Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Somewhere hiding in South Australian Roads Corp. is a frustrated queen that wanted to be an interior designer. "My section of road is going to colour co-ordinate with the landscape" and it does. Red rocks, red sand, red road, only in SA LOL. Arrived in Coober Pedy last night after a long drive from Elrdunda. our original plan was to do an overnighter on the way but the parks were terrible so we just kept driving. We were in CP 30 years ago and nothing much has changed LOL. Most of the same shops are still here, the Croats still have a club here (they buy the opals) but the number of dining options has shrunk dramatically. Last night we went to the only "real" restaurant - Tom and Marys Greek Travena, which was good but the rest of the selection looks a bit grim. When we crossed the border yesterday we had to dump any food we had so Ron is off re supplying Miss G so home cooking tonight.

Kings is King

We have just arrived back at Erldunda after a great 3 nights at Kings Canyon. We have been blessed with the weather, which for our walk was 27 with a slight breeze. The rim walk is 7klms and starts out with a 300 meter climb up to the rim and then the most amazing walk around "Bungle Bungle" type rock formations, gorges, gullies, waterholes and some incredible lookouts. Our time at the caravan park was lots of fun as well, with new friends from Qld, WA, NSW and UK all helping to make the stay a lot of fun. Tomorrow we head south to Marla (WHERE) which will mean we cross the border into SA, so they had better get their weather together down there as we still don't do COLD. LOL

Sunset last night

Today we headed off to do the walk around this dam rock and 12 klms later we and our personal entourage of flys arrived back at the car, a little foot sore but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Over the two days here we have hoofed it about 25 klms so tomorrow will be a "foot free day" in preparation for Kings Canyon.

Go Storm

ANT DANCE

This was caused totally by the Lyns. When in Port Douglas we were all looking at some Aboriginal art, some that was very good, but mostly the mass produced rubbish that is for sale all over the country. You know, paint by numbers and put a four figure price on it. I mentioned at one gallery that I wouldn't mind doing a "Dot" painting, but something totally different from the "women collection bush tomatoes at the creek with the turtle and croc feeding in the kangaroo corpse" you get the pic LOL. So here's ANT DANCE. It is a dot painting, each ant body is made up of dots and with dot eyes. Every ant is an individual. Why ants ? well the day I decided to start this painting Miss Guided was invaded by the little buggers, so that was the omen. LOL Hope you like it.

Last pic from the west mac's

We headed south to Elrunda and did a quick overnight at the road house which is at the junction of the Sturt and lassiter Hwys and from there we have made our way to Urulu. Today (Sat.) we spent climbing the Olga's which are truly spectacular. Our first walk was the Valley of the winds which winds it's way through the peaks and across a big valley and then back up into the peaks. The colour is wonderful and the rock will have to be dam good to beat this, but that is tomorrows challenge. All going well we will leave here on Monday and head around to Kings Canyon for a couple of days hiking there.

The resort here at Urulu has really grown since we were here in the early 80's. It now has four hotels, a backpackers lodge, convention centre, shopping centre, service station and a pub which is licensed until 2am as we found out last night. With 1200 staff and heaven knows how many guest this is bigger than most towns in NT. We managed to fluke the weekend changeover for the school holidays with Vic/SA going back on Monday and NSW starting on Monday so this weekend is sort of quiet, but it must be a mad house in peak times.

Colour everywhere

Isn't this a great pic. The mountains are blue/purple, the ground is red, the vegetation is going into flower after a little bit of rain and that clear blue sky.

Yesterday we headed up to Stanleys Chasm with all the other tourists before heading up the highway to Hermansberg, the birth place of Namatjira. Unfortunately the mission and surrounds were handed back to the locals some time ago and is now in need of lots of TLC. On a brighter note they have the first solar power plant that we have seen, very impressive.

From there it was off to Palm Valley on the 4wd only track which spends most of the time in the Finke river and that means sand, rocks and bigger rocks. By the time we had traversed that, RT (truck) was an expert on rock hopping. The top speed on this piece of road was about 5klm with most of it at 1 - 3 klm. So pics tomorrow.

Pound Panarma at Ormiston Gorge

Not sure how this will work out but thought I would give it a try. This is the view from the top of the pound walk. The Pound is massive and this is seven pics spliced together to try and give you some idea of what a great place it is.

The walk is approximately 8 klms and there is quite a bit of uphill involved. When you reach the top (where the pic was taken) you then descend into the pound and walk across the middle, finally following the Finke river (dry and full of rocks) back to the camp site. Wonderful walk but you know afterwards that you have done it. LOL

Gosse Bluff
Yep, it's a very big hole in the ground, but it used to be even bigger. About 142,000,000 years ago this comet was cruising in the neighbourhood and decided to pay NT a quick visit. Unfortunately it got all caught up in the gravity and created a very big bang with a hole to match. When the comet impacted with the earth (it did melt, so there is nothing left of it) the surrounding area was 2 klms higher and what is left today is but the bottom. Still very impressive. It is 5 klms across on the inside and the walls tower above the surrounding countryside. This pic was taken from 12 klms away.

The West MacDonnell Ranges are truly breath taking and I don't know if any of the pic will do it justice, but I will pick out the best and put them up over the next couple of days. We have retreated to Alice (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH) for a couple of days as I have come down with a lergy and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Might have something to do with 37 on day and 6 the next.

Hopefully we will get out of here on Wednesday and head on down the highway to Urulu. more on that tomorrow.

What a great Grand Final it was and credit must go to the Saints for taking it up to the Cats, but in the end the better team triumphed.
Hawks for premiers 2010.

Goodbye to Alice

Off to Ormiston Gorge today and then onto Glen Helen and out to the meteor crater, on Sunday (hopefully) we will head down the highway towards Uluru and Kings Canyon. We might be out of contact for up to 10 days.

The desert is Blooming

Our last day in Alice and from here it is off to Ormiston Gorge for a couple of days of walking, climbing and generally exploring. From there down to Urulu and the Olgas. We will be out of contact from both places.

Miss G went to the doc's yesterday and got a clean bill of health and her slow leak has been plugged thanks to Beaurepaires. The mail arrived yesterday and the cartoons and double page spread about Collingwood was a little late LOL.

Go Saints for Premiers

Albert R.I.P.

As you can see I found Albert's grave yesterday and it is very fitting with the pottery inset of one of his paintings. The grave is at the cultural centre (although I wasn't sure there was any culture out here LOL). Lassister is also in the same cemetery and has taken the location of the gold with him.

They have a wonderful gallery of Namatjira works and also works from his children, which are very similar. We will be going to Hermansburg (where he lived and painted) later this week.
Football is no longer a talking point in the van as Collingwood, true to form, wobbled and finally feel over last night. So next weekend's Grand Final will have a little less passion and less arguments.

East McDonnel Ranges

Yesterday we set off and started to explore the wonderful McDonnell ranges which surround Alice. It really is like walking around in a Namajira painting. The colours are amazing, the snow gums and those red red hills. Today is a bit of a rest day to get over the climbing from yesterday so we will head to the "Dead centre of Oz" and visit with Namajira and Lassister, should be fun.

It's raining on our holiday LOL

Welcome to Alice Springs, damp centre of Oz. As you can see the clouds have rolled in and it was a welcome blessing as the first days heat was stifling. Yesterday his lordship got a new "Sunlounge" so that he can get into his horizontal reading position in a split second which means asleep in 3 minutes LOL.

Last night we treated ourselves to dinner at Red Ochre and we were both absolutely disappointed in what was served up. Having enjoyed the wonderful food at the Cairns restaurant we expected the same here but this was not to be. The school hols have hit with a vengeance, we thought that we were far enough away from civilization to escape it, but again they have caught up to us LOL . We have started to plan 2010 and it looks like a trip to NZ in Feb, followed by a clockwise trip around the southern coast then up the inland road in WA to visit Alan who has just bought a 350,000 acre sheep farm at Sandstone. Hans and Roli are taking off for a month or so in 2011 and have offered us there apartment in Zurich so we are factoring that into the long term plan. This tripping never seems to stop LOL.

Aileron Man

Yep, it's another of those BIG things and this one is very BIG. True to form out here in the "Never Never" everything is larger than life and I can assure you this is one very well endowed man. His appendage is bigger than me and that's on the droop. The local pub has a pet Wedgetail Eagle and the prices for dot paintings in the local gallery were "On application". LOL Everything is big in Aileron.

Eureka

At long last some fossicking has paid off. After two years of hearing about "the couple the other day found .....", "You should have seen the one a girl got yesterday....." etc we have joined the dizzy heights of success. We spent 3 nights at Gem Tree (140klms) north east of Alice, which is but a spec on the map. Day one was spent at the Garnet field where we had mixed luck, one 6mm, several 5.5mm, a couple of 5's and lots of smaller stuff but it was fun, no where near as exhausting as sapphire hunting. Day two we took off for the Zircon field for another day in the sun and 36 degree weather. At first we didn't get much then all of a sudden we found a little pocket where the stones got bigger and clearer. Ron ended up with a beauty. It will cut to 2.5 - 3 carat and measure 9mm x 6mm and it will be a pinkish/champagne in colour. When we returned to the gem cutter there was much excitement as this is the best stone that had been found this season. They even had a fight over whether they would/could cut a stone that big. As we left the park this morning, we were both laughing about the stories the diggers will be hearing today "Yesterday the boys........" LOL LOL

We arrived at Alice and this is the first time we have been out of the tropics in almost 7 months. We decided to spoil ourselves as we have been in the dirt for weeks, so off to the Big 4 with a pool we went. Without knowing we had booked into the same park we stayed at in 1986, not that any of the staff were even alive then. As I type it's 36 outside and blowing a gale with storms and rain forcast for tonight. The tent opposite has given up the ghost and is flat. The first thing we did was check Miss G in for a service and then headed up town to get some groceries. As usual in the NT great excitement builds from about 1pm each day as the countdown to the bottle shop opening begins. You have to time it so you don,t get caught in the stampede each day when the maximum security roller shutters creak open a 2pm.

Absolutely "NO COMMENT"

Hanging on for dear life

The Devils Marbles

We finally left Mataranka and the glass covered environment and headed on back down the highway to Tennant Creek to stock up on some supplies for the next couple of days. We did a quick overnighter at Banka Banka Station which was an absolute delight. This "small" station covers 3,500,000 acres and has three stations each forty miles apart. Banka is on the middle station. Lawn camping area with fresh spring water and as much as you want. In the old mud brick house they have a bar so sitting out on the veranda at 5pm meeting the other overnighters was lots of fun.

From there we headed into Tennant Creek and by now you will know what we think of this town. Never to be outdone Tennant came up with another first. Ron went to the supermarket to get some veg and things and approached a black girl at the checkout for service. He was handing her each item when she enquired "What is this?" and to Ron's astonishment she pointed at a lettuce. What have these poor kids been eating all their life ?????


Fully supplied we set off again for the Devils Marbles, which you can see from the bottom and middle pics. The photos don't do it justice. A wonderful place for a quick overnight stay with a couple of great walks. On one of the walks we ran into a car full of aborigines just as we were about to start walking around a particular pile of very large rocks. They called out to us that we needed to pay respect to the evil spirit by breaking off a branch of a nearby tree and walking around one of the rocks, finally offering the branch to the spirits by leaving it under the rock. Luckily we had read up on some of the folklore from these parts and were aware that the locals still believe in the evil spirits that haunt the rocks, so we made our peace with the spirits and everyone was happy.

This morning we continued on from the Marbles down to Wycliffe Wells the UFO capital of Oz and you can see from pic 3 we got right into the swing of things. Finally we arrived here at Ti Tree, pop. 153, one pub, one store, one servo and the caravan park and its all in one building LOL.

The pubs open at Mataranka and so it's off to the favourite tree for the rest of the day.

Today we leave Katherine and head back down the highway to Mataranka to go play in the Bitter Springs this afternoon. It will only be an overnight stay and then it will be off to Banka Banka, then the Devils Marbles and then further into the centre. We dont expect to have much electronic communication for the next couple of weeks but we will be driving through towns so if it's urgent please text and we may get it.

Stripped and Buried

Here is the latest offing from "Whiteman Dreaming". I came across this half buried branch at Carmella Beach Qld, just after high tide. The colour of the exposed wood was astounding so I had to paint it LOL.

We have arrived at Katherine and it's as hot as hell. Overnight it got down to 29 and daytime temps are 37 +. We need to get to a windscreen repairer today as a gift from a passing van has left us with a crack behind the rear vision mirror.

Bruce let me know he was doing 1.51 laps at Winton yesterday, sorry Bruce we can beat that, we are now doing 362 day 12 min half laps of Oz LOL.

Which way to go ???

This was taken at Mt Isa so we have moved on since then. We have left TennAnt Creek (Di is now correcting me on my spelling) yesterday and wandered up he highway to Daley Waters Hotel for the night. Again the food here was fantastic and the wine selection amazing for out here. We got to compliment he who buys the wine and we found we had a lot in common, both reds and Whites LOL.

Heading on to Katherine today. Weather is getting very murky, very humid and hot. Not attractive, the wet is on the way.

Good morning from Tennent Creek.

I didn't bother with a pic as nothing has changed here since last year, it is still the Centrelink Capital of the world.

We freeparked on Thursday halfway between Mt Isa and here and met up with a nice couple so spent the night playing backgammon and drinking good wine. It's tough out there in the scrub LOL.

The wet has started to build up here and last night the overnight temp was 30 and very high humidity which meant sleep was not easy to come by. We will head up to Mataranka tomorrow and then onto Katherine to catch up with Pete and Mat on Sunday.

So it's not from the mine here, but ................. it's dam pretty anyway. This is one of the Argule Blues that went on sale last March at a private tender sale in India, my invitation must have got lost in the mail LOL. I am led to believe it is among the most expensive diamonds in the world and it's only a little one.

Yesterday we did the Riversleigh Fossil lab tour and that was great. We got to see all sorts of critters that roamed around here 30 millions years ago. Not quite a hands on experience but the next best thing. We were in the lab looking into the acid vats as the limestone was being eaten away to reveal a turtles, snakes and crocs as well.

We head out of here tomorrow (thank God) it rates up there with Port Hedland as a place to only do an overnighter in LOL. Heading towards Three Ways or Tennant Creek but probably will freepark somewhere along the way so will be out of contact for at least 24 hours.