Talk about winding down and I forgot last nights blog and we had planned to still be out tonight!

Yesterday morning started with a rock climb. We had been there on the way north first time on our way to Kalgoorlie but it was good to be back at the rock.  This rock on the eastern edge of Merredin is huge both in height and in area so the climb used up a bit of energy.  Around the beginning of the last century some clever people built a wall around the perimeter of the rock. Then they built a channel to put the water thus accumulated into a dam that they built. All very clever, mind you copying an aboriginal idea, and the water was used to supply the town and the growing railway.

Then westward we went past the Hines and Baandee lake systems which spread over quite a large area. Then on to Meckering, famous for earthquakes many years ago, where the local shire has provided a free camp in town, a very small town, next to a memorial rose garden. They also have a dump point and a potable water tap which is very nice and all for a donation.

Today we took off to zigzag along looking for wildflowers and expecting to stay the night somewhere near Bindoon. We looked at Jennacubbin including the nicely restored tavern but were miles too early for lunch. Then to the Julimar Conservation Forest where we did see a few wildflowers but not as many as we expected. The net result was that after stopping in Bindoon for some bread we headed home.

Tonight and a lot more tonights we will be camping at home. Over the next couple of days I will summarise the trip.

Ok we are in wind down mode and due to be home in a couple of days. We would have stayed put in what was a very nice spot except that the flies had total control of the area. So clean up, tidy up and off we went west on Great Eastern Highway. First stop was Yellowdine Roadhouse which had the cheapest diesel on the highway. It turns out there is a new owner, just a week old, and he is putting some effort into attracting new customers. He is a nice guy and it will be a good set up when he is finished. The road is very busy with traffic going both ways and the relatively small number of accidents is amazing considering the way drivers behave. We saw at least 5 potential disasters today, fortunately nothing adverse happened.

We stopped for lunch at a place called Walgoolan where the locals had set up a little gazebo with the areas history. This included the original land holders and their successors, maps of the area and lots of photos which was very interesting.

Then we arrived at Merredin where we are camped at the free camp near the old railway dam and the rock which provides a good lookout view over the town

Today we weren't in a hurry and there was water available so, wonder of wonders, we had a shower for the second day in a row. Not that we are dirty as we wash every day and shower every second or third day. So showers then a minor repair as one of the hose clamps had came undone then dump and water and off we went.

First a little cruise around town, I had done a little bit of exploring before breakfast and wanted to show Elaine what I found. This is only a small town but appears quite active. There was a very nice modern looking school run by one of the Christian groups call CAPS (Christian Aboriginal Parent-Directed School) with very nice buildings including a really nice old convent building. Next to the convent was what I beleive to be a very old tin Schule, I will follow up when we get home. There are in fact a lot of nice well preserved old buildings here. Then off to the cemetery where with information from the visitor centre and the shire office we were able to locate the grave of one of my ancestors. Mums grandparents came here at the end on the 19th century, during the goldrush as something to do with the courts, I think. As was not uncommon in those days they had a daughter who died at 3 days old with typhoid. We located the grave, wrote on the headstone and said the mourners prayer for her.

Then back into town where we met up with a couple whom we met on our way north earlier this year. We spent a pleasant hour or so catching up then we went west and they went east. On our way we stopped at a memorial to the 3 truckies who died in a bushfire at Bodallin about 8 years ago. It was very nice and included a lot of detail.

Tonight we are camped at the Bodallin 24 hr rest area which is a nice big area in the bush and we have about 7 neighbours.

How does the song go 'On the road again........' , but we are nearly home now and that comes with mixed feelings, excitement at seeing our family and the grandchildren again and sadness that the trip is over. Until next year that is!

Late departure today as we both had a shower. According to the Optus coverage map we should have had coverage on iinet all the way home......wrong we ran out shortly after leaving our camp, but we have got it back now. The drive through the Woodlands was very pleasant with lots of trees, shrubs and wildflowers to be seen. Then we stopped at a sign that said Coolgardie Gorge which turned out to be a nearly dry waterhole, but next to it was the remains of a mining operation which we spent some time examining. Then into town which is small but has some very nice old buildings. We followed a sign that said lookout that got us onto a very bad track, but retracing our steps were able to stand on the edge of an abandoned, large open cut mine. Then we found, on the other side of town, the Lions lookout and were treated to the usual superb 360 degree views. The rest of the day was spent researching my maternal great grandparents who had involvement here during the goldrush era, unfortunately not looking for or finding gold.

We will camp tonight on the free rv stopping campground here in town.

Guess what.......another 8.15am departure.

 First stop just up the road is Balladonia. I commented last night that it is intersting seeing the places that go with the names and this one was quite a surprise. It is quite an oasis, not in the desert sense as we are now passing through the Great Western Woodland of which more later. Here there is a relatively new development with hotel, motel, servo, cafe, playground etc in fact the whole Megillah. Very impressed we were.

Back on the road there are trees everywhere, not big ones but trees nonetheless with lots of shrubs. What is disappointing is the lack of wildlife and this has been a feature almost all of this trip. We have seen some wildlife but not much, this might be a product of the times that we travel and walk. Then we start going up and down lots of small hills but all working upwards as we are climbing the Fraser Ranges. Then we stopped for morning tea at a delightful spot overlooking a dry lake bed and there was a story board about the woodland. This woodland stretches from well north of Southern Cross and Kalgoorlie south  through the eastern wheatbelt across east to Balladonia with a finger going further east for a total that is about the size of England around 16 million hectares. It has woodlands, mallee, scrub and wildlife species found nowhere else on the planet and some of this is endangered ecology........wow, something else eh! It is also good looking and nice to drive through.

Then into Norseman where we went up to the lookout and looked down over 360 degree views of the town (1100 population) and the still operating mines (one is the oldest continually operating mine in Australia) and the surrounding countryside of salt lakes and woodland.

Tonight we are camped at the Lake Cowan rest area with Lake Cowan in the background and a railway line in the foreground.

I have just noticed that last nights blog was incorrectly labeled Saturday by the blog program it should have been Sunday.

Today's start was in keeping with our new routine we were on the road by 8.15am. One of the reasons, or benefits, of this is that we have very little wind and that means that we save lots of fuel. The scenery was the now usual almost treeless plains of the Nullabor. One of the reasons for that is that the Nullabor is one of the worlds biggest single, I repeat single, pieces of limestone. If I remember correctly all 250,000 square kilometres of it. Shortly after leaving we left we started on Australia's longest straight piece of road, the ninety mile straight. Then we stopped at the Caiguna Blowhole, this is a little different to the blowholes near Carnarvon that squirt water skywards as the waves beat against the cliffs. Apparently caves breath, in when air pressure is high and out when it is low (I hope that I have this the correct way round) and the Nullabor is riddled with caves. This one is a small hole, and cave entrance, just a few metres off the road. Then back on the road where the scenery gradually changed to low trees mixed with the shrubs.

One thing about WA is a marked improvement in the rest areas that often include toilets and dumps, which is not a feature in SA. Another thing we noted toady was numbers of cars passing us, probably returning from Melbourne. There is still a steady stream of vehicles heading east.

We are camped tonight, along with about 6 others, at the Afghan Rocks rest area. I don't know where the actual Afghan Rocks but maybe I will find out tomorrow.

They say that record breaking helps cover up disappointment and we were both a bit that way after yesterday's loss by the Weagles. So we broke a record today and left our camp at 7.25am, I must admit that is local WA time and not central Australian time on which  we went to sleep! Not bad anyway as that really only represented 9am.

So off we went keeping the Hampton Tablelands to our right. These are the first highlands that we have seen for a while and tend to offset to extensive flat almost treeless plains that form the rest of the countryside that we are passing through. The other feature of this road is not so nice, there is lots of roadkill on the roadside. First stop Mundrabilla just to have a look and it was full of big trucks. But a nice thing outside Mundrabilla was a water filling point. In the middle of nowhere there were 2 big tanks under a big shelter and filled with water for the taking, obviously one should be conservative in how much one takes and a big sign said to boil it before drinking. Then back on the road with a steady stream of oncoming traffic, not busy like one of our highways, but a steady stream nonetheless. It made me think about the Weagles supporters who made the drive east for the game, the drive home will be a lot longer.

Next stop was M(H)oodini Bluff as a possible overnight stopping point, it was quite a nice area with lots of room. However it was nothing special and we settled for morning tea and moved on, but not before a very close call with a caravan that cut accross our bow as we started moving. Next was Madura Pass which was quite a change after the relatively flat roads of the last few days. The road climbed up to a lookout that gave us an outstanding few over the surrounding countryside. But it was also not to our liking for an overnight stay so we moved on.

Then we arrived at Cocklebiddy and treated ourselves to an ice cream after lunch. All these places are names that I have heard regularly over the years and it is great to put them into perspective. All are small Eucla has 30 inhabitants, Mundrabilla, Madura and Cocklebiddy are roadhouses with less than 10 permanent residents!

Finally we have settled for the night at the Jillbunya  Rockhole about 20 kms East of Caiguna having covered 300 kms today, miles too much.

Saturday October 3

Well there we were all prepared so we headed for the border. During the night my phone beeped with a split second of coverage and changed to WA time. But when we 

actually got cover again it went back to central Australian time! We stopped at another lookout also nicely set up to showcase the Bight. A little further along we came across some clifftop areas that would be suitable for camping. We stopped at one of them and were rewarded with a magnificent white, seaweed free, beach stretching for kms either side. 

Then we reached the border and our cherubic faces, thorough preparation and charming manner ensured a fairly quick and easy inspection before being told, nicely, to nick off. 

Twelve kilometres further on we stopped at Eucla for fuel and to watch the football. They had it on in the bar at the rather new looking motel. About 30 people came in to watch, the hotel put out a nice range of nibbles and we settled down to watch. After the usual preliminaries it started, I managed about 5 minutes and retired to the van. Elaine stayed on but gave up when it became obvious to her that the Weagles were being de-feathered. 

Onward, westward and we have settled for the night at a rest area just 36 kms west of Eucla. 

Friday October 2

Interesting day today. We left the HOB campground heading west towards home. First stop was the Nullabor roadhouse where we fueled and watered. On the way there we dealt with one of the issues that go with traveling in a motorhome or caravan and that is the toilet cassette. The casette is the holding tank for our toilet and is, like most other  vans, only about 20ltrs capacity (whereas our boat has 100ltrs capacity). So it is fairly small and is only good for 2-3 days, usually that is ok as there are 'dump points' in most towns. However between Ceduna and Norseman, a distance of about 1300 kms, there are only 2 dump points, both in WA. So for someone like us dawdling along and stopping to look at everything we have to find other ways of emptying the casette. That involves digging a hole and filling that hole in afterwards. So much for the nitty gritty of life on the road. 

After the Nullabor roadhouse we stopped at lookout number 1 to view the very spectacular coastline of the Great Australian Bight. As in a lot of places around Australia some effort has been put into providing a viewing place with story board, very nice. There are 2 more of these lookouts along the way. 

Then into a rest area about 81kms from the border where Elaine has spent the afternoon cooking up our veggies to take over the border. Quarantine rules are in place but those fruit and vegetable items on the nogo list are acceptable if cooked and going into WA they are very strict. Also on this run the nearest shops in WA are, we believe, in Norseman about 700 kms from the border so we will need our stocks. 

Today is the first of October and close to the end of our odessy.

This morning as usual we left our camp at the comfortable time of 10am long after everyone else who was camped with us. Before leaving however Elaine had chatted with a couple of Weagles supporters on there way to Melbourne and was given a flag so that we could show our allegiance. By the way we were dumbfounded at the cost of their tickets.

Still heading west we stopped briefly at Yalata where the road house has been boarded up due, we discovered to asbestos issues. Then on to the Head of the Bight. This basically is the northern most point of the Great Australian  Bight and the start of the very spectacular Bunda Cliffs. To quote from the brochure 'whales take up residence here for an entire 5 month period from June to October'. Unfortunately it is the end of the season but we were fortunate enough to see a couple of mothers with calves. We have seen whales before and at much closer quarters but this was a new and very nice experience. The centre is, presumably, owned by the local Yalata community and the shop is run by whities. The whole set up is great with a well set up visitor centre that blends into the surroundings and has the usual story boards explaining everything including the geology, the marine details etc. Then after paying our entrance fee, reduced because we are seniors and reduced again because it is late in the season, we walked down to the viewing platforms. One is a lookout with a good view over the ocean and an excellent view of the Bunda Cliffs, the other is a boardwalk meandering down the hill to the cliff edge. In this case the boardwalk provided an excellent view of mother and calf really close to shore.

Tonight we are camped in a specially provided area at the gates to the HOB, just a flat surface with an old building in the middle.

Wednesday September 30

We followed our usual routine this morning and were, successfully, the last to leave our camp at the Cohen Old School site. 

First stop was Fowlers Bay, we hadn't intended to go there as we understood the road to be bad. However we were advised last night that if we used the eastern road it was good, and it was, part sealed, part unsealed both good smooth roads. Fowlers Bay is another nice town whose main industry is tourist fishing and whale watching. There were no whales to be seen, but it is late in the season and we have seen a lot whales whilst sailing. The town has quite a long history which is set out on a number of story boards along the main street which is on the waterfront. Very pleasant, then we went back to Eyre Highway and proceeded to the town of Nundroo where we fueled up and had a brief chat with a West Coast Eagles fan heading east. There is a steady stream of vehicles on this road heading east, trucks, caravans, etc and quite a few cars not towing anything. A high proportion of the cars have WA plates and you can guess where they are going.  

We are camped tonight at one of the many rest ares, this one about 40kms west of Nundroo. 

Today we were, as usual, last out, this time by design. We did a bit of a clean up and trimmed up the wood we are carrying. We have been told that firewood is a bit hard to come by on the Nullabor, although so far the reverse is true, so we have stocked up. We then headed off going west on what is basically the last leg of our trip, all 2000 approx kms of it, but today's leg was not far at all.

Now I have been saving this one up for a little while as we are now camped at the COHEN OLD SCHOOL site. There is not much here, just a sign and the remains of a building that was presumably the old school house. I have spent a bit of time on Google trying to track down the history as I gather that there was a town called Cohen. However I have not been able to learn anything but will ask question as we proceed. Having got here we set up a fire and made some Passover rolls from a packet that we have carried since Perth, followed by Elaine making one of her famous minestrones on the same fire in the same camp oven.

It is quite a nice spot away from the road with views over a farmers fields and tonight we have 6 neighbours.

Last night there were only 2 of us in the van park, however our hosts did a campfires and invited both of us to join them. We chatted for a while then cooked our meat on their bbq before retiring to our van to eat and sleep. So it was easy to be last out this morning and we took our time anyway as we were not travelling far. The van got watered we got showered and off we went to Ceduna.

Ceduna is basically the start of the Nullabor crossing and like all the others on the Eyre Penninsula is a very nice town clean and tidy and welcoming. So we shopped, fueled, grogged and headed off along the Eyre Highway. The first stop was not suitable for an overnightet so we moved on and are now camped with a few other people at a rest stop, I think the Koonimba but anyway about 80km west of Ceduna. We have also just had one of Elaine's great meals, roast chicken, cooked on our fire pot.

Easy day today, we got going early, for us that is, and headed for a place called Smoky Bay where we are safely ensconced in Baldwins Van Park. A van park was necessary today because Elaine wanted to use a washing machine. So we did the washing and other good things and went into town to see what there is to see. Like most of these towns it is a very neat and tidy place with lots of new looking houses. There is also a jetty with a very interesting restoration story. Apparently they got organised then nothing happened so a few years back they started again and this time suceeded. The design was done by a Western Australian called Murray Drew who donated his services and lots of volunteers helped along with government and shire money with the total cost over $600,000. They sold planks as part of the fundraising and they can be seen with the names of the donors engraved in them as you walk along the jetty. There was also a lovely little cavorting alongside, but unfortunately he was nursing an injury from one of those damn jet skis.

Have to go as our hosts have invited us to join them at the bonfire.

We have spent the day here at the Haslam campground. The town is very small there are less 100 people here but it is a nice little place and the campground is basic but adequate.  This mornings exploration revealed a long jetty and a rocky foreshore. There was also story boards giving the history of the town. Then I watched somebody launch their boat by driving their 4wd across about 100 metres of shallow water then manhandle their boat off the trailer, then take the vehicle back to the shore and walk back out to the boat. The rest of the day was spent cleaning the van and researching the stops across the Nullabor followed by happy hour with the other motorhomes here.

Ok this is Saturday but I am pretending that it is Friday and this is my Friday blog.

I stepped out of the van into water.........just kidding, but we were that close to the water. The high tide was about 5 metres in front of our van and the beach was covered in seaweed. At low tide sand was exposed for about 100 metres from our van and there was a bit of fun watching people drive over the wet sand and around puddles to lauch their boats. There was not many rocks or shells on the beach but what there was were very nice. So that despite my intention not to collect either I finished up with quite a big collection, mainly shells.

We left fairly early, like about 10am, due to fact that sand was getting into every available nook and cranny, both on the van and on us. When we got to the main road we stopped and did a bit of a clean up. Then proceeded to Haslam campground about 80km along the road, turning off the highway onto what is probably the worst road that we have encountered for a long time. We did however get there in one piece only to discover that our TomTom could have chosen a sealed road a bit further on, naughty boy!

We will spend a couple of days here to tidy up and prepare for the 1300km Nullabor crossing along with a number of other motorhomes heading to Albany.

We are on the move again, as usual last out and I mean last out, all 10 of our neighbours had departed before we took off. This mornings walk revealed one only kangaroo track the beach and not many birds. So we are now heading north again which means that we have sand dunes on our port (left) hand and green fields either side.

First stop was the Woolshed Cave, so named for its size and shape, about 30 kms along the road and about 10 kms of unsealed road to the actual cave. It was quite spectacular but the most impressive thing was the surrounding rocks, they were well worn striped pink and white mixed with the usual weathered limestone. We stopped at Venus Bay for morning tea, a very fresh looking town with lots of new looking houses and infrastructure. We also used the break to attend to a minor repair. Then on to feature called Murphy's Haystacks, which was a group of tall rocks just coming out of the ground without any surrounding rockery. It was on private property and despite the comments on Wiki Camp we decided that it was not suited to an overnight stay. So on the road again we noticed, as we have noticed on other occasions lots of dead and felled tress in the paddocks just left all over the place where they originally fell. It has also been noticable on this penninsula that all the towns are preceded by a sign board listing their attractions.

The next stop was Streaky Bay and we took the drive to Cape Bauer with a view to camping there. It was a rather spectacular place with cliffs and ocean views all around, but the cold wind drove us away. Unfortunately the wind has detracted a little from our stay on this coast.

Tonight we are camped, literally, on the beach at Perlubie Bay and have been assured by the other, more experienced campers that we are safe above the tide line. I have also been on the net checking and the next big tides are a few days away.

Today we stayed right where we are just a little south of a place called Port Kenny on the west coast of the Eyre Penninsula. This morning I walked on the beach in the northern side of our camp, it is nice fine white sand spread over two sweeping bays. Quite a nice long walk with high sand dunes alongside the beach. After lunch we both went to the beach on the south side which is much smaller and the sand has fine gravel like rocks mixed into it. I thought about a swim but it was much too cold.

There were four other vans here last night, three left and tonight there are about ten other vans, this includes the five motorhomes that we have been meeting off and on since Port Augusta. One other thing the wind has been and still is very cold so that we are all rugged up.

Our new found friends decided to stay put today while we got going about 9.30am and went back to the main road and headed north. The scenery on this coast is quite different to that with which we have become used to on the east coast. It is still very nice hills and greenery but here on the west coast it is more (for want of a better word) business like. We have green fields, trees and sheep so it really is very pleasant.

First stop was 'Cummins Monument' lookout which was really very spectacular and where we intended to overnight. But the wind was too strong and much too cold so we moved on. There are a lot of rock walls in the farms lining the road which are built using local rocks stacked in such a way as to not need mortar, very clever. Our next stop was at a layby where there was a story board about these walls which were apparently the way farmers, in the late 19th century, fenced their properties. Again it was not good enough for us to stay the night and we moved on again. After passing through the town of Elliston we have settled for the night, and maybe more than one night, at a place called the Walkers Rocks Campground along with half a dozen other campers. We are partly sheltered from the wind and just a hop,step and jump from a very nice beach.

Well another day in the life and times of Loose Ends and her crew. A normal time, normal for us that is, start after a short walk up the hill from our camp just to see what was there and there was only a few more properties. Then down into Port Lincoln to dump and water up then we headed off.

Our original plan was to head south to a place called Sleaford Bay then to head west via Port Lincoln.  However there was nothing special to see down there and it was too cold to consider staying there so we just pointed our nose west and drove. First stop was Coffin Bay, lousy name and I still don't know how it came about, where we looked at the bay first from a lookout then from the boat launching ramp. Then we stopped at the local yacht club for morning tea, this is quite a nice building but the marina was only about 10 pens, all empty. We did however have the pleasure of seeing a small half cabin cat boat sailing. Then of to a place, recommended by our last host, where we could camp in an olive grove. But when we got there he wasn't really ready for guests and we would have been his first. So, feeling very guilty we moved on, and are now camped at the Farm Beach Campground which is sponsored by the local council. We have also met  up with the 5 motorhomes that we met at Pt Augusta and as they are traveling the same way as us with a similar timetable we will probably sees bit of them which is nice.

Another day spent at John Martin's campground in Port Lincoln. Yesterday we bought a few bits we needed to complete a couple of minor repairs and today we did the repairs. As usual Elaine did her cleaning, the never ending job as well, as helping me with the van repairs.

Then I went to the Alex Stenhouse Maritime Museum while Elaine did some washing in the parking area. The museum was well worth the effort as it was a well put together collection of maritime artefacts, small boats, etc. It brought back a few memories as amongst other things there was was a heavy weight sharpie and old Seagull outboards both of which I have had at some time in the past. There was also a lot of half models of all sorts of sailing craft, which is always interesting, together with a lot of maritime history pertaining to this part of the world. On top of all that there was the history of the man and the tools of the boat building trade.

After that we went and had a quick look at the local marina which is just another canal developement and full of commercial fishing vessels. After that back to our camp to hide from the wind and rain that is developing here.

Well today we drove the short distance into Port Lincoln and confirmed that this is a big city. We drove pretty well straight through to a place called John Martin Caravan repairs where we organised a few parts that we needed and organised to stay for the night. John has an area that can be used as a campground which is very convenient if you have a few jobs to do, which we have, jobs that is. Anyway then back into town, and the usual shopping, where we met up with one of the motorhomes that we met in Port Augusta, they are staying somewhere near the town.

Well the day started, after my usual walk this time along the beach below our camp, with a long chat with our host Peter. He was one of the guys who gave us the fish yesterday and it turns out that he owns the ocean front property that included our camp. He called past to see if we used the fish and we had a long chat about his plans for the property which consists of 8 lots plus the one we were camped on. He also owns the farm bordering the lots, it is a family farm which is now leased out as he has sort of retired.

We then headed south along the main road detouring a couple of kms to a place called Lipson. It was a very old settlement and as we stopped to photograph a beautiful old church we were waved down by a man called John. It turned out that he is part of the local progress group and proudly showed us over the two local halls. One was fairly ordinary but the other was a treasure trove of history including very nice pressed tin ceiling, a protruding wooden stage and lots more.

Tumby Bay was next, another pretty town on a very pretty coastline. Unfortunately all these towns are more suitable for and are geared to provide for summer holiday makers. You know the usual dive, swim, fish with a little bit of exploring and therefore does not have a lot for us to see.

Then on to the Kippio Smithy Museum about 25 kms of unsealed but ok road off the main highway. The scenery on the way was breathtaking rolling green hills with the ocean in the background. The museum itself is a National Trust Museum and was well worth the few hours that I spent in it. Elaine did not join me in the museum, instead making jaffles in the van. Included in the very extensive museum was a well set up print shop which reminded me, strongly, of my years in the printing business. There was also a 1937 Chevrolet like the one my parents had, almost as this was a four door and ours was a two door coupe. Then I spent time looking at a big collection of tractors and motors which interested me and occupied a lot of my time.

Then we looked for a camp, the first one was not suitable and we went on to where we have now camped at the Louth Bay campground. There are lots of these campgrounds in the Penninsula and they all charge minimum money and provide minimum facilities, which suits us and lots of people like us perfectly.

Wednesday September 17

Well today dawned sunny with virtually no wind so I took a walk on the beach below our camp. The actual camp was behind the dunes and well above the beach. It was nice to feel sand and waters between my toes and to see the birds around the beach. The beach here is backed by low cliffs and has sand very much like the sand that we are used to in WA. Then we drove off through the farming country which is pretty greens and yellows, but mainly greens, at the moment. We were informed later that this is a marginal farming area do the farms are quite large and that this will be a good year. One other comment about the farms, they are virtually treeless which I understand is not good from a soil erosion point of view and a few other factors such as salinity. 

We stopped for lunch at yet another pretty town. It is very noticeable on this coast of this peninsula that the scenery is beautiful and that the town's have gone to some trouble to match their surroundings in order to attract tourists. The coastline is full of wide bays, blue water as far as the eye can see, and on the land side rolling green hills. The beach are long sweeping beaches with the aforementioned white sand. 

We are camped tonight on another low hill next to the ocean and have the whole place to ourselves. We have also been treated to dolphins swimming just off shore and a crop dusting plane doing the fields around us and flying over us almost close enough to touch. Then to top off a nice day a couple of fishermen came past, confirmed that were not Victorians and gave us three nice king george whiting which I duly filleted, Elaine duly cooked and we duly ate. 

Even by our standards we made a late start today, what with my hairdresser (Elaine) giving me a haircut and our reluctance to leave such a lovely spot it was 10.30am before we got on the road.

First stop was Whyalla which turned out to be a very nice town, nicer than we expected. It is after all an industrial town with one of Australia's largest industrial plants as its centrepiece, that being the BHP steel mills. But even that steel mill is clean and tidy. The town was a mixture of old and new houses and they were all, or all those that we saw, clean, tidy and in good condition. The streets were clean and tidy and the parts of the commercial areas that we saw were the same. There was also 2 very good lookouts, one a Mathew Flinders and Frecinet memorial the other a very complex lookout built by BHP as part of their centenary celebrations. The BHP lookout had 3 covered eating spots, a WW11 antiaircraft gun and the main lookout above all of this at the top of a suitably high hill. The waters around the town including a fairly new looking marina were sparkling and picturesque. Good on ya Whyalla!

Then back on the road heading south into strong winds and heavy rain clouds and rain. Even with that it was a pretty drive with lots of green fields, bushes and trees and the rolling hills that southern South Australia is famous for. I noted that there were more twig or branch fences, maybe it is a SA thing.

Then we arrived at Port Gibbon where we plan to spend the night. First an exploring drive along the spectacular clifftop road to Point Gibbon then back to the campground. There is no actual town here but the area has history and we have magic views only 50 mtrs from our van.

Just a little addendum to today's log, I spent some time earlier trying to download some photos. I will continue to try but may finish up having to do that from my computer when we get home.

As I intimated, very subtly (!), yesterday we are camped in a lovely spot. Not many neighbours but those we have are nice. It surprises me how many people live on the road full time, modern day gypsies maybe. Today for example we met a couple who have been on the road for 8 years and straight after that a man who had been on the road for 16 years. Yesterday a young couple with 4 daughters who are about 6 months out and plan a couple of years, distance educating their daughters on the way and earning money writing for magazines. These are just an example, there have been many others, some have sold their homes and others just rented them out. I have to admit that it sounds like an appealing lifestyle which we couldn't manage without figuring out ways to see our grandchildren and children at regular short intervals. Going back to the couple from this morning we discovered how small a world it is, they come from North Perth and knew lots of people that I knew from the area (my grandparents lived there and I knew lots of local people). They also were boating people and once again we had lots of mutual acquaintances.

Back to the travelling bit, this site is fantastic and worth a lot more than the couple of days that we are giving it. There are two issues firstly a cold wind, probably right through the eastern shore of the Penninsula , which is easily countered with warm clothes (which we had to dig out from long term storage under the bunks), but there are also flies in their millions which are not so easily countered.

As usual we have a fire operational, last night using some of the wood that we carry with us collected along the way and cut up using my battery powered chain saw. However we were running low so on my morning walk I collected some drift wood before finding out that could attract a heavy fine. So we put it away from our camp, but we were lucky enough to find a huge, ex-light pole piece of wood which is now smouldering away as Elaine cooks a rossellah (similar to a stew).

'Sitting on the dock of the bay watching the tide roll in......... ' We are in fact on the shores of the beautiful Fitzgerald Bay, in front of us is a shingle beach with sparse mangrove trees, with the tide coming in, we are on a strip of flat ground above the tide line and behind us is what looks like a retaining wall. It is a shingle mound that, according to the story board has been dated as 30,000 years old! In the distance is a view over the waters of the head of the Spencer Gulf  to ranges in the background and in the middle ground 5 aquaculture enclosures. Rather nice!

Today we drove about 17 kms to move about 10 kms north of last nights camp and the difference is like chalk and cheese. There we had a very practical surround of houses (and shacks) and a refineryand a very long jetty, here we have pristine waters, a few fellow campers, spread around the bay a few buildings and rolling hills. Personally I could stay here for a long time but I suspect that my driver will be hard pushed to survive more than a couple of days.

Today was a little different to yesterday.

We started off heading south onto the Eyre Penninsula where we will spend, probably the next couple of weeks. At the same time the other motorhomes in our camp headed off in the same direction, they are heading to Albany for  CMCA rally and will also spend time here. They are friendly enough but we are not included in their little group. I suspect that as we cross the Nullabor we will meet up with a lot more motorhomes heading to the sane place. We have stopped at a place called Point Lowly which is about 9 kms north of Whyalla which in turn is famous as the site of the BHP iron ore refinery. Where we are are there is also an oil refinery using shale from Moomba. On the way in we were stopped by a train heading north carrying products from the steel mills, pipes, girders, etc. So here we are for the first time since the beginning of August on absolute ocean frontage. Admittedly the ocean is the Spencer Gulf but that is close enough. A walk round to the lighthouse on the point revealed that both Mathew Flinders and Freycinet visited here at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It also provided a nice view of the refinery and the 2.4km jetty that services it.

Morning after again!

Yesterday was fairly straight forward, after putting reserved signs on our spot we headed for town. Shopping and doctors on the agenda, there is woolworths, Coles and foodland in town and reasonable parking. So after doing that and fuelling and watering we went out to the Mathew Flinders lookout to take some photos. The area is quite pretty with the Spencer Gulf in the foreground and the mountain ranges in the background and in the middle Augusta. Then back to our camp so that Elaine could watch the football.

You could call this a lay day, that is what we did......not much.

We left the mighty town of Pimba at a reasonable hour and drove the 170 kms into Port Augusta. The scenery had now changed to rolling hills of gradually increasing size covered with low green bushes and, every now and then, a few small trees. Quite pretty really. There were also grazing sheep including one black sheep with lambs, probably twins. Then we arrived in town and I should change that to city as it is quite a big place. We are camped tonight on the west side of the city at a place called the Augusta Motorhome Park which is an enterprise of the local football club and is very full with about 25 vehicles here. I should note that some are caravans, not motorhomes.

I was thinking, whilst walking this morning, about driving. As most of you know Elaine does near enough all the driving and I have noticed that young couples that we are seeing on the road share the driving. On the other hand our peers don't share, like us one partner drives the other acts as observer. Other than that my walk produced nothing of interest.

Back on the road we passed through flat plains with low shrubs but different colours and shapes to yesterday. Then bigger shrubs and low spread out trees and some low hills all together changing and in its own way rather nice. Then we came to Lake Hart which is a  rather large, at the moment, salt pan followed shortly after by Lake Gairdner which is larger and had some water in it. Then, under a cloudless sky, we reached Woomera and had a good look around the displays at Australia's rocket range. As usual very interesting and not exactly as expected.

Tonight we are camped at Pimba, you haven't heard of it! Not surprising as it only has 40 permanent residents.

I will start with a word about Coober Pedy which is a RV friendly town. Next to the council chambers where the visitors centre is they have a well set up dump spot (to empty toilet cassettes) and a water filling station. The water costs 20c for 30 litres and 2 vans can fill up at one time, using nozzles like petrol bowsers or using their own hoses. Surisingly not all residents live underground, there is quite a big settlement of normal houses above the ground. There are also a large number of underground dwellings. I don't know what the numbers are but it makes for a rather picturesque town. My morning walk from the caravan park took me to neighbouring mines and to what I think of as a moonscape, at least that is the word that came to mind. There were lots of deep holes in the ground, some very narrow (test drills with some sort of mechanical core drill), some big enough to lower someone down to check for signs of opal and a couple of very big excavations. We were told yesterday that there is no scientific way of locating opal, then one of our friends told us that they use something like a water diviner!! Either way it appears that finding opal is by luck only. Then we headed south after the usual bit of shopping.

Very soon after leaving town the evidence of mining ceased and the landscape reverted to flat plains with very small shrubs. Then suddenly in the distance comes mining, this time in a relatively confined space but busy with at least 12 of their machines (actually they are big vacuum machines that suck the mulluch out of the shafts). Then back  to flat plains but with a couple of road bridges crossing fairly substantial roads going I know not where. Then another big mine mound so we stopped and looked. There were the expected holes in the ground and a big excavation complete with an entry to some sort of dugout?

Back on the road the scenery varied from the plains with low scrub to bigger shrubs and some small trees. Also a few low hills, some depressions in the ground that probably hold water when it rains and a very long fence, several kilometres, with fence posts made of tree (or shrub) branches. It seems to me that even similar looking scenery has its own character and this makes for interesting travelling. Finally reaching our camp for the night call the Mulga Well rest area about 250 kms North of Pt Augusta.

Today was spent in Coober Pedy which, like a lot of other places that we have visited, turns out to be a rather fascinating place.

We started the day by booking into a caravan park with power and a washing machine. The power is to give our fridges a bit of a boost and the reason for the washing machine is to wash our sheets. Elaine does the day to day washing in buckets as we travel so that she reduces the need for a washing machine. This caravan park is part of an old mine and residence. If you wish to camp you can actually do so underground but caravans are above the ground. The owners residence, his office and the TV room are all underground. After doing the washing and showering we headed for town and went looking for a house, an underground house, that was open for tourists. However when we got there the owners were absent so we went 'noodling' on the next door paddock which was full of mine dirt. Noodling is the practise of going through the mine tailings looking for bits of opal that have been missed, a bit of a long shot I would think. Although I read somewhere that there are some local people who actually make a good living that way. Anyway we had a bit of fun but didn't find anything of interest. Following that we went off to do a tour and were lucky enough to be the only people on the tour. This tour showed us how the miners lived underground in the early days and what a modern underground home looks like. We also saw how the mining is done and had a very informative guide. Before leaving we went up to the lookout and were able to see the town, a reasonable size and busy, and spread around mines and underground residences.

Well now change of state brought a change of weather, it was cloudy and looked like rain this morning, and a change of scenery. We were seeing scattered hills of various shapes and sizes and plains of low green scrubland. The rest centres, as we passed them were large flat areas without toilets but with a small gazebo. The first stop was a town called Marla which is the turning point for those going on the Oodnadatta track and is a bustling roadhouse supporting a full range of roadside enterprises. Then on towards Coober Pedy.

We came over a small hill and in front of us we can see lots of little white mounds of earth. Then as we proceeded there was thousands of these little hills and some a little bigger and some big ones. These represented opal diggings, so many that the ground must be like the honeycomb that you buy in the shop. As we had covered a lot of kms today we didn't reach here until late so after a quick look around we have camped about 13 kms south of the town and will go back into town to do the tourist thing tomorrow.

Sunday September 6

It's Father's Day and it makes me think of the kids and especially my lovely grandchildren just a little bit more. I think of them all the time anyway but a bit extra today, thanks for all the greetings that I received. 

This morning started off with me spilling the cereal container and Elaine has a photograph of me picking it up off the floor. I should add that what I picked up from the floor went into a container by the water tank for the birds. We don't feed wild animals but that was just like them picking up seeds from the ground. Talking about wild animals we had a pet dingo cub for company since arriving at the camp yesterday. He hung around obviously wanting food which we didn't give him but he seemed quite friendly and at one stage slept under the van. Then he disappeared overnight returning this morning. So eventually we took off leaving our pet behind heading for Lassiter Highway then Erldunda then to head south along the Stuart Highway. On the way we passed Mt Ebeneezer which is a small settlement on the edge of Ebeneezer Station. There we saw the biggest ever motorhome built on the back of a 5 ton truck and towing, on a trailer, a 4wd ute and a boat. At Erldunda we made a few phone calls along with the usual fuelling up.Then down the highway and we are now camped on the South Australian border where Elaine has been busy cooking everything that we can't take across the border fresh. 

Just another couple of comments, firstly that we keep meeting people who are eager to help where practical and who are supremely relaxed. For instance today we trying unsuccessfully to get a photo on time delay on my camera and a guy we have never met wandered over from his caravan, about 30 mtrs away, and offered to help. The relaxed bit is just so obvious when you see and chat with people in these free camps. The other thing concerns a couple we met yesterday when we stopped to look at Kathleen Springs. After looking at the story board we decided not to walk to the possible waterhole and head back to the van. On the way we met a couple who just looked from a distance from the story board then turned around to go back to their car. They had driven a few hundred kms from Alice Springs passing several nice gorges and sites to see and planned to reach the Kings Canyon Resort that night having 'seen' all the beaut things there were to see. On the following day they would 'see a bit of the countryside' while dirt biking or similar. I think that we are only getting a superficial look at inland Australia so what are they getting?

Saturday September 5

Well the afternoon siesta has been had and, while I still feel a little weary, I am back to operating standard. We are still in the land of offline blogs but hope to be back under the cover of the Telstra dome tomorrow. 

Today's project was a walk around the rim of Kings Canyon which was touted as 6 kms, grade 3 moderate to take 3 plus hours. It was a massive and exhausting climb up from the car park on a staircase using the existing rocks with concrete fill to keep them from moving. After that it was up over rocks and down to the pathway time and time again, all set up to the same standard, for the rest of the walk. In the middle was a set of stairs going down about 50 metres or so to a bridge over the so called Garden of Eden which is a glade set between high cliffs and supporting a wide variety of flora and, I presume, fauna. This is very nice to look at from the bridge and I slacked out of the detour to actually walk the garden which would have been an additional 600 mtrs. It did look beautiful from the bridge but my body was saying be sensible. Then after the bridge another set of stairs back to the heights and then another 3 kms of up and down the rocks. The view from this walk was stunning (another one of my overused words) of rock formations and structures, plants growing in the cracks and occasionally the distant countryside. The last km was downhill and this was almost as hard as going up. I guess partly because I was getting weary because, like the rest of the walk, it was very well prepared and planned. Along the way everybody, from a bunch of young American female exchange students, to a couple of families and some older people (I like to think not as old as me) passed me by. When I got to the van Elaine informed me that I had taken just 2 and a bit hours. Since I had spent quite a bit of time looking and taking photographs I was quite pleased with myself. While I had been enjoying myself on the canyon rim elaine had done the creek walk which she found interesting. 

The pity about all this is that there is so much more to understand than my superficial look at the majesty of it all, and I don't have to knowledge to apply to it or the memory to remember it all. 

Friday September 4

Well thus passes another fantastic day as we travel through paradise. However we are out of phone cover so this is being done offline. 

Our new friends from the camp near Yulara left camp well before us, 3 of them heading the same way and 1 heading to spend a few days looking at Uluru. Interestingly 2 of them had mutual acquaintances. The road to Yulara, Lassiter highway, is very busy a continual stream of buses and RVs. The view of the big rock as we drove away looked as though we were driving to it, I guess that is something to do with its size. We stopped again at the Mt Connor lookout this time for morning tea and our last photograph of the big rock. Then with a little bit of assistance from Elaine who organised pools of water we had the pleasure of seeing the tiny rainbow finches drinking and were able to photograph them. These birds are about the size of an adult thumb, really tiny. The scenery now is what I guess would be called desert scrubland as we are now in the Simpson Desert. It is fairly dense scrubland and with the backdrop of low hillocks or sand dunes is quite pretty. 

Then we arrived at our destination, a bush camp about 35 kms east of Kings Canyon. We parked about 100 mtrs from the road then our friends arrived and went right down the back about 500 mtrs from the road. After a walk by me and a drive in that direction we decided to go back to where we were. This is a nice camp with no facilities. 

Another morning after blog because I was too tired last night, although we did spend a little bit of time around the campfire. We have been lucky here with 4 other WA couples in this camp, all nice people and travelling together and we have become friendly. So all up this has been a good few days with good company and great things to see.

Now to the things to see, we made a late departure and headed off to Kata Tjuta (formally the Olgas) where we first did the Walpa Gorge walk. Once again a lot of effort has been put into this to make it interesting with a planned walk. The walk is through a high sided rick gorge with lots of plant life both on the ground and on the rocks with a bit of water towards the end of it. The upside of this effort is that there are not a lot of people running around all over the place and damaging the environment as they tend to stay on the track. There are also signs asking people to do exactly that. After lunch we headed of to the Kara lookout in another part of Kata Tjuta and again the majesty of the rocks puts one and life into perspective and into a contemplative mood. Such that I sat at the lookout for a while thinking about the whole thing and the wider implications. Elaine did part of both walks, good on her.

Then back to Uluru and a place called Talinguru Nyakunytjaka, now try to pronounce that out loud. This is a few kms away from the rock and is set up as another viewing area with 2 viewing platforms and interpretive walks to them from a large well made parking area. The view of the rock is different starting at flat ground level and was well worth the extra walk. I guess it is another respectful way of bringing tourists to the area and still protecting the environment and their heritage. Elaine stayed put this time.

Then back to the camp after refuelling again because we had done aver 200 kms running around the park!

Well day 2 at Uluru and it was a very interesting day it was.

We were definitely last out of the camp, not that I was a stay in bed, I was not up early but I did get up at a reasonable time.

First stop of the day was the camel farm. Quite a large vibrant operation and not at all what we expected. There was some very interesting photographs giving excerpts from the history of camels in Australia, maybe 30 or 40 of them. There was also some old carriages etc and of lots of camels. All in all an worthwhile visit to a surprisingly large concern.

Then some housekeeping, fuel, water & tyres. On to the park passing the entry gate showing our passes at 1135 am. Today's visit was to the cultural centre and once again a big lesson in the tjukitja of the Anangu people. The tjukitja is their story of creation and their beginnings and is a bit of an eye opening saga. As you see I am getting quite an indoctrination but it is interesting and I am glad that we have been able to have this opportunity. Here at Uluru they are at pains to tell visitors their tjukitja  and the detrimental effects of Europeans and how they are overcoming that within the society which we have created and that they are, at least partially, assimilated. The pity is the that my old overloaded brain will not remember all the detail. Once again a tiring day.

Well a rock is a rock is a rock but this rock is big! Really big!
I won't tell you what time I got up today but I had kept my resolution for one day. But I woke up already late and it was raining so I rolled over again. Anyway we eventually got going and paid for our park pass and headed for a ranger guided walk. I did the whole thing but Elaine had to quit early, the distance wasn't great but I was on my feet for over 2 hours which was quite tiring. So I got my fill of culture and a lesson in aboriginal history remembering that it has been scientifically proven that they have been here for 40,000 years. That makes them the oldest culture in the world and they are still around and are the only culture in the world that can claim unbroken ancestry to the beginning of their time. I don't know that I put that very well but might try again tomorrow.
After that we had lunch then drove around the rock and visited another waterhole and viewed some more paintings. I should note that all theses places have story boards so that visitors like us can understand what the dreaming stories are all about. Then we found a parking spot in the specified parking area to watch the sunset on the rock and stayed their to see the sunset. Not quite as exciting as we expected but very nice anyway.

Well we have arrived at Ayers Rock or Uluru as it is now known but let's start at the beginning.

Up earlier this morning, I won't tell you when and were still just about the last to leave the camp. I did have time for a walk but there was nothing special to see. So at 9am we headed south, the scenery was low scrub, I guess it would be desert scrub as we are now in the Simpson Desert, at least I think we are as the maps are not too clear made interesting by the ranges that populate the area. About 30 km South of the camp we turned onto the Lassiter Highway after fuelling up at the roadhouse that must be a magnificent business handling all the traffic to Australia's premier tourist attraction plus traffic between Adelaide and Darwin. They also have a caravan park, bar and restaurant along with an emu farm and yes we did check them out and take photos. Then 112 kms out from Yulara we got our first sight of the rock. We stopped along the road for various photo opportunities and at one, the Connor Lookout, were rewarded with a bonus in that we could photograph from the other side of the road Lake Armadeus (which is a salt lake currently dry) and shared the lookout with tourist buses and their passengers. We also noted that the rock does change colour as the sunlight moves across the sky.

Then we arrived at Yulara the gateway to the rock and I should add the Olgas only 30 kms further on and included in the park. I mention that because the park charges $25 per head for a 3 day pass. The town is pure commercialism of a standard that I am not comfortable with, there are cafes, bars, restaurants and of course a visitor centre. The visitor centre is set up like an airport with booths for hire cars and the various tours, all of which are fairly pricey. The whole place very upmarket using the rocks as centrepiece for getting lots of money out of tourists. An example is Tali Wiru which is 'open air dining set atop a remote desert sand dune with magical views of Uluru' and costs $325 per person sounds lovely and the menu looks good, but!

Sunday August 30

Well up we were at first light, or almost first light and to the amazement of all concerned the very first to leave the camp. When we got to the park gate we could see that it was closed and locked, but closer examination revealed that the chain and padlock were just draped over the gate. So we removed it, opened the gate and drove through then replaced it all. On this subject the Standley Chasm park is owned by the Angkerle Aboriginal Corporation and we were told by one of our overnight neighbours that when they last visited it was staffed by aborigines and run efficiently. However it is now staffed by backpackers and run very inefficiently. Anyway back to this morning, I had forgotten how nice the world is early in the day and have made a resolution to repeat this performance every day.....we shall see. 

The reason for the early start was that today, as part of the 2015 Transport Reunion, there was to be a parade of trucks old and new. According to local gossip there would be 700 participants, trucks and including a few buses and tractors which we felt would be quite a spectacle. Seeing that we were in Alice it would have been silly to miss it. So we got a good spot with what must have been thousands of other vehicles lining Stuart Highway and waited. It was worth the wait but we took off after about 300 trucks etc. Trucks are not really my thing but a show like this including vintage and veteran vehicles is something else. 

So off we went heading south then Elaine decided that she was tired and I had to drive. We stopped at the Canonball Memorial for a photo opportunity, you may remember some 20 years ago there was a race down the Stuart Highway and a team (Japanese dentists if I recall correctly) left the road in an extremely expensive car at extremely high speed wiping out 2 officials as well as themselves. 

The scenery is the scrubland and ranges as we have become used to the last few days and is really quite beautiful. So we are camped tonight at a rest area within range of Uluru. 

Saturday August 29

Today we got organised and headed out to Standley Chasm. It is only about 53kms from Alice but the reason for getting going was that the best time for viewing here is between 11am and 1pm. 

Standley Chasm is a cleft that has been carved into the rock leaving a narrow space with 80 mtr high walls, so read the brochure.  One arrives at the entrance to the site via a gate announcing the aborigine name, pays fees at the kiosk and proceeds to walk. The walk is 1.2kms long over and along a dry creek bed, actually not dry but also not much water in it. It is an interesting walk with lots of ferns and very interesting tree shapes. At the end there is this narrow space, it almost looks like a fissure with rock walls reaching upwards, it seems like almost forever. We were lucky enough to be there when the sun was directly overhead and the colours and shadows were fantastic (there goes that overused word again). After lunch we did another walk this time to the lookout which turned out to be more difficult than we expected, a climb up a big hill on a narrow rocky track. Elaine covered about 3/4 of it, I managed the full walk but it took a longer than the specified 15 minutes. 

When we paid our visitor fees we also paid to camp here for the night. Just before 5pm we and 2 hikers were the only campers but then another 5 vehicles arrived. 

Today was fairly simple we walked up a hill, drove back to Alice, shopped and resumed our position at the racecourse overflow.
The walk up the hill was a moderately difficult climb up a 100 mtr high hill to be rewarded by an absolutely magnificent panoramic view. It was actually called the Panorama Walk and was slated for 90 minutes. Elaine did the walk with me which was quite a feat for her and we made it in not much more than the scheduled time. The climb up was a series of rock stairs of various natural shapes and sizes and required quite a bit of energy, down was sloping paths and in actual walking distance much longer. Three cheers Elaine and congrats to the Rangers who designed the walk and placed pointers so that we would not get lost. I have remarked before that a lot of effort goes into preparing these walks that I have now encountered in lots of  places. I should also comment that the campground was also well prepared with built in bbq's, gazebos and marked out more or less level camp sites.
The drive back to town was just that and the shopping a pain like shopping always is and on this occasion we had to stock up for a few weeks until we next get to the major supermarkets. Now we are back at the racecourse and their race meeting is winding up, so hopefully we will have a quiet night.

Thursday August 27

Now I can't remember if I published a blog yesterday and will have wait until we next have coverage to check. 

Last nights camp was in the overflow which happened to be at the local race track and was temporary home to a large number of people. We left this morning to start our exploration of the Alice Springs area, and a lot of other vans left today some to dodge the influx for tomorrow's race meeting. 

We headed east along the Ross Highway noticing that the town is surrounded by ranges, in other words it is in a hollow. The first stop was Emily Gap which is quite spectacular. It is also home to the 3 caterpillars who the aborigines believe created the Alice Springs area. There are rock paintings attesting to this belief and to further amaze us trees growing out of the rocks. The next stop was Jessie Gap and Creek also well worth the look. The rock structure here in both places is great slabs separated by cracks and looking like a row of dominoes falling on each other. Then to Corroboree Rock which was a slight detour off the road. Again an imposing large, tall rock with a walking trail around it giving one a varied view of the rock. 

At last after 76 kms we arrived at Trephina Gorge to look for our camp spot. There are 3 campgrounds here totalling about 20 campsites, the first is tents only and we found a spot in the last campground which is now full. Incidentally it is very expensive at $6.60 per night. After we settled in I did one of the shorter walks just 40 minutes or so climbing to the gorge rim,about 150 mtrs high and back. Then after dinner we went to a campfire talk given by one of the local rangers. 

I forgot to mention that yesterday we passed another cyclist, this one just going from Darwin to Port Lincoln, and as usual we gave him water and ice. Lucky is the cyclist who meets Elaine on the track, she can be guaranteed to feed and water him or her. We also met this one at our nightly camp and found out that he has done all sorts of trips here and in Canada.

This morning after last nights sky light show we were, once again, last out of the camp and continued our southward journey. Before we left a motorbike rider came in and informed me that all the bikes that we have been seeing have been on the 'Black Dog Ride' to Ayers Rock. I don't know what that is but it abviously attracts a goodly number of motorcyclists. Incidentally he was riding a very classy looking Harley and his wife was also riding a bike, albeit a much smaller one. It was a dull day but the scenery was quite nice in a NT kind if way. Then we came to the marker for the highest point on the road from Adelaide to Darwin and took photographs. Then we came to the Tropic of Capricorn and took more photos.
At last we reached Alice Springs and spent 45 minutes looking for somewhere to park the van. Eventually we found a spot set aside for the purpose, but no one was able to direct us there! Shopping done we fueled and dumped then decided to stay here in the overflow park.

Tuesday August 25

Another morning after blog and what a night it was, we were treated to a huge spectacular light show. Actually it was in the early hours of this morning but the whole horizon was continually lit up by sheet lightning. It woke me up and after turning off our phones etc I watched for ages before going back to sleep listening to the rain washing our van. 

Tuesday started with a walk around the Devils Marbles taking a large number of photographs as the early morning sun created shadows and light changes on the marbles. It is a serious display of natures skill in creating marvels for us humans to see, quite beyond imagination. I seem to be running out of words to describe all the wonders that we are seeing on our travels, well you will just have put up with the repetition. 

The camp emptied fairly quickly with RVs heading either north or south. We joined the southward group aware that Alice Springs is getting fuller and fuller, but at this stage we will just have to create plans b,c,d,etc in case we can't get accommodation. Having said that we know that the caravan parks will be very expensive so we will use free parks if we can. So far it the NT has had very poor phone coverage, worse than WA and TV has been even worse so that Elaine has watched all her movies a number of times which means that we will have to get as part of our shopping in Alice. 

We passed through open speed zones which means we were able to take the van up to 250 kmh, just kidding. We did note however that the traffic passing us was not being silly and driving at speeds that were over the top. As we passed each of the open speed zone signs there were special sign boards 'Drive to conditions' with advice on how to be safe, unfortunately they were difficult to read whilst driving, however  these signs were also planted at intersections and on the exit roads of rest areas. We also passed a town called Aileron  which had a small hill behind it and on that hill was a statue of a giant aboriginal hunter complete with spear. At the door of the hill was a matching statue of a female, quite something to see!  

Then there was our first clouds for some time and a bit of lightning foreshadowing last nights storm. 

Monday August 24

Another lovely day on the road, but no telstra cover tonight so this blog will get published when we next get cover. 

My morning walk confirmed the wide open spaces campsite, I walked across the grassland to the tree line and back a good half hours walk but it was a nice campsite. Then after a bit of cleaning up we got back on the road heading west. The scenery was the now usual scrub with low trees and today not many hills. The first excitement of the day was Peter an Austrian cyclist who is 13 months into cycling around 100 kms per day and as yet has no definite plans to go home. We gave him a bottle of frozen water and a can of Pepsi which was much appreciated and made us feel good! Next we stopped at the restored telegraph building about 12 km north of Tennant Creek which was very interesting. We learnt that they kept their food cool by building a cellar which in this case is a small separate building. Then at the edge of the town The Mary Ann dam and recreational lake where there were ducks, swans, chooks and a family of peacocks (ie: peacocks, peahens and babies). Today was usual in the relatively large number of motorbikes on the road, I don't know why but we probably saw 20-30 of them. We fueled up at Tennant Creek after a slight delay due to a suspected gas leak, also at this time Tom reported that he was almost home. 

Tonight we are camped at a place called the Devils Marbles which amongst other things is a aboriginal sacred sight. It is quite spectacular with huge granite rocks balanced on each other quite precariously and they change colour as the sun shifts, obviously the effect of shadows etc. The camp is one of these super expensive, $6.60 per night, places run by the local shire and it is packed out with vans parked parallel to each other about 3 metres apart. 

 

Sunday August 23

Once again we are without phone cover so this will be published when we get into range, tomorrow morning as we pass 3ways, provided of course that I remember. 

Yesterday's detour to make sure that Tom was safely on his way had us in the caravan park at Camooweal which is just over the Queensland border. There is a great free camp there along the river but we wanted to be close by staying in the caravan park next to his motel and we then enjoyed a nice dinner cooked by Elaine using the barramundi that he caught in Derby. This morning he was gone when Elaine went to check at about 6am so we took advantage of being in a caravan park and did washing, had showers, filled water tanks, washed the van etc. 

Then we took off to get back to 3ways and continue our journey south. We were and still are travelling on the Barkly Highway today covering about 320kms and camping in a free park just west of the Barkly Homestead (When  we got to Barkly Homestead we stopped and confirmed that Tom was ok). Just a bit of bare ground at the side of the highway but an official campsite, we have driven down a road at the back of it and are about 200 mtrs from the road. There is a fair bit of traffic on this highway, trucks some road trains some normal size, lots of RVs mostly caravans and not many camper trailers plus a few cyclists and motorcyclists. The scenery is wide open spaces again but quite nice. Today we passed the Avon Downs police station which is all by itself, about 40 kms from the border and with no nearby town, strange but I guess there is a reason for it. It is quite a large building with what appears to be accompanying accomodation. Cattle grids are fairly common in northern Australia, they are rows of old railway lines set into the road to stop the cattle from straying off the properties which straddle to road. Yesterday and today we passed one which is simple white lines painted on the road.......and I am assured that it works!

This is long after my normal bedtime of 'as the sun goes down' but it has been a long day.
Our good friend from Queensland was on his way home yesterday (his wife had already flown home to attend to family issues) when he stopped, just outside katherine , to have lunch. After putting the kettle on he stepped out of his van to get something from his car, as he went back to to van it burst into flames and was completely destroyed. Fortunately his vehicle was undamaged. We were camped a little south of him and arranged to meet before he turned left for the Queensland border. We then had breakfast with him, he had already driven some distance without eating, then accompanied him to the border. I went in Toms car to keep him company and Elaine drove the van behind us. The distance from 3ways where we met and Camooweal where are for the night is 440 kms, lots more than we normally drive. Tom seems ok now so we will drive back to 3ways to continue our travels and Tom will finish his drive home.

Now we have really shifted address to Kunjarra (The Pebbles) just south of 3 Ways which is the corner of Stuart Hwy and Barkly Hwy. So we are definitely on our way south. There is not much to see here but it is an aboriginal cultural site.
We or Elaine drove up the unsealed road to the town of Elliott which consists of 1 shop and the shire office. We got fuel and water but didn't get anything else which is a pity because they have done a great job of providing a magnificent free camping spot at Longreach Waterhole. We also got our mail via Toni who is an invaluable aid to us at all times but particularly when we are travelling.
The next stop was BankaBanka about  which we have heard lots, but visually it was nothing special so we moved on finishing up here about 85kms further south.
The scenery on the way here was rather nice, we were back to rolling hills and green shrubbery. You could say wide open spaces and I do realise that we are about as far from the ocean as one can get in Australia. The other thing is traffic, it is almost like driving on a suburban road.

Thursday August 20

Day 3 at Longreach waterhole and all is quiet at the front. The bird front that is. We shifted camp today and are now parked in absolute waterfront, if we were any closer our wheels would be in the water. As a reward we have witnessed all sorts of bird activities from the large number of bird species that are here. We have Pelicans, cormorants (shags to those who no know better) 2 or 3 different species, jabiru, kites, little black water birds, duck and lots of others. I know all these things because people who know a lot more about birds have told me so, to me they are just a lot of birds flying, fishing and fighting over fish. These same people told me the there is normally a bird population 10 times what we are seeing. I don't know why it is different, maybe the water is low, although there is still plenty of it, maybe the season?

Unfortunately we will be leaving in the morning as we are starting to run short of time. I have attached a few photos to show what we are seeing. 

Wednesday August 19

Day 2 at Longreach Waterhole. 

Spent relaxing in beautiful surrounds as one would expect. My morning walk is along the shore past lots of other campers, today as far as a couple of interesting looking trees a goal walk of about 4 kms.  Then back to the van and breakfast following which Elaine did a bit of cleaning and I lmade bread in the camp oven. For the first time I did not use a bread mix and it was ok but a little heavy. Elaine then upstaged me by making soup in the camp oven. This meant that we kept the fire going until mid afternoon and in fact it is still dealing with the last of the coals. 

Yesterday Elaine set up the rubbish bins with signs saying to take your rubbish with you if the bins are full, which they were. This morning first the shire supervisor turned up and we explained the graffiti on the water tank near the bins, of which he approved. Then the workers turned up and emptied the bins with a bit of encouragement from Elaine. 

Late this afternoon we sent for a walk and had a chat with some people, from Traralgon on the Murray River, who have been here many times over the past several years. 

Tuesday August 18

Ok today we stayed where we are at the Longreach Waterhole. 

Basically we took it easy a little bit of cleaning by Elaine and a little bit of sewing to reinforce our wood bag. I should add it is a Country Road bag ideally suited to our upmarket wood. 

I had my usual morning walk and found campers spread over about 4-5 kms of shoreline. I also came across a cane toad, not sure of what it was I sort help from a nearby van, confirmed its identitly and wacked it over the head with a steel pipe that I had found. Actually I think that it was already dead because it didn't move while this was happening! I then got a plastic bag and put it in a rubbish bin. I found out later that you don't hit them on the head as they can squirt a rather poisonous fluid at you that can cause serious drama. So next time I will squirt the horrible creature with Dettol which I am informed does the job very well. 

Then after lunch we fired up the fire pit and Elaine made a very nice roast chicken for dinner. 

Monday August 17

Out of telstra phone range again so this is being written in 'notes' for later publication. 

Last nights camp was a surprise packet, actually it is van park behind the Daly Waters Highway Inn which is on the corner of Stuart Highway (Darwin to Port Augusta) and the Carpenteria Highway which goes across to Cape Crawford. The inn consists of a pub, a cafe type restaurant, the van park, a horse race track of sorts and a few dongas. During the afternoon. Elaine spied a huge pig in the horse enclosure, I didn't see that but the enclosure had a very interesting collection of visiting animals. Ther were of course horses, black and red cockatoos, green and red and green finches, kites and some long legged birds. In addition we saw wallabies, at one stage standing up and boxing. All in all the best collection of animals this trip, definitely not expected at this place. Incidentally they had close to 30 RVs parked all contributing to the sites income, even the price was very friendly. 

Still heading south aimed at place called Longreach Waterhole supposedly a nice camp spot that I had come across before we left home and Elaine had been told about. It is near a town called Elliott and is an official camp area complete with toilets, water and of course the waterhole it also has what I think is a very corrugated 12 km road in and Elaine thought was not too bad.  Anyway we are here camped in a good spot overlooking the cream coloured water amidst trees along with a number of other people in RVs spread around the shore. It is very nice and we plan to spend a few days here. 

We have been told that we will arrive in Alice Springs during a truckers convention which will limit our accomodation possibilities, we will see what happens. 

This is another morning after blog due to a visit last night from a girl,  lady in mid thirties, who is undertaking a bicycle ride from Darwin to Cairns over less than 3 weeks and then to hitchhike to Sydney to fly home to Utercht. This will be the end of  a nine month journey starting in Hong Kong and South East Asia covering around 15,000 kms. Big ride!
Next an explanation ......when we don't have coverage I do the blog in 'notes on my iPad' then when I get coverage I copy and paste it into the blog. The issue there is that on the blog the latest post is on top and in notes it is on the bottom and I have only just registered that fact.......brains trust! In future I will sort that and have it all in the correct order.
Now a comment about the Northern Territory. I have always pictured, in my mind, the NT as a semi barren place and it is not. So far we have been passing through green forest, not the tropical sort that you see in Qld or the tall trees that one sees in SW WA but rather nice green countryside which may change a bit as we proceed southto Central Australia.
My morning walk confirmed a pretty river but no other features. The river however has algae which does spoil it a bit. There a quite a lot of trees on the ground all full of termites, in fact they sort of look like the termites caused the fall. Our first stop was at the historical Mataranka homestead and for me dip in the thermal pool and a walk in the tropical forest there. This part of the Roper River is very attractive and surrounded the forest. During the night we heard wild donkeys but saw no sign of them during the day.
Heading south to Daly Waters for the night we passed a number of the WWII sites, of which there are a large number in the NT. We did stop at a couple. Only problem is that most were hard to find, despite the signage, and poorly maintained. More about Daly Waters tonight.

Friday August 14

Now today was a day was a day!

It started well enough, I went for my walk unsuccessfully looking for the Limestone Creek that the camp ground was named after. Then we cleaned up showered and headed for Katherine. Now when we got to Katherine Elaine had to pick up her pain patches and thereby lies a tale, she had arranged to have her doctor fax the scripts,but here in the illustrious NT it is necessary to get the script for a local doctor. There are 3 in town, one had no appointments for 2 weeks, the other sometime next week maybe but the Aborigine Medical Service takes walk ins! So Elaine walked in waited 1 hour to see the triage nurse then another hour to see the doctor who took another hour to give her the script. The doctor had to phone our GP then Charlie's pain clinic, then Canberra to get permission to do the script. Does this or does this not sound like a well organised and efficient system?

Anyway while that was happening I fueled, watered and made some phone calls and waited and waited. Eventually it was all over and we shopped which included showing our ID to be able to buy grog. Heading south we have stopped for the night at the King River rest area which is literally next to the highway and nowhere near a river, but is quite a nice spot

Saturday August 15

Today was better after we made a leisurely start heading south, it feels good to say that because it means that we are entering virgin territory. After a short drive of about 70 kms we reached Mataranka and turned left to go to Bitter Springs, so named by an early explorer for the taste of the water. This is a thermal pool and we enjoyed our first swim in ages. There were a lot of people there and it is a well set up area. Then on to, wait for it, the Julmurak campground which is quite large, well set up and organised in a very nice setting on the banks of the Roper River. After setting up and having a rest we headed down to the river. A sign on the way said no swimming due to the possibility of crocs but it is a rather pretty river and for those who enjoy fishing is supposed to be full of barramundi. Unfortunately the walk tracks are soft sand so we didn't go far before retuning to our van. Pity about the crocs, a swim in the river would have been nice. 

Monday August 10

I have just come inside after photographing a beautiful sunset with trees in the foreground. Just like it is at sea the sunsets outside the city are a magnificent sight, obviously they are different to those at sea but no less beautiful. 

Today we got going at our usual reasonable hour heading towards Kunnunnura. The scenery was similar to yesterday with lots of hills and low trees etc really very interesting as there is a never ending variety of hill shapes. Reaching Kunnunnura we shopped at Coles noting that not only was the shop well set up and stocked much 

like the city Coles, the prices were also quite good considering how far away from supply depots we are. This is something that we have noticed in other towns with both Coles and Woolworths.

We then moved on crossing the border into the Northern Territory where the scenery changed just a little bit and are now camped at the Saddle Creek rest area with 20 other vans and, unusually for these rest stops, a huge amount of garbage. 

Tuesday August 11

As usual we were the last to leave Saddle Creek and before we left some bikers dropped in for morning tea along with a few vans. The scenery is once again small mountains all around us including some tabletops and lots of other shapes. The speed limit here is 130kph, naturally we don't travel at that speed, but we were passed by 3 caravans that were almost tail gating. This is something that we see a lot of, tail gating that is, and we can never understand why as it has to be quite dangerous, particularly when towing a van. Then the mountains turned into flat country and we continued on to the Big Horse Creek Campground. This is a nice spot run be NT national parks and on the banks of the rather magnificent Victoria River. 

Wednesday August 12

Another day at Big Horse Creek taking it very easy which is another way of saying that we did nothing just veged out. Actually Elaine did things like washing and cleaning and I veged out mainly because I have a kidney stone trying to get out. We spent a bit of time talking to some people who came in just a little time out of Border Town on their way to a birthday party in Kunnunnura. Then we cooked again on out fire pit which Elaine thinks might be just a fraction too small, we shall see as we proceed. 

Thursday August 13

On our way east again, as usual last out of the camp, but not before our new friends presented us with fruit that they couldn't take over the border....very nice. This campground always has some people spending a few days there due to its nice location and it's nice set up. So off we went and just a few kms down the road detoured to climb the hill, in the van, to visit the Nackeroo's memorial. Now there is a new word so I shall explain. They were a special unit formed to make sure that we were not invaded from the north during the last war. One of there members was acquitted of an awol charge because he came from 'the most undisciplined unit in the army' ! This was of course necessary because they patrolled an enormous expanse of territory with the essential help of the local aborigines. The view was fantastic! We then proceed further up the hill to the town lookout which an even better view encompassing the Victoria River, the town of Timber Creek and the surrounding valleys and hills. Then off through the town and onto the road to Katherine. But before we left we stopped at the rubbish dump, at the foot of the hill and got chimney for our fire pit, we also got a good hammer and a pair of secaturs!

Onwards through plains finishing at hills, choppers looking for cattle, birds and all sorts of nice scenery. We are now camped at Limestone Creek rest area.