Week 16

Day 105: Pouring down rain today in Coober Pedy, we spoke to some locals who told us that they just had their normal whole years rainfall overnight, not surprisingly the streets were like rivers. Tom's Opal Mine that we went through yesterday was flooded with around 20cm of water through it. all tours were off today. We spent the day looking at a couple of shops then headed back to the motel room to watch movies for the rest of the afternoon.

Day 106: Due to the rain we were unable to do the Oodndatta track as we planned as SA roads had closed it off. You could still take it on if you wanted but is was a $1000 call out , then $1000 a wheel to be rescued. With that in mind we decided to head towards Port Augusta. This would only be a stopover on our way to the Flinders Ranges.

Day 107:We took off from Port Augusta , stopping along the way at Quorn, hoping that they would have some information on the Flinders Rangers, they didn't have too much, but they had heaps on their local attraction Pichi Richi Railway. This was not much help so we just kept going to the Flinders. We saw that they had an information centre at the Wilpena Pound and after Housie just about ran over an emu we arrived, to find that the accommodation here was commercialised, so we headed off looking for NP camping. We ended up at the Trezona camp ground. Once we had unpacked we found that the camper somehow had leaked after all the rain and our sleeping bags were wet. Luckily it was a nice day and enough hours of daylight left to dry them out.

Abandoned Kanyaka Homestead just outside the Flinder Ranges NP

Day 108: We drove through the park, seeing some great lookouts, that looked over the Bunyeroo Valley and also a mountain range known as Razorback. This track took us all the way back to Wilpena. After a quick bite to eat we took the pretty easy 2km walk into Wilpena pound. This takes you past the Hills Homestead that is no longer occupied, and there is a story board on the hardships they faced trying to farm cattle then wheat. The walk then started to get steep but not for long up the Wangarra lookout. Which was a good view from inside the pound.

Inside Wilpena, photo's don't do it justice

Dec's would rather play his ipod instead of taking in the view

Day109 : After a lazy morning we packed up camp and headed to Parachilna via the Brachina Gorge. The gorge follows a dry river bed with spectacular rock formations and cliffs. We arrived at Parachilna in time for lunch. The Prairie Hotel was quite a modern hotel for the outback considering you could order tapas and an antipesto platter! Housie ordered the 'Feral Antipesto' which consisted of kangaroo, emu pate, goats cheese with ciabratta bread, olives and tomato relish. Charli and Declan tried the kangaroo, emu pate and goats cheese. Charli liked the kangaroo and pate but Declan only liked the kangaroo. Housie and Al were pleased that they had a taste especially while Al sat there feeling nauseated the whole time!!

Brachina Gorge

Moving on to Leigh Creek we filled up with fuel and decided to stay here the night as we needed to get a new tyre and mend the water tank, again, before heading into the Gamon Ranges National Park and up to Camerons Corner. The caretaker at the caravan park was very welcoming and invited everyone staying there over to his camp fire. We met some interesting people with plenty of knowledge to share about their travels around Aus.

Day 110 : We headed off this morning and stocked up with food and bought a new tyre. We set up camp in the Gamon Ranges at the Weetootla Gorge camping ground. After one of the quickest setups ever we went for a drive around the Gamon ranges. Parts of this track were 4WD but wasn't anything to worry about. Along the way we stopped to look at old wells and a hut. The hut is called Grindell's Hut and is the scene of a murder! We arrived back at camp for a relax before organising dinner.

Day 111 : This morning we drove off towards Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary hoping to be able to do a self guided 4WD trip to a lookout, Sillers, at it is known to be spectacular. We were also considering going to the Paralana Hot Springs north of Arkaroola. After finding out that you can only do a tour to Sillers Lookout we decided to do another self guided 4WD trip through the property. The drive is called the Echo Camp Backtrack, this took us through some great scenery. We stopped at one permanent water hole and spotted rock wallabies hoping around the kids loved it. The tracks through here were pretty good 4WD wise, as a couple of times we could feel the car balancing on 3 wheels as we took on some steep and uneven inclines. Surprisingly Al was not too bad on this trip. We stopped and walked through Bararranna Gorge, which was great, Housie and the kids had fun yelling out and hearing their echos.

Day 112: We packed up camp and were on our way to join up to the Strzelecki Track. The track takes you through the 7.9 million hectares of the Strzeleki desert which is white dunes with scrubby bushes and extends across the borders of South Aus, Queensland and NSW. As we worked our way along a roughish track past homesteads and cattle, we rounded a bend and had to pull up quickly. A guy and his daughter had broken down in their Nissan Patrol. The fan belt tensioner had packed it in and his car kept over heating. The nearest homestead was 30kms back from were we had come from, and there looked to be another one in the direction we were travelling about 40kms ahead. We were hoping that at the homestead he would be able to use their phone to get help.We were able to squeeze past him on the narrow track, then hitched up some towing straps and towed him along for about 30kms. As we approached the Strzeleki track, we had to turn south and travel 10kms to get to the homestead. A few trucks were travelling along and heard us talking on the UHF radio. The first group told us that the nearest town was 600kms away, they obviously didn't want to help as we knew the nearest town was only 200kms away. A second lot of trucks came through and we talked to them about the homestead which they informed us that it didn't exist. These guys offered old mate to use their satellite phone to call for help and suggested a spot for him to wait that was a well known landmark along the track. Declan thought it was great that we were towing the camper and someone else at the same time, because now we were a road train. We had to tow him another 25kms to the spot. When we dropped him off, we checked on if they had enough water which he said that he had plenty(20ltrs), not sure that he had enough especially if help didn't come tonight, we gave them another 10ltrs. He was very grateful for the help and water, and said that he would buy us a beer if he caught up with us again, knowing he was from Queensland and a Broncos supporter, we wouldn't hold our breath.

We stopped the night at Montcollina bore, which is and open bore into a natural pool, the kids had a bit of fun splashing about the water, but the main pool water temp wasn't that inviting.

Day 113: More driving on the Strzelecki today then taking a track to Cameron Corner. Strzelecki is not really a track any more, with lots of trucks using it to get from Mooloomba to Adelaide, parts of this road are now bitumen. From Strzelecki to Cameron Corner was a track, water still laying in big puddles after the recent rain,red dirt and high crests. The kids loved the feeling in their stomachs as we topped over them. When we arrived at the Corner we were able to place three of our fingers, one in each state as there is a marker on a pole. From here it was 200mtr drive into Queensland for lunch at the local store/pub/motel. This has mean't that on this holiday we have been in every state and territory.

All in 3 different States. Dec's is in NSW, Charli QLD and Al in S.A

After lunch we planned to camp in the Sturt NP. We had to go through the dog fence on the SA and NSW border. We took the middle road, instead of the main one. This takes you along the NSW/QLD border, the kangaroos have to be the biggest in Australia here, some of them were massive. We were going to camp in the park, but the lure of showers for a similar price, had us stay in the hottest town in NSW, Tibooburra. We had tea at the pub which had all the local farmers on the turps, which created a great atmosphere.

Al opening the gate that is part of the dog fence at Cameron Corner

So many Eagles about up here

Week 15

 

Day 99: From Kalgoorlie we were going to travel east but not over the Nullabor again, we were going to take the Great Central Road which started at Laverton. On the way there we went to look at sculptures on a salt lake about 50km from Menzies. An artist had sculpted these metal figurines from the townsfolk of Menzies. When we got there Al, Charli and Housie walked out onto the salt lake, Dec's refused to get out of the car as the flies had it in for him. The dried Lake bed wasn't as dry as we were expecting due to rain that had fallen a few weeks previous. As bogan tourist's (Typical Aussies) we only wore thongs, and they were soon suctioned to the ground. Housie was pretty upset that he pulled the plug out of both thongs while trying to walk. Bare footed we walked out to the first sculpture which was about 100mtrs away. It was obviously a male, than another 100mtrs and this one was obviously a female. If the people of Menzies actually look like this then there is something seriously wrong with the water there.

From here we headed to Laverton to fill up on food supplies and fuel. As we started driving along the Great Central Road we noticed that there was numerous, either burnt out or abandoned, cars. So as you do, Al and Housie started counting them. We stayed the night at Giles Breakaway, which had an awesome view over land below.

Day 100: We packed up this morning after seeing kangaroos, and eagles about the camp. Driving along still saw more cars abandoned on the trip. Al was getting pretty good at working out what type of car they were just from the remnants of the shell. We stopped along the way to look at a limestone rock water hole that the aboriginals, early pioneers and animals used. We also stopped to look at Beegull waterholes and caves. The caves looked to have some Aboriginal paintings, but we didn't think they were authentic, more like a local taking the piss. From here it was only a short drive to Tjukayirla Roadhouse, where we would be spending the night. The kids loved the TV and games room they had set up and we all had a go of table tennis and watched Smokey and the Bandit 1 and 2. Great night! From Laverton to Tjukayirla Roadhouse was distance of 311kms, we had counted 82 abandoned cars (they are the ones we could see). Not a bad amount.

Housie checking the depth of the rock waterhole

Art or scribble

 

Day 101: We left Tjukayirla Roadhouse early with a drive of just over 500kms to get to Warakurna Roadhouse. About 30kms into the trip Al started screaming which freaked Housie and the kids out, Al had seen a camel! It was Al's way of saying, "Housie can you pull the car over safely as I have seen a wild camel". The kids had this on their list of things to see so were happy to see it. We pulled into Warburton Roadhouse for some fuel and snacks, there is nothing out here except an Aboriginal community, and it looked like they had all come to the Roadhouse to stock up. The fuel here was only $2.47ltr, we were expecting it to be a lot more. About 50km from Warakurna the trailer had a flat, not just a puncture but the whole sidewall disintegrated. Housie had a lot of trouble getting a spare off the trailer, he snapped two sockets trying to undo them. We were starting to get a little concerned when Housie popped a tin of spinach and the nuts were able to be loosened (really the WD40 kicked in). As we arrived we realised that it was 3.15pm , the roadhouse shuts at 3pm on the weekend. When we read the sign, they work in Central Standard time so it was actually 4.45pm. Housie was able to get a camp spot after meeting with the manager. They had a camp kitchen with a TV, the kids were happy about this. As we cooked dinner, a storm started brewing and the rain started falling.

 

 

Day 102: This morning we drove 500mtrs to the Giles weather station (as it rained all night and was still drizzling on and off), which is the remotest weather station in the world. They had space junk from the Blue Streak Rocket that landed nearby in 1964. Every morning they let a weather balloon off at 830am, so we were there ready. It was a bit overcast, Housie and the kids looked around a small museum while Al went back to the car to check the time (as nobody had a watch or phone on them). Al then suddenly burst through the door of the museum and yelled, the Balloon is going!! Housie and the kids rushed outside to catch a glimpse of it disappearing into the clouds. From here we went back to get more fuel, Housie also bought a wheel brace in case we got another flat. The people in the roadhouse told Housie that with rain like this they would not make it past Docker River and that it takes about 3 days for the water to subside. We went to the police station to find out if the road was opened, no one was around and all doors locked (it was a Sunday). Called the number written on the door, which we got Kalgoorlie police (1500kms away). They told me to call WA roads. WA.roads told me to call, Warakurna local contact. No answer. So we thought we would try our luck. The roads out of Warakurna were boggy and slippery, the kids loved the mud flying up over the windows and encouraged Housie to hit every puddle on the road. We noticed on the map that the Docker river snaked it's way back and forth through this road about three times. Luckily those crossings were about the driest part of the whole trip. By about 10:30am we had reached the WA/NT border. Photo time. The kids got out to look at their bikes and they were covered in red mud. They weren't too happy, hahaha. On the NT side of the border the road was not well looked after, and it was raining so there were a few fun bits driving along. We pulled into see Stockyard Gully cave.

By lunch we had reached the Olgas, the low cloud was touching the top of the rocks. We didn't walk through the gorge due to the rain. The kids said they looked like the rocks out of the movie "The Croods". Then it was off to Uluru or Ayres rock for you racists :-) again there was low cloud touching the top and it was raining. There were signs out warning people that they could not climb the rock due to the weather. It was a lot steeper incline than we imagined. Due to the weather there would be no lovely sunset, so we wouldn't be able to sit there in out Ralph Lauren polo shirts, chinos and sipping champagne, so we headed off to a cattle station, Curtin Springs, in which this family owns 1 million acres. We camped here the night.

 

Where you walk up Uluru

 

Day 103: It rained a little overnight so we had to pack the camper up a little wet. We were heading to Marla today which is the start of the Oodnadatta track, we weren't going to do the track from here. As we were at the roadhouse, we were able to get an update on the outback roads of SA. A lot of them were closed off due to the rain that was falling. Instead of staying at Marla for the night, we decided to push on to Coober Pedy which we were going to do, but at a later time. We checked the weather and rain was predicted for the next 3 days. So we booked into an underground Motel. The kids couldn't believe it. As we got closer to Coober Pedy we noticed the landscape change dramatically. It looked like an alien planet with all the non valuable material out of the mines dumped everywhere. We got to the Motel and the lady at reception told us how her father mined the place and when he could find no more opal they had dug it out further just to make it into a motel. By doing this they actually found more opal, which help fund the project. We were all impressed with the place, the room was very quiet, and they supply a fan to put on when you sleep as a lot of people cannot handle the silence. With two kids I don't think we needed to worry about that.
 

 

 

Day 104: We went out for a tour of Tom's Mine, they still mine here but they also run tours through the mine. The guide was very good and tailored it so it would be fun for the kids. They got to try finding where an opal seam in the wall was and the winch that was used to enter the mine. They also shovelled dirt into a strong suction pipe that takes it to the surface. After this we looked at the giant bucket and winch which is on display at a lookout in the middle of town. The afternoon we headed back to the motel due to the rain falling quite heavily.