Ghanta Poornima

It is a 5000km road trip which I was quite confident about with 4 drivers in a car. The ABC news post indicating a heat wave closing 50° really scares me for my little one. But still we decided to give the adventure a go with mission- guard Suhas with my life!
Started at 6am from home after our morning coffees, it got bright and sunny indicating a bright day ahead. As we passed Ballarat we saw our first wind mill sites on top of hills. Then suddenly we saw some smoke (that's what we thought) ahead...the road suddenly transported us to a picturous hill station with lot of thick fog. It was short lived but beautiful surprise within the first hour of the trip.
We passed few old style villages like Aarat, Horsham. We took a planned brekky pitstop at Pink lake. It was not as pink as we thought it would be in the first glimpse from car. We stepped out and the flies quickly found us and started bothering all of. Suhas had the fly hat on and we all walked to the bank of the lake and took some pictures. Up close I really liked the strawberry milkshaky lake. Suhas also
Back on the road with lot of silos on the way in varying sizes and numbers. The much awaited Coonalpyn's painted silos came. We all got down except suhas and took some pictures. The kids were very naturally sketched in charcoal on a mega gaint canvas.
Passed the famous Murray river and as we approached south Australian borders we saw the quarantine sign mentioning that no fruit and vegetable are allowed into the state limits. We had a forced lunch stop with bananas, cherries, mango and carrots. Dumped the leftovers into the deep pit boxes along the road side. We reached Adelaide YHA central hostel at 2ish. Our room had 6 bunk beds which is close to bathrooms which is handy. Headed to common dining area which is huge with multiple cooking and washing stations. We had lunch.
Naren, Tinku, Asish had naps. While suhas and me finished home work. In the evening we went around the city first thing notice Adelaide had trams too. We stopped at the fish scale (my name) building, Adelaide Oval and then drove around CBD to notice the green belt concept all around the CBD which looked beautiful and refreshing as most CBDs are just high rise buildings and inner suburbs all around.
We discovered Victoria square accidentally as we drove past and decided to take a walk. The square was so we'll decorated with a huge Christmas tree and a beautiful water fountain and water feature where lots of kids and adults we're having a good time.
We returned home had dinner, bath and went to bed.
All in all day 1 was very good and Adelaide gave a good start.

DAY 2 Coober Pedy
Next day started 4.30 am. We stopped for fueling us and the car just outside Adelaide. We hit the road and it is surprisingly a mild morning. We stopped for a few click along white fields ( not sure what they grow) with wind Mills in the backdrop which looked beautiful. There was fog again and some hills at a distance for sometime and then the scenery had facelift with a bit of blue- sea on the left side of the highway as we drove towards Port Augusta. We had our sandwiches for brekky and suhas had a little play at the Hungry Jack's play area before we are back on the road. Heat started off, as we embaroed on to Stuart Highway. Vegetation became dry and empty with roads getting more colorful with red, green and black bitumen.
There were small salt lakes on the way, I was wanting to stop but then my mission reminded me to keep the step out of cars to minimum. The wait for lake Hart was over and it was truely mesmerizing. We parked the car and started walking to the lake must be 500m away from parking. We crossed Ghan train track through a tunnel under the track. As we got closer the scale and expanse was a visual treat. Me and Asish walked into the lake. It is dry to the driest point possible, the salt made sounds as it got crushed under our feet. Tinku, Suhas and naren turned back after crossing.
The no toilet scenario started having a toll I had to relieve myself while I watched the white lake at a lower eye level.
Roadkills were so frequent that after a point they were part of the scenery for us.
The small and frequent dust twirls we saw along the roads and at distances were interesting giving a little peak of the American tornados.
Suddenly there was a dark green patch of greenery at a distance in the front and we were are discussing if it was a different vegetation or something and then we realized it is just a shadow cast by a cloud that makes the otherwise pale green landscape suddenly deepen in color. That was lol moment for all of us.
We reached Coober Pedy at around 3ish. We checked into out dugout ( rather than underground) motel which is basically scooped out off a sandstone hill. Looked rugged and felt cooler when compared to the baking heat of 48° outside. We had mi goreng for lunch. Inspite of the heat we decided to venture out to the old opal mine but to our disappointment it is closed till 7th Jan make it a miss for us on our way back home.
Going around Coober Pedy is like being in a mad Max movie set the desert topography, the heat and most importantly the vehicles and bumping into the Aboriginal up close added to the effect.
We quickly went to supermarket shopped for our lunches and dinners. All of us enjoyed icy poles like mad in the mad max town.
Cooking was easy with all the boys helping in some capacity.
Suhas slept and we all had a little chatty walk in the motel front.
Encounter with Taiwanese Coober Pedy local lady was a giggle story we will all remember.

DAY 3 Uluru
We were advised to start at 6 am the next day as there are going to be animals on the highway around sunset and sunrise.
We started and to see these white sand dunes along the highway which are piled from the opal mines. This made me even more curious about the opal mines, I am determined to visit one on the way back.
White sand dunes and the sunrise looked beautiful and we stopped to take pictures. There were many flat plateau like hills all along.
We entered Northern territory with good news and bad news- we gained one hour time with increased speed limit to 130 kmph and more heat.
The red earth started surfacing more and more.
We stopped at Kulgera to have our sandwiches and refuel. It was just a shop, pub with fuel station- windy rough and hot place. I don't understand why anyone will want to live in such remote place to run this place?
We came to Uluru at 12ish to realize our rooms are not ready till 3pm.
We quickly joined a indoor bush food workshop and it was a very disappointing talk but my talk with the Aboriginal speaker was the highlight.
I better put them in bullets:
1. Bush people eat vegetarian diet mostly
2. Eats wild berries, roots and nectar water for brekky and lunch
3. Kangaroo and emu meat is eaten for dinner if the hunting for the day is successful.
4. Men usually hunt and women grind, process wild food into powders etc
5. There are poisonous snakes which are eaten with the head removed. As that's the only part which carries venom
6. They survive with very little water to no water consuming alternatives like kangaroo blood, succelent plants.
7. Meat is just cooked on fire and eatten.
8. Wattleseed flour is used to make bread baked in the ground with coal.
Couple of hours in Uluru with the heat and harsh environment around and all the difficulties the bush people had with food and water I started appreciating and I am more thankful for my life.
Had home cooked lunch all the boys had a nap and I finished my diary till now :)
Went to IGA for shopping, saw lot of Aboriginal families roaming around without footwear, stinky, clothed badly but seem shopping all sorts of things without worrying about the price. Shopping with credit cards. They don't seem to work anywhere, how do they earn their living? Where are the credit card coming from?
They seem to just roam around without a worry!
Then we started to drive to kata tjuta at 7pm and realized the park closes by 9pm so changed the plan and drove to see the big rock. It truely looked breathtaking as we approached.
Our 2300kms outback drive which is simply a dry arid flat scenery without much color and altitude preped our minds to be blown by this huge, smooth, red, solid, balanced, beautiful rock. We were in awe for the whole evening!
Cooked dinner, had bath and slept around midnight.
Boys slept in one room and I slept with the Japanese girls in the other room.
Woke up at 3.45am and got ready. Left at 5 am to Uluru. Started the base walk at 6am and finished by 8.30am suhas also walked ard 10km with naren carrying him on his shoulders on and off. It started get hot but pushed ourselves to kata Tjuta which is more interesting as we drove but nothing unusual when we are up close. The stone composition has more silicon so it is not as red as Uluru (which is more iron and red color is due to the natural rusting) Stopped at a sand dune view point with views to both kata Tjuta and Uluru.
Came home and crashed. Woke up had lunch.
Tinku and Ashish cooked dinner to give me a break....which was good and I got creative and made pasta out of the sharing with all items which all the boys loved.
Boys chilled with wine.
We all dressed well and went to the sunset point. I wore a organza saree with hints of red to match the majestic rock. Suhas didn't co-operate for pictures so we took more couple pics. Asish was patient enough to take our pics. It felt good to have someone who cared to take pictures of us. Naren took lots of pics for the boys. I met a Melbournian / amseterdamian there and chatted. He said " please do king's canyon -it is like being in nature" these are two phrases which convinced me to take on the next day with eagerness inspite on naren almost considering to cancel the king's canyon stretch as it is additional 300km. The initial plan was to start early in the morning to king's and do the trek after we reach. But our brilliant mind (naren) came up with the idea that let's do the sunraise again and head to king's relaxedly and do the trek the next day early morning before heats kicks in. So the next day was sorted. We came back to the resort and hoped onto our field of lights bus. It was pitch dark and the little lights glowed with Uluru Rock as a backdrop which showed mildly with thunders in the sky. The guide was very friendly and took us to a spot on a elevated sand dunes which gave a panaroma view of the whole field which was breath taking. The sky looked clear and full of starsRead more