Alice Springs to Katherine

Katherine

 

After setting off from Alice Springs we headed up to the Devil's Marbles. On reaching here the thicker tops came off and the short sleeves and shorts were quickly put on. WARM WEATHER!!!!

We spent just one night here and did a bit of a walk around the area admiring the rock formations.

Camp at the Devil's Marbles

Sunset at the Devil's Marbles

The next day we drove to Elliott and taking a slow and careful drive out of the town, this time we managed to find the track into the Longreach Waterhole (aka Woods Lake). The instructions are: About a kilometre from the town is a cattle grid. About 50 metres past this, on the left-hand side is a track. Don't take the track before the grid or you'll just end up in the cattle yard.

We followed a very corrugated, sandy track until we came to the large waterhole (covers several kilometres in length) with a large number of caravans, motorhomes and tents already set up along the bank. We headed towards the southern end and found a fabulous spot - large shade trees that still allowed sun to reach the solar panels on the roof of the van and a large open area in front that allowed about 20 steps down to the water's edge.

Camp by the Waterhole

We quickly set up camp - tables and chairs out, awning up, brazier in place, solar panels out to keep the freezer going in the car and then relaxed. For four days!

Whilst  here we watched a fabulous display twice daily. Numbers varied, as did the arrival times, but often hundreds of pelicans (accompanied by almost as many cormorants) floated past us in a large flotilla. They were feeding as a group - very coordinated as they all dipped their heads into the water at the same time, raised them, paddled on a bit and then repeated the process for a couple of hundred metres along the waterway. When finished they flew back in formation to the northern end of the waterhole ready to start again later in the day or the next morning depending on the time of day. Fascinating to watch.

Pelican feeding flotilla

 While here, David thought he'd left his spare camera battery and battery charger back in Shepparton and so drove into Elliott (much easier and quicker without the van attached) - to have reception. He phoned our neighbour (with whom we'd left a key) and had her search around to find them, and then post them to us care of the Katherine P.O. Also had her include David's smaller camera that can be fitted in his pocket for when we do some of the longer walks in the heat in the Kimberleys. Three days later, David found the spare battery tucked away neatly in a SAFE, out of the way spot, in the car.

Sunset at Longreach Waterhole

Our next stop was at Elsey National Park, just south of Mataranka. We had stopped here on our last trip and really enjoyed it - solar hot showers are much better than the bird baths we'd had over the previous few days. We spent two nights here and had a drive up to Bitter Springs (about 25kms away) to float around for a couple of hours in the thermal stream that flows through there. We also called in to the thermal pool at Mataranka and decided we still prefer Bitter Springs.

We reached Katherine on Sunday and ,thankfully, we managed to pre-book  a  site at a caravan park - very difficult at this time of year with so many grey nomads on the go - and with Katherine being the turning point for either continuing north to Darwin (as we did in 2012) or west to head into Western Australia. It has been very hot here (yesterday was 40C) and last night we even had the air-conditioner on so we could sleep!

We have been relaxing, reading and having a swim in the pool to cool off. Also, high on the priority list is determining what we needed to buy to take with us when we leave the caravan at Wyndham and head off road for several days in the car with the tent. Katherine is the last big place where you can be sure of purchasing camp gear. After much measuring of the spaces in the back of the car, and running from one shop to another, we bought a small cool box (already have some freezer blocks we keep in the Engel freezer in the back of the car), a tub to put the loose packets of food, drinks, etc in and grabbed a number of cardboard boxes from the local hardware store to fit cooking gear in, etc. Also bought a couple more window shades that will be used in the back of the Prado to reflect/keep the sun off the Engel. Needed the small cooler for our non-frozen goods (milk, marg, lunch stuff).

We ended up staying an extra night in Katherine as rain was predicted (and happened) on Tuesday night/Wednesday. Just have a couple more things to organize (fixing a shade for Sonja's window) and then we'll be off on Thursday. We will take a day or two to go to Wyndham where we will reorganize everything before setting off. We have to watch what we carry in the next couple of days - no fruit, vegetable, plant products (including firewood if it has bark on it) or honey are allowed to be taken into Western Australia. So it will be a lengthy stop at the border crossing. A bit of a pain, but understandable that they want to protect their agricultural industry.

We may or may not have reception at Wyndham and certainly won't along the Gibb River Road, so it will probably be about 3 weeks or so before I can add anything else. Hopefully we will have lots of adventures to tell about and some great photographs to go with them. For those of you who don't know the area, apart from the first few kilometres in from Kununurra and the first 100 or so kilometres in from the Derby end, it is very rough, corrugated and rocky with many river crossings (some crocodile infested). There are spectacular gorges and some great walks and we are looking forward to experiencing it all. We are not sure exactly how long we will take, but that is half of the adventure. We won't be driving all the way to Derby, but plan to come out via Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek at Fitzroy Crossing and then make a couple of days stop at The Bungle Bungle Ranges (Purnululu National Park) before heading back to Wyndham to pick up the van and head back to the Western Australian coast and south.

Ouyen to Alice Springs

Alice Springs

It's taken us a week on the road to make it back to Alice Springs.

We had our first night out at Ouyen and then moved on to Berri in South Australia. Each is only going to be an overnight stop as we have been to many of the places on our last trip in 2012 (seems so long ago!) and our aim is to head for the Kimberleys (and somewhere much warmer than home).

We bought a Tiddy Oggie (Cornish Pastie) in Burra. It was a most unusual one - 2/3 meat and vegetables and 1/3 apple! Arrived with a pot of sauce and a pot of cream. Sounds strange, but it was very tasty - of course we did cut it in two before starting.

Arrived in Port Augusta mid afternoon and rugged up for the usual walk around the caravan park checking out everyone's rigs. You never know what ideas you can pick up from what other people have done to their vans. We've often picked up ideas from others and I know we've passed on some ideas. Also, talking to others, whether by the van, in the laundry or brushing your teeth in the restrooms brings a wealth of information on where to go and what to see/do.

Our departure from Port Augusta was delayed as we spent ages trying to find the caravan repair yard so that we could replace an outside light fitting that appears to have fallen off somewhere along the track - we were also supplied with a bit of silicon sealant and tape to make sure it stays in place! We had to drive into a very strong, cold headwind and so decided to stop earlier than planned and so pulled in to Pimba (about 7km from Woomera). It was at a roadhouse (Spud's Roadhouse) with a large area that had about 20 campers (caravans, motorhomes, bus, cars and a couple of tents) for the night. The wind howled around the yard all night and so we parked beside the fence to give us some protection and didn't put up the top of the van. The diesel heater has really done very well - keeping us nice and toasty. Sonja came a cropper when she went out to brush her teeth in the dark and tripped over the solar panels I had put out to top up the second battery (used for keeping the Engel freezer on the go) - I had set them up to face a gap in the fence where the sun would at sunrise. A couple of bandaids and a few bruises, but Sonja seems okay.

Before setting off for Coober Pedy, we did a short trip to the township of Woomera. Not a lot of people living there now, but still a lot of housing around from when it was the base firstly for the British and then the US/Australian aeronautics.

Again, we had very strong headwinds all the way into Coober Pedy - doing marvels for the fuel consumption! After setting ourselves up we did a short drive around the area and a bit of shopping before settling in for the night. The temperature was much better and we were able to wander around in shirt sleeves for the first time.

We left Coober Pedy IN FOG! However there was no wind today, so that was a bonus. We passed many tailing heaps from the many opal mines that can be seen from the road. We reached the South Australian/Northern Territory border around 2pm and decided to stop for the night (same place we stopped last trip). It didn't take long for the parking spaces to fill and many had tea on the go by 5! Finally relented and had an early tea (our diesel heater doing a great job again) and then our earliest bed for a long time (light out by 9pm!!!!)

Made it into Alice Springs by lunchtime - some rain on the way - and set up before having a drive around the town. We had to replace the kettle we use on the gas/open fire and so went off searching. This was most annoying. The kettle we were using was Mum and Dad's that we had used to replace our old one. They just don't make them to last much longer than 40 years, do they? We had some rain off and on and it is a lot cooler during the day than last time we were here. Still, it is much warmer than staying back in Victoria!!!

Tomorrow we are planning to stop about half-way to Tennant Creek and look forward to much warmer weather. Stayed at this spot last time and it's quite good, but need to get in early to make sure you can get a decent spot.

Not sure when the next lot of internet will be available, possibly Katherine where we'll spend a couple of days and do the washing.