Monday 1^st and Tuesday 2^nd July, 2024

All the things that we wanted to do yesterday got done, including the therapty planning meeting with Matt. He greated me as soon as I came on screen and mostly stayed focused during the 45 minutes. He answered questions and showed his various ways of communicating to Abby. He often finds meetings boring and drifts off, so I felt proud of him.

After the meeting we drove over to Uluru to the Cultural Centre, thinking of having lunch there. But, they didn’t have much food left. I had soup whilst we were having coffee at the Yalara Village shortly before the therapy meeting, but Stephen hadn’t eaten at all. We went back to the Sherwood and Stephen made his own lunch, whilst I had a muffin and we shared a lime tart from the cafe.

Early in the drive around the Rock we took a short walk to another water hole. There was a lot more water than the waterhole we saw on the other side of the rock. Despite all the other visitors it felt like a very peaceful place. We met James and Carol, who took a photo of us together, then we talked about our travels as we walked back to our vehicles. They have a Subaru and a tent, but they are younger than us.

Last night we camped at the Sandy View Roadside Rest Area. Now that the rain has passed it’s very cold, even during the day. Fortunately I’ve realised that having the windows closed and covered really helps to keep the warmth in. We do have a draft under the fridge, which will need to be looked into when we get home.

We watched the ABC NT News and heard all about the Territorians celebrating the beginning of self rule 40 odd years ago by being able to buy fireworks and set them off during a four hour window each year. This results in the sort of injuries you’d predict, but they don’t want to give it up.

The last time we were here for Territory Day we were in Tennant Creek and went to the official celebration. We were just swallowing our disappointment about missing out on all of the fun when a tour bus pulled up in front of us and disgorged many noisy young people who trooped up the nearest sandhill and had a party with music and intermittent rocket firing. We were invited to join them, but actually we got quite a good view near the car.

It was very cold and we couldn’t help feeling they were quite brave, apart from the danger of fireworks, of course. The music wasn’t very loud, just enough that we could identify the songs. Stephen was grumbling about the fireworks interfering with his star gazing. I got too cold standing outside to watch, but found I could see them well sitting in the front cab of the Sherwood.

So, how often are you at a free overnight camp and have a group of young people arrive to have a party and fireworks?

We have had someone come into our campsite and offer us a free pizza. That was very nice as we hadn’t worked out what to eat that evening and it was very helpful. But that was near Toodyay in WA, and a few years ago.

In the morning we climbed the sandhill used by the fireworks crew. There was an easy path and we were rewarded with good views to Uluru and the Olgas.

We were warm and snug in bed overnight, in fact we slept in until about 8.00 a.m., hoping the sun would warm the van. It didn’t, but our diesel heater works well. Today we stopped at Curtin Springs Roadhouse, hoping for a nice coffee, but they only have instant. You can camp overnight without power for free and they do pub type meals in the evening.

Our next stop was at the Mt Conner Lookout Rest Area, which has a view to Mt Conner, often mistaken for Uluru by newbies, including us when we first came here. It was our tour guide who misled us as a joke. I think we felt discomfit that Uluru didn’t look like the photos. Mt Conner is a mesa, a flat topped rock, and is really impressive as well, though not as famous.

We then drove onwards to Petermann Rest Stop. We had planned to go further, but this place is so nice, large, fairly flat, with desert oaks and other trees, that even though it was only 2.30 when we arrived we decided to stay.

We have used the Starlink at both campsites. Last night we had a faint Telstra signal, here we have none. I put the Starlink on a camping table as it doesn’t have a stand. This morning it blew over onto it’s face in the strong wind. I righted it and then laid it flat on a towel. On the app it showed there had been a bit of a blip, but it recovered quickly and kept online. This afternoon is still very windy, in fact driving was quite difficult, so I’ve put it out on the towel again, flat, not even using it’s small kickstand. It’s giving us fast internet. It got a little cosmetic damage from landing on it’s face, but I wiped off the dirt and it seems perfectly happy.

Monday 1st July, 2024

Yesterday (June 30^th) we had a leisurely morning before heading off to the Rock. On our way Stephen took time at the shower block to wash his hair in a basin and we also put more water in the tank. We went shopping for essential supplies for the trip to Alice.

Once in the park we drove to the Cultural Centre to check out the café. We enjoyed pre prepared sandwiches and hot drinks. Then we drove to the parking area at the beginning of the walk around Uluru. We had a rest before setting off. A little way along there is a walk to a gorge, and we chose that as a shorter option.

It was very beautiful, with cultural sites along the way. There was water in the gorge and we could see tadpoles. Below is a gallery of photos. You can click on the first photo to enlarge it, then click through the enlarged images.

Back at the van we had a cup of tea and ginger nuts whilst we waited for sunset. I successfully set us up with a selfie with the rock in the background.

After sunset it was time to head back to camp. We weren’t successful in getting a camping spot closer to ablutions and grass, so are still out in the paddock. At least it hasn’t rained again, although yesterday and today are cloudy.

We had a good session with Matt in the evening. He was very relaxed and we stayed online for about an hour. At the end he watched us do the dishes. Then, without any prompting he called a staff member to help him end the call.

This morning we have a therapy planning session with me attending via a Teams link. Due to the time difference this is happening at 12.00 noon here. We plan to fill our water tank and get fuel before going to the centre to ensure we have the best 4g signal for the call. Stephen can pick up any items of shopping we may have missed yesterday (like crunchy peanut butter).

Stephen mentioned that you can drive right around the rock, but not until we were heading home at twilight. Of course, I was intrigued, so we are going to do that today as well. The last thing will be to go to the dump point. It’s out of town, but on our way, so that seems the best option.

Then we will head off and find a camping area just up the road for the night. Today is Territory Day and there may be fireworks later. We once celebrated Territory Day in Tennant Creek with all the locals.

I will let you know in the next chapter how this works out.

Thursday 27th and Friday 28th June, 2024

In the evening we took a walk up to the Giles Weather Station to see the sunset on the ranges. About a 3km walk. The sunset did not disappoint.

Yesterday morning we made a reasonably leisurely exit from the roadhouse. We filled up our water tank and the car and did some more grocery shopping. We have found all of the roadhouses to have a reasonable supply of basics with fresh and frozen vegetables and some fruit. 

As we had made a later start we arrived at the Gill Peak Viewing area by lunchtime even though it was only about 65 kilometres. It has a good view of the next lot of ranges, plus Gill Peak. I found this camping spot from a review on the Great Central Road, it’s not on Wikicamps even as a Point of Interest. We can be seen from the road if you have a high vehicle, but we felt reasonably stealth. We can feel a bit anxious if we are the only campers at the spot, but at least we didn’t have any campers with bright lights.

We have a view of ranges all around the camping area. I’m not naming them because they seem to have several names, but you can find Gill Peak in Google Maps.

We are not expecting rain until Saturday in this location, but Laverton have closed their end of the Great Central Road as of 5.00 p.m. yesterday. As clouds rolled in yesterday afternoon we were worried that we might wake up to rain, but fortunately the sky is fairly clear this morning. We still have a lot of gravel road to cover, it’s 267kms to Uluṟu and the road is not bitumenised until you get to the Olgas.

It’s 7.48 a.m. and the sun has just risen over the horizon. What we really love about camping in the bush are the sunrises and sunsets. There are bird sounds, including the sound that I think is my phone sending an alert. It’s one note repeated at set intervals.

We’ve decided to wait until we get to Docker River to check on road closures. As usual we brought the Starlink in overnight and rather than set it up again we will do other things. I’ve been out photographing the landscape and writing in this blog.

Saturday 29th June, 2024

Yesterday (Friday) was quite a tough day, 300kms in one go is more than we usually do, plus the road was quite difficult. However, we were treated to more beautiful scenery and enjoyed a brief stop at the sign welcoming us to the Northern Territory. We did make a stop at Docker River, and it is a nice campsite, with beautiful toilet blocks dotted about that actually you can’t use. We don’t know why.

The road did not appear to have been graded since the heavy rain, with some deep ruts. Fortunately it was easy to drive around them. The corrugations were pretty bad in places. Stephen did not realise that we often achieved ‘flotation’ over corrugations that made more a much smoother ride. However, there were some unexpected obstacles that made it difficult to drive at 75-80kms an hour, so we couldn’t really do it some of the time. Also, I sometimes drove in the soft sandy part at the edge of the road to give some relief, and for this I had to drop the speed as well as it’s easier to lose control.

We made a stop at Lasseter’s Cave in the late morning and had a cup of tea and a savoury snack. This kept us going until about 3.00 p.m. when we arrived at the Olgas. We noticed that they looked exciting and mysterious as we caught glimpses on the road, but were oddly less impressive close up. We also noticed this happening as we were driving to Yulara, as we drove away they seemed larger and more impressive. And then Uluru started to appear in the distance.

We booked into the campground at Yulara, then drove to the dump point, about 5km away, then back again. We had only been able to get into the overflow area, a great dusty area a long way from facilities. The town generator is just over the fence and very loud, but fortunately constant. When we went to bed it was just white noise in the background.

Stephen went and bought a bottle of Sprite and we had potato chips and Sprite as our celebration. To buy alcohol we have to show our driver’s licences. Which leads us to assume that the local Indigenous community is ‘dry’.

We’ve had a good night’s rest. We usually wake up to an alarm, but I cancelled it for this morning so we could wake up at our own pace. The rain started earlier, but not heavy. It is forecast to be heavier this afternoon and evening. We don’t have much planned, just shopping and we will have lunch at a cafe, still celebrating!

Wednesday 26th June, 2024

We stayed overnight at the Warakurna Roadhouse and got up early (well, slightly before 7.00 a.m.) to get ready to go to see the release of the weather balloon at Giles Weather Station. Stephen was willing to forego breakfast so that we could get here in time for 8.45 a.m. Central Australian Time. Lots of people get the timing wrong because they think the station operates on Western Australian Time. We often get things wrong, of course, but in this case we timed it perfectly. The weather station operator gave us a short talk, then the balloon release happened.

Afterwards we went back to the Sherwood for our normal breakfast, cup of tea for Stephen and coffee for me, with cereal. It was definitely handy to have it here for this purpose rather than walking up from the campsite.

After breakfast we walked over to the Museum. As well as some objects there was a really good film about setting up the weather station, starring the actual staff. It gave a really good insight into the development from a primitive tent camp to a really comfortable place for them to work. The Giles Weather Station is responsible for monitoring the Gulf Stream and provides information for the Eastern States on upcoming weather.

Yesterday, we were really thrilled to have seen the dingos, but as we drove along I commented that we still hadn’t seen any camels. About 10 minutes later, there they were. I stopped the car and got out my camera with the ‘wildlife’ lens, a fairly cheap 24-240mm lens on my 61mp Sony Camera. It’s quite good, but you get a better view with Stephen’s binoculars.

We also stopped to inspect some gnamma holes at a parking spot. The water in them looks surprising fresh and I saw a tadpole in one. The evidence suggests that they are used by lots of animals. One has a ‘spider’ contraption over it which is supposed to stop the animals falling in. Why was only one of the holes covered, given that there were others equally large? One had some large bones next to it, we guessed from a camel.

And then to the Warakurna Roadhouse. It is an Aboriginal community, but without the problems of Warburton it seems. It’s a pity about Warburton, the locals we saw in the roadhouse shop seemed very sweet and shy, especially the two tween girls making the very hard decision about what to spend their $5 on ahead of me in the queue.

It’s also very beautiful, something of an oasis at Warburton.

We like Warakurna as well, again we have trees and views to a range of hills. Our host says that in the four years he has been here there has been no problems with the locals as far as visitors are concerned. As with Warburton the local people are hard to connect with due to shyness, you would have to be here a long time to get to know them.

The young woman working at the Weather Station said that she is doing some community work, I guess because a lot of the weather station is automated and she has lots of free time. However, the balloon launch is still a manual process. All of the weather balloons around the world are launched at the same time and most of them are automated.

We were able to return to our same position at the roadhouse. We did some shopping. The roadhouses have all had a good supply of groceries. We lashed out and bought hamburgers with ‘the lot’, which really filled us up. They were lovely, well worth it.

Yesterday afternoon I did a small load of washing, followed by the rest today. Once you know how things work it feels easier to get things done.

One of the interesting things is that it will probably be far more expensive for everything in Ulara, certainly to stay the night and I suspect for groceries as well. They can’t claim it’s because of remoteness because all of the roadhouses are even more remote, yet don’t overcharge.

The other good thing that happened today is that Matt is going to get a new bed. The therapist had taken him to the showroom and he was lying in the demo bed looking very relaxed and happy. We know this because we saw him in it. We did a FaceTime session to discuss all the pros and cons, they said that Matt really sparked up when we were involved. Of course, being NDIS the actual funding will take ages. He is going to have a King Single bed to give him a bit more room. The sides are soft, but strong, and have a clear section so he can see out.

We stayed in this spot thinking it would be good for watching the moonrise. It was, but unfortunately someone decided to camp close to where it rose and had bright lights shining. We still enjoyed the moonrise, but I didn’t try to photograph it. It was good to see that after about 20 minutes the moon made their bright lights looks dim in comparison.

Before moonrise we had a beautiful view of the night sky, the first really good one for this trip. As there were no clouds, it was very cold overnight, but we are warmed by the sun on the Sherwood this morning.

We are the last people here at the camp today and were rewarded by seeing a pair of dingos come and wander around. We used the van as an animal hide and they didn’t run away when I put the window right out so we had a clear view for the photos.

Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd June, 2024

We only drove about 120kms yesterday. It would have been double the kilometres to get to Warburton, which felt too much for a day when we weren’t getting away early. Also, after leaving the stretch of bitumen that spans the roadhouse the gravel was very rough again, not much fun for driving. But, after a while we struck gold, a section of newish bitumen road and we haven’t left that section. Perhaps this is the 40km section of bitumen we’ve heard about.

After packing up we farewelled our host and bought some mixed frozen veggies and a meat pack for our dinner. We have eggs and cans left, but as we were only planning a shortish drive I thought we would actually enjoy cooking in the evening.

We then drove across the road and out to a stand of rocks called The Zoo. We couldn’t really make out animals, but were able to walk to the top where there was a wonderful view. It was our first completely cloudless day and the atmosphere was very dry. We drank more water than usual to keep up.

On the way to The Zoo there was a big area with smashed cars, Stephen has a photo, so I must get that from him. There are smashed up cars along the road, but this was a proper graveyard.

We stopped at a place called Paradise Camp for lunch. It was a very wide area of blue metal and we set up the Starlink on the ground as it was so clean. There was no one else there, but it looked like a good spot to spend the night.

I had read about the Desert Surf Central campground which had positive reviews. It is a huge area, with lots of possible camping places. We initially drove left along the cliff face through an area that was like beautiful parkland. I wanted to stay there, but Stephen was keen to see the moonrise over the horizon, which meant going to the right of the entry road. It was difficult to find a level spot. The road to the top of the cliff was too steep for us, though it would have been an ideal place to view the moonrise.

Then, after we had settled in the clouds rolled in. We walked to a place to watch the moonrise, but couldn’t see anything. On the other hand, the clouds helped to make for a beautiful sunset.

We had a peaceful night, a little too close to the main road for my comfort, but there isn’t much traffic anyway, I just don’t like being visible.

This morning was less chilly than usual due to the clouds, though there is a strong breeze. It’s still partly cloudy.

I’ve suggested to Stephen that we stay at Warburton tonight. It’s only about 130kms away, but the next free camp along the route is called Piggies Place, which is too much of a come down from places called Paradise Camp and Desert Surf Central.

And so, we made it to Warburton. We had bitumen for a while, then gravel, then some bitumen, then some gravel. If we had let down our tyres for the gravel we would be forever pumping up and letting down. Very annoying.

We had a brief stop for morning tea at a roadside parkup with a view to the Brown Ranges, we think, though it could have been the Warburton Ranges.

On arrival here we booked in, checked out their well stocked grocery range, then struggled with the lock to the compound where we are staying. With the help of the kind staff we got in and found a pleasant camping place with grass. There are all of the usual amenties, which look a little nicer than those at our last roadhouse. Plus a dump point.

We have some young people with a rooftop tent next to us and they have lit a campfire in the supplied firepit. I can’t see it from where I am sitting, but the smell of the smoke is really pleasant.

The caravan park has a locked gate and fences with barbed wire at the top. It is well lit and there are CCTV cameras. Nevertheless, locals have been known to snoop around and take stuff. There is no danger of violence.

There were people wanting to sell paintings following us a bit when we arrived, including into the roadhouse. The paintings looked nice, but we don’t have room to buy stuff.

There is a 4G Telstra signal here, but it’s slow and we have put out the Starlink for our call with Matt. We will bring it in later, of course. Even when we were parked on our own last night I bought it in at bedtime. We could hear dingos howling and I worried that an animal might come by and bounce it over, or nibble the cord, or something. Once it came in I could enjoy peace of mind.

We saw the beautiful moon later in the night, but it would be good if we could see it coming up over the horizon. We have one more chance tonight. We will drive half way to the next roadhouse to a free camp. Then stay two nights at the roadhouse. After that we cross into the Northern Territory with one more stop before we reach Uluru. We are not in a hurry as the Great Central Road was the major part of this trip, a destination in itself.

I challenge you to pronounce it. Fortunately when you arrive there is a sign on the counter giving you a guide to it’s pronunciation. You also have a manager greeting you with ‘you’re through the worst part of the road’. We were lulled into a false sense of how easy it would be after leaving Giles Breakaway. Sure, there were short patches that were sandy, a bit wet, or with bad corrugations. We have been running into another couple doing the same journey since Laverton and they came into the same rest area after about 150kms. We all agreed that it wasn’t too bad.

But the last 100kms was very corrugated and we ended up travelling on the dry ridge in the middle of the road. It was rough, but nothing like taking the corrugations. Apparently, that part has not yet been repaired from the floods.

So, we arrived feeling a bit shattered and were so relieved to hear we were through the worst of it.

We opted for the roadhouse caravan park for last night as we wanted to do a bit longer drive yesterday, plus needing to top up with water. It has been very comforting, especially as our neighbours, a NZ couple in a large and very comfortable caravan, invited us for a cup of tea after dinner. We enjoyed discussing our lives and children and discovered we had many things in common.

They are very adventurous with their Jayco Silverline and Ford Ranger and think nothing of taking gravel roads on their Australian trips. They keep the caravan and vehicle here in Australia and fly over for about four months in winter each year. He is an experienced off roader in NZ as well as here.

We’ve been recommended a place for bird watching called Fog Dam, which is just out of Darwin. It is another incentive to travel north once we hit the Stuart Highway. And, as the man said, it makes a change from just doing our own thing in our RVs in the evening. I’m so glad they took the initiative.

We will do our filling up of water before we leave here and plan to free camp tonight, somewhere before the next roadhouse. This roadhouse offers water fillups for $10 and we are hoping the next roadhouse will do the same. That means we don’t really need to stay at roadhouses, unless we want to, of course.

We ended up not letting our tyres down yesterday, partly on the advice of our neighbour. With his years of experience, and the fact that his setup is 6 tons, he said he doesn’t really think it helps, it’s just an obsession with the young ones. We don’t travel very fast, sometimes up to 80kms p/h, but mostly 60-70kms, and it really is a faff. He says that he only does it for sand.

Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th, 2024

Yesterday we drove to Leonora for shopping, getting water and fuel and dumping our toilet. We could have driven to Laverton afterwards, but my efforts to contact the Laverton Caravan Park by phone or email were unsuccessful. So we decided to camp somewhere on the way to Laverton. All Hands Well Rest Area is a silly name for a beautiful place. We found a lake, which extended on both sides of the road, with lots of birdlife including a swan nesting pair. There was a short walk which we enjoyed in the late afternoon before sunset.

This morning we went to the Visitor Centre in Laverton, which proved very fruitful. We now have our Great Central Road map and a journal to record our trip which includes HEMA maps and lots of information.

The Visitor Centre had a little museum with a 15 minute history movie and then information about people, places and the mining industry. Very interesting.

There was a cold wind this morning and we enjoyed our time at the Visitor Centre in the warmth. We went out to get sandwiches which we were allowed to bring back to Centre. As well, staff there organised our permits for the WA and NT sections of the road. They were friendly and very helpful.

There was a dump point and potable water tap in the car park behind the centre and a combined service station and grocery shop a couple of streets away. Having emptied and filled, including filling up with fuel again, we were on our way to the Giles Breakaway Rest Area, about 50 kms from Laverton.

The positive Wikicamps reviews were absolutely right, it is beautiful here. We arrrived here at about 3.00 p.m. We had a cup of tea and a rest before going for a walk before sunset.

As you can see, it is much easier to get a sense of the landscape when you have an overview like this. The campsite at All Hands Well was equally becautiful, but you had to be there to appreciate it.

In answer to the question in the heading is both yes and no. We are on the GCR, but have not yet entered Aboriginal Lands where we need the permits. According to others on the GCR Facebook page no one ever looks at the permits, but we have them because it means we are officially registered and can legally pass through these lands.

It’s exciting to finally be on the GCR after all of our planning. So far the road is bitumenised, but we should be starting on the gravel section tomorrow. There has been just a little rain further along in the last couple of days. It is obvious that there has been heavy rain in this area, with lots of puddles, but people are reporting that the road is dusty, so it must be reasonably dry.

We are back to using the Starlink for our internet. Although both campsites had a little bit of a Telstra signal, it wasn’t enough for normal internet. We’ve been able to find excellent locations free of obstructions and it logs on within minutes of being switched on. It was useful to get our WA permit via email, but, of course, it’s more that we love to have the internet.

We had one other possible fellow camper last night, someone in a car parked a long way away. Tonight, although there are lots of campsites around the breakaway, we have a couple of campers quite near to us. They came in after dark and this is the first camping section, which probably made it easier for them. Anyway, it makes us feel a bit safer to have other people here.

Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th June, 2024

Above are some of the photos we took of Kalgoorlie four years ago. As we were leaving yesterday I asked if I could have time to take some photos, but Stephen said he had some from four years ago I could use. Once his photos were in Apple photos I could see photos that I took as well. Just to give a bit of an idea.

It was fairly dry on our way to Menzies, but when we stopped briefly a couple of times we still had to dodge the mud. Rain was threatening when we arrived, but it didn’t actually rain until about 10.30 p.m. By then we had settled in at the caravan park on a concrete slab, glad to have no more mud!

We decided to take an extra day here to relax and enjoy the experience of having normal 240w power and water. In the couple of weeks before we left we had found out about a type of fitting that would allow water to be connected to the van. There are two fittings of the same size, one with British thread and one with American thread. I had found out on the Suncamper forum that we needed the American thread, and it works. Until this trip we couldn’t connect to water, but had to fill up our tank and use our water pump as if we were off grid.

It is also a quiet little town, with a Visitor Centre that takes care of the caravan park management and a new to us excellent cafe. The cafe winter hours are about 7.00 a.m. until 7.00 p.m. and it’s a boon for truck drivers and visitors. We took a walk in the sunshine and I enjoyed time at the cafe, with Stephen joining me after a longer walk.

We did a great deal of washing, at least it felt like a lot. The first night here was busy and I had to wait for machines to be free. Today a lot of caravans/campers left and I did one more load of washing as Stephen had forgotten to give me his pyjamas. So, we are all up to date.

We are spending lots of time scrolling the Great Central Road forum for information on the condition of the road and whether there is going to be too much rain. It seems fine when people report using the road in the past couple of days, but we are still waiting until we get to Laverton to make a final decision about whether to go.

Just a few photos from Menzies, I took far more last time, so am not really much motivated. We have chosen to be near the road because we have some trees and a garden bed behind the van. We have great views of the large trucks passing through town. It may be slightly noisier, but better than the other side of the caravan park where it is quite bare.

Tomorrow we plan to shop and get fuel in Leonora, then decide if we go to a free camp near the town, or start heading to Laverton. Depends on things like our energy levels, how early we get going, and so on. At this stage it looks like we will be in Laverton on Thursday.

We’ve been fretting about the issue of deflating the tyres for the gravel road, which is always recommended, but means we have to decide how much to let them down and then be confident about using the air compressor once we reach bitumen again. However, we practiced before leaving home and also watched a great video that went into enough detail to give us confidence that we can do it. Our plan is to let the tyres down a bit, perhaps not as much as our Sherwood expert (we have a book specifically for Sherwoods by someone with experience who now owns a Sherwood hire company and runs specific 4WD courses for Sherwoods) suggests, but enough to give us an easier ride and not shake the car and van to bits. We can’t use vehicle only recommendations due to the Sherwood being so much heavier.

I’m once again writing this just before bedtime, but it does help me to clear my thoughts. Of course, it can also mean I ramble a bit and perhaps bore my readers.