The start of the long journey home! Alice Springs, Cadney Park, Roxby Downs

 

Alice Springs to Cadney Park Homestead

Thursday 9th July marked the first day of our journey home.   Just under 600km we drove from Alice through to Cadney Park Homestead which is approx. 150km north of Coober Pedy.  Although just a roadhouse on the highway, we found ourselves a campsite at the back of the grounds under a tree, with both power and water, the amenities were clean and the service good.  Unfortunately it turns out we did however get some bad diesel from this stop, and although it didn't do any damage it did affect the performance of the car. 

 

Cadney Homestead to Roxby Downs
After a good sleep we decided we should get on the road early to complete the next 600km and still have some time to see Woomera and Roxby Downs when we arrived.  On the road by 6:30am we headed further south and arrived at Woomera for lunch.  Woomera is the governments joint project with Britain and then US for Rocket Testing.  A very interesting place with buildings that are reasonably well maintained, streets and grounds kept well, however the town is almost closed down with only 150 people remaining from 1200 at its peak and at one stage having the highest birth rate in Australia.   Following Woomera we headed out to Roxby Downs to our accommodation for the evening.  Roxby Downs is a small town primarily built for the BHP mine that is close by.  For a town in the middle of nowhere, it was neat and tidy and quite well established.

Alice Springs

Alice Springs

After a number of days out in the never, never we spent 3 days in Alice Springs.  We thought 3 days would a) give us a break from the travel and b) see the many sights that are within a small drive from Alice town centre. 

On Wednesday we spent the day touring around Alice Springs and also running a few errands, filling gas bottles, washing and re-fuelling the car.  We went up to the Old Telegraph Station which is the era's most intact Telegraph Station from the Old Telegraph Line from Adelaide to Darwin.
Some very interesting stories about the people that worked the Telegraph Station as well as the history of the building of the Telegraph Line.  Following that we went to the School of the Air headquarters and then to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. 

 

 

On Thursday we took a drive out to Palm Valley.  This required some off-road driving, much excitement for Adam.  Although it was suggested the road contained some severe 4wd, it really wasn't very difficult but the result at the end was great.  An oasis in the desert, that included some locals along the way.

Kings Canyon & West MacDonnell Ranges

Kings Canyon & West MacDonnell Ranges

Well we truly have been in the outback in the last couple of days.  Completely off line for 2 days, if we were to make a call it would have been from the telephone box at the  reception. 

Kings Canyon is approx. 350km from Uluru.  As both Uluru and Kings Canyon are very popular at this time of year we were only able to secure one nights accommodation at Kings Canyon. From all that we had been told the rim walk at Kings Canyon was a must do.  This walk is a 6km walk supposed to take approx. 3.5hrs.  In order to get to Kings Canyon from Uluru and still have time to do the rim walk it was another early morning, up and out of Uluru by 7:30am.  No surprises there was a lot of morning grumpiness and complaining from the junior two within the party nonetheless the adults prevail and we were on our way on time.   After arriving at our accommodation and settling in, we headed off for the rim walk.  Amazing walk with some fantastic views - 6km's of initially directly up and then across rock surfaces etc.  After the Ayers Rock climb and then this - Adam has determined that he is covered for going to the gym for sometime to come :)

From Kings Canyon to the West MacDonnell ranges there are two choices of road.  One on tar in which you back track and drive to Alice Springs first before proceeding to the Ranges.  The second a dirt track (4wd only) which is a direct loop to the ranges and at least an hour and half shorter.  No prizes for guessing which one we took.  Although we reduced our time in the car and didn't need to back track, the van suffered a few minor bumps and bruises along the way.  Nothing that could not be fixed though - thankfully.

On arriving in the West MacDonnell Ranges we were to find our accommodation for the night as we had not booked any for this evening.  We were told about a very nice spot on the Finke River and headed down the track to find our special spot for the evening.  After receiving some guidance from the local ranger (lets just say we would have been better off not listening) we headed down towards the water to come to a sudden stop in the sand and no longer moving - uh oh!!!!.   Tyres were let down, winches were attached to other 4wd's and after some effort we were pulled out of our little situation.  After that small detour we moved on to Ormiston Gorge and found a campsite with amenities etc.  This has probably been one of our nicest spots so far.  After a good nights sleep we headed off towards Alice Springs (only 135km today) visiting a few gorges and chasms along the way. 

 

 

Uluru - Ayers Rock

Uluru - Ayers Rock

The last two days have been spent exploring the areas around Uluru.  What an amazing rock!!!
When we arrived yesterday after setting up the van in the Ayers Rock Resort Camping Ground we then took the afternoon to firstly visit the Olgas also known as Kata Tjuta.  The Olgas are a formation of varying different sized large rocks and a sight on their own - about 30km from Ayers Rock.  We then came back to Uluru for the sunset which was quite spectacular.  We met some very nice people whilst watching the sunset who also provided tips on getting the best shot - some invaluable information.  At about 9:00pm that night we thought the day had ended in disaster when we realised that the camera case did not come home with us, we had the camera, but no case (which had our large lens, charger and spare battery inside).  Adam was up at 6:15am and heading out to the lookout to see if by any chance the case was still there.  After a great deal of searching he did not find it, but stayed to watch the sun come up over the rock.  On his way back he dropped into the National Park entrance office to find that the case had just been handed in about 5 mins ago when someone went back into the park for the day.  Our faith in the goodness of people was restored.

Today was the day that we would climb the rock - we hoped.  When we arrived at 9:30am the rock  climb was closed due to the winds at the summit being too strong.  We took a drive around the outside of the rock and then went back to the caravan for lunch before returning later in the afternoon hoping that the climb would be open.  Happily, it was now open and we could climb the rock.  We all started out very bravely with Jade leading the way - I should point out that from the bottom to the top looked quite steep with chains that you hang onto to help you up.  There is a small section you need to climb that does not have any chains which tests the character of all potential climbers and rules out quite a few right there.  Anyway Jade walked straight to the chains, Brooke stopped at what is know as "chicken rock" and decided it was not for her, I hesitated for quite a while and Adam followed Jade and off they went.  I decided to give it a go and made the chains and continued up the chains for the first small steep section and met Jade and Adam where they were resting.  It was at that point that I took a look a the second steep section and decided that this was not for me.  Adam and Jade continued on.  Adam continued for 3/4 of the climb at which point he couldn't decide whether he would stop because his knees hurt, his ingrown toe nail hurt or he was just out of breath.  Anyway he sat at that point and Jade the legend continued to the top on her own.  Approx. 1 hour climb to the top - pulling yourself up the chains as you go very steep and narrow points along the way.  Unfortunately Jade didn't have her phone with her and so did not get a photo. 

Whether you climbed or didn't climb Uluru has been a great experience.

The Olgas

The Olgas

 
 

Uluru at Sunset

 

 

When we returned to the caravan we decided to bake a cake in the weber for our morning tea tomorrow!

 

 

Day 6: Coober Pedy to Erldunda

Day 6: Coober Pedy to Erldunda

With another 550km ahead of us today and the caravan park not taking pre-bookings, it was an early start leaving Coober Pedy at 7:30am.  With not very much between Coober Pedy and Erldunda we planned only one stop for fuel and morning tea at Marla (which is the start of the Oodnadatta Track on the North Western end) and then straight on to Erldunda.  It was amazing how many caravans and RV's were on the road today and in particular when we pulled up for fuel and to check in at Erldunda there were numerous vans lined up.  Erldunda is the centre of Australia and the last stop on the highway before turning off to Uluru. 

We have now made our way into our 4th state - Northern Territory, already passing through NSW, VIC and SA along the way.  Erldunda is a roadhouse, motel and caravan park.  The park has wide open spaces within a remote desert/bush setting, that has been the most attractive to us thus far. 
Beautiful sunset over the desert, emu's, pool etc.  Girls were able to get the soccer ball out and enjoy a bit of time out of the car and caravan.

Jade managed to get herself stuck in the toilet which I found quite amusing :)

 

The further out we get the road trains seem to be getting longer and the roadhouses situated in the middle of nowhere stock many items, from food supplies, hardware, electronics etc.

On to the rock tomorrow - stay posted!

Erldunda Caravan Park

Day 5: Coober Pedy

Day 5: Coober Pedy

A day of rest.  The most driving we did today was the 3km into town to see a few sights in Coober Pedy.  Coober Pedy is so very different from anywhere else we have been.  Opal mines surround the town with multiple piles of dirt left where they were deposited when dug out.  Homes are underground and therefore the majority of the town is also red dirt.  Water is limited and extremely expensive so the towns people do not bother with plants - greenery is few and far between.

We also visited a few underground sites - the underground bookshop and Faye's underground homestead which Faye dugout by hand.

The rest of our day was spent back at the caravan park relaxing before another day of driving.

Day 4: Oodnadatta Track

Day 4:  Oodnadatta Track

We started out early today as it was another day of many kilometres.  Although it was long it has been our best day so far.  We took a dirt track from Coober Pedy out to Oodnadatta arriving around 9:00am for some morning tea and happy snaps.  



The Pink Roadhouse - Oodnadatta



From Oodnadatta we took a small 20 min 4wd loop road - just for fun!  We then headed along the Oodnadatta Track to William Creek - another 200km on a dirt highway.  Plenty of sights to see along the way, Mt Dutton Ruins and The Old Ghan Railway to name a few.   

 

Given that Lake Eyre is only 63km from William Creek, we weren't coming this far without taking a look.  Some great fun was had getting out to Lake Eyre - the recent rain left some mud and water on the roads - Adam doesn't need an excuse to get a little 4x4 action when he can.  Lake Eyre was vast - no water though, but well worth the drive.

A little dirty!

 

William Creek Hotel

 

Lake Eyre

We had a long but enjoyable day and saw sights that many only get to see on TV or magazines.  After a few big days of driving, we will travel about 10km tomorrow to see some more of Coober Pedy before heading towards Ayers Rock the next day.  Time for the girls to have a sleep in and a day out of the car :) 


Day 3 Port Augusta to Coober Pedy

Day 3: Port Augusta to Coober Pedy

After a reasonably noisy night in Port Augusta, due to the location of the park being close to the highway (not quite as bad as Arafat), we headed off early to make the 500km trip to Coober Pedy.  The purpose today was to get to Coober Pedy at a reasonable time and set up for a 3 day stay.  We hope to spend the next three days seeing Coober Pedy itself and also heading out to Oodnadatta, William Creek and Lake Eyre.  Today's drive was literally 500km of mostly flat, red desert and small green shrubs - the occasional large rock formation would appear - but mostly nothingness for 500km.
We made two stops one in Pimba at Spuds Roadhouse and one in Glendambo before arriving in Coober Pedy which was the most exciting part of the day.  Coober Pedy is an interesting town, a large opal mining town with a lot of the town being built underground due to the heat in summer.  The scenery is mostly lunar like not a great deal of green here.

Road to Coober Pedy

Road to Coober Pedy

Road to Coober Pedy

Spuds Roadhouse

Glendambo

Glendambo

Port Augusta to Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy

 

Mines coming into Coober Pedy

 

 

On top of houses built underground