Friday 17th August 2007: Sally wasn’t rostered on to work today so this gave her the opportunity to do those final items that were required to be achieved before leaving. With me finishing work at midday, we were ready for the road by 1.30pm. Bruce and Maree were part of our group on this trip and Maree wasn’t to finish work until 1.30pm so we had a short wait until they were able to meet us on the Port Wakefield Road as we headed for our first night’s stop which was to be a Rest Area 33 kilometres north of Port Augusta where we were to meet up with Sue and Malcolm who were to make up the final members of our trip.
It was 2.24pm when we finally left home for our three week trip to Alice Springs and all of the tourist locations in between. Our two dogs were not very happy that we had left them behind as they knew that we were going when they watched the caravan being packed. We had a good run to Port Augusta where we fuelled our vehicles for the last time before we hit the dearer fuel. It was good that we only had another 33 kilometres to go as it was now dusk and if we were to hit a kangaroo, it would end the trip before it even got going. We arrived at the North Tent Hill Rest Area at 6.25pm where Sue and Malcolm had a nice warm fire burning which we soon enjoyed. There was a bit of excitement when Sue realized that Bruce and Maree had purchased another caravan which they were not aware of.
Bruce who is an insulin dependant diabetic, realized that he hadn’t packed his insulin and was going to have to return to Port Augusta tomorrow to replenish his supplies before going on.
Saturday 18th August 2007: Bruce and Maree unhooked their caravan and headed back for the insulin while the rest of us enjoyed the brisk morning air. With Bruce and Maree back, all caravans hooked up, we were heading for Coober Pedy a little later than planned at 9.47am. The weather was overcast for the start of the day and with no wind which made traveling nice. As the afternoon progressed the sun started to shine which made it warm in the vehicle and cold outside when we stopped at any stage.
We had stops along the way at Island Lagoon which is a large Parking Bay area overlooking a huge salt lake. Next it was onto Lake Hart where Maree nearly left here caravan step behind if it wasn’t for a fellow caravanner who alerted them to the fact that the step was still sitting on the ground. The next stop was at Glendambo for Bruce to fuel up before we pushed on to Coober Pedy where we arrived at Stuart Range Caravan Park at 4.36pm. All of the sites at this Caravan Park are drive through and very roomy making it very easy park vans. After being set up, we all settled in for a happy hour or two to celebrate our arrival.
Sunday 19th August 2007: Today was starting off too well for Sue as she was suffering with a migraine which prevented her from joining the group as we checked out some of the things that Coober Pedy had to offer it’s visiting tourists. We first headed odd to refuel at the Mobil which offered 3 cents per litre discount to those who stopped at the Caravan Park that we were in. It wasn’t as good as it sounded when the other two servos in the town were already five cents a litre cheaper.
Once fuelled up, we headed to the Big Winch for the usual views of the town followed by a visit to the Old Timers Mine where we saw a demonstration of how the Opal mining was done here at Coober Pedy. We then went on a self guided mine tour for $10.00 which we all thought was well worth the cost just to see what it was like underground. From here we visited the Desert Cave Motel where there is some very nice underground facilities available. By the time we had visited the Motel, it was time to return to the Caravan Park for lunch where we found Sue to be feeling much better.
After lunch it was time to revisit some of the sites that we had earlier seen so that Sue would not miss out on too much. Sally purchased her opal pendant, Sue got a few opals to help with some painting and then it was off towards the Breakaways. The road out to Oodnadatta on the way to the Breakaways took us passed the dog fence which is known as the longest fence of it’s kind in the world. From here we continued on to the Breakaways where we clicked away and took many photos. As the afternoon closed off towards sunset, the colours changed which made the whole trip a memorable experience for all. By the time we returned to the caravan park, it was dark.
Monday 20th August 2007: We were on the road heading away from Coober Pedy towards Cadney Homestead by 8.18am which was to be our destination for one night. It was our intention to leave the caravans in the Caravan Park there and then venture out to the Painted Desert. We arrived at Cadney Homestead at 10.08am and booked into the Caravan Park where we quickly set up our caravans on site before departing for the Painted Desert by 11.18am.
The one hundred kilometers from Cadney Homestead out to the Painted Desert was along a rough dirt road with a mix of heavy corrugation, bull dust and stones. Bruce and Maree were leading the way and were lucky enough to come across a wild dingo in its natural habitat. By the time the rest of us had arrived to where the dingo was, he was almost too far away to capture on photo. When we arrived at the Painted Desert, the midday sun was shining well making the light perfect for photos. Once everyone had taken the photos that they desired, it was time to head back to Cadney Homestead where we enjoyed the perfect meal at the Roadhouse before returning back to the Caravan Park to download the day’s photos.
Tuesday 21st August 2007: We were hoping to be on the road today by 8.00am but as we were hooking up our caravans, Bruce and Maree found that they didn’t have any 12 volts going to their caravan to run the fridge and lights. After a bit of investigation, we found that the main power wire had overheated and soon rectified the problem. It was 8.15am when we finally pulled away from Cadney Homestead heading for Kulgera where we were to leave the caravans and head out to the Lambert Centre.
Arriving at Kulgera by 11.40 am, we had lunch and then headed out towards the Lambert Centre by 12.27pm. From Kulgera it was an easy 127 kilometre dirt road drive to the turn off into the Lambert Centre. From here it was another 12 kilometres of gut shaking corrugation and sand filled road before we finally reached the Lambert Centre flag. We took the usual photos before making the half hour drive or 12 kilometres back to the main dirt road which was to take us back to Kulgera and our caravans for the night.
Wednesday 22nd August 2007: We had arranged the night before to leave Kulgera for Yulara at around 8.30am but being as we were all ready by 7.50am, we were on the road earlier than expected giving us a head start on the days travel. As most of our party hadn’t been to the Northern Territory before, we had the usual photos at the border before proceeding to Erldunda where we arrived at 8.43am. Once we had reached our half way mark for today’s traveling, we stopped at a road side rest area to stretch our legs. Once rested, we continued on to Yulara where we arrived at 11.52am.
After setting up the caravans, we ventured off to the Tourist Information Centre and booked a helicopter flight over Ayres Rock for 9.35am tomorrow morning. From there we walked along the shopping area before making our way to the Sails in the Desert Motel for a look. Once Bruce and Maree had fuel their 4WD, we headed out to have a look at Ayers Rock, visited the Culture Centre and finally sat out the day at the sunset viewing area. It is amazing how the rock changes colour so much during the dying minutes of daylight.
Thursday 23rd August 2007: The pace of our days was now starting to slow down so that we did not have to keep moving to enable us to achieve the sites each day. It was a helicopter flight for Bruce and me which took us from the Airport out to the rock and back which also allowed us to see the Yulara Resort from the air which added to the short flight.
Once back on the ground, it was out to the Olgas where we come across a wild herd of camels before arriving at the Olgas picnic ground where we had lunch followed by a 7.4 kilometre Valley Of The Winds walk. This walk took us into the centre of the Olgas before completing a circular track through some very nice scenery. It is a long walk over some rough terrain, but well worth the experience.
