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.