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Sunday, May 8, 2011
caravan trip 2011 - new blog
The year is 2011, it's May again, cold weather is the order of the day and we are once again getting ready to depart on the 16th May for a 3mth journey to Broome.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The End
Sunday 16th August 2009
The wind started to blow early in the morning and there was a little bit of rain but by the time we had breakfast most of the weather appeared to have passed. Although Alexander and Andrea would have liked to stay at the farm for a few more nights we left just after 9am to cover the last 300km of our trip. As we left the farm the rain started to come down really hard and we were right in amongst it until we reached Echuca. This was the heaviest and most rain we've seen in last three month. The trip back to Wodonga was very windy but otherwise uneventful. Arriving home after 3 month away was interesting, there were buildings we hadn't seen before and when we left it certainly wasn't anywhere near as green. For the last few days we've been in search of our house key as we couldn't remember where in the caravan we put it when we left. Luckily Ilse fou
nd it yesterday so we we can at least get in.
Arriving home we found the place still standing and emptied most of the caravan into the house, picked up the key to the shed (or so I thought) and then took the caravan over to Albury. However, the attempt to unlock the door failed as I had accidentally taken the wrong key! We had to go back to Wodonga, pick up the correct key, and go back to Albury. This time I had the right key, we parked the caravan and by 3pm left the shed, did some shopping and went home to put things away.
Our holiday has finally come to an end, the kids are writing the final entry into their journals and draw lines on a map to document where we've been.
Tomorrow life will continue where we left of three month ago but we are a few experiences richer and have seen how the other half of the country lives.
Although this is the last travel entry in this blog, I will write a short trip summary in the next few days.
The wind started to blow early in the morning and there was a little bit of rain but by the time we had breakfast most of the weather appeared to have passed. Although Alexander and Andrea would have liked to stay at the farm for a few more nights we left just after 9am to cover the last 300km of our trip. As we left the farm the rain started to come down really hard and we were right in amongst it until we reached Echuca. This was the heaviest and most rain we've seen in last three month. The trip back to Wodonga was very windy but otherwise uneventful. Arriving home after 3 month away was interesting, there were buildings we hadn't seen before and when we left it certainly wasn't anywhere near as green. For the last few days we've been in search of our house key as we couldn't remember where in the caravan we put it when we left. Luckily Ilse fou
nd it yesterday so we we can at least get in.Arriving home we found the place still standing and emptied most of the caravan into the house, picked up the key to the shed (or so I thought) and then took the caravan over to Albury. However, the attempt to unlock the door failed as I had accidentally taken the wrong key! We had to go back to Wodonga, pick up the correct key, and go back to Albury. This time I had the right key, we parked the caravan and by 3pm left the shed, did some shopping and went home to put things away.
Our holiday has finally come to an end, the kids are writing the final entry into their journals and draw lines on a map to document where we've been.
Tomorrow life will continue where we left of three month ago but we are a few experiences richer and have seen how the other half of the country lives.
Although this is the last travel entry in this blog, I will write a short trip summary in the next few days.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Lockington
Saturday 15th August 2009
We had a nice and quiet night at Ouyen Caravan Park with our Caravan still attached to the car so we can have a quick start in the morning.
However, before we could leave Ouyen we had to go past the Mallee Bakery for some fresh Vanilla Slice.
Now that we are in Victoria it feels like home when we listen to ABC radio with all the familiar voices. The only radio program we have hear all the way around was Macca on Sunday morning.
The landscape is still looking lush and green - a stark contrast to what we've seen over the last couple of months. The cows around here look very well nourished and real healthy, not like the Brahmans we saw in the northern part of Australia.
Today's track took us further across the Mallee onto the Murray Valley Highway which goes all the way home. But we turned South just after the small township of Torrumbarry and headed thr
ough Lockington and onto Ron and Vicki's farm. After a 300km trip we arrived just in time for lunch and spent the afternoon chatting and looking around the farm while the kids played with Ron and Vicki's grand children.
By the time we finished talking it was too late for us to continue onto Albury so we stayed the night in our Caravan parked in the driveway. The weather was very mild and after a BBQ in the evening we sat around the patio fire reminiscing about our travel and dreaming about future travel plans. It was very nice to spend our last evening away from home with our friends who have shared so many of the travel experiences with us.
The fire went out a bit after 9pm and we went to our caravan bed for the last time on this trip.
We had a nice and quiet night at Ouyen Caravan Park with our Caravan still attached to the car so we can have a quick start in the morning.
However, before we could leave Ouyen we had to go past the Mallee Bakery for some fresh Vanilla Slice.
Now that we are in Victoria it feels like home when we listen to ABC radio with all the familiar voices. The only radio program we have hear all the way around was Macca on Sunday morning.
The landscape is still looking lush and green - a stark contrast to what we've seen over the last couple of months. The cows around here look very well nourished and real healthy, not like the Brahmans we saw in the northern part of Australia.
Today's track took us further across the Mallee onto the Murray Valley Highway which goes all the way home. But we turned South just after the small township of Torrumbarry and headed thr
ough Lockington and onto Ron and Vicki's farm. After a 300km trip we arrived just in time for lunch and spent the afternoon chatting and looking around the farm while the kids played with Ron and Vicki's grand children.By the time we finished talking it was too late for us to continue onto Albury so we stayed the night in our Caravan parked in the driveway. The weather was very mild and after a BBQ in the evening we sat around the patio fire reminiscing about our travel and dreaming about future travel plans. It was very nice to spend our last evening away from home with our friends who have shared so many of the travel experiences with us.
The fire went out a bit after 9pm and we went to our caravan bed for the last time on this trip.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Back to the famous Vanilla Slice
Friday 14th August 2009
The night in the Adelaide Hills was rather cold but we survived it in our warm sleeping bags.
We had a leisurely morning, rising fairly late and having a slow breakfast and shower. By the time we were on the road it was 10:30am but we weren't planning on covering a great distance.
Driving through the green Adelaide Hills was very pleasant on this nice and sunny morning. We went all the way to a little place called Sherlock where we turned North for a little place called Karoonda. Don and Joy, a couple we met on our Neap Tide Cruise, came out to greet us and we had our picnic lunch at their place. They had just arrived home from Broome a couple of hours before we dropped in and were still unpacking their caravan. We had a good chat about both our trips and arranged to meet again in the future. By 2pm we were back on the road heading straight for Lameroo where we refuelled and about an hour later we crossed from South Australia into Victoria. From all the state crossings we have seen on our trip this was the smallest and most unimpressive, I almost went past it without noticing that we were now back in our home state.
Just on sunset we rolled into Ouyen, the place who lays claim to Victoria's best Vanilla Slice. We had some when we passed through three month ago and we loved it, so our first stop was the Malley Bakery but they had sold out. Our second option was the service station and we were in luck there.
The caravan park was almost empty, compared to three month ago, and we parked on the same site we had on our previous visit.
Before settling in for the night I removed the Jerry can from the roof and filled the car with the Diesel purchased in Wyndham WA. I also removed the Jerry Can holder in preparation for our arrival at home so we can fit the car in the garage. We enjoyed the famous Ouyen Vanilla Slice for our dessert and then hit the sack so we are well rested for the final part of our journey tomorrow.
The night in the Adelaide Hills was rather cold but we survived it in our warm sleeping bags.
We had a leisurely morning, rising fairly late and having a slow breakfast and shower. By the time we were on the road it was 10:30am but we weren't planning on covering a great distance.
Driving through the green Adelaide Hills was very pleasant on this nice and sunny morning. We went all the way to a little place called Sherlock where we turned North for a little place called Karoonda. Don and Joy, a couple we met on our Neap Tide Cruise, came out to greet us and we had our picnic lunch at their place. They had just arrived home from Broome a couple of hours before we dropped in and were still unpacking their caravan. We had a good chat about both our trips and arranged to meet again in the future. By 2pm we were back on the road heading straight for Lameroo where we refuelled and about an hour later we crossed from South Australia into Victoria. From all the state crossings we have seen on our trip this was the smallest and most unimpressive, I almost went past it without noticing that we were now back in our home state.
Just on sunset we rolled into Ouyen, the place who lays claim to Victoria's best Vanilla Slice. We had some when we passed through three month ago and we loved it, so our first stop was the Malley Bakery but they had sold out. Our second option was the service station and we were in luck there.
The caravan park was almost empty, compared to three month ago, and we parked on the same site we had on our previous visit.
Before settling in for the night I removed the Jerry can from the roof and filled the car with the Diesel purchased in Wyndham WA. I also removed the Jerry Can holder in preparation for our arrival at home so we can fit the car in the garage. We enjoyed the famous Ouyen Vanilla Slice for our dessert and then hit the sack so we are well rested for the final part of our journey tomorrow.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Adelaide Hills
Thursday 13th August 2009
It was a sad event this morning when I put on my long trousers after nearly three months in shorts. Althoug the morning in Port Augusta wasn't really cold, we woke to an overcast sky and we knew we'd reach the cold weather today.
As soon as we left Port Augusta on the way South we noticed a significant change in the surrounding landscape with lush green paddocks and tall trees.
Later on in the day Frank informed me that we crossed Goyder's Line. The rainfall on the Northern part of this line is 250mm / year less than to the South.
Just to prove that this line realy exists we experienced our first lot of rainfall since crossing the Nullabor nearly 3 month ago.
We went through Crystal Brook and through the Clare Valley into the Adelaide Hills. What a sight to go from the red and dry desert yesterday to the green Adelaide Hills which were shrouded in a mist of low cloud with showers every few kilometers.
Today's travel really brought home the diversity of the Australian landscape and how dramatically it can change within a day's driving.
We stopped at Springton, near the Herbig Tree, and had our lunch before continuing on to Lobethal where we called into the famous Bakery before continuing onto Balhannah where we arrived at Frank and Irene's place around 1:30pm.
This time around we had to put our caravan on the concrete as the grass was too soft after the good winter rains.
By the time we finished our cuppa and headed of for a quick trip to Hahndorf the clouds had almost disappeared and we enjoyed sitting in the sun outside the shops while Irene, Ilse and Andrea checked out a few shops.
On the way home we ordered Pizza which Frank picked up later on for dinner and I made some Bread & Butter Pudding for dessert. We spent the evening looking at a few holiday shots before retiring to bed on one of our coldest nights in a long time.
It was a sad event this morning when I put on my long trousers after nearly three months in shorts. Althoug the morning in Port Augusta wasn't really cold, we woke to an overcast sky and we knew we'd reach the cold weather today.
As soon as we left Port Augusta on the way South we noticed a significant change in the surrounding landscape with lush green paddocks and tall trees.
Later on in the day Frank informed me that we crossed Goyder's Line. The rainfall on the Northern part of this line is 250mm / year less than to the South.
Just to prove that this line realy exists we experienced our first lot of rainfall since crossing the Nullabor nearly 3 month ago.
We went through Crystal Brook and through the Clare Valley into the Adelaide Hills. What a sight to go from the red and dry desert yesterday to the green Adelaide Hills which were shrouded in a mist of low cloud with showers every few kilometers.
Today's travel really brought home the diversity of the Australian landscape and how dramatically it can change within a day's driving.
We stopped at Springton, near the Herbig Tree, and had our lunch before continuing on to Lobethal where we called into the famous Bakery before continuing onto Balhannah where we arrived at Frank and Irene's place around 1:30pm.
This time around we had to put our caravan on the concrete as the grass was too soft after the good winter rains.
By the time we finished our cuppa and headed of for a quick trip to Hahndorf the clouds had almost disappeared and we enjoyed sitting in the sun outside the shops while Irene, Ilse and Andrea checked out a few shops.
On the way home we ordered Pizza which Frank picked up later on for dinner and I made some Bread & Butter Pudding for dessert. We spent the evening looking at a few holiday shots before retiring to bed on one of our coldest nights in a long time.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Closing the Loop
Wednesday 12th August 2009
By 8am this morning we were leaving Coober Pedy behind us; as we haven't seen much of the Opal mines or Underground buildings we have to come back to this place some time in the future. On the way South we found that after the Op
al fields the soil changed back to the redish colour we had seen before the Opal fields. It looks like the ground in this whole area has been turned upside down. As oppose to other mining areas where re-vegetation is a condition of the mining lease, it appears that around Coober Pedy they just dig holes and then move on.
Once we left the main mining area the landscape became very flat and almost featureless with very little vegetation. In some areas where we have seen small trees (Mulga), some bushes and grasses, the Eagles were well represented with many of them sitting in trees just beside the road, probably waiting for a free meal provided, courtesy of the passing cars.
The road South passes through the Wommera defence force land and signs on the road side reminded us that it is a prohibited area.
About 60km after our fuel stop at Glendambo, just outside the prohibited area, we stopped at a rest area on the shores of Lake Hart and had an early lunch before continuing our long track down South to Port Augusta where we arrived at 2pm after travelling 539km.
At Port Augusta we are closing the loop as we passed through here on
our way to the West. On this long loop drive we covered 13,500 km in 12 weeks.
This time around we knew to go straight to the Outback Centre after dropping off the caravan. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the Centre's excellent display which explains every thing about the Outback starting at time of Gondwana Land and taking us all the way through to the present time. It covers such diverse subjects such as Flora and Fauna, Geology, Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, The Ghan, Explorers and Resources. Many displays were accompanied by short audio visual presentations and videos which provided a lot of excellent information.
We could have spent a good half day in the is Centre but unfortunately time got away from us and we had to do a little bit of shopping and fuel up the car for tomorrows trip to Balhannah.
Unfortunately today has also been my last day of wearing shorts as the weather is getting a bit cold with today's top of only 20°C I started to get cold once the sun was setting. Tomorrows destination has a top temperature forecast of only 16°C so I think I have to dust off my long pants and jumper.
By 8am this morning we were leaving Coober Pedy behind us; as we haven't seen much of the Opal mines or Underground buildings we have to come back to this place some time in the future. On the way South we found that after the Op
al fields the soil changed back to the redish colour we had seen before the Opal fields. It looks like the ground in this whole area has been turned upside down. As oppose to other mining areas where re-vegetation is a condition of the mining lease, it appears that around Coober Pedy they just dig holes and then move on.Once we left the main mining area the landscape became very flat and almost featureless with very little vegetation. In some areas where we have seen small trees (Mulga), some bushes and grasses, the Eagles were well represented with many of them sitting in trees just beside the road, probably waiting for a free meal provided, courtesy of the passing cars.
The road South passes through the Wommera defence force land and signs on the road side reminded us that it is a prohibited area.
About 60km after our fuel stop at Glendambo, just outside the prohibited area, we stopped at a rest area on the shores of Lake Hart and had an early lunch before continuing our long track down South to Port Augusta where we arrived at 2pm after travelling 539km.
At Port Augusta we are closing the loop as we passed through here on
our way to the West. On this long loop drive we covered 13,500 km in 12 weeks.This time around we knew to go straight to the Outback Centre after dropping off the caravan. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the Centre's excellent display which explains every thing about the Outback starting at time of Gondwana Land and taking us all the way through to the present time. It covers such diverse subjects such as Flora and Fauna, Geology, Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, The Ghan, Explorers and Resources. Many displays were accompanied by short audio visual presentations and videos which provided a lot of excellent information.
We could have spent a good half day in the is Centre but unfortunately time got away from us and we had to do a little bit of shopping and fuel up the car for tomorrows trip to Balhannah.
Unfortunately today has also been my last day of wearing shorts as the weather is getting a bit cold with today's top of only 20°C I started to get cold once the sun was setting. Tomorrows destination has a top temperature forecast of only 16°C so I think I have to dust off my long pants and jumper.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Coober Pedy
Tuesday 11th August 2009
We didn't have a particularly early start today but by 9am we were travelling East for 100km before turning South for 70km and then East again for 110km until we were back on the Stuart Highway at Erldunda where we turned off 4 days ago. Our little side trip to Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon took some 800km of driving in total and was well worth the effort.
At Erldunda, on the Stuart Highway we turned South heading for Home. About 80km down the road, at Kulgera, we filled up the car before heading across the Border into South Australia. Further South, at Marla, we had another fuel stop and ate our lunch while driving. By 5:30pm we rolled into the Stuart Range Caravan Park at Coober Pedy having covered a total distance of 753km on this rather warm day where the temperature topped at 32°C. It took us a total of 8.5hrs (including fuel stops) on the road to cover this distance which is the longest on our trip so far.
Once we got to Erldunda the landscape became pretty flat and had that very dry Desert look. The predominant colour of the soil was still a brownish red but it changed somewhere along the track to a very light, almost white colour. The last 50km into Coober Pedy were rather interesting as both sides of the road are littered with mullock heaps from Opal mining. As we got closer to Coober Pedy the heaps got higher and covered the whole landscape from horizon to horizon. Opal mining is huge everywhere around this place. Most of the mullock heaps had a whitish look about them and there was no sign of the reds we had experienced in the Centre.
Water is very limited out here, so limited in fact that the Caravan park has no water available on the sites and showers are charged at $0.20 per 3 minutes.
On the bright side, there is no charge for flushing the toilets!
We parked the Caravan just as the sun was setting in yet another wonderful outback colour display. A short drive around town gave us a bit of an overview of Coober Pedy. There are a lot of houses and Motels built underground to keep things cool during the hot summer. The whole town is focused on Opal with numerous shops and outlets for the colourful gemstone. As far as the town itself goes the best analogy I can find is "Living in a Quarry". From an elevated Lookout we could see that total absence of anything resembling grass (or even weeds) or brown soil - everything is this slightly off white sandy stuff which doesn't support any life at all.
A bit further up the road we were reminded of the harshness of the outback when we went past the western end of the Oodnadatta track where a Swiss tourist lost her life in 1998 when she walked away from her hire car after a breakdown. Since then it is a requirement for hire vehicles to be fitted with Emergency Location Transmitters and there is a memorial to her death on the Oodnadatta track.
There is nothing pretty about this place but it is certainly interesting. There must be plenty of Italians around as Coober Pedy has it's own "Italian Miners Club" - I suppose the Godfather would be rather busy out here keeping all this gemstone mining under control.
In the last few days the kids have started to talk about all the things they're going to do when they get home, not that they are home sick, but I think they are looking forward to returning home which might be by the end of this week.
We didn't have a particularly early start today but by 9am we were travelling East for 100km before turning South for 70km and then East again for 110km until we were back on the Stuart Highway at Erldunda where we turned off 4 days ago. Our little side trip to Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon took some 800km of driving in total and was well worth the effort.
At Erldunda, on the Stuart Highway we turned South heading for Home. About 80km down the road, at Kulgera, we filled up the car before heading across the Border into South Australia. Further South, at Marla, we had another fuel stop and ate our lunch while driving. By 5:30pm we rolled into the Stuart Range Caravan Park at Coober Pedy having covered a total distance of 753km on this rather warm day where the temperature topped at 32°C. It took us a total of 8.5hrs (including fuel stops) on the road to cover this distance which is the longest on our trip so far.
Once we got to Erldunda the landscape became pretty flat and had that very dry Desert look. The predominant colour of the soil was still a brownish red but it changed somewhere along the track to a very light, almost white colour. The last 50km into Coober Pedy were rather interesting as both sides of the road are littered with mullock heaps from Opal mining. As we got closer to Coober Pedy the heaps got higher and covered the whole landscape from horizon to horizon. Opal mining is huge everywhere around this place. Most of the mullock heaps had a whitish look about them and there was no sign of the reds we had experienced in the Centre.
Water is very limited out here, so limited in fact that the Caravan park has no water available on the sites and showers are charged at $0.20 per 3 minutes.
On the bright side, there is no charge for flushing the toilets!
We parked the Caravan just as the sun was setting in yet another wonderful outback colour display. A short drive around town gave us a bit of an overview of Coober Pedy. There are a lot of houses and Motels built underground to keep things cool during the hot summer. The whole town is focused on Opal with numerous shops and outlets for the colourful gemstone. As far as the town itself goes the best analogy I can find is "Living in a Quarry". From an elevated Lookout we could see that total absence of anything resembling grass (or even weeds) or brown soil - everything is this slightly off white sandy stuff which doesn't support any life at all.
A bit further up the road we were reminded of the harshness of the outback when we went past the western end of the Oodnadatta track where a Swiss tourist lost her life in 1998 when she walked away from her hire car after a breakdown. Since then it is a requirement for hire vehicles to be fitted with Emergency Location Transmitters and there is a memorial to her death on the Oodnadatta track.
There is nothing pretty about this place but it is certainly interesting. There must be plenty of Italians around as Coober Pedy has it's own "Italian Miners Club" - I suppose the Godfather would be rather busy out here keeping all this gemstone mining under control.
In the last few days the kids have started to talk about all the things they're going to do when they get home, not that they are home sick, but I think they are looking forward to returning home which might be by the end of this week.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Canyon for Kings
Monday 10th August 2009
Last night was fairly warm compared to our previous nights but quite pleasant for sleeping. The temperature in the morning was around 18°C and we got up early, had brekky and then drove 10km to Kings Canyon where we arrived at 7:45am to commence the famous "Rim Walk". The first part of the walk was fairly steep climb to the height to the top of the canyon. This climb was over countless (around 500 I've read) steps, some of them formed by nature others by rock and concrete. Once we arrived the top we had a great view over the area and were able to admire these intriguing rock formations close up. The walk took us along the rim of the canyon through some amazing rock formations. The rock in this area is very hard sandstone which formed many millions of years ago at the bottom of the sea. On some of the r
ocks we could even see the how the sand was formed into wavy patterns, as it does under water, before being turned into rock still maintaining the pattern. All the rock in the area has an orange - red - brown appearance but where a piece of rock is broken off it's a real sandy white/grey inside. The rocks have, very conveniently, formed into thousands of natural steps, many of which at the correct height to be used as a step by tourists.
Although the track was going up and down a bit, it basically followed the rim of the Canyon with little side tracks leading to some very scenic lookouts. Towards the end of the Canyon a fairly steep set of stairs led us down into the canyon to a small bridge across the canyon and to another set of stairs back up on the other side. We took a little extra walk from the oth
er side back down to a place at the bottom of the canyon which is called "Garden Of Eden". There we found a large water hole with beautiful palm trees and nestled at the bottom rather high rock walls. This place was quite special and we found a nice rock ledge where we cooled down, had a little snack and enjoyed the ambiance for some time. After this little break we went back up tot he top of the canyon and walked back out on the other side. The views of the rocks were something to behold and reminded me a little bit of the Bungle Bungles with their beehive shapes.
We finished our walk by 11:30, a bit over the stated walk duration of 3.5 hrs, but we had a nice break at the "Garden Of Eden". Alexander was apprehensive about this walk as we have been told how hard it was, but by time we finished he was extra pleased with his effort of over 8km over fairly hard and partially steep terrain.
The Kings Canyon Rim Walk is one of the best walks I have ever done. Unfortunately, being so close to Uluru, there are too many bus tour tourists on the same walk
track, in fact hundreds of them, mostly from overseas. Although they bring in the tourist dollar these masses of people spoil the serenity and natural beauty of this special place.
Back at the caravan we had our well earned lunch and a bit of a rest before I took the kids to the swimming pool. The water was far to cold for me but the kids had a great time between the water and the playground. I chatted all afternoon with other people at the pool before returning to the caravan for dinner.
Today was the start of week 13, our last week on the road as far as our [somewhat loose] plan is concerned. We are still 2500km [shortest route] away from home and still enjoying the red centre of Australia, but tomorrow we will leave Kings Canyon Resort and head towards Coober Pedy.
Last night was fairly warm compared to our previous nights but quite pleasant for sleeping. The temperature in the morning was around 18°C and we got up early, had brekky and then drove 10km to Kings Canyon where we arrived at 7:45am to commence the famous "Rim Walk". The first part of the walk was fairly steep climb to the height to the top of the canyon. This climb was over countless (around 500 I've read) steps, some of them formed by nature others by rock and concrete. Once we arrived the top we had a great view over the area and were able to admire these intriguing rock formations close up. The walk took us along the rim of the canyon through some amazing rock formations. The rock in this area is very hard sandstone which formed many millions of years ago at the bottom of the sea. On some of the r
ocks we could even see the how the sand was formed into wavy patterns, as it does under water, before being turned into rock still maintaining the pattern. All the rock in the area has an orange - red - brown appearance but where a piece of rock is broken off it's a real sandy white/grey inside. The rocks have, very conveniently, formed into thousands of natural steps, many of which at the correct height to be used as a step by tourists.Although the track was going up and down a bit, it basically followed the rim of the Canyon with little side tracks leading to some very scenic lookouts. Towards the end of the Canyon a fairly steep set of stairs led us down into the canyon to a small bridge across the canyon and to another set of stairs back up on the other side. We took a little extra walk from the oth
er side back down to a place at the bottom of the canyon which is called "Garden Of Eden". There we found a large water hole with beautiful palm trees and nestled at the bottom rather high rock walls. This place was quite special and we found a nice rock ledge where we cooled down, had a little snack and enjoyed the ambiance for some time. After this little break we went back up tot he top of the canyon and walked back out on the other side. The views of the rocks were something to behold and reminded me a little bit of the Bungle Bungles with their beehive shapes.We finished our walk by 11:30, a bit over the stated walk duration of 3.5 hrs, but we had a nice break at the "Garden Of Eden". Alexander was apprehensive about this walk as we have been told how hard it was, but by time we finished he was extra pleased with his effort of over 8km over fairly hard and partially steep terrain.
The Kings Canyon Rim Walk is one of the best walks I have ever done. Unfortunately, being so close to Uluru, there are too many bus tour tourists on the same walk
track, in fact hundreds of them, mostly from overseas. Although they bring in the tourist dollar these masses of people spoil the serenity and natural beauty of this special place.Back at the caravan we had our well earned lunch and a bit of a rest before I took the kids to the swimming pool. The water was far to cold for me but the kids had a great time between the water and the playground. I chatted all afternoon with other people at the pool before returning to the caravan for dinner.
Today was the start of week 13, our last week on the road as far as our [somewhat loose] plan is concerned. We are still 2500km [shortest route] away from home and still enjoying the red centre of Australia, but tomorrow we will leave Kings Canyon Resort and head towards Coober Pedy.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Heading for the Oz Grand Canyon
Sunday 9th August 2009
We had a Sunday breakfast with Baked Beans and Eggs to start the day. Yesterday was our last day here at Yulara and I must say that I enjoyed Uluru more that I thought I would.
Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park is the only National Park I have ever been to that comes under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, every other park is the responsibility of the relevant State Government. It wasn't until 1985 that the park was handed back to traditional owners and then only on the condition that they lease it back to the Government for 99 years. However, the major change was that the park is managed by a board of 8 traditional owners (4 male, 4 female) and 4 Government and Parks representatives, so the Anangu people have the majority. The issue of climbing Uluru has been in the news of late and
that's all related to the draft management plan that will close the climb for good - a very good idea in my opinion!
We enjoyed our stay at Yulara but the caravan park part of the resort leaves a bit to be desired, in particular the showers which have one of those water saving non-adjustable shower heads which produced a stream of water really close to the wall and right above the taps leaving only 15cm or so to get under it. Getting wet under this shower was rather difficult and made it impossible to comply with the "Save Water" signs around the place. I was certainly glad to get away from those showers.
Being Sunday we had a slow morning and didn't get on the road until after 9am but we didn't have to cover a great distance, just over 300km. First we had to back track as Yulara is a dead end [sealed] road and the only way out was the way we came in. We headed East through Curtain Springs (a road house) and past Mt Conner until we turned North onto the Kings Canyon road and after 67km West again for another 100km until we reached Kings Canyon Resort some 6km past the Kings Canyon turnoff. The caravan part of this resort is quite nice with lots of amenity blocks and some shade. We picked a nice site and parked our caravan, had lunch and then started talking to the neighbours who'd just returned from the "Kings Canyon Rim Walk". We got all the good oil about how exhausting this walk is and that we have to leave early in the morning and finish before the day heats up.
Today we had 30°C and tomorrow will be similar, so we better take their advice and get away early.
In the afternoon a caravan pulled in next to us and we soon discovered the people come from Upper Gundowring, just a few km's out of Wodonga.
At 3pm we went for a short drive to check out Kings Canyon and do the 2km Kings Creek walk which took us along the bottom of Kings Canyon to a viewing platform near the end of the Canyon. We met Bern and Patrizia from Germany and had a nice chat with
them during our walk.
Back at the caravan park a lady came along to warn us about the Dingos which frequent the park - they will take any shoes left unattended even if the shoe owner is close by. Earlier today one Dingo had to be chased out of a tent after it opened the zip. Apparently the Dingos can open zips, if the zip is only left half an inch open the Dingo will push its nose in and work the zip upwards until it can get in. The same applies to Caravans - if doors are left open Dingos will get in and really mess up the inside in search of food. It's not just shoes but towels, drink bottles and all sorts of things get taken by Dingos around here. I wonder if Dingos around here also take children, we might leave our outside for the night .......
We had a Sunday breakfast with Baked Beans and Eggs to start the day. Yesterday was our last day here at Yulara and I must say that I enjoyed Uluru more that I thought I would.
Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park is the only National Park I have ever been to that comes under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, every other park is the responsibility of the relevant State Government. It wasn't until 1985 that the park was handed back to traditional owners and then only on the condition that they lease it back to the Government for 99 years. However, the major change was that the park is managed by a board of 8 traditional owners (4 male, 4 female) and 4 Government and Parks representatives, so the Anangu people have the majority. The issue of climbing Uluru has been in the news of late and
that's all related to the draft management plan that will close the climb for good - a very good idea in my opinion!We enjoyed our stay at Yulara but the caravan park part of the resort leaves a bit to be desired, in particular the showers which have one of those water saving non-adjustable shower heads which produced a stream of water really close to the wall and right above the taps leaving only 15cm or so to get under it. Getting wet under this shower was rather difficult and made it impossible to comply with the "Save Water" signs around the place. I was certainly glad to get away from those showers.
Being Sunday we had a slow morning and didn't get on the road until after 9am but we didn't have to cover a great distance, just over 300km. First we had to back track as Yulara is a dead end [sealed] road and the only way out was the way we came in. We headed East through Curtain Springs (a road house) and past Mt Conner until we turned North onto the Kings Canyon road and after 67km West again for another 100km until we reached Kings Canyon Resort some 6km past the Kings Canyon turnoff. The caravan part of this resort is quite nice with lots of amenity blocks and some shade. We picked a nice site and parked our caravan, had lunch and then started talking to the neighbours who'd just returned from the "Kings Canyon Rim Walk". We got all the good oil about how exhausting this walk is and that we have to leave early in the morning and finish before the day heats up.
Today we had 30°C and tomorrow will be similar, so we better take their advice and get away early.
In the afternoon a caravan pulled in next to us and we soon discovered the people come from Upper Gundowring, just a few km's out of Wodonga.
At 3pm we went for a short drive to check out Kings Canyon and do the 2km Kings Creek walk which took us along the bottom of Kings Canyon to a viewing platform near the end of the Canyon. We met Bern and Patrizia from Germany and had a nice chat with
them during our walk.Back at the caravan park a lady came along to warn us about the Dingos which frequent the park - they will take any shoes left unattended even if the shoe owner is close by. Earlier today one Dingo had to be chased out of a tent after it opened the zip. Apparently the Dingos can open zips, if the zip is only left half an inch open the Dingo will push its nose in and work the zip upwards until it can get in. The same applies to Caravans - if doors are left open Dingos will get in and really mess up the inside in search of food. It's not just shoes but towels, drink bottles and all sorts of things get taken by Dingos around here. I wonder if Dingos around here also take children, we might leave our outside for the night .......
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Kata Tjuta
Saturday 8th August 2009
The night wasn't quite as cold as I expected but still down to 5°C in the morning. We packed a picnic lunch and drove out to the Uluru Cultural Centre where the tourist information is located but unfortunately it was unattended (again) so we continued to Mala car park where tourists start their climb on the rock. Not that I had any intention of climbing it, but this morning the climb was closed due to forecast winds exceeding 25kt. The park board of management has put in a draft development plan to close the climb in a few years time but the traditional owners already ask tourists to respect their local laws and not to climb the rock. So far 35 deaths have been recorded from people attempting the climb.
We met up with the Rangers who conducted the Mala walk along the base of Uluru to Kantju Gorge.
Mala is the Rufous Hare Wallaby which plays a big part in Tjukurpa, the Dreaming (or creation story) of the local Anangu people. We went to many interesting places that had been used for many thousands of years to educate young people and prepare equipment and people for sacred ceremonies. There was a separate place for men and for woman to keep their activities and storys from each other - a bit like what happens today in white man's world
!
We also learned a bit more about bush tucker and the use of the Bloodwood tree as an antiseptic.
After this very informative walk we went for a drive around Uluru and then continued onto Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) which is a 50km trip. We stopped at the Dune Viewing platform to admire this impressive formation of rounded rocks from a distance. Kata Tjuta rises over 500mt above its surrounds, whereas Uluru is only 350mt high.
We stopped at the Sunset Viewing car park to have our lunch before continuing onto The "Valley Of The Winds" where we walked to a lookout right in the middle of Kata Tjuta. It was great to walk right next to these rounded, but very steep, hills made of conglomerate rock. It's easy to see how the local Creation stories talk about these impressive natural features as something that has been left behind by the ancestors, who were large versions of local animals, on their travels throughout this land. It is also easy to see how some of these places are considered sacred and off limits to everyone but the oldest and wisest elders in a community.
Next on the agenda was the Walpa (Windy) Gorge walk which took us about 1.3km
into a Gorge formerly known as Olga Gorge. I'm not too sure how high the near vertical walls were but they were towering hundreds of meters above us and some parts of this Gorge never see sunlight. There was even a little bit of water running near the end of the Gorge. We went all the way to the end of the Gorge and sat there for some time enjoying the view and the cool air. Walpa Gorge is certainly an impressive sight but there is a continuous stream of tourists flowing in and out. They come by the bus loads from all corners of the earth to see this fantastic place. Tourist numbers peaked in the year of the Sydney Olympics at 500,000 per year but are now back to under 400,000 per year.
On our way back to Yulara we stopped at the Sunset Viewing car park to get a few nice shots of Kata Tjuta in good light and then we were on our way.
Back at Yulara we filled up the car, went to the supermarket for some supplies and finally arrived back at the caravan just before 6pm. The kids have already fallen asleep after all the walking during the day and I won't be far behind them.
The night wasn't quite as cold as I expected but still down to 5°C in the morning. We packed a picnic lunch and drove out to the Uluru Cultural Centre where the tourist information is located but unfortunately it was unattended (again) so we continued to Mala car park where tourists start their climb on the rock. Not that I had any intention of climbing it, but this morning the climb was closed due to forecast winds exceeding 25kt. The park board of management has put in a draft development plan to close the climb in a few years time but the traditional owners already ask tourists to respect their local laws and not to climb the rock. So far 35 deaths have been recorded from people attempting the climb.
We met up with the Rangers who conducted the Mala walk along the base of Uluru to Kantju Gorge.
Mala is the Rufous Hare Wallaby which plays a big part in Tjukurpa, the Dreaming (or creation story) of the local Anangu people. We went to many interesting places that had been used for many thousands of years to educate young people and prepare equipment and people for sacred ceremonies. There was a separate place for men and for woman to keep their activities and storys from each other - a bit like what happens today in white man's world
!We also learned a bit more about bush tucker and the use of the Bloodwood tree as an antiseptic.
After this very informative walk we went for a drive around Uluru and then continued onto Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) which is a 50km trip. We stopped at the Dune Viewing platform to admire this impressive formation of rounded rocks from a distance. Kata Tjuta rises over 500mt above its surrounds, whereas Uluru is only 350mt high.
We stopped at the Sunset Viewing car park to have our lunch before continuing onto The "Valley Of The Winds" where we walked to a lookout right in the middle of Kata Tjuta. It was great to walk right next to these rounded, but very steep, hills made of conglomerate rock. It's easy to see how the local Creation stories talk about these impressive natural features as something that has been left behind by the ancestors, who were large versions of local animals, on their travels throughout this land. It is also easy to see how some of these places are considered sacred and off limits to everyone but the oldest and wisest elders in a community.
Next on the agenda was the Walpa (Windy) Gorge walk which took us about 1.3km
into a Gorge formerly known as Olga Gorge. I'm not too sure how high the near vertical walls were but they were towering hundreds of meters above us and some parts of this Gorge never see sunlight. There was even a little bit of water running near the end of the Gorge. We went all the way to the end of the Gorge and sat there for some time enjoying the view and the cool air. Walpa Gorge is certainly an impressive sight but there is a continuous stream of tourists flowing in and out. They come by the bus loads from all corners of the earth to see this fantastic place. Tourist numbers peaked in the year of the Sydney Olympics at 500,000 per year but are now back to under 400,000 per year.On our way back to Yulara we stopped at the Sunset Viewing car park to get a few nice shots of Kata Tjuta in good light and then we were on our way.
Back at Yulara we filled up the car, went to the supermarket for some supplies and finally arrived back at the caravan just before 6pm. The kids have already fallen asleep after all the walking during the day and I won't be far behind them.
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