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Road trip to Darwin

June - September 2019
Could be our last big road trip to the top end. Ian and I hope to visit Lake Eyre, Darwin, Broome and all the bits between Read more
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  • TravelerRoad trip to Darwin
    Day 12

    Housekeeping in Roxby

    July 8, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    I did three washes today....which required 12 dollar coins. I had 11 coins, but after finishing the first wash, there was a dollar rattling around in the bottom of the washing machine!! God is good! And the Universe looks after it's own!
    Changed the bed and washed 10days worth of clothes. We replaced a gas cylinder, fixed a tyre, and bought some groceries at Woolworths. The tyre cost over $500 dollars....scary. I had a lovely time vacuum sealing all the meat. It is a very therapeutic pastime. We also drove out to Andamooka, an opal mining town on a smaller scale to Coober Pedy....we didn't even get out of the car...which was sad, it all seemed pretty bleak, and if there was a town centre we couldn't find it! I phoned my mum, and had a great chat.    Read more

  • TravelerRoad trip to Darwin
    1
    Day 13

    Gravel Pit free camp along the Stuart Hi

    July 9, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Our aim was to camp overnight at Lake Hart. We stopped for coffee about 1 1/2hours into our trip, at Pimba. Ian also ordered a Chicco roll, and I had chicken on a skewer. Apparently called a kebab! We passed through Woomera which was looking much fresher than our previous camping visit in 2015. There were an amazing amount of caravans, both parked and passing through. Almost every vehicle we passed coming towards us was either a caravan camper or trailer. Not surprisingly Lake Hart was also teeming with Van's. It seems that you need to be ensconced there from very early in the morning. We passed on! The next free camp was about 50kms away, but directions were poor, and we were past the turn off before we realised. 50km further on from there was the Gravel pit. We had the place to ourselves, and lit the most glorious fire, after watching the sunset....which are always worth watching in the desert. And when the sun goes down, the flies go away.....they are almost in plague proportions out here!Read more

  • TravelerRoad trip to Darwin
    Day 14

    Overnight in Cadney Park

    July 10, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Cadney Park is a Road House along the Stuart Highway, about 200km past Coober Pedy. We passed through Coober Pedy around midday, and filled up with petrol. At the side of the road ( beside a childrens park) we had lunch. Ian sat outside initially, but came inside after he had finished his soup. The wind was whipping up the red dust to an uncomfortable amount. Ian's soup bowl was ringed in red, and even opening the door filled the caravan with dust. I was very glad we weren't staying here. However the wind continued until Cadney Park, which proved to cost us a lot more in Desiel. We stayed unpowered, for $20, which allowed us the use of toilets, and showers. No fire tonight, but we still sat outside and retired early. I met a WA farmers wife while having a shower. She had just driven down the Oodnadatta track, bursting two tyres on her journey. Money was obviously not an issue, as she had specifically come from Perth to fly over Lake Eyre...a 6 hour flight for her! We also met a slightly odd young man, who had inherited his grandparents caravan. It had an hydraulic system which lifted the rigid roof up making the van twice the height when stationary. When travelling the top of the van folded down fitting over the bottom half.Read more

  • TravelerRoad trip to Darwin
    Day 15

    Free camp at Desert Oaks RA

    July 11, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Great camp! Red soil and scrub. Luckily our new neighbour from Streaky Bay (driving a big converted bus) had packed some wood with them, as the camp was picked clean! Graham and Maureen were seasoned campers, so we sat around a lovely fire sharing a beer. About 30- 40 campers, caravans and a bus shared this spot, with great toilets- even if they were long drops. You start to spot the same campers from other stops and many were here. We had to join a queue at Kulgera, for petrol. While Ian waited, I went into the pub and bought a couple of bottles of Shiraz. The choice wasn't what make of wine, but simply Shiraz or Merlot. Definitely a man's outback pub! Bras and knickers hung from the rafters. And with the amount of shoes hanging from the hills hoist outside, I guess many left this place with fewer things to pack in their Van's!
    We were now in the Northern Territory. Big skies, and red dirt!    Read more

  • TravelerRoad trip to Darwin
    Day 16

    Wintersun CP Alice Springs

    July 12, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Got the last spot in the place, thankfully we were directed into the tight little spot in the corner. Ian made friends with Ken and Pam who were travelling farmers from southern NSW. They were in their late 70's and were finding the task of putting their trailer tent up and down a struggle. I am very grateful for my caravan! We went into the town and Ian bought some postcards while I bought a pair of bather bottoms! Laura is coming for tea tomorrow night so will have to plan a hot easy meal...not too warm here!Read more

  • TravelerRoad trip to Darwin
    Day 17

    2nd day in Alice

    July 13, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    We discovered this morning that a lot of our underwear was missing....presumably still hanging from the washing line in Roxby. My fault! I mean, who would want to steal them!! Anyway we managed to replace them in Woolworths of all places! Ian got bond jocks and socks, and I, new knickers and socks. I had really liked my thick warm cotton socks which I had bought in Tassie...all gone! This afternoon we went to the Desert Park and watched the flying bird display. Outstanding!
    Laura came round this evening for tea...it was so cold. We ended up huddled together in the caravan. Down to 2 degrees overnight! Brrrr    Read more

  • TravelerRoad trip to Darwin
    Day 18

    3rd day in Alice Springs

    July 14, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    I needed to return my new underwear...I had lifted the wrong size! So we headed out to Simpson's Gap via Woolworths. I would meet Ian at the Information center on the next street. A street market was on and Alice was buzzing! Ian got talking to one of the women staffing the Info C. And next thing we are driving 130 odd km to Ormiston Gorge. We had lunch in the carpark with the flies, then started walking! That was a little bit of a misnomer as it seemed to be mainly climbing over rocks! It was slow going at times, but beautiful! It also became apparent that it would be dark by the time we finished this 7km hike, at the rate we were moving! We spotted some people joining our route from a different path, so we joined the Ghost Gum track, which climbed up to a view point at the top of the gorge. All very beautiful! It was 6pm by the time we returned to the CP. We then went to the Gillen Club for dinner. Pub Fare, but good.Read more

  • TravelerRoad trip to Darwin
    Day 19

    On the road to Tennant Creek

    July 15, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We managed to manoeuvre our way out of the caravan Park quite easily in the end...but only because the guy opposite us also left this morning, so we drove through his site back onto the road! We stopped for fuel at Alleron, and took snaps of the giant Aboriginal statues around the road house. They were fantastic! We also bought some Aboriginal Art. We were heading to Barrow Creek WW11 site...once used as a stop over by the Americans on the way to Darwin. Great camp. No facilities but very picturesque. There was a full moon and we lit a fire. Life felt good!Read more

  • TravelerRoad trip to Darwin
    Day 20

    Attack Creek

    July 16, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Leaving our lovely free camp this morning I noticed paw prints quite clearly, moving around the outside of our caravan...Dingos! Glad we didn't leave anything edible around. I had to trudge over the Bush with my foldable spade from Aldi this morning. The grass had frost on it, so it was nippy. Put my jacket, gloves and trusty blanket round my knees and waited for the sun to warm me up while I drank my coffee. On the road we stopped for diesel where they promote alien landings...we also spotted a young German guy, who had broken down on the side of the road yesterday. He was using LPG and his car preferred petrol! Also stopped at the Devils Marbles. Then lunch in the carpark at Tennant Creek Mining centre.
    We drove on to our free camp destination which was chocker's! And dirty! All the bins were full. Feral cats wandered around at night. But it had clean toilets (long drops).    Read more

  • TravelerRoad trip to Darwin
    Day 21

    Daly Waters

    July 17, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Last but one to leave our overnight stop. The wind was behind us, and we headed to the iconic Daily Waters pub and CP. We have been listening to books along the way, and finished off 'The Boy Who Swallowed the Universe' today. Very wordy Australian book....different. Changing landscape again, with a lot more green apparent. More cows...similar to those we saw in WA. And getting warmer!
    Daly Waters pub is the most Australian of Australian pubs! $10 pp per night. No power or water , but toilets and hot showers! Some locals around, but mostly tourists like ourselves. We had a couple of beers and chatted away the rest of the afternoon. Put my shorts on!    Read more

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