountain goats. The night sky was fantastic, they have benches you lie on to watch the stars. Johnny was our teacher pointing out all the different stars, we decided he must have done well at school.

Up early this morning (Thursday 18.03) to take more pics of the surise over the rocks. We visited the Telegraph Station, lots of old buildings and cementry. Must have been hard living here in the old days. We attempted to go and see the Pebbles but looked like a dirt road for some 50kms, turned around and headed off to Katherine. We are at Elliott a small town on the Stuart Highway. We are parked at the back of the Servo, there are about 6 vans some people travelling south and others heading for Daly Waters to fish. I went for a swim in the pool, not the best but cooled me down and did some exercise. A blue heeler has moved in under our awning and making himself at home. Hope he doesn't think he is coming with us in the morning.

Off to Daly Waters pub tomorrow.

Day 8 Winton/Cloncurry/Mount Isa

Up early had a shower, shared with a big fat green frog jumping around. Bore Water must be good for green frogs. Left Winton 7.50am once on highway we travelled behind the Potters nick name (Happy Harry). Thought we were stopping 102kms up the road but no they kept driving, then Mike disappeared into the distance. Finally caught them at the Walkabout Pub at McKinlay - population 20. Shared morning tea in little park and then shared a couple of pots at the pub. Chatted with some other travellers before heading off to Cloncurry for lunch. Stopped at the nice spot call Mary Kathleen Park pleasant under the shady trees and green grass. The community was there planning a Curry afternoon, looked pretty good. About 40kms up the road we stopped to visit the Burke & Wills memorial. The expidition of Burke & Wills crossed this spot on 22 January 1861. Our next stop was the township of Mary Kathleen, only a notice remaims, you have to sense the township that was once here. Very strange. We headed off thinking we would free stay again only to find this free stay was a truck stop at the side of the road. So off we headed into Mt Isa and settled into the Sunset Caravan Park. Really nice, parked our vans. I did a clean of the road kill on our van - yuck. Trice cooked a special dinner which was greatly appreciated. Spoke to the girls and now heading off to bed.

A week has passed already. Really having a great time.

Love this life.

Day 7 - Longreach to Winton

Left Longreach at 8.40 - plenty of green grass. Went to the Dinosaur's workshop 19 k east of Winton. Our guide was Freddie, real character had us all laughing. Poor fellow having to put up with us asking all these questions. Had my pic taken with Barney. Not sure if I believe all this stuff. Thought we were going on a tour but didn't leave the tin shed. Anyway we can say we did it. Went for a walk to see the gorge and I was the only one who took there net hat, kept the flies off me. There were millions of them. To get to this place we drove 10ks along dirt road and then unhitched Michael's car and took off up this mountain, they call it jumpup out here.

We then headed into Winton, free camped here behind the North Gregory Pub, had to register and the little lady behind bar advised we had to patronise the pub, well Johnny was OK with that he and Mike spend the afternoon at the tab. That wasn't a big decision for the boys.

Unfortunately we missed the Waltzing Maltilda Centre as it closed at 3pm. Spend a pleasant evening at our little free camp at the back of the pub.

A full day today, visit to the Longreach School of Air. Very interesting showed us the classrooms and observed a School of the Air lession in progress. It is amazing how the education is delivered to the children in the bush. They have up to date equipment, but still use the telephone to hold the lessons. They come together four times a year and meet as clusters or mini school. I purchased a book and then you give it back to the library a clever way of fund raising. A great idea.

We then went off the the Stockman's Hall of Fame. Very interesting but lots of reading etc. John really enjoyed the day.

Had a tidy up in the afternoon and of course a cool swim. Thought we would have dinner at the local and mix with the townsfolk. Funny we were the only ones there. Town looked deserted when we came outside.

Off to Winton tomorrow for yet another adventure.

Day 5 Longreach

John and I standing in the engine of Qantas 747 - City of Bunbury returned to Longreach in 2006. We spent most of the day at the Qantas Founders Museum. Had a lazy afternoon, swimming and having some bubbles with Trice.

Talked to Mikayla tonight which was fantastic.

Looking forward to going to the School of the Air tomorrow along will a visit to the Stockman's Hall of Fame.

Day 4 Emerald to Longreach via Jericho and Barcaldine

This morning we were all up early the boys went for a long walk and the girls also went on a morning walk. We left Emerald around 10am. John and I took the lead once again. Countryside very flat endless to the horizon. We went over the Drummond range which was 535 mtres above sea level. Further on we crossed the Great Divide 444mtrs. We continued onto the Jericho where we had lunch and a walk around. Different place. Onto Barcaldine to gain some knowledge from the tree. We were all surprised at the way it was presented. The town in its prime had 36 pubs at present it has 11 pubs. Unbelievable. We then headed for Longreach, the road is very long and straight, looks like it would be cut easily. Arrived at the Discovery Caravan Park around 4pm. Settled in and had a nice dinner. Planning our next two days in Longreach. Big day ahead. Highlight of today was to Skype Melissa and Mikayla. She was happy to see us both.

Day 3 - Mining tours at Rubyvale

We visited the Sapphire fields at Sapphire and Rubyvale 44 kms west of Emerald. We took a mine tour with a very funny lady called Fran, she said to live here you need to drink alot, she said she was a drunk. We thought she might smoke a little something also. She was very entertaining we all enjoyed the tour 15 metres down and the temp is a very nice 25 degrees day and night. We then went to Pat's Gems where Trice & Mike did a little panning and yes lucky Potters found a very nice Zircon worth $30.00. Trice was very proud of her find. Emerald is quite a big town and we have found everyone very friendly.

Day 2 Gin Gin to Emerald

Planned to leave early finally got on the road, lots of pot holes and rain rain rain. We had lunch at a little spot called Stanwell. Drove onto to Blackwater where we meet up with Josh Mary and little Lily-Anne. She likes her Nanna Wil, she loves walking.

Had a meeting and decided to travel onto Emerald as Mike and Trice have been travelling without any aircon for the past day. Arrived at Emerald, unfortunately our free camp site was under water so we settled into the Cabin and Caravan Village. Johnny cooked a fantastic lamb roast, which we all enjoyed with some beers, wine etc etc.

Day One

Up early rushing around getting ready for the big day. Trice and Mike arrived around 10.30am and we spent the next half hour saying our goodbyes. It was great to have everyone there, thankyou to Jen Jason, Melissa Mikayla and Mike and Maureen. We finally headed off on our big adventure. Stopped on Toombul Road to check and lights (forgot to do that) and just as well because Lyn caught us to say goodbye. Had a good trip and spent our first night in the pouring rain water up to our ankles at the Gin Gin Showgrounds.