WE'RE HOME !!!!

After 9100km, we arrived home on Wednesday 22/7 at 3pm.

It was a fantastic trip which we all enjoyed enormously - the trip of our life really.

Looking forward to normal life again and catching up with you all. Thanks so much for sharing our holiday with us with your reading of our posts, comments and prayers.

Dubbo

 
 
 

Today we travelled to Dubbo and did a bit of shopping for clothes and other necessary ‘life’ items. It’s the biggest place we have been to for a few thousand kilometres. By the end of this trip we will have done more than 9000 kms.

DAY 2:
Dubbo (Taronga Western Plains) Zoo is very different form all the other zoos we have been too. There are no high fences to block your view of the animals, only trenches beneath with an electric fence to stop people from entering. They also have a “hands off” handling of the animals policy which is in stark contrast to what we say at Australia Zoo. We decided to walk around the 6 ½ kms which allowed us to set our own pace and spend ample time seeing all the animals.

As part of our day we decided to treat ourselves to a Safari Tour where we were able to go behind the scenes of the park and also feed the animals. The best part was feeding the Black Rhinoceros – they eat branches from Casuarina trees and live alone. The one we fed was 8 years old.

On the tour we also had the opportunity to see a cheetah up close and personal, as well as giraffes, zebras and white rhinos. Helen, our guide, was full of great information and willingly took questions from all of us. She was especially keen to talk with the children and impart her knowledge of the animals and their conservation.

We had a fantastic day, which concluded with a final dinner out together – full of reminiscing about the holiday and our memories. As we head home we are looking forward to sharing our memories, returning to ‘normal life’ including our own shower and toilet!

NYNGAN

 
 
 
 

Another 7 hours in the car today with a quick break at a truck stop where we found a playground and toilet (two important things when travelling with kids).

When we arrived at Nyngan we had a choice of many sites. We chose on right on the bank of the river, close to power and water and near a fire pit – a short walk to the toilets was a sacrifice well made.

We had enough time to scrounge around for some fire wood before sunset and the cool of the evening set in. The kids enjoyed the fire and sitting around on our camping chairs simply chatting.

DAY 2:
A large frost greeted us this morning – this is the coldest we have been at night. Ben even wore a shirt to bed – mind you, Estelle wore her pjs, a jumper and bed socks!

We started the morning by canoeing down a peaceful and calm river. It was even peaceful with Lauren singing Row, row, row your boat! We searched for animals such as Water Monitors but without success.

The caravan park has been under new management for the past year and he and his son have built many new cabins facing the river, a huge meals/bar area right on the river and have made some changes (such as free canoeing).

After a quick trip into town to buy our final supplies, we headed back to the van park. We found a large mound of logs and sticks, so we loaded up the back of the car and drove it back to our fire pit. We spent the rest of the afternoon building our fire and enjoying some ‘down time’ chatting. In fact, Ben and Estelle spent until 10 p.m. enjoying the star lit evening and the serenity. (Ahh, Bonny Doon)

BROKEN HILL

 
 
 
 

On our travels to Broken Hill we stopped at Petersborough – known for its old steam trains. We had a quick stop here – just enough time for a coffee, scroll and finger buns! The kids had some time playing on the old Steam Train before we bundled back in car and headed into Broken Hill.

A movie of ‘The Wild’ helped us get through the next 5 ½ hours until we reached our destination. Broken Hill (even though it is in NSW) still runs on SA time, so after this port of call we will change our clocks again. We haven’t seen much road kill for the past few weeks. The earth is still red with plenty of Spinifex.

Broken Hill is known as the Silver City and was given it’s name by Charles Sturt, who was trying to find an inland sea and referred to a ‘Broken Hill’ in his diary. Within this region there are many museums, exhibitions, underground mines and notable buildings.

We had a quiet first afternoon – playing Scrabble and computer games while Ben went for a run (in preparation for the City to Surf coming up in a few weeks time).

Day 2:
We decided to firstly head into the information centre to work out what we would do for the day (and yes, we got a coffee!) Our first stop was the Silver City Mint and Art Centre.

There was an extensive range of painting from Australian artists, minerals on display, smelting, casting and manufacturing of silver jewellery, the world’s largest acrylic painting on canvas (12 m x 100m) and of course the children’s favourite – the Broken Hill Chocolate Factory (fudge for all!)

We then proceeded to the Living Desert Sculpture Site where in 1993, 12 sculptures went to a reserve on the edge of the desert where each worked on a sandstone boulder up to 3m high. The raw rock has been transformed into various shapes and figures. Entry is by car and a key from the information centre is required to open gates on the way to see the Sculpture.

After our sight seeing, we drove to the Pro Hart gallery which was a very interesting place. It was a real insight into the man, and the reasons behind his artwork. It was wonderful to be able to share this experience with the children and to point out the techniques and see Australian history within his artwork. Yes, there was even the carpet with the dragon fly picture on it - remember the T.V. ad for a carpet cleaner and the cleaning lady who said ‘Mr Hart… what a mess!’

This afternoon we went to an old time soda bar – black and white chequered tiles on the floor, 20 flavours of soda to choose from, waffles and apple pie, old tables and chairs etc. We thoroughly enjoyed stepping back in time and drinking crème soda, ice cream and ice. Lauren wasn’t too keen on the drinks (not a real fan of sweet drinks or milk shakes) so she settled for a chocolate instead.

The evening was spent playing Skipbo then squirming down under the sleeping bag for a sleep. (This caravan park is still on the highway, so we have learned to look carefully at maps in the future to determine how close they are to a highway as the semi trailers at night don’t make for consistent sleep).

PORT AUGUSTA

 
 
 

Our day started out as usual with a quick breakfast and pack up (we are getting very efficient now) and hit the road.

Woomera was our first destination - a lunch stop on the way. Inside the Information Centre was a coffee shop, 10 pin bowling centre and a museum. We had a quick bite to eat and the paid our $8 to go inside the museum. The self guided tour started with a 10 minute video about Germany's use of missiles aimed at England. The kids had a lot of questions and were eager to see the rest of the museum to obtain their answers.

Further in the museum were models of various missiles which were designed by the English to be used at Woomera as well as other equipment such as parachutes and masks. The centre is still actively used as a research facility with an Australian/ Japanese group designing a supersonic passenger jet.

Once we had spent about an hour here we wer on the road again. We were not actually due to stop in Port Augusta - we were planning to travel on a further 40 km to Quorn, but as Ben was feeling tired from a lot of driving lately, we pulled into the Port Augusta Big 4 Caravan Park and asked if we could bunk down there for 2 nights. Ben booked an ensuite toilet facility - our first toilet and shower without having to share! The kids were very excited!

DAY 2:
It was decided early in the morning to have a quiet day as we were all tired from travelling, so we organised to go the the movies and see Ice Age 3 - far too many story lines involved for our liking, but the kids enjoyed their popcorn and chicken chips anyway!

After the movie we had a short trip (and coffee) to the visitors centre. They also had a museum attached, but we felt a little 'over museums' so we decided to give it a miss and simply have a look around.

More games of Uno, Skipbo and Strip Jack Naked saw the day come to a close as we prepare to go to Broken Hill.

COOBER PEDY DAY 2

 
 
 
 

The day commenced with a phone call to the local mechanic to see about our steering rack. We thought something may have occured on the way to Kings Canyon that has thrown the steering off. The guy said he was busy and couldn't help, but took our number in case some free time came up during the day.

So, into the Old Timers Mine we ventured for more hard hats and investigation of opal mines. We were able to see the types of tools they used, shafts they had dug and many opal seams in the walls. Of course, there was a lot of opal jewellery to be sold at the exit point of the self guided tour. The kids always enjoy noodling for gems, so once again we sat in a pit and noodled for opals - we actually found some great ones!

After noodling, we started to venture down the street, when Ben received a phone call from the mechanic saying that he could do the wheel alignment. A quick drop off saw us with two hours to spare and a lot of opal shops to visit. Every second shop in Coober Pedy is an opal shop - there is literally nothing else here except a couple of service stations, atwo grocery store and two food store. We also had lunch in town - a pizza joint which served beautiful pizzas (you would have thoroughly enjoyed it Simon and Tam - just like Big John's!)

Car fixed, tummys full of pizza and some opals in hand, we went back to the van.

Off to Coober Pedy

 
 

Today was a driving day. We weren’t too sure how far we would get and we’d work that out on the way. Started at 8:10 and after a refuel at Erlunda, we put our head down and drove towards Marla where we decided to stop for a late lunch (munchies in the car kept the hunger at bay). Great truck stop (even better than Coolomgalook) here – top hamburgers and steak sandwiches. We pushed on all the way and made Coober Pedy by 5:40 – 732km in the day !!! Everyone travelled really well and we are so thankful that this part of the holiday has been great (we are actually thinking about our next trips and more kms !!!).

Strange looking town this one. As you drive in all you can see are thousands of mounds of sand. We believe they are private opal mines which each have an owner/ Signs on the side of the road say not to walk in these areas as there are deep holes from which the sand came from. We will find out more in the morning.

Touristing tomorrow – opal mines and whatever else we can find at the Info Centre.

Yulara

 
 
 
DAY 2:
This morning we woke up, rolled out of bed and drove to the Sunrise viewing area to greet the morning, Each time you enter the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, a visitors pass ($25 per adult, children free) must be shown. In our haste to get to the Sunrise viewing, we had not only misplaced our pass, but had forgotten to take the battery out of the recharger for the camera. Fortunately, the lady let us into the park on good will and we found that we had our video camera instead.

The sunrise hitting the Rock was spectacular – it was a vivid orange colour. Well worth rolling out of bed and waiting for breakfast.

After the sunrise, we made our way to the Supermarket complex where we found a café and bought, yes, you guessed it – a coffee! The kids enjoyed a hot chocolate and juice. In this complex of shops we found a display of canvases painted by the local Aboriginal people. We purchased one… be sure to come and have a look one day when we get it framed. We really wanted a momento of our trip which was traditional artwork.

During the morning, we decided that we had not spent enough time in Yulara and needed to book for another day at the Alice Springs Desert Park. It was decided that Estelle and Lauren would also book themselves in for an afternoon session of Dot painting and Ben and James would book themselves in for the Night Sky Experience (telescopes etc).

Having made the bookings we made our way to some of the other Pradopoint members sites for Brunch – eggs, bacon and juice. It was a great time to relax and unwind with new friends.

The rest of the afternoon was relatively quiet with a trip to the playground equipment before getting ready for a Pradopoint photo of the entire group with Uluru as the backdrop. Organising 100 people into a photo was interesting in itself, and of course the cars were then lined up for a photo shoot.

Dinner was held at the Pioneer Restaurant which was a smorgousboard. Some local delicacies were available – Emu, Kangaroo and Crocodile (all very nice). The desserts were a hit with pavolvas, mousse, pecan pie, blackforest cake, mango cheesecake and chocolate cake to name a few.The kids were well catered for on one long table and supplied with endless chips, nuggets, pizza and ice blocks. Various sponsers had also organised prises ot be given in various catagories (best outdoor rig, least modified car, prado jester, gadget guy etc. Unfortunately, they did not have one for ‘Towing large white whale’, otherwise we would have won for sure!

This has been the final day of Pradopoint. Of course, there is the mandatory talk of next year’s destination (possibly the Cape or the Victorian Highlands). We have thoroughly enjoyed our time with these new friends and haven’t felt like we have lived in each others pockets. A week well spent enjoying all the Northern Territory has to offer.



DAY 3:
After saying goodbye to our Pradopoint friends, we travelled 50 km to the Olgas (Kata Tjuta) where we were able to take a walk into Walpa Gorge. We followed a rocky path between two of the Olgas. There are various plants that aren’t found anywhere else in the world. The air was still, only the sounds of birds could be heard echoing within the Gorge. An hour later, we returned to the car, ready to grab a quick lunch and for Lauren and Estelle to head to the cultural centre for Dot Painting.

Two o’clock could not come fast enough for Lauren – craft is definitely her thing! As we entered the area, we were greeted by and interpreter and Valerie (our Aboriginal painter). We sat around on stools while Valerie and the interpreter sat on the ground. Valerie smoothed the surface of the dirt and then proceeded to draw some Aboriginal symbols. She told us two stories of the dreamtime through symbols. We all remained silent while she drew and the interpreter explained her drawings. We learned symbols for water, men, women, spear, Emu prints, basket and many more. After some story telling and question time, we were then encouraged to use these symbols in our own dot paintings.

We were provided a canvas and paints for the next hour to express our creativity. After a couple of hiccups (the child next to Lauren sprayed paint all over Lauren’s canvas and clothing, and then after painting her canvas background, the wind blew Lauren’s in the dirt), we created our ‘masterpieces’. Lauren is looking forward to framing and displaying hers in her bedroom when we return.

A quick game of Yatzee and Scrabble in the afternoon was quickly followed by dinner (much salad was eaten because we can not take it into South Australia tomorrow), showers and the boys started getting ready for their Night Sky Adventure.

The night sky was beginning to cloud, but we strolled off to the bus stop to be escorted to the Observatory. Upon arrival (in pitch black) we were greeted by Ian, the resident astronomer and he began to explain and point to stars with his powerful laser pointer (I am sure they are the illegal type following the incidents with aircrafts). Anyway, we looked at a few through a powerful telescope and the clouds closed in further. Hurriedly, he pointed out Saturn and we cued to see the planet. It looked just like a star to the naked eye, but with the aid of the telescope, we could make out the rings. Clouds came and went and we luckily were able to see most things that were on offer – a good night all round.

Uluru

 
 
 



It was a fairly relaxed morning around the caravan and we got everything ready for a 9:30 departure, destination Uluru / Ayres Rock. It was the smoothest road we have driven on for a few thousand kilometres which gave us a welcome change and simple drive. During our trip we thought we may have been closer than we were to our destination as Mount Connor has a similar appearance to Uluru from a distance. Eventually Uluru came into view and we sorted out our misunderstanding. Soon the Olgas also appeared and even though they are another 50km from Uluru, they look huge, so we have high expectations for them tomorrow.

Upon arrival we were allocated an unpowered site, but we eventually got that sorted and got set up on a recently converted powered site – then it was off to see the BIG ROCK.

We hurried out there as we felt a breeze starting and we didn’t want to get there and find that the Rangers had closed the climb. Fortunately all was clear for our ascent and we looked up and started. It is STEEP and there is nothing to prevent an injury if you slip, so we took it slowly. The first 100m or so is unassisted after which there is a chain that you can use to help pull yourself up with. The gradient changes and there are some easy sections and some really steep ones. Lauren had a little slip early on which scared the baggingers out of her (and us) but we all bravely continued after a little bit of encouragement. The wind did start to pick up with some gusts and we felt quite exposed sitting on the rock with feet firmly planted on the poles supporting the climbing chain. We all got to about three quarter height and decided that that was sufficient – although we would have loved to get all the way to the top, there was not much more to be seen and the consequences for a slip were high. Later in the evening we found out that one of the Pradopoint members did slip and has a suspected fracture in her arm. The descent was tricky too, but we all made it down safely.

A quick dash back to the caravan followed to rustle up some supplies (quasi dinner) and then back to watch the sunset on the rock. It was impressive in some ways – it is not able to be explained adequately without first hand experience, but some small clouds in the west prevented the full “glow” that can occur.

We’ve turned in for another night, planning to rise and go back for the sunrise (7:30am).

Kings Canyon

 
 
 
 

After our big walk yesterday, we woke the children at 6 a.m. to get ready and packed up for our journey to Kings Canyon. Group 1 left the site and headed out to Gosse Bluff where a crater had formed 142 million years ago when a meteor hit this place. Our drive (on rocky dirt road) took us into the centre of this huge crater where we quickly took a snap shot and were on the move again.

There is still so much that we have not seen in this area as we are restricted by time – hopefully one day we will return to this vast land and investigate more of what it has to offer.

The time then came to bring to tyres down from 40 psi to 29 psi before we hit the dust and dirt. Our slow 125km travel from between 40 km /h and 70 km/h began with us being 5th in our Group 1 convoy. We have the biggest and heaviest tow, but we still managed to eat the dust of the Prado in front.

Words cannot express the grandeur of the ranges and mountains we have travelled past over the last week. The colours are ever changing as is the vegetation and terrain (some of our photos almost capture it, but it is unbelievable in real life).

We got to the campgrounds at about 1pm and set-up the caravan. We were overjoyed that there was no damage at all internally or externally. We got a bit of dust in underneath the fridge (it needs to be vented when running during our travels), but a quick dustpan sorted that out for now.

We devoured a sandwich and then felt we were up for the Kings Canyon Rim Walk which is about 6.5km around the top of the whole canyon. Again, this was spectacular and another highlight of the trip !!! While we have seen lots of vivid coloured rocks, you seem to never tire of it. The walk is quite strenuous, but we all got through it really well and had a refreshing ice block on the way home.

Off to Yulara and Uluru tomorrow where we will stay for 2 nights (yeah) and it will be the end of the Pradopoint Get Together.

Glen Helen Gorge

 
 
 
Another quick drive of 1 ½ hours along tar road saw us enter Glen Helen Gorge today. There are a large number of gorges to visit in this area, so after setting up the van we headed out to Ellery Creek Big Hole.

This was basically a water hole which would be lovely in summer, but unfortunately was a bit cold and dirty to swim in today. The scenery is again superb and the weather, although about 5 degrees in the mornings, continues to be sunny and about 22 during the day.

The next stop was Standley Chasm where we were told by other Prado friends, we could find a cafe which sold ice creams, meat pies and coffee. We ended up purchasing wedges and coffee before our loooong walk. (We definitely needed the carbs from the wedges for this walk) The signage showed that the walk would take 30 mins return – very doable. We proceeded along the track and into the Chasm – truly magnificent walking through a small passageway and rock walls either side.

We continued onto the end of the walk and then noticed other people had climbed over the boulders and were continuing up the rock face. We joined them and then spent the next 45 minutes climbing hand over hand, under tree branches, across shale and trying to find some type of foot hold as we clambered up to the top of the Chasm. It was a magnificent view from the top, but of course, what goes up….must come down. Thus we started to journey back down the hill, using hands, feet and bottoms to finally end up at the bottom of the Chasm again. The kids did a wonderful job of walking, without one complaint. Yes, they are sleeping well tonight.

After our adventurous walk, we proceeded onto Ochre Pits where there was a display of rocks showing various colours that the Aboriginal people use to make their face paint.

Last stop of the day was Ormiston Gorge where we went for a short walk to the water hole. It again was quite picturesque, still and quiet – only the sounds of birds in the trees.

After returning home and having a well deserved hot shower, Glen Helen Gorge had organised a dinner for us – steaks, sausages and various salads.

Tomorrow we are heading to Kings Canyon. The first part of the trip is 60km on tar, where after we will change our tyre pressure in readiness for 125km of dirt / gravel road (Mereenie Loop Road - 4wd only). We have placed contact over the vents to try to prevent excess dirt and dust entering the van as we travel. 8 a.m. will be kick off time as we have been allocated into group 1 with 4 other cars. This will enable us to keep radio contact with a small amount of cars, rather than travelling all together in one long convoy.

Ross River

 
 
 

Day 1 at Ross River was a fairly relaxed event – just hanging around the camp grounds kicking the footy, throwing the vortex and Frisbee and greeting the Pradopoint members as they arrived. The first night was an all in BBQ and a fun social event. There are about 30 Prado’s that have come for the event, so that is about 100 people, including children, so we all pitched in helping get dinner ready throughout the afternoon. Two of the attendees have made the journey from USA, and given it was the 4th July, we celebrated with red, white and blue decorations and an Uncle Sam shaped and coloured hat cake.

During the afternoon we took a scenic walk up a small part of the East MacDonnell Range – this landscape is well defined as “rugged mountain ranges” which shimmer magnificently in the correct sunlight. We are told that the Western side of the MacDonnell’s are even more spectacular, so we have high expectations.

Day 2 / Sunday at Ross River was the first 4wd adventure and it was fantastic. We had a shotgun start at 8am (well it actually didn’t quite get going until about 8:30) and our final destination was Ruby Gap. Along the way we stopped at numerous historical sites which were mainly early settlements established by gold miners. The drive to Ruby Gap was approximately 75km each way and the last 4km was 4wd only territory and we shifted into low range. This was our first experience of proper off road driving and the Prado showed how capable it is (even in our hands) as we zig zagged across a dry river bed through soft sand and over slow rocky sections, between the gorge walls. Ruby Gap was named as a result of a prospector who thought he found Ruby’s in great abundance, but they turned our to be worthless garnets, which the kids fossicked around and found numerous examples. The gorges are magnificent – the shape and colours are captivating.

We arrived home at 5pm (big day !!!), exhausted, but enthusiastic about another journey. Dinner was a typical Sunday throw together and we sat around a campfire with our new friends and told yarns until midnight. Great day.

Day 3 - We drove a short distance to West MacDonnell Range Caravan park today (Monday) and kinda just caught up on domestics (washing and restock on food) while the kids played on the big jumping pillows. We spent the evening at the Desert Park on a Nocturnal Tour – kids loved it as we explored a section of the park for wild(ish) animals (birds, echidna, bilbies, mala etc…). Tomorrow is another short drive to Glen Helen and then some more exploring off road of the local attractions west of Alice Springs.

On the Road Again !

 
 
 

Today we drove to Ross River (actually Friday - catching up on posts), 85km east of Alice Springs where we will meet up with the Pradopoint Club and spend 3 nights, which will be a welcome rest. We set off at about 8am and had a brief stop at the Devils Marbles which were only 90km down the road. It was a much winder and cooler day than we have been experiencing (max about 19 deg C) and it was quite chilly (relative to what we have been enjoying), so we did the tourist thing quickly and got in the car for some more driving / sitting. We purchased some more fuel at about the halfway point, to avoid the mis-adventures of our previous drive, and set our eyes on Alice Springs.

When we arrived, town was quiet as it was a public holiday (not sure why yet). We still found a shopping centre open and replenished supplies at Woolworths. We also purchased some beverages from the liquor store and were required to present and have scanned my photo ID to ensure I did not purchase more drinks at another store and exceed our quota for the day. As I said yesterday, there are specific laws in NT to help reduce the abuse of alcohol.
Once these domestics were completed we had a further 80 odd km’s out to our campsite at Ross River. To get here we drove alongside the magnificent Macdonald Ranges. They are spectacular and I doubt our in car photography captures the grandeur satisfactorily. It certainly gets our hopes up for the beauty of the larger sites like Kings Canyon and Uluru.

Another big drive, but all is going well. We are offline for the moment out here, so not too sure when we can post and read all your comments. Thanks for staying in touch.