Northern Territory

Monday 8th September 2008

Katherine, 14 29 14 S, 132 15 37 E, (515 Km).  After a stop at the backpackers hotel to drop off a shopping bag Violet had forgotten last night (in which we left a Road Map).  We just hope they managed to find their way from their room to the reception at  6:00am this morning for their tour of the Bungle Bungle.  After a short distance we drove out of Western Australia and into the Northern Territory losing 1½ hours of our day in the process as we moved our watches on to N.T time, at least it will get dark now at a more respectable hour.  We had a comfortable if not rather “sweaty” drive back to Katherine only stopping for smoko and lunch, having seen most of the “sights” when we travelled West we were able to do the longer distance, still travelling along at about 100 kph, despite the increase in the speed limit to 130 kph, even so we only past 4 vehicles and had 5 pass us on the whole of the journey. The campsite is almost empty too, as the holiday season in this part of Australia comes to an end and people start to move South as their summer approaches.

 

Tuesday 9th  September 2008

Mataranka, 14 54 62 S, 133 05 09 E, (111 Km).  Filled up the filter jug at the tap this morning and a baby lizard decided he would like a swim around the jug, he must have been having a drink in the tap when I turned it on.  We needed to re-provision today in Katherine, our first day proper back in the Northern Territory, everything seems cheaper once you cross the state border and fruit especially seems fresher.  We also filled the gas cylinder with LPG the first time we have refilled since picking up the van and it was still not completely empty, it only cost $25 and that will last us now for the duration of our trip as we don’t need to refill before returning the motor home, $25 good eh, for 8 months cooking and occasional hot water. Which reminds me Mr Brown, although it is 35 degrees C. here we shall still be expecting our winter heating allowance.  We were also lucky this morning as the Red Cross book exchange shop was open in the old railway station (where else), I found a Martin Brundle (the ex F1 racing driver now commentator) autobiography in hardback for $7, what a find, (yes Rhiain I will post it to you when I’ve read it).  Early afternoon found us back at Mataranka Cabins and Camping Ground, a great find when we were on our way North, I will digress to say that thousands of Fruit Bats are flying over our heads as I type this outside the camper van, correction, they are roosting in the trees nearby, problem, they argue like 7 year olds, I hope they don’t keep us awake tonight, other problem, they smell!  Back to the camp ground, a natural bush camp, only 500 metres from the hot water springs and the entrance to Elsey National Park so we have been swimming and relaxing there this afternoon, we shall also stay tomorrow before the long drive to Alice Springs where we will be meeting our friends from New Zealand Brian and Judy.

 

Wednesday 10th September 2008

We closed the windows and didn’t  here much from the Fruit Bats last night, so we had a goodnights sleep in fact one of the latest times we have woken for a long time, this Northern Territory time zone is much more sensible.  We were chatting to the caretaker of the site and she was saying they have had a major problem at the Homestead Campsite  the other side of the town with the bats and they have had to close the swimming hole there because of their numbers, it appears that the National Parks Department are looking at ways to cull them.  We have had a very lazy day, sitting reading in the shade this morning and swimming and relaxing down at the spring this afternoon, Jenny then continued reading while I went walkabout with binoculars and camera, did manage to get a photo of a the rare Red Goshawk standing on top of the nest.  When I returned we had a yarn  with 2 people from Nottinghamshire touring in a Britz van, the Fruit Bats then made there nightly pilgrimage to the trees close to us so we watched them for a time, we can still here them now (8:40 pm) fluttering about outside and squabbling and every so often we get a whiff of their odour, they do stink!  We have prepared tonight for an early start in the morning having already taken the awning down and put the table and chairs away, all we need do in the morning is disconnect the power and go, we shall then drive a couple of hours before having breakfast and a shower, we will “clock up” a few kilometres before hopefully reaching the UFO capital of Australia, as long as we don’t get “beamed up” before we reach there!

 

Thursday 11th September 2008

Wycliffe Well, 20 47 73 S, 134 14 13 E, (703 Km).  Away from Mataranka at 6:50 am knowing we had a very long drive today and everything went according to plan, we had breakfast and a shower at a rest area after 200 kilometres and suitably replenished and refreshed we continued along the Stuart Highway, stopping only for fuel at Hiway Inn at Daly Waters roadhouse (just a top up from ¾  full so it would take us through to the cheap fuel at Tennant Creek) and then at Renner Springs Desert Hotel for a coffee and biscuits. Jenny then drove for a long spell to Tennant Creek (thank-you again Lyn for telling us about the fuel, a great saving) and then after a short stop for a drink and apple we continued to “The Devils Marbles”, huge boulders that are one of the most famous geological sights in the Territory.  We had plenty of time to wander around and take photographs before continuing to Wyecliffe Well, evidently there have been more UFO sightings in this area than anywhere else in Australia and “good on them” they have exploited it to the full with all sorts of  figures, murals, souvenirs and newspaper clippings. Jenny said she saw what looked like an alien on her right for most of the journey, I didn’t see it!

 

Friday 12th September 2008

Alice Springs, 23 44 07 S, 133 52 25 S,(380 Km).  Well after all our changes to the itinerary timings and doing the tours we wanted to do at different times in Western Australia, we have arrived in Alice Springs exactly on schedule.  With a much shorter distance to cover today and no side tracking for sightseeing we didn’t rush to leave Wycliffe Well and we had longer leisurely breaks for smoko and lunch and still arrived mid-afternoon and relaxed under the shade of the trees on our site.  Jenny trying to catch up on her reading, she reads suitable books of mine when I have finished with them, but as she is a much slower reader (more thorough) than me she has a lot of catching up to do, I studied the maps and other information for the next stage of our journey into South Australia in a couple of weeks time, ever the boy scout, (which I wasn’t) by being prepared.)   Almost forgot, going back to Wycliffe Well and the numerous UFO sightings, (evidently it is the cross-section of ley lines (energy lines), meaning that UFO’s flying around will pass through this area), Jenny and I were walking back from the amenities late last night and we saw not 1 but 2 satellites passing overhead, OR were they?

 

Saturday 13th September 2008

A drive out to Trephina Gorge Nature Park today in the East MacDonnell Range, we were going to camp overnight there but found out its only a “day” thing anyway so we drove out and back with a total mileage of  161 Kilometres.  The gorge was spectacular, unfortunately the weather wasn’t and it started to rain, unsure how wet it would be we decided not to complete the walk and returned to the car park and drove instead to Corroboree rock an ancient Aboriginal sacred site (by now the rain had stopped) and walked the short circuit around the base.  After lunch which we ate Jessie Gap Picnic Area and a walk through the creek-worn gap through the MacDonnell Range we continued to Emily Gap a similar walk along a dry creek between high rock cliffs.  We then decided to look at the town of Alice as yesterday we drove straight to the camp site on the Stuart Highway 5 kilometres south of the town.  We were going to meet Brian from New Zealand on Wednesday at the Britz Camper depot after his conference in Alice this weekend, who should we see eating at an out door restaurant with 3 work colleagues but Brian.  We sat down for a coffee with them and had a good yarn, before their returned to their conference. Judy, Brian’s wife fly’s out on Tuesday from Sydney where she is visiting her sister and we will then drive out to King’s Canyon and Uluru with them on Wednesday.

 

Sunday 14th September 2008

A day when we have done almost nothing, Jenny relaxed reading outside in the shade and I decided to have a sort out of the photos in Adobe Elements.  I am embarrassed to tell you how many photos we have taken, no wonder the hard drive on the laptop is getting to capacity, so I have been ruthless today and taken off many photos that I am not satisfied with, trouble is sometimes I “bracket” the shot and the camera will take 3 of the same scene at different exposures or at a different white balance setting and I have not deleted the “duff” ones.  Jenny did offer to make me cappuccino while I was busy, trouble was she thought???? she had switched the kettle on, went to the loo came back, poured the water in to the cups,,,,,,  still cold cappuccino on a hot day can be refreshing!  No, I am not going to change that last sentence, put your own interpretation on it.

 

Monday 15th September 2008

Glen Helen Gorge, 23 41 11 S, 132 40 41 E,  (171 Km).  We had a power cut last night for about 2 hours didn’t bother us but to some people on the caravan site it was the end of the world, “what no air-conditioning we are all going to die”.  Forgot to tell you (an age thing) about the fantastic Didgeridoo player that plays at the camp site every Saturday night, he was very good and he told some amusing stories to!  You might know I was at the front listening to him playing and thinking to myself, if only, I am definitely going to learn if it’s the last breath I take, (and probably will be if I can’t master the circular breathing).  What a terrific drive we have had today, all the interesting places we wanted to visit and none more than 30 minutes from the next along the Larapinta & Namatjira drives, the first Simpsons Gap only 23 kilometres from Alice Springs, we were lucky enough to see one of  the Black-footed Rock Wallabies which inhabit the area, and at last, we saw some of the UK’s favourite cage bird’s  in the wild, the Budgerigar, the first time we were able to positively identify them.  We then timed our visit to Standley Chasm to perfection, we needed to be there a hour either side of midday when the walls of the chasm blaze a fiery red from the overhead sun’s reflection, we were there at 12:05 pm.  The chasm was stunning and the 1.5 kilometre walk was comfortable with the high walls creating a cool, shady passageway, the chasm is on private land owned by aboriginals so it was one of the few places where we have had to pay an entrance fee, but we did enjoy the Cappuccino (hot this time) and a slice of carrot cake at the entry kiosk and café on our return.  Next stop and a late lunch in the shade of the covered picnic tables was at Ellery Creek Big Hole a popular swimming hole, however because it’s shaded by the high cliffs of  Ellery Gorge the water is said to be freezing for most of the year, (freezing that is for an Australian,  I had a paddle and it was warmer than the Mediterranean on a good day), we may stop on the way back to Alice Springs tomorrow and have a swim there.  Last stop of the day before our night at Glen Helen Gorge was the Ochre Pits a place were the desert Aboriginal people mined for ochre (the raw material for paintings and ceremonial body decoration), and the reds and yellows in the ravine made for an attractive photo in the late afternoon sun.  We did have a walk to the Glen Helen Gorge waterhole as the sun started to go down, we will investigate the gorge and the Finke River further tomorrow, we will also visit Ormiston Gorge and Pound which is said to be the best in the West MacDonnell Range as we return along the highway to “Alice”

 

Tuesday 16th September 2008

Alice Springs, 23 44 04 S, 133 52 28 E, (172 Km).  Not a good start for Jenny this morning, a cold, very cold, shower, the shower block is unisex so I went in the one next to Jenny, I had just finished my (hot) shower when I heard Jenny shouting outside the door to let her in, there she was shivering (there was quite a cold wind) outside in her towel, ever the good husband I pondered for about 10 minutes seconds and decided to let her use mine and she used MY soap and MY shampoo as well! After breakfast we walked from the resort car park the short (10 minute) distance to Glen Helen Gorge, actually what we saw last night was as much as we could see, without either swimming across the water hole, scrambling around the rocks to one side, or climbing over the top, we decided to view the gorge from the safety of  the edge of the water and took photographs from there.  A short drive and we were soon at Ormiston Gorge and we decided to attempt  the “Ghost Gum” trail, a 2 kilometre, 1½ hour walk regarded as moderately difficult, we thoroughly enjoyed it walking along the top of the gorge before descending to the dry sandy creek bed at the bottom. We decided to sit for a while on rocks in the gorge and I spotted a Black-footed Rock Wallaby eating on the other side of  a waterhole, again a creature that obviously had not read the notice boards, this “shy, retiring, not normally seen” marsupial posing for the camera.  After arriving back at the car park and picnic area we had a look at the free barbeque and cookers and decided to experiment, not wanting too much to eat at lunch time we couldn’t think what to cook, after a bit of deliberation we had a delicious………..fried egg sandwich.  We continued along back to Alice Springs stopping once again at Ellery Creek Big Hole (we decided not to swim) and we also had another short walk at Simpsons Gap, we stocked up with a few grocery’s at Woolworth’s and refuelled at the Caltex (to use the Woolie’s voucher saving 4 cents a litre) before returning once again to the Big4 MacDonnell Range Holiday Park. Tuesday night is “Star Talk” when a local astronomer gives a chat while gazing at the stars, with his large “mirror” telescope which is permanently mounted on a hill in the camp site we were easily able to see Jupiter and its 4 prominent moons and we enjoyed a very interesting hour with him, only returning to the motor home because we were hungry.

 

Wednesday 17th September 2008

Kings Canyon, 24 14 94 S, 131 30 76 E, (486 Km).  At Britz/Maui in Alice Springs for 9:00 am and after great reunion with Brian and Judy we were soon on our way, first stop for Brian and Judy was at the Cole’s supermarket for provisioning for their 5 days, Jenny and Judy doing the shopping while Brian and I stayed in the car park having a yarn, then I lead the way out of the town thwarted a couple of times by “no right turns” eventually Brian leading the way when we were on the Stuart Highway.  We stopped for lunch at the picnic tables and a chance to “catch up” with Judy at Mount Ebenezer Roadhouse an Aboriginal-owned roadhouse with some local (and expensive) arts and crafts before continuing on our way west along the Lasseter Highway.  We had only just turned on to the Luritja road when we stopped again, this time to photograph a herd of wild Camels the first we had seen on our travels in the centre, after a couple of other photo stops we arrived at King Canyon Resort and we were able to have 2 sites next to each other, Jenny and I reversing our van in so our side door was adjacent to Brian’s, we were soon sat down outside having a “happy hour” with beer, wine (as Al Murray would say “for the ladies”) and nibbles, Jenny and Judy were soon organising our evening meal of steak, salad and barbequed potatoes, a Dingo tried to “gate crash” our party, but our uninvited guest soon went when he realised that he (or I suppose she) would not be  welcome.

 

Thursday 18th September 2008

Yulara, 25 14 21 S, 130 59 58 E, (335 Km).  A very early start this morning to catch the sunrise at Watarrka National Park (Kings Canyon), unfortunately by the time we had walked the 1.3 kilometre walk along King’s Creek to the viewing platform the sky had clouded over so the resultant photographs of the rich red walls of the canyon were not shown to their best.  We walked back to the car park and had breakfast, and “Murphy’s Law” the skies cleared and the sun shone, after a quick debate Brian and I  decided to return quickly along the canyon bottom to the viewing platform, Jenny and Judy arriving later having had a more sedate walk, this time we were rewarded with excellent colours on the canyon walls and subsequent (hopefully) better photographs.  The Kathleen Springs walk was our next stop a easy 2.5 kilometre return walk from the car park which we all enjoyed, unanimously agreeing it was actually better than King’s Canyon (although we did not do the rim walk).  After lunch we then had a long drive to Yulara, only stopping at the Mount Connor lookout (the outback’s most photographed “red herring” as it is often mistaken for Uluru).  The first view of Uluru is quite fantastic and despite seeing pictures of “The Rock” many times, nothing prepares you for the real thing and the sheer size of  it.  We finally arrived at Ayers Rock Resort Camping Ground and after finding our site (good job we were given a map) and having “happy hour” we were on our way again, this time to the sunset viewing area, the colours as the sun went down were unbelievable, changing through a series of oranges and reds and finally to purple before finally blending into the night sky,!  We then returned to the campsite, Brian barbequing the pork steaks while Judy prepared potatoes and vegetables, a gourmet’s delight and a photographer’s dream, all within a hour!

 

Friday 19th September 2008

Sunrise was at 6:41am, and the sunrise viewing area is on the eastern side of Uluru approximately 40 kilometres from Yulara so another early start, the parking was at the side of the road and even at this early time there were already plenty of people there, the sunrise was not as spectacular as sunset but still worth seeing and photographing.  We then drove to the parking area for the Uluru base walk and had breakfast, as an early start is necessary for the walk (to avoid the extreme heat) we were soon on our way and we were all pleased to say WE DID IT, 9.4 kilometres around the complete base of Uluru, we took plenty of water in our rucksacks and also some snacks and we completed the walk in 4.5 hours, (it normally takes about 3-4 hours) but with plenty of stops for drinks and photographing it took a little longer and we were certainly not in a race, we were relieved however when we eventually reached the car park and were able to have lunch and a nice cool shower.  The Cultural Centre was our next stop and after a look around and an ice-cream (Judy and Brian purchased a locally made painting) we decided to drive to Kata Tjuta (The Olga’s) 32 kilometres west of Uluru, stopping first at the Dune viewing platform, Brian and I  walking up to photograph the Olga’s while Judy and Jenny drank tea in the motor home in the parking area (they did make us one on our return), the 360 degree view from the platform was stunning with the Olga’s in full view and Uluru in the near distance, with other ranges on the horizon in the far distance.  A 22 kilometre drive took us to the sunset viewing and picnic area, time for nibbles and a drink before we watched the sunset, Jenny prepared tonight’s meal chicken Jalfrezi, which was intended to be eaten at the picnic area but “clashed” with the sunset so we returned to Yulara and reheated it in the micro-wave, to-nights topic of conversation????,  Indian food and restaurant’s! whilst sitting underneath the stars in an Australian desert!

 

Saturday 20th September 2008

Erldunda Roadhouse, 25 11 91 S, 133 11 92 E, (351 Km).  Not up so early this morning, but nevertheless we left the campsite just after 6:30am to drive 53 Kilometres to the Olga’s stopping first at the Dune viewing area which we went to yesterday, Judy and Jenny did not walk to the viewing platform yesterday and both Brian and I thought they had “missed out” so we decided to all walk up today, the sun on the Olga’s looking even better in the early morning light.  We had a quick breakfast as we wanted to do the “Valley of the Winds” walk before the heat of the day ( they close the walk if the temperature reaches 36 degrees). Judy walked as far as the first lookout before returning to the motor home whilst Brian, Jenny and I continued around the full circuit of 7.4 kilometres, much more challenging then the base walk around Uluru as the track in places was very steep and stony, we even had to replenish our water bottles at the strategically placed water tanks.  We would agree with people that the Olga’s are even more impressive than Uluru, the valley of winds walk being one of the most rewarding walks in the whole of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, of interest is that “Mt Olga at 546 metres is 200 metres higher than Uluru!  We left after a lunch prepared for us by Judy and made our way back through Yulara to the Lasseter Highway, Brain needed to refuel their motorhome so Jenny and I carried on in front, agreeing to stop at the Mt Connor lookout and get a “brew on” while we waited for them to catch up.  I had a surprise at the lookout when I walked up a steep sand dune on the other side of the highway, a massive dry lake, I called Jenny up to have a look and both Brian and Judy climbed up when they arrived about 25 minutes later, Brian and I attempted to reach it but it was to far to walk in the little time we had, as we needed to reach Erldunda Roadhouse before dark.  Brian did stop for a couple of photo opportunities on the way back (a Kangaroo and a Cow (don’t ask)), I slowed down and waited for them to catch up, we reached the roadhouse at a perfect time just as the sun was setting.  We had decided to have a “farewell” meal at the roadhouse so after a quick shower and change of clothes we went to the restaurant, we all enjoyed a superb meal although the steak burger was to large even for me.  We returned to our motorhome for a drink and chat before we said our goodbyes, Brian and Judy were leaving earlier than us in the morning to go North along the Stuart Highway to visit the West MacDonnell Ranges before returning to Alice Springs and catching their flight to New Zealand on Monday, we meanwhile will be driving South along the Stuart Highway to South Australia, see you there!

 

Thank you Brian and Judy , we had a tremendous time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

 

All images on this website are copyright of Alan and Jennifer Morris and may not be used without prior written permission.

 
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