Home Run

Port Augusta was our second last stop and with high expectations of a pretty town we were quickly brought back down to earth when we arrived at our very average caravan park full of warnings about a regular intruder to the park who will happily relieve you of your valuables when you go as far as the toilet block..  We set up with a very uneasy feeling but once we were set up, the boys decided they would like to stay and watch the last couple of football games so Emma and I went for a long walk and it was then that we could appreciate some of the Port’s beauty.  The caravan park was situated right on the Spencer Gulf and a walk up to the Red Cliffs and the railway bridge showed it in a much better light.

The next day we drove to Adelaide for the 34th and final stop for this trip.  On the way we stopped in at Port Pirie and stopped in at a Sports Warehouse.  Very excitedly the children and Paul and I all chose sneakers to replace the red, holey ones we have been wearing for the last 3 months (and beyond). 

On to Adelaide and we arrived in one of the nicest parks we have stayed in, set up quicker than ever, clothes washing as we went, then it was off to the car wash to remove some of the red dirt and filth from inside and outside of the car. 

The following day, in our lovely clean car, we wandered around the city, Rundle Mall, and the Adelaide Oval then on to Glenelg so Paul could re live some fond memories of a holiday he had as a 10 year old.  Hopefully we have created some of those sort of memories for Ben and Emma.  A celebratory dinner at the Glenelg Surf Club overlooking the setting sun on the water led to lots of reminiscing of a holiday that was as wonderful as any of us could have hoped for.

It seemed fitting that as we returned from dinner we met the family in the camper trailer on the site next to ours,  setting up on night one of their 13 week holiday around the Northern Territory and the East Coast of Australia…..

We wished them well and hope they have as lovely a time as we have done, but for us it is time to return home to family and friends and the roast that mum has on in the oven at our place. That's not so bad.

Coober Pedy

Once in South Australia our first overnight stop was Coober Pedy. We were looking forward to checking out this unusual place and it lived up to any preconceived ideas and as usual on this trip exceeded any expectations.  On approach to the town the very barren landscape was broken up by all these coloured mounds of sand and you knew there was something a bit different here.

Opal fields from the Stuart Hwy

 From the words of a local, the people here are a little crazy and you just had to walk into any ‘shop’ to figure that out.  It felt a little like shopping in Egypt when we walked into a souvenir shop to find it dark until we entered then the lights went on, and after having a brief look around and turning to leave (we were still in the shop), off they went again.  Another one had a garage door entrance which only opened after you knocked, there was a lovely gallery downstairs carved into the hill then as we left the garage door was closed again.  Even outside the supermarket Paul was offered some ‘cheap Opal’.  There were old spacecraft in the main street, an Opal VW Beetle, plenty of underground houses pocking out and wrecks of all sorts galore.  We enjoyed a tour at the Old Timers Mine, an opal mine started in 1916 in secret and only discovered in the 80s when a family was doing an extension to their underground home.  

A Blower as used in the mines

 

We also took a drive to the Breakaways and these were a pretty awesome sight.  These were part of the Stuart Range where the mountains are very susceptible to erosion and it results in this beautifully coloured landscape.  Beyond them is what is known as the Moon Plain and a ‘Dog Fence’ which extends for over 5,000 kms and 3 states to keep the dingoes from the sheep country.  A very interesting 70 round trip, our longest stretch of unsealed road driving and the reason for our very filthy car!

On Wednesday, July 4 (4 days to go) we got back into our filthy car and headed towards Port Augusta.  Our new animal to look out for is now the emu!  We have just seen a group of four running across the road – 90 days on and this trip is still surprising us!!!

The majestic Red Centre

Yesterday we left the Northern Territory.  It was very sad but we were pleased that they could put on a fireworks display on our last night.  Or maybe the fireworks were due to June 1st being 'Territory Day' but we appreciated it anyway.













Friday we finally got to see Uluru and we were definitely not disappointed.  This was an icon that we have all seen thousands of times but to see it up close was completely different.  It had so much more character than the images can ever portray.  We loved exploring all the crevices and folds and different colours in this enormous rock the following day as we rode our bikes the 10.4 kms around its base.  

Seing Uluru at sunset was obviously on the agenda and on our first night here we hopped on our bikes and took off to find a good vantage point.  Unfortunately we hadn't bothered to look too closely at the map and ended up in a maze of very soft red dirt roads and succeeding only in scaring Emma who thought we would be spending the night out there and puncturing a couple of bike tyres.  Put that down to another experience.  We found our way out just before it got dark and the next night thought the car and the official 'sunset viewing area' might be a better option.

Uluru at 5

Uluru at 5.30

Uluru at 6

Kata Tjuta at Sunrise

Sunday was spent exploring Kata Tjuta (the Olgas).  The kids and I got up at 6.45pm (temp 1 degrees) and we drove to the Kata Tjuta sunrise viewing area where we witnessed the sun rising between Kata Tjuta and Uluru amongst many other early starters. I hope no-one noticed I still had my pjs on under my coat...  Back at camp Paul had my coffee ready to go, the temp was now up to 5 degrees.  The rest of the morning was spent doing a few more loads of washing (hopefully the last big one before home), pancakes for lunch and then back to Kata Tjuta for the Valley of the Winds walk.  I really had no idea what to expect from these rocks but as usual we were completely blown away by what we saw.  How is that 20 km from the most enormous single rock there is a collection of enormous rocks made up from millions of river rocks??  We were concerned starting our 7.4 km 'difficult walk' when others were coming back puffing and panting when they had only completed part of the walk, but we needn't have worried, the difficult part never really eventuated and the 4 hour walk only took 2, but it was so magnificent.  The fact that we finished this in good time meant that we could also fit in the Walga gorge walk and this too was very impressive.

Glass of wine in hand we then watched the sun go down over Kata Tjuta and as the moon gets back to its full state we are starting to feel very sad that this trip is very nearly at its conclusion....

Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon at Sunset

Equipped with new beannie, Paul drove us the 450 kms from Alice to the Kings Canyon we had heard so much about.  At first we hesitantly admitted to each other that maybe it wasn't really worth the drive.  Sure, it was beautiful but that was a long way to go.  However the next day we went on the full walk where we endured the 500 steep steps to the top of the canyon and walked around the rim.  It was then that we accepted the hype.  It was like we were on another planet, the photos below don't do it any justice - they are just a few that took my fancy. 

Garden of Eden

The Lost City

We spent two nights at the Kings Canyon Resort, a lovely park, plenty for the kids to do including 'the Roadies' a family orientated band that we went along to on the first night (Paul and I couldn't do it twice).  Emma enjoyed getting on stage but not surprisingly Ben remained seated with us, the three of us avoiding eye contact so we were not called up.