TUESDAY 28 JUNE ALICE SPRINGS

Well we have arrived in the Capital of central Australia, (Alice Springs). It is much diff to what we all expected. A really nice tidy town, during day light hrs appears to be doing its best but dont think too many people like to venture out late of a nite.The cops have a lot to deal with. Sorry we have not blogged any earlier but we have been on the go every day...... so ... On sat morn  18th /6  we head up to the lookout close by to our site for sunrise of The Rock, and met up with a  couple from Tassie who have invited us to stay at their property (when we go to Tassie), then back for breakie & on to Uluru. What a sight, it is so big, unbelievable to see, and sheer the cliffs all round are just incredible to see, the walk up the rock is closed due to wind conditions, so we decide to walk around the rock, nearly 10klms, Terry only walked to Kanji Gorge, then the other 5 of us continued around the  rock , took some great photos of the rock , waterholes & flowers but some places of the Rock are sacred sites so no photos allowed to be taken , we go past where the Famous Dingo took Azaria??? It took 3 & 1/2 hrs to walk around & by then the climb up was opened, so Rans decides to go up, takes off and makes the chain railing (about 150mtrs ) & looks back... BOY its high & scary, others continue to climb which is another 1.2km but he decided to come back down but got down on his BUM?? and crawled very slowly !!We then went out to sunset viewing area, we got there around 4.30pm & opened bottle of Moet,(thanks Jack & Will) & chesse & bikkies,sat there till the sunset, it was just beautiful watching the rock change so many colours, great day again!!!! Sunday 19/6 everyone a bit exhausted from previous day so Carol & Rans went up in a helicopter ride over Uluru & the Olgas, just awesome, loved it, well worth the money but I would do the walks through Olgas first so as to get a better idea of where you go. We took over 80 photos. We see things like The Capricorn Resort which is $2000 a note minimum 2 DAYS???  Carol enjoyed the flight, a little nervous, but she told the pilot the front needs a JESUS BAR??????????? Back for happy Hr again, how good is this...

Monday we are up early as we are going out for the whole day, Caz does hot chooks in her dream pot. We all go out to Sunrise of Olgas  which is great. We all then go on a walk through one of the valleys in the Olgas, which was great, then back to car for morn tea. The Bewells & us two go on a walk through the Valley of the Winds this was just the best thing that we have seen & done so far, the views through the valley plus the cliff faces are magnificent, it was 7.4km and took a while but just great, back for hot chicken lunch then back to C/van pk.. Tez & Rans go up to bottle shop as Tez wants some beer, you have to take a slip of paper which has your name & site No on it (to buy any alcohol),Tez asked how much is a carton? the bloke told us they don't sell cartons, only a 6 pack to one person only, the price for 6 pack of Carlton draught was $38, yes that's right ! it works out to be $152 a ctn!!! Tez told him he'll take up drinking water.!!!!!!                                                                                         Adam went back to specialist today Many thanks Cathxxx
Tues we head off to Kings Canyon, saw a herd of wild camels not much else, arrive set up, its called a Resort but far from it!! Reception smelt of mouse,( there were mice running around everywhere) no Ph reception, mum panics as it Brett's B,Day on Thurs, anyway  5 of us go for the helicopter ride over the Canyon, it is absolutely great again, you get value for money & its worth every cent. Diesel here is $2.24.8 catch up with new friends Harley & Jeff & wife's for drinks. During the night we hear Dingos which are close by, but we didn't know how close till morning
Wed we went on Katherine walk & Kings Canyon gorge walk, come back and saw a  dingo in park, it jumps up opens the lid of  a wheelie bin  and pulls out a bag of rubbish but is shooed off by a camper.

THURSDAY 5 of us do the Kings canyon rim walk, it is steep at the beginning with very narrow paths with sheer drops in some places Rans & Di find it a bit hard re heights but once at the top it was again AWESOME, we don't go near the cliffs although John is much gamer than the rest of us but not as game as some of the idiots who sit on the cliff edge(200m straight down) with their legs dangling over the side, We all enjoy the walk which took a little over 4hrs. The Garden of Eden was great a Billabong up on top of the gorge with water, plants etc. Di done really well as it is tiring and steep. Back ring Brett & Shirl for their B'Day by public phone and then pack up. The grounds have a lot to be desired with filthy toilet blocks, which we complain of, they have a monopoly so its take it or leave it.    FRIDAY we head back towards the Stuart Hwy, get some fuel at Erldunda, lunch, phone calls, net stuff and then stop at Rest area for the night, nice spot new toilets not to noisy 3-4 other cars pull up.  SAT Up and head off arriving in Alice around 11.15am, it surprises us all a nice town in between the McDonnell ranges, the c/park is very busy, sites are small, we are under a tree which we don't like but its livable. We go into town to do shopping at Woolies plus beer stock up( you have to swipe your drivers licence to buy it ), then back for Hamburgers for tea, its a bit noisy where we are with a main rd close by. SUNDAY Up and into town and see the markets catch up with Harley & Jeff again, Carol bumps into a couple she new, (Beverley & Kevin)who now live at Nowra, then back for lunch and then out to the Old telegraph Stn, go on walk see where they have the Boat races on the Todd river, which never has any water in it, then to Anzac Lookout over town, it was great. MONDAY The Bewells and us 2 head off out to the West McDonnell Ranges,  a drive of about 140km one way, we went to Glen Helen gorge & campground it was great, then onto Mt Sonter lookout and then Ormiston Gorge which was a gorgeous, and wonderful walks around the water (which was a bit smelly from dead fish which apparently die this time year), then onto Serpentine Gorge, another beautiful place with a lookout on to of the cliff (rans didn't make this one.. a bit close to the edge), we then returned home getting back around 5.40pm a quick shower then to the RSL for tea with Kev & Beverley and watch footy,... worse luck, ( Manly -St George ) a nice meal for all. TUESDAY do a bit around the vans, get gas bottles filled etc, then after lunch go out to the Desert Park which is again well worth the money and a must to see, the bird show was great along with the different aviaries and the nocturnal house. It takes 3-4hrs but you could spend a day there. Then back for early tea ,everyone is a bit exhausted, its been go go go but it has also been such a wonderful, eyeopening experience so far that every Aussie should see & do. Well we are here in Alice till Sun then we are heading out to the ranges for a few days free camping, then we will slowly be making our way towards Darwin.The days have been beaut about 21-22 degrees, nites still a bit cool, but getting warmer, no rain since we were in Cobar NSW,There a lot more photos you can see...go to the RHS and click on Trip phptos, you will probably get sick of looking at ssoooo many, but cant take enough to show the true vision we  see,    Its Cathy's birthday tomorrow so A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Cath, will close now miss you all, hope you are all ok, take care..love you all heaps Rans & Carol xxxx                                 PS...Hi to Ott & Sue too, our friends in Wamberal xx

FRIDAY 17th JUNE ULURU

Hi to all we we have made it to the big rock. Arrived here approx 10.30am today Fri 17/6. Since our last post the following has happened. Monday we went out to The Breakways for Sunrise, the trip itself was an adventure with John driving in the dark, with 4 pairs of eyes keeping a lookout for roos etc, we saw 2 small ones which took off in opposite direction, we got some great photos, it was soooo cold out there, luckily we took a cuppa to have & then we headed back for some breakie. Then Stephen and John went and played 9 holes of golf, Oh Boy what a laugh, rock/gravel fairways with dark dirt greens, they give you 3 balls, card, tees and a piece of green carpet turf to hit your ball off, all for $10, plus you should see the clubs you hire for $10 (you wouldn't use your own!! ). In the afternoon we packed up, fueled up etc, we had some problem with Telstra with no phone or net service, but we got to speak with the Murph's earlier and caught up on some of whats happening at home. On Tuesday we headed Nth fueling up at Marla then continued on. There were some other spots to stay but we decided to continue to the border where we set up, a small area with approx 10 vans cramped in. It was going to be a cool nite so it was early to bed, plus there were a few mice running around so it was better to stay inside, one lady was heard to scream when a mouse ran up her leg, Diane hates them and was panicky. Woke up early Wed morn to ice on out windscreen, car roof, van and the water tap at the toilet frozen up, it was cold my guage in the back of the car showed -0.5. We headed off early and got to Eridunda fueled up again $1.89.8. Its here where we turn left towards Uluru, we continued for another hr or 2 and stopped at a free camp area which looked OK and turned out to be great. It was State of Origin Nite and couldn't get TV, but luckily we had two huge Winnibago's stop, one of which was a Queenslander who had Tv service, after introducing ourselves Carol went in and got dressed up in her blue wig, & T shirt it was good fun and the 2 couples were lovely, they did offer for us to go and watch the game so Stephen (Carol would have been too loud !!) went over just on kick off and watched it with Geoff who was from Mackay, but only stayed till the first try and then came back & listened to it on radio, a great game it sounded like. Diane had an experience with a mouse who turned out to be Stephen scratching on her van walls & windows, she sh.. herself. Up Thursday, Stephen's birthday,we had a big breakie and say bye to our new friends with Geoff giving Carol a big hug congratulating her, she said HE wouldn't have got the same response if Qld had of won !!We then got out a mat, golf clubs, a few balls and set up a bucket and played golf, it was great fun with the balls going sideways when they hit the ground, so it was pure luck if someone got near the bucket but Carol did some great pitches with John having the best shot of the day. We then had some lunch and gathered some firewood and had a great fire going by tea time, with a nice tea and apple pie & cream for dessert (Stephens b'day cake), it tasted bloody beautiful. It was a full moon so to just lay back in bed and watch the stars & moon was good, a few other people had come in & set up. Friday we packed up & headed off around 9am going past Mt Connor (the cousin of Uluru) & approx 40km out we could see the rock and the Olga's, Its a fantstic sight and cant wait to we get closer tomorrow, we went for a walk around the village of Yulgara and it has been well set out with most buildings hidden from each other as well as the public. We watched the sunset from a lookout close to our site and then had a nice tea and since we have phone & net service it was time to make a number of calls and do paperwork & Rans was stoked to get to watch both games of footy.Well we have a lot to do in the next few days so I will close here and try &  get another blog done before we leave here with lots of photos Hi again to all, thanks to all for Stephens birthday messages, we miss you all heaps, we have now been gone a month......so ???? more to go !! Take care, with all our love Rans  Carol xxxx

PIC'S BET P/AUG & COOB/PEDY

SUNDAY 12 JUNE 2011 COOBER PEDY

HAPPY B'DAY THOMSIE.....& TO OUR FRIENDS IN BATEMANS THIS W' END ENJOY WE MISS YOU'S
Well we have arrivd in Coober Pedy a town we think hasn't changed much over the past 40yrs.  Terry has been sick with the flu for the past 3 days and hasn't come out of bed or had a beer so he must be crook.
Anyway here is what has happened since our last blog. We headed off from Port Augusta early Wed morn looking at Ranges view and Island Lagoon lookout(great views). We arrived at Pimba a tiny town just off the hwy, we set up in a large free parking area near Spuds Roadhouse,it was safe to leave the vans so we headed for the short drive into Woomera, as you are probably all most aware of all the rockets & satelites etc that were sent up from here , the town is a history of all them, lots of planes, rockets & equipment scattered around & a great museum, anyone interested,  it is a must see.It is also a Army & Air base now as well.It was rather chilly there so after all our sight seeing we headed back to our site to find about another 25 vans had come in as well, a great spot obviously.Next day we drove 110 klms to a town called Andamooka, established in the early 1900's.....well Terry's decription of the place was "the closet thing to the arsehole of the earth"...oh my god, the most untidiest, dirty, dusty, dry, messy, unkept place you could ever step foot onto, it has to be seen to be believed ! We then headed to Roxby Downs about 30 ks back from there & the total opposite, mind you it only was established in the1980's & is a wealthy mining town, very expensive to live.No sight seeing here but we did have a lovely Gluten Free Pizza & Pasta lunch !! The next day, Friday we headed (3 girls driving) towards Coober Pedy, lots of different scenes along the way from beautiful lakes to the flattest barren countryside. We arr before lunch & booked into a Underground Camping/ Caravan Pk just outside of town. Tents go underground (thank goodness).the girls wouldn't like to do it but the boys reckon they would give it a go !! After setting up we headed into town to see the underground homes (one had a swimming pool in it !!) & motels & shops. A definite must see for all who comes out here, its not a tidy looking town with all the opal mining & fossicking equipment & piles & piles of dirt & rock that has been dug up scattererd everywhere, and air vents poking up all over the place ( that is how you can tell where theres a home !!) Its unbelievable to see, more than 80% of the homes are underground.We went down into the Serbian & Catholic Churches..just beautiful. We had a mine tour included at our van site  so we did that about 7pm, very interesting but one thing we have decided ....we are not becoming prospecters !! The days are cold but the nights are freezing, thats why they live underground, temps stays at about 23 to 25 degrees all year and in summer outside can get up to 45 to 60.On Sat we headed out to the see the Dingo fence, Moon Plains & The Breakaways about 40 minutes drive.....well what a WOW moment....unbelievable to see The Breakaways( its where they filmed BEYOND THUNDERDOME MAD MAX) was like arriving on another planet, just incredible, we are actually heading back there Monday morning at 6.30am to see the sunrise.Today has been a day of washing, tidying, maitanance & photos & BLOGGING !!We called it our rest day but not much chance for that so far...but we have got a baked dinner on for tea & if its as cold as last night (around 1 degrees) we will be crawlling into bed reasonably early. So thats about it for today, hi to all, hope you are all having a good long weekend (heard some of you have had a wet, cold one !) We are heading off here on Tues towards Uluru hoping to get there about Fri 17th June, Take care, miss you all,with lots of love Rans & Carol xxxxx

PORT AUGUSTA TUES 7 JUNE 11

Well its been a while since our last update, we set up at Flinders Ranges C/Park on Mon 30 May a nice clean place with a campfire. We had a quick look around town which didn't take long. On Tuesday we all headed out into the Flinders Ranges stopping off at Rawnsley Bluff and a number of lookouts, we then arrived at Wilpena Pound and we all headed off on foot towards the Pound, with Terry making it to the Billabong, Carol & Di to the Homestead, Rans to the first lookout & the Bewells to the top lookout. We all then walked back and had some lunch, feeling a bit tired, we then continued on driving along Brachina Gorge seeing emus, yellow footed wallabies, roos, wedge tail eagles & wild horses. The drive along the gorge was fantastic with many spectacular views of Mountains, hills, rock faces, creek beds & vegetation. The drive took over 3hrs and we didn't arrive back to camp until almost dark. We all slept well that nite!! The next day John & Sandy took an all day flight over the Pound, up to Lake Eyre over to William Creek for a stop over lunch then back through the Ranges, whilst we headed off to a free camp spot 18km nth of Hawker  called Hookina Creek this was a great spot with firewood close by but we were already greeted by a large stump still on fire from a previous camper, so that saved us collecting wood for a day. A couple of other travellers joined us for the next couple of days. Thursday we were joined by John &Sandra who after setting up took off for the day with Di travelling up to Blinmen and through the Ranges. They arrived back late in the arvo to a Roast Pork Dinner which was cooked on the campfire..it was Bloody Beautiful (as G.Holman would say !). On Friday the Ransleys & Bewells again took off for a drive through the Scenic Road, Sacred Canyon & Hawker (where we done our footy tips). We arrived back late in the arvo to have a nice meal, with Terry & Di having fish cooked on the hot plate. I tried to listen to footy on radio but only could get AFL :(  Saturday was an easy day hanging around the campsite catching up on paperwork and things with car & van, went on a couple of easy walks to historic cemetery, Ruins & the Old Ghan Railway. Terry went into Hawker 18kms Sth to do some shopping, then on way back we saw him coming, then drive by us and he kept going....so we said he will realise he's gone past and we waited....and waited ....and waited ...somehow he didn't see us so he kept driving and driving....he continued on for another 59km!!!!! THEN realised he might have gone to far !!!so turned round & finally made it back !!! Good laugh. We had a great fire with heaps of coals, it was Italian nite so Sandra did a Damper and it was great, we had nice tea sat around fire listen to the footy...GO MANLY bad luck Dogs!!! Sunday we headed off after spending 4 fabulous nites at the free site. We stopped at Quorn for morn tea & saw people we had met a Broken Hill. We then continued onto Port Augusta and stopped at Big 4 C/Park, very clean well looked after park. After setting up we go into town so girls can stock up prior to heading Nth into N.T well they sure did stock up !! me and John went grog buying then went & had a couple of beers and they still hadn't finished!!! Got back and took just as long to unpack and put away somewhere in the van. We had footy on tv so watched Mel/Sths game. Monday we headed off to Wadlata Outback Centre a great informative centre so much to see and learn. We then head back into town later in the day for a couple of things, do some computer stuff. Tuesday Sand John & Di went on a crusie up Gulf see dolphins etc, we had done it last time. Caz & Sand went for walk through Botanical Gardens in arvo to see Sturt Desert Peas and othr Sth Australian wildflowers, back for group tea in Di's van, then some more computer work prior to our depature tomorrow where we are heading for Woomera, hope this fnds you all well and its not too cold over in NSW. As you can see we are having a great time,but missing all our family & friends, take care, love you all,            Rans & Carol    x x x x

7 June 2011