Exploring around Uluru

This morning we had a lot of washing to do and I decided to do it using my little twin tub washing machine. At the end of it, the washing machine had to go! I left it in the laundry with a note saying that if someone wanted to give it a new home they were welcome to it. Not one hour later it was gone!

Now we have room in that locker for our picnic table and folding chairs, much more convenient that having them in the overhead bunk. I’ve been wondering for some time if it was worthwhile to keep the washing machine, it feels good to have made that decision. It wasn’t expensive and I’m not sure how long it will last the new owner. Or if that person will hand it on in a few weeks to the next person.

We are heading north, and I’ve decided that handwashing small amounts of washing, supplemented by an occasional big wash in the a campground machine, is the way to go. For at least the next month the climate will get warmer and warmer. Already we are in a very dry area where washing dries quickly.

We went to a film and talk about the night sky. This area was once an inland sea and is too low for astrononmers, but they keep the lights deliberately low in the Resort area and offer night time walks, with telescopes, for people who are interested.

We had a light lunch in one of the Resort hotels, not very expensive and it was delicious. However, this evening I was feeling a bit under the weather and wondering if it was what we had for lunch that caused it. Probably not related.

We had a walk in the sun, that might have caused the problem. Stephen had a slight headache as well.

Nevertheless, we packed up the Winnie and went out for a sunset viewing, this time driving to the base of Uluru. There were far less people in this location, probably due to the time of day, as it offers a short and a long walk around the base, most people would have done that during the day.

Today has been absolutely cloudless and we had quite a different experience in this location being close up and walking along the Marla Walk for a short distance.

We just had a look at the Road Atlas lent to us by David and Lesley. I use Geowiki for finding campsites and navigation, but we also need to get an overview, so the Atlas is proving very useful. We have come a long way – I think over 4,000 kms altogether, and there is a very long way to go, especially if we head north after Alice Springs.

Perhaps better to not look at it, just concentrate on enjoying where we are and anticipating just the next destination.

We have extended our stay for one more night, partly based on our Park Permit, which is for 72 hours, but also because there is so much to do and see here.

Saturday 17th June, 2017

A Travel Day

SA/NT Border Rest Area to Kernot Range Rest Area

Earlier in the trip we thought that we wouldn’t go to Uluru. Too touristy, and off our route. But, as the turnoff came closer, we started to think again. At Erlunda Roadhouse we took a break, checked our emails, had coffee, and decided to go after all.

It’s 250 kms off the Stuart Highway, so adds 500 kms to our trip and 2 – 3 days, which will all seem worth it when we get home and wonder why on earth we wouldn’t go.

We stopped near a roadhouse on the way to have lunch and planned to go to a rest area with a view of Mt Connor, the famous flat topped hill that regularly gets mistaken for Uluru. But, at about 3.00 p.m. when we pulled into a rest area to change drivers we were very taken with this location. It has water (probably not safe to drink, but handy for washing) and clear sites in a grove of desert oaks. The sound of them is enticing.

There were two motorhomes already there, and after we arrived three caravans came quite quickly and settled in as well.

I put up a line and used the provided water to rinse out some shirts and bras. I rigged up a line between a couple of trees to hand out the shirts to drip dry and put the bras discretely in the shower cubicle.

There is a sea of dry grasses waving in the breeze and views of the Mt Ebenezer range and what I think is Mt Connor in the distance from a nearby small hill.

It’s very peaceful, and the presence of other vans means we feel quite safe here.

Friday 16th June, 2017

A Travel Day

Marla South Rest Area to SA/NT Border Rest Area

This has been our first warm day. We don’t know what the official temperature is because we are internet free at the moment, but possibly 26 or 27 degrees. The sun has set and it is still very pleasant, just cooling down a bit.

With warmth come flies. I find myself making the acquaintance of people as we wave, apparently at each other, but actually at the flies.

We had a very peaceful night last night. In the end there were about six different sets of campers, three caravans, one bus, one couple with a car and tent, and us. Three of the people had campfires.

We were only about 30 kms from the Marla Roadhouse, so after our very relaxing (no internet) cup of tea, we had our washes and set off for the Roadhouse. We filled up the Winnie and had our first gas bottle refill of the trip. We started with two full bottles, and considering all the free camping we have done, this seemed a very good outcome.

The fridge was smelly on the gas, which was a sign that we were getting low.

Then, we drove to a quiet spot and had breakfast. We had 3g internet, but it was very slow. I managed to connect with Della on WeChat, but could not upload my blog. I tried for some time, but then gave up. We caught up on a bit of the news and read our emails.

I had two lots of postcards to send to Mum and Matt, so sent both at once. I’ve got some extra stamps to make it easy for sending the next ones.

After a rather frustrating time with the slow internet we went to the dump point.

And then, on our way. We tend to stop at most rest areas, just to check them out. The nicest was at the Agnes Creek Rest Area, which reminded us of the Pilbara.

We had choices of what to do, but opted for another free camp site, and have ended up at the border rest area. It is sealed, so no red dust tonight, but we have close neighbours, including someone with a bad cough, so not sure if this is the right place for us. There is camping across the road, but the drive is deeply rutted and we didn’t think we had enough clearance.

We are next door to another Winnebago Free Spirit, rather newer and shinier than ours. I took a photo of them together, covering up their number plate for privacy.

Thursday 15th June, 2017

A Travel Day

Cooberpedy to Marla South Rest Area

We completed our tasks at the Stuart Range Caravan Park (Big4), including filling up water containers and the tank. We did not have to pay at the filling station, for some reason the water flowed anyway. I also had this experience in the shower again.

Something to remember about Coober Pedy is that we could free camp and still have access to a water station and dump point near the Tourist Information Office. We would have to pay $1.00 for 40 litres, but that seems OK to us.

We got diesel and did some shopping at the local IGA before heading on our way at about 10.30 a.m. I went the wrong way at first, fortunately Stephen picked this up and we headed back up past our caravan park and on to the Stuart Highway.

We stopped for a cup of tea and fruit cake at about 11.30, then for lunch at about 1.00 p.m.

Marla South Rest Area is about 187kms from Coober Pedy, a fairly short distance, but a good idea when we have a few things to do before leaving town.

We arrived here at 3.30 p.m. There were already 3 caravans here, and one more has since arrived.

This is our spot on the edge of the graveled rest area. We chose it because it is flat. Everyone else here seems to gravitate to the edges as well.

We have had some varied scenery on the way here, at first lots of evidence of mining, then very flat and bleak, then some areas of shrubs and small trees, but where we are at the moment is typical – shrubs and red earth.

GeoWiki said we would have a phone signal here, but it is not the case. I am hoping that the next roadhouse, which is a major stop, will have a phone signal. According to GeoWiki it does, but the app is not always accurate.

We see quite a lot of towers that further south would have guaranteed a phone signal, but now appear to be for some other purpose. At the moment we don’t know what that is.

Tour of Coober Pedy

The featured image was taken from the tour bus and shows a typical opal mining landscape of dumps.

Today we got up a bit later than usual and had a quiet morning at the caravan park. I got washing done and backed up our trip photos from one hard drive to another. At home, I back up everything to the cloud, but am relying on external hard drives during our travels as it would be much to expensive to upload everything as we go.

I handwashed yesterday’s clothes, hung them on the line, then when they stopped dripping, hung them in the shower recess. Stephen went for a walk, but just locally.

Our tour was most comprehensive. We explored a couple of the opal mining areas whilst our driver explained what everything meant. He spoke from experience of having been an opal miner himself. He now does guiding/driving, some shifts at the Caltex Station, and some community work. We were being shown around by someone who loves this town. He came here when he was quite young, and has lived here most of the time since. His wife lives in Adelaide, and even though they are discussing retirement, there is still the issue of him wanting to live here (he has an underground home) and her wanting to live in Adelaide.

We went out to a beautiful scarp called the Breakaways, which is the edge of the Stuart Ranges. He said that he and other people would go there for picnics and camping, but that is no longer allowed as it is a protected area.

He showed us around the town, community projects, and explained that all of the trees in the town had been planted by residents and were watered by the town’s waste water.  We saw the Dingo Fence, the Moon Plains, an underground home, and an underground mine and museum. At the end of the day we went to a beautiful Serbian church – also underground.

The tour ran from 1.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. and we felt quite fulfilled by the end – that if we missed anything, well it wasn’t because he hadn’t tried to show us everything. It was tiring and the cup of tea came rather late in the day (note to self, take a thermos of tea with me next time).

I have lots more photos from today, but maybe this is enough for now. I’m very tired and it is after 10.00 p.m.

The featured image is of the dawn at Horrocks Pass Rest Area. You won’t actually see it unless you click on the title of the post and go to it in a web page. It doesn’t show up in the email version.

We have camped tonight at the Ranges View Rest Area – so named because of the view, of course. We haven’t gone very far today, maybe about 100 kms.

We drove from Horrocks Pass to Port Augusta where we went to a dump point, fed the Winnie and checked the tyres. We also did a bit of shopping, getting bread, rolls and bananas. We started out on the Stuart Highway, then stopped at a lovely Botanic Gardens. After a bit of a walk around we had lunch, then drove to a lookout nearby. That was definitely worthwhile.

Stephen isn’t feeling very well, he has a headache and just not his usual self. That is party why we have chosen to camp early (by about 2.30 p.m.). The other is that the view is quite special, there is internet access, and I am also feeling a bit tired. We have a long way to go and it will all be interesting as we haven’t been this way before (or at least, not since I was a small child).

We are approximately 1,300 kms from Alice Springs.

I’m a day late with this blog. We didn’t have internet at our Rest Stop last night.

We got away from Adelaide in good time and were heading for a rest stop that is in Mt Remarkable National Park. I was following Geowiki, which conveniently forgot to mention that we needed a vehicle pass and camping permit to being in the national park. We couldn’t book online as all the camping spaces were filled. It is a long weekend!

Geowiki said there were rest stops on the road we could use, one on each side of the highway. However, there was a sign at our left hand rest stop which said we couldn’t camp there. We were feeling upset at this stage. Driving into the park was very attractive, with trees and views of the ranges getting closer and closer. I didn’t get photos of this, but have some video taken on the GoPro.

We didn’t want to drive into Port August late in the day, so opted for a caravan park on the way. It was somewhat off the main highway. As we got to the turnoff, there was a sign saying that there were no vacancies. There were a couple of caravan parks further on, but also a rest stop. We were on the Horrocks Pass road which we recognised from our trip a couple of years ago.

The rest stop had one other caravan/camper, at some distance from where we chose our spot. We were trying to find a completely flat spot, but ended up with a slope – hence putting chocks under the wheels. Not that there was any real danger, but it made us feel better.

We had a very peaceful night. There was a full moon, so it was almost like being in a camping area with a security light. Because it was so bright we didn’t get a good view of the stars.

Not a busy day. We went to our local cafe for the first time in the morning.

We had lunch in the Winnie for the first time this week, then went to Port Adelaide, a bus and train journey of about 50 minutes.

Stephen wanted to visit the Maritime Museum. I just wanted to have a cuppa and wander around with my camera.

The town has many interesting buildings, but the overall effect is rather shabby and neglected. Cafes shut at 4.00 p.m., that sort of thing. The man in the museum had recently visited Perth and Fremantle. His view was that they needed a university campus in the town to bring it to life. Certainly Adelaide City benefits from having two university campuses (or campi) – I did check on Google. The city is full of young people wearing backpacks.

Still, Port Adelaide has character and the man said that Port Adelaide is an extremely busy port, very productive indeed.

Quite noisy traffic noise in this video.

We came home to an easy meal, reheating some of the food I cooked last night. I did a last load of washing (before we leave Adelaide Caravan Park), processed photos and videos for this blog, and then relaxed. Goodnight.

Shopping and a trip to Hahndorf

The featured photo is of an Aboriginal Fine Art shop in Hahndorf. The beautiful little village in the Adelaide Hills is actually very hard to photograph due to roadside signs  little cohesion in the way things are set out.

We wanted to do some shopping to set ourselves up for travelling north on Saturday. We packed up the Winnie to use as our transport for the day.

This evening we have quite a few shopping bags on the floor and I am not sure yet where everything will go. We have a meal cooking in the electric pressure cooker already.

It was a steep climb up into the hills, and appeared to even more steep on the way down. Going slowly kept the Winnie in 3rd gear, which acted as a brake. There was a special lane for trucks and buses, but they all decided I was going too slowly and passed us.

By the time we arrived in Hahndorf it was about 1.30 p.m., so well and truly time for lunch. We chose a cafe that had vegan food, but also German sausage meals. The mix of types of food was part of the slightly disorienting style of the place.

There was a wood fire, very nice, but the whole effect didn’t work. The village caters to tourists and tries to be all things and ends up being nothing in particular.

The little toe that I injured back in Port Augusta is still rather painful. I bought a pair of cheap slipper boots and wore them when we were walking around today. It made quite a difference, no pain, but they got wet in the drizzle.

Still, we felt it was a successful day, with shopping completed and visiting a place we had heard much about and were keen to see.