Thursday the 11th of October and I had never been so happy to see daylight.
We got up and looked outside, it was a mess with huge branches and pine trees down around us after the big hot had broken with an overnight thunderstorm.
I looked across to where some campers had packed up the morning before, to see a huge branch down where their tent was, they will never know how lucky they had been.
I looked across to where some campers had packed up the morning before, to see a huge branch down where their tent was, they will never know how lucky they had been.
 |
| A branch lands where a tent was the night before |
A quick pack up from our camp at Adels Grove and a final swim for the kids in the gorge and we were on our way in a cool 17 degrees with jumpers on, a few degrees lower than yesterday's 50 degrees. What a country of contrasts!
We headed south, knowing it would be slow going with more than 170 kilometers of gravel road ahead of us.
It wasn't long before we crossed over into Riversleigh Station and were excited to see real aboriginal drovers with a herd of cattle. They were more than happy to smile and wave to the camera, giving us a yahoo or two when they saw my camera...
 |
| A drover from Riversleigh Station |
Before long we were in the Riversleigh World Heritage area, renowned for being one of the richest fossil deposits in the world, dating back to around 530 million years.
It was amazing to be able to see the fossils in rocks, as we followed the fossil path to the top of a hill....
 |
| Looking down to the car from the Riversleigh World Heritage Site |
 |
| The fossil from the leg of an ancient emu like animal |
 |
| This is the picture of the bird that lived thousands of years ago |
We continued on, stopping when we reached the Gregory River crossing.
Although it was cold, Richard and the kids couldn't resist getting into the river for a quick dip, once we'd crossed over in the car....
Although it was cold, Richard and the kids couldn't resist getting into the river for a quick dip, once we'd crossed over in the car....
 |
| Crossing over the Gregory River |
 |
| All four kids have a swim in the river |
With the heat of the last few days it was like a warm bath, what a treat!
The gravel road went on and on... a few more river crossings, birds, roos and station cows breaking up the monotony, before we eventually reached the Barkly Highway.
We finally arrived in Camooweel around 1 o'clock where we stopped for lunch and to take a few snapshots...
 |
| The kids pose in front of a Roadhouse sign |
 |
| The kids with Camooweel's horny kangaroo |
Camooweel is also the name of another Slim Dusty song, he really must have got around.
About 10 kilometres outside of Camooweel we had crossed over into our final state, the Northern Territory...
 |
| Crossing over |
I took to the wheel for a couple of hours to let Richard have a snooze and got caught behind a road train carrying a D11 bulldozer, so it was slow going.
By the time we had reached Barkly Homestead Roadhouse to refill the car, Richard was ready to reclaim the wheel. We reached the Stuart Highway and Three Ways around 6 o'clock, after more than a thousand kilometers and a 12-hour day on the road.
By the time we had reached Barkly Homestead Roadhouse to refill the car, Richard was ready to reclaim the wheel. We reached the Stuart Highway and Three Ways around 6 o'clock, after more than a thousand kilometers and a 12-hour day on the road.
We were all weary after such a long day and being greeted with a caravan that looked like a dogs breakfast after all of that gravel road and a fridge (still broken) that smelt like a dead dog didn't help. So I set to work cleaning up which is just what this weary traveller didn't feel like doing.
By around 7, we ventured across to the Roadhouse pub and began chatting to the man who was driving that road train with the bulldozer. We then headed back to the van for a quick dinner and fell into bed, completely exhausted!!
Friday the 12th of October, Richard and I were up early and after our morning walk, we packed camp and headed south towards Tennant Creek.
It was a much bigger town than I expected and quite pretty and green.
Our next stop was Devil's marbles, these rock formations sit above the ground over a few kilometres. Quite a spectacle....
 |
| Devil's Marbles |
 |
| Posing in between the marbles |
We continued on along the Stuart Highway heading further towards the centre, stopping in a town called Ti Tree for lunch.
We were all getting excited! Although we were looking forward to seeing Alice Springs we were also going to surprise or shock Rob & Minnie our dear friends from Harvey who manage Sunnyvale Farm for us.
They had arrived the night before to compete in The Masters Games in Badminton.
So we spent part of the trip discussing how we would surprise them.
So we spent part of the trip discussing how we would surprise them.
We stopped at Aileron Station when a big sculpture of an aboriginal man holding a spear set high on a hill, grabbed our attention.
 |
| This sculpture caught our eye |
There was also a big sculpture of an aboriginal woman with child, spearing a lizard...
 |
| The kids look so small under the huge sculpture |
There was also an art gallery with one of the local artists hard at work...
 |
| Valerie, hard at work in her art studio |
It turns out the owner of the art gallery commissioned an artist to make the big aboriginal statues. When Richard asked him if the NTgovernment had chipped in as a tourist attraction he said "no, he simply wanted some art in his back yard. " it had cost him $200 000.
Needless to say he was an eccentric character.
We arrived in Alice Springs around 4 o'clock. It's a pretty town set amongst the MacDonnell Ranges and I can understand why it's called the biggest little town in Australia. It is much bigger than what I was expecting.
We set up camp and the kids played, while Richard did some work and I caught up on the washing.
Richard made a call to Rob & Minnie to extract information on what they were doing for dinner and wishing them luck in the Masters Games.
Both Rob & Minnie are very good Badminton players and compete in the games each year.
Both Rob & Minnie are very good Badminton players and compete in the games each year.
We headed into town to the Restaurant they had mentioned and waited for them to arrive.
When Rob walked through the door he walked straight past us and after Richard called his name a few times he looked around to see us. It still hadn't hit him who it was until he got closer and by that stage we could hear his heart beating from a few metres away... the look on his face was priceless!
Minnie walked in a minute or later with some if the women in the group and she too almost passed out when she saw us.
The looks on their faces was worth trekking 1500 kilometers for. We had a chat and both had dinner at our respective tables before we said our goodbyes - with plans to meet up the following day at the Masters Games Opening Ceremony.
No comments:
Post a Comment