THE ALICE - PART ONE
Well hello to you all. It’s hard to believe but we have now been in Alice Springs for 6 weeks. Ingrid has settled into her role at the hospital and we have managed to get out and about.
There is plenty to see and do here in the red centre. When we thought about Alice Springs in the past it conjured up images of the locals sitting in the river bed, Henley on Todd boat race, the Rock and various movies that have been made in and around this town.
Well the cops patrol the Todd River to stop the sit-downs,
Our Anne Beadell Adventure - Coober Pedy to Alice Springs
First full day in Coober Pedy, had a quick drive around town which didn't take long, mostly opal jewellry shops (suprise suprise). There were a number of attractions to look at which included a tour around the comfort inn, this used to be a working mine and there is a great story to go with the tour. Ben ( the son in law of the manager was great) was the guide. It truly is an underground hotel. The hotel itself, and the staff were so nice that we decided to stay another night.
Next day was a maintenance day.
Our NT Road Trip 2011
22.7.11 - DAY 1: The day has finally arrived! We can't believe it! Our 6 week trip to the NT is finally going to happen! Last year at the same time we were all ready to head off on our NT road trip when Linds fell off the car the DAY BEFORE we were due to leave. Unfortunately he tore ligaments in his knee and required surgery so the trip was cancelled!! But here we are now, 12 months later, and the day has arrived for us to try it again. The wait has made it more exciting!
"Destination Unknown" Day 10 - On the trail of Ernest Giles - Western MacDonnell Ranges (Mereenie)
10th July, 2011
Hard on then trail of Ernest Giles
Alice Springs
Another glorious red centre morning to be enjoyed by the fire with a cup of tea and a jaffle. Our overall objective today was Alice Springs only 3 hours drive to the east but we intended to take in some beaut Western MacDonnell’s country along the drive.
I often fail to reconcile his romantic notions of the places he describes in his journal with the on-ground reality of the places. Suffice to say back in September to
West and East Macdonnell Ranges
Day 26
Sunday 26th June Ellery Creek Big hole campground
We pack up and leave Alice behind, heading out to the West Macdonnell National Park, pulling up on the roadside to collect firewood onthe way. Our intent is to get a site in the campground at Ellery Creek Bighole and we are not disappointed. We arrive mid morning to find only a few campers and select our sites close to one another so we can have dinner together around our campfire.
Rob & Jo's Oz Trip Blog 20 - South East NSW
Monday 21st – Sunday 27th March 2011
Bittangabee Bay in Ben Boyd National Park was cloudy but fine when we left it but before we reached Eden the rain was pouring down and it didn’t stop all day & night. We potted around at Eden & Merimbula till early arvo. We had intended heading up the coast but with flood warnings and roads closed further up the coast we thought we would head inland a little where the rain was not so heavy & hope for some better beach weather later.
Perth to Tassie to Canberra via the Great Central Road, Oodnadatta, Flinders with Floods!
10,500 km in just over two months with the kids! We left Fremantle in late November for a two month trip to Tasmania and the Victorian High Country. The Landcruiser 200 petrol is three years old and tows an Australian Offroad Campers Odyssey Export Signature. The kids (Kate (7) and Jack (9) loved the Great Central Road, the tail end of the Gunbarrel and especially Urulu, Kata Tjuta, the West MacDonnell National Park and Alice Springs. Temperatures around 40-46 (38 at 10pm at night!!) and water everywhere.
Rob & Jo's Oz trip Blog 10 - Around Alice
Thursday 2nd – Tuesday 7th September 2010
Chilled out in the morning at Trephina Gorge camp and in the arvo drove about 20km crossing the Ross River 4 times to N’Dhala Gorge to see petroglyphs (rock carvings). There are over 6,000 of the etchings dating between 2,000 & 10,000 years old. The designs of some of the petroglyphs are connected with the Caterpillar Dreaming story of the Irlwente people.
2001 Troopy’s First Trip to the Red Centre – Part 4 Ross River to Palm Valley
Arltunga is an early gold prospecting and mining area said to have been the incentive to bring the first white men to the centre. Not many white women came in those early days. It must have been a very tough life as the country is very dry and harsh with little or no surface water, and very hard rock. It was only accessible by foot with prospective miners pushing wheelbarrows over huge distances to get to the gold.
There are quite a few stone buildings spread over a large area; some are being restored.
DougOutOnTheRiver 04
This leg involved a long trip up to the Centre much of it on tar, to get around the floods on the Birdsville. I dropped in (like an A-bomb!) on Woomera, went underground at Coober Pedy, spent a night with fire-crazed tourists at the Oodnadatta Pink Roadhouse, dipped into Dalhousie Springs, Journeyed to the Centre of the Australia, and followed the red dirt (rail)road to Chambers Pillar.
Then back on the tar to the Rock (wet and dry), along the dirt road to the West Macdonalds,
Brief summary of our Big Lap in 2009
The Big Lap 2009
While my Blogs are not yet complete, here is a very brief summary of our 2009 trip from WA through the Northern Territory, Queensland, and returning via New South Wales, crossing the north west corner only of Victoria and on through South Australia. We took five months; most in the earlier states as time got away from us.
This trip and my other travelogues in more detail are being progressively loaded onto Travelogues on Australia So Much to See as they are completed.
Gary Junction Road
The Gary Junction Road (also called the Kintore Road, Desert Road or WA Border Access Road) is now a major outback highway providing an essential link between Alice Springs and many Aboriginal communities in western area of the Northern Territory and eastern part of Western Australia, including Papunya, Kintore, Kiwikurra and Kunawaritji.
Although it follows the line of Len Beadell's original track, the road has been re-graded into a wide relatively smooth gravel highway.
