24 June 2009 Day 5 – We all slept in til 6 45 am had breakfast, packed up and hit the dirt by 8 00 am. All reports said the
Plenty Highway was better than the Donohue so we were expecting a good run into the Harts Range area by lunch time. How wrong the reports were, the Plenty was definitely worse than the
Queensland side with patches of bulldust and many stretches of moderate corrugations even so we still made reasonable time and set up at the Spotted Dog
Camping Ground south of the Harts Range Police Station, another excellent free camp with very clean pit toilets and hot showers set amongst the hills surrounding Mount Palmer.
After setting up and devouring lunch we went for an explore to find a couple of old abandoned mines for a bit of a scratch around. The
Northern Territory Mines Department website provided excellent information about the location, and history of some mica mines close to where we camped.
Pic - Rex Mine
Rex Mine
Michael at Rex Mine
Views from Rex Mine
Michael loved it!
We wandered back to camp around 5, started the fire as we intended
cooking a camp oven roast for dinner. An hour or so later we all sat down to a big roast dinner topped off with a cheeky red and a port or two around the fire before crashing just after 9 – yes another early night.
Pic – Camp at Spotted Dog
Camping Ground
Camping at Spotted Dog
Pic – facilities at Spotted Dog
Camping Ground – running hot showers and pit toilets – the Taj Mahal
facilities at Spotted Dog Campsite
Day 6 – Our plan was to head into
Alice Springs today to restock, fill up and most importantly watch the 2nd State of Origin (QUEENSLANDER!!!).
We got away from camp at 8 30 am and arrived in the Alice just before 12, found the McDonalds Range Caravan Park, set up, had lunch and went and did the shopping while Linda did the washing. The boys explored the park, found a basketball court and shot a few hoops, as boys do.
We cooked dinner in the camp kitchen and chatted to fellow travellers about their and our adventures, its always an opportunity to get the latest
road conditions and the best
places to visit. After dinner we went to a local pub to watch the State of Origin, the crowd was equally split between Cane Toads and Cockroaches. A good night was had by all with the result never in doubt and the far superior team winning convincingly – that should get a response or two!!
25 June 2009 Day 7 – I can’t believe its day 7, a week gone already. So far we’ve done a little over 2700 km and really starting to settle into the trip routine although we are looking forward to a 2 night stop at
Kings Canyon – it will be good not to have to pack up for an extra day.
Today we headed for
Palm Valley, a 160 km drive from
Alice Springs via Hermannsberg, along bitumen except for the last 20 km into the
camping area. We arrived around 12, set up and ate lunch quickly then jumped into the cars to travel the 4 km to the walking tracks. We went on the 5 km, 2 hour
Palm Valley walk which took us up the escarpment initially following it along until the valley opened up into a large plain. The track took us down the escarpment to the valley floor outlined where we walked amongst the red cabbage palms and cycads. The park information outlined that the red cabbage palms are only found in this part of the world and their close cousins are located at
Lawn Hill Gorge. The boys enjoyed climbing the rocks and generally exploring the river bed and banks.
Palm Valley is sensational and well worth the detour of the Mereenie Loop, the
camping grounds are excellent with a communal fire pit, toilets and hot showers. The communal camp kitchen has 4 barbeques with 2 gas burners so all sorts of meals can be cooked up there.
At the moment we are sitting in the camp kitchen at the camp grounds out of the rain chatting to an interesting couple from
Perth who have just been to the Kimberleys so again we are getting all the latest gossip on the best
places to venture to.
Pic - walk at
Palm Valley
Michael and Linda at Palm Valley
Bradby and Casey Families at Palm Valley
Views from Palm Valley
Down in the Palm Valley
26 June 2009 Day 8 – Another great day
weather-wise and after a quick breakfast and pack up we were out of
Palm Valley and starting the 200km dirt road drive to
Kings Canyon very much looking forward to our first 2 night stay of the trip.
The road was very corrugated in long stretches so it was a slower drive. We had lowered the
tyres to 28 psi and found after watching the “locals” that if you kept right to the edge of the road you got a much smoother ride. Three and a half hours later we arrived at the
Kings Canyon Resort Camping Grounds, paid the
camping fees, set up and had lunch.
We then jumped in the cars for the 8 km drive to
Kings Canyon where we went on the Kings Creek walk – only 1.5 km and an easy walk along the creek to a viewing platform that showcased the walls of the canyon – absolutely spectacular!! Our appetites were whetted for the Canyon Rim walk we intended doing tomorrow.
Walking through Kings Creek to the viewing platform.
Looking up the canyon from the Kings Creek viewing platform
Back to camp and an afternoon of becoming familiar with the Garmin handheld
GPS and catching up on the
blog. We were able to access wireless broadband so after much trial and error we loaded the first 4 days of the trip including photos. We’ll do some more of the
blog tomorrow after we get back from the Canyon Rim walk.
The night air can in quickly tonight and it promised a
cold night, so early showers before all the hot water went and into some warm clothes before dinner. WE had our last pre-cooked meal, nothing better than spag bog on a
cold night washed down with a couple of scotches kindly donated by Linda’s dad for my birthday.
After dinner we wandered over to a presentation by the local National Parks lady on the history, indigenous involvement in co-managing the park and some information on the fauna and flora in the park. The park is very biodiverse from a desert ecosystem with over 600 plant species, 122 birds, 30 mammals and lots of reptiles (can’t remember how many but that had nothing to do with the second scotch). The talk went for an hour and the boys sat through the lot completely enthralled with the information, Jack even went and grabbed some of the literature being handed out.
Pic - Sunset from
Kings Canyon Resort
Sunset from Kings Canyon Resort
27 June 2009 Day 9 – After an absolutely freezing night it was hard to get out of bed, I didn’t get up til Linda had boiled the kettle for the obligatory start up coffee. We has a leisurely cooked breakfast – bacon, eggs and tomato and more coffee before we readied ourselves for the 6 km 4 hour Rim walk.
He walk starts with a challenging (if you’re older and unfit) walk from the valley floor to the top of the canyon. There was a fair bit of puffing and panting by the time we got to the top but it was absolutely worth it the views along the Rim walk are sensational and the pictures don’t capture the grandeur of the canyon and the sheer cliff faces.
The boys ran up from bottom to top and enquired as to why it had taken us “oldies” so long. In between breathes we said we were taking photos. Linda and Karen had a few “moments” when the boys got too close to the edge, some of the sheer walls were over 100 feet high and the colours of the
sandstone were spectacular.
The walk took us around the rim of the canyon and down into a permanent waterhole fed by groundwater coming out of the
sandstone where it meets a thick layer of shale. The waterhole provides an endless supply of water for the animal and birdlife living in and around the canyon. The walk to the other side of the canyon certainly provides you with the scale of the sheer walls, at one vantage point you are able to look back along a vertical wall over 100 metres deep and several hundred metres long – its absolutely stunning.
The Bradby's at the top of Kings Canyon
Jack standing on the edge - scared Linda!
boys crossing the bridge
Hiked up onto the beehives
Up we go
The spectacular sheer walls
Along the rim
Jack looking over the edge - a 100 foot drop.
Great colours of the wall
The rest of the day was spent blogging, sorting photos, checking the car and cleaning the air filter and relaxing. Everyone was tired after the strenuous walk, the boys explored the
camping grounds and generally chilled out – evidently!
