Towards Ulura/Ayers Rock

Monday 6^th June.

We left ALICE SPRINGS at about 10.00, and headed south towards ERLDUNDA, about 207 km away, where we fuelled up and had lunch.  From there we went west towards ULURU (Ayres Rock for the politically incorrect), another 244 km away.   We had woken up to a grey over caste sky, the first time we had not had beautiful clear blue skies since leaving BRISBANE.  Instead of burning off, it slowly got heavier, and as we travelled west towards ULURU, we could see what looked like rain clouds ahead of us.

Sure enough, just before we got to MT CONNOR, we had a few spits on the windscreen. We stopped for some photos at the Mt Connor Lookout. 

The lookout is on a slight rise in the road, with a sand hill on the north side. To the south is Mt Connor, and by climbing the sand hill you can look down on a huge Salt Pan on the north side.  It was quite amazing to climb the sand hill and suddenly find this huge Salt Pan in front of you.

We continued on towards ULURU, intending to stop for the night at CURTIN SPRINGS, a Road House with a free camping ground beside it, about 100km before ULURU.  From there we planned an easy drive to ULURU the next day.  When we got to CURTIN SPRINGS, we found about 30 other caravans and campers already there.  Luckily the camping area was huge, and we had no problem finding a spot. 

We had no sooner pulled up when we were joined by a friendly Emu who came over looking for something to eat.  Cameron soon obliged with a couple of slices of bread.  

As it got dark, it started to drizzle on and off, and during the night it set in permanently. 

Tuesday 7^th June

We woke up to a very wet morning and decided there was little point in moving on towards ULURU in the rain, where we could be paying up to $50 a night at the camp ground, while we waited for the weather to clear up.  We decided to stay put and see what the weather would do.  Who would have thought we would be getting rain in the middle of the Australian Desert at ULURU.  What’s wrong with this bloody country?

We filled in the day with school work, cards and Monopoly, and watching a few camper trailers arrive and put their tents up in the rain.  We were glad to be snug and dry in our van.

Wednesday 8^th June

The weather looked a bit better this morning, so we decided to head for ULURU.  The closer we got to ULURU, the worse the weather got, and by the time we got to the Resort town of YULARA it was continual rain, not heavy, but enough to make you bloody wet. Just to help you get an idea of the layout at ULURU, because of the number of visitors to the rock, and the fact that it was more than 400 km from ALICE SPRINGS, a special Tourist Resort, called YULARA, was established about 20 km before you actually get to ULURU.  It is basically a small town, with a Post Office, Supermarket, Garage, and a couple of souvenir shops.  There is also about three or four Resort Hotels with all their associated cafes and bars.

Close to the resort Township, is a Camping Ground and that was where we set ourselves up.  We had no sooner set up camp and the rain eased off, so after lunch we took a drive down to have a look at the ‘famous rock’. On the way we spotted a small herd of wild camels wandering through the scrub about 500 meters from the road.  We tried to get some photos of them but they didn’t turn out very good.

Because of the heavy overcast weather, we couldn’t see much, until we came around a corner and suddenly there was ULURU towering above the surrounding countryside, its head buried in the clouds. 

We had all seen heaps of photos but nothing could prepare us for this.  It was huge.  We just had to stop the car and get the cameras clicking.

The road takes you right up to the face of the rock, and then goes right around it. We followed it, driving slowly, and stopping often to take photos.  There were lots of small waterfalls tumbling down its sides, and we quickly realised that instead of being disappointed that it was so wet, we were probably lucky to see it in such unusual state. 

Just after you start driving around the rock, you come to a parking area where tourists gather before starting the ‘rock climb’.  We stopped and got out to take photos, and I had a moment’s quiet time, to reflect on the fact that Mum and Dad, and Uncle Jack and Aunty Mavis, had stood on this very spot about 25 years ago.

After completing a lap, we called in at the Information Centre.  The staff told us we were extremely lucky to be able to see ‘the rock’ in the wet, and that only 1% of visitors were this lucky.  Although the rock we were seeing was far different from all the photographs we had seen, we realised we probably were very lucky to see it under these unusual conditions.

We returned back to the resort and decided to buy a bottle of bubbly to celebrate our arrival at Uluru.  We went to the bottle store of one of the resort hotels, but on finding their cheapest bubbly was going to cost us $36, decided to go back to the caravan and settled for brandy and bourbon instead. 

Planes and Trucks

Saturday 4^th of June

Two family birthdays today.  Happy Birthday to Jack, the big 10.  Hope you had a great day mate. Wow double figures already!!! and also Happy Birthday to Christel’s Mum Riet, the big ???  Without giving too much away, let’s just say you are only 60 years older than Jack.  Hope you had a great day also. 

This morning we went into town to get a new battery for the computer.  It had to be ordered from Melbourne or somewhere.  Anyhow it arrived OK and only cost $160. Ouch!!!  Then we had a walk around town and a look in a few shops.  Boy, are they geared up for the tourists here.  ALICE is a lovely town where everything looks new.  We looked in several book shops for Talking Books for Cameron but didn’t find anything we wanted.  Then we bought a few groceries before heading back to the camp for lunch.

After lunch we wandered across the road to the aviation museum which was part of the Cultural and Arts Centre we had visited earlier.  They had about half a dozen planes housed in a couple of hangers, most of them to do with Connallan Airways, which was the original Airline based at Alice Springs.

After that we spent a few relaxing hours back at the caravan before tea.

Sunday 5^th June

After a session of School Work we headed out to the Australian Transport Hall Of Fame on the southern outskirts of town.  This is basically a museum dedicated to the trucks that helped establish inland Australia, and is the biggest collection of trucks in Australia.  It was huge, with a great collection of trucks of all sizes and ages. 

They had several trucks of which only one or two were ever made. One of these was the Russian Designed but British Built Rotinoff Viscount.  These were purpose built for the Vestey Family, who at the time owned huge cattle stations in Western Australia.   Only two models of this truck were ever built.

Once again there was smoke coming out of Cameron’s camera, and lots of “Far out, look at the size of this monster”.  After an hour or so Christel was getting a bit ‘Trucked Off’, so she went and had a cuppa while Cameron and I continued taking photos.  They had one huge shed dedicated to Kenworth Trucks, with some beautiful examples of this famous make of truck.

As we drove away from the museum we came across an earlier form of transport coming along the road.  Wouldn’t this be a great way to see Australia? 

After lunch back at the caravan, we headed out to the Alice Springs Desert Park, which had been listed as a must see.  The park occupies about 25 hectares of desert about 5 km out of Alice.  At reception we were given earphones and a radio, and at various points around the park it gave us an informative talk about the different aspects of life in the desert, and how the various animals and plants adapted to the environment in order to survive.  There were also several enclosures with birds and wildlife that normally live in the different areas of the desert.  It was very interesting and informative. 

At the end of the walk we were entertained by a free flying show of the different birds of prey that live in the desert.  It was absolutely incredible as these birds flew in and swooped around our heads before getting titbits of food from the lady doing the presentation.  An incredible educational experience, accompanied by lots of oohs and ahhs from all of us.

Then it was back to camp for tea and to plan tomorrow’s trip.  After 5 days in Alice Springs it was time to move on towards ULURU.

Arltunga

Friday 3^rd June

Today we headed east of ALICE SPRINGS along the Ross River Road to ARLTUNGA, an old Gold Mining Settlement.  To get to the settlement we had to travel for about 75 km along the sealed Ross Highway, and then head north east for 35 km along a metal road.

The metal road proved to be a bit of a goat track winding in and out of a dry river bed for the first 10 or so km.  Here was a lot of sign of recent flood damage where the road crossed and followed the creek, and a grader had spent a lot of time making the road passable.  After that it was mile after mile of quite bad corrugations.  It took about as long to do the 35 km of metal road as it did to do the 85 on the seal.

Never mind it was well worth the effort.  I had first read about and seen photos of ARLTUNGA many years ago, and had always wanted to visit it.  I was not disappointed.  To walk around what was once a thriving Gold Mining Town, and was now just a few ruins was amazing. 

ARLTUNGA was founded in 1887 after gold was found in a dry creek bed.  In the resulting Gold Rush it became Central Australia’s first town.  The gold soon ran out and the town was deserted by 1916.  The shear isolation and inhospitably of the place made it almost impossible to live there.  Everything had to be bought in by foot or horseback.

Some of the first miners to arrive there had walked more than 1650 km overland from Adelaide and Melbourne.  Firstly they followed the Over Land Telegraph for over 1500 km up to Alice Springs, then followed the Eastern  Macdonnell Ranges cross country for 120 km to Arltunga.  Many of them pushed homemade wheel barrows with all their belongings in them for the entire distance.

Walking around there you can’t help but wonder how incredibly harsh living conditions must have been.  Its stark beauty will always remain with me. It is definitely the most isolated place I have ever been in, and consider myself very lucky to have experienced it.

Cameron decided the isolated road was the ideal place for him to have another ‘Driving Lesson’, so we let him drive on the return trip for a while.  We got a running commentary from this now ‘very experienced driver.’  I told him that because this was a very different road, a lot rougher, narrower and windier, he would have to go a lot slower and concentrate a lot more.

He set off, and after a couple of km told us, “actually I’m feeling fairly confident about this”.  And then a short time later, “You know I’m feeling very relaxed even though this is a rough road”.  I also got some advice on how I should approach certain river crossings etc when next I got behind the wheel. 

I politely thanked him for his advice and then suggested that as he was doing so well perhaps it was time I had a go and tried out some of the tips he had given me.

On our way back to Alice we called in at the Ross River Resort, only to find it pretty much run down and almost deserted.  Closer to Alice we went into have a look at the TREPHINA GORGE.

The road in crossed over a couple of fords which Cameron found quite exciting. 

What a beautiful spot.   A wide gorge cut over million of years by a stream running through the Eastern Macdonnell Ranges, exposing some amazing rock formations in the process. 

By now the sun was getting low in the sky and we saw some brilliant colours on the rocks on the side of the gorge.  The river bed itself was all sand, about 20 to 30 meters wide, and as flat as a pancake.

Closer to Alice we stopped off at CORROBOREE ROCK, which was a large rock outcrop that is a Sacred Place to the Aboriginals.

We intended to also call in and see Emily and Jessie Gaps, but ran out of light.   We arrived back in ALICE just on dark after a fantastic days sightseeing.

Sightseeing around Alice Springs

Thursday 2^nd June

Gaylene and Ray called around for a coffee, and then we said fond farewells before they headed off north to continue their travels.  We decided we would ‘head out west’ and have a look at John Flynn’s grave, then carry on out to Simpson Gap and Standley Chasm.

John Flynn was a missionary working in the outback of Australia.  He was concerned about the lack of medical care people living in the outback were getting, and the huge distances they had to travel in order to get medical help.  As a result he set up the Flying Doctor Service.  His grave is beside the road just outside ALICE SPRINGS, and we stopped in to ‘pay our respects’, on the way to Simpsons Gap and Standley Chasm.

Our next stop over was Simpsons Gap, which is just that, a gap running right through the West MacDonnell Ranges.

As we were travelling down the road leading to the gap, we stopped to get some photos.  Cameron hopped out of the car and almost stood on a small snake which made a rapid exit into the long grass.   Simpsons Gap has been created by millions of years of erosion by a small stream running through the ranges. 

It is quite spectacular with the walls of the ranges towering above you as you walk through.  The floor at the bottom is about 5 meters wide.

After that we headed on out to Standley Chasm, which, like Simpsons Gap, has been formed by erosion by a stream.  Only Standley Chasm is the big brother of the two.  A narrower gap, and much deeper than Simpson’s, and therefore quite a bit more spectacular.  The walking track in from the car park was a bit of a scramble over rocks but the view at the end was well worth it. 

It was quite eerie to stand in the bottom and gaze up at the huge towering walls above you.

The width of the Chasm at the bottom was only about two and a half to three meters wide, and the walls are 80 meters high. 

From there we headed back into town and went to visit the old Alice Springs Telegraph Station.  It is situated about 3 km north of the present town beside the Todd River. Like Tennant Creek and Barrow Creek, this was another in the line that stretched from Adelaide to Darwin.  The Alice Springs Station had been much better preserved and cared for than the other two, and was by all accounts a much bigger setup.

The station was deliberately positioned where it was because of its proximity to the almost permanent water lying in pools in the nearby Todd River Bed. 

The early explorers believed they were springs and they were named after the wife of one of them.  We spent a very interesting half hour or so looking around.  When we came to sign the visitors book, we saw Gaylene and Ray had signed it earlier in the day on their way north.

While we were talking to one of the volunteers at the Telegraph Station, we learnt the legendary Ghan train was at the Alice Springs Station on one of its twice weekly runs from Adelaide to Darwin.  We decided to check it out and shot around to the Railway Station. 

We were staggered at the length of the thing.  It was due to leave at 6.00, so after taking some photos of it at the station, we shot out to a crossing on the outskirts of town to watch it go past.

We had to wait about 10 minutes, and while we were waiting a guy drove up beside the line and stopped at the crossing.  He was obviously a Railway Official of some sort, and Cameron wandered over for a chat. (As he does).  It turns out this guy was a driver of the Train but not on driver’s duty.  It was his job to man the crossing, and manually set the alarms and drop arms to allow the train to pass through.  He told us the train was 640 meters long, which is the standard length.  It is drawn by two diesel locomotives, but because the countryside is so flat, they only use the two engines to get up speed and for the occasional hill.  The rest of the time the second engine is shut down.  In fact he said only one engine is used for more than 90% of the journey.

It was quite a buzz to watch this huge train, travelling from one end of Aussie to the other, go past.  Besides all the passenger coaches, the train also has two special carriages for transporting vehicles.

 As a matter of interest we picked up a timetable and fares brochure from the Railway Station.  Adelaide to Darwin - First Class $3072 Aus.  Cattle Class without a sleeper cabin, $746, with a variety of different fares in between.  The train leaves Adelaide at 12.20pm on a Sunday, and arrives in Darwin at 5.30pm on the Tuesday. The second train does the same times leaving Adelaide on the Wednesday and arriving at Darwin on the Friday. 

Alice Springs

Tuesday 31^st May

We were away from TI TREE by our usual time of about 10.00 am, heading south again along the long flat straights. Our first stop was at the AILERON ROAD HOUSE for diesel  and a look at their huge statues, one of an Aboriginal Man, and another of an Aboriginal Woman and child.

We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn again about 30 km north of ALICE SPRINGS,

and got to ALICE SPRINGS at about 1.00pm. 

Again Know All Nancy took us straight to our chosen Camp ground.  We managed to get a site for three nights, and pencilled in for another three.

From ALICE we intend to go south to ULURU for three or four days, and then come back to ALICE again. The lady at the office told us that the Annual Finke Off Road Races were going to be held over the weekend of 14^th and 15^th, and  bookings for that would be very heavy from about the 6^th onwards, so we would need to get in quickly if we wanted to stay more than the three nights booked.

We decided to go to the Information Centre to find out what there was to see and do, and then work out how much time we needed, and work our itinerary around the busy period.  So much unwanted stress!!!

We parked near the information centre and were soon headed back to the car armed with piles of pamphlets.  We were walking along the footpath, and just before we got to the car I thought I heard my name being called out.  I sort of half turned around and there was this woman climbing out of a car parked two behind us, and calling my name.  I didn’t recognise the woman but thought it must have been someone we had met at one of the camp grounds recently. At the same time I was thinking no one we had met would be calling out my name that enthusiastically.  Who the hell was it?

Then this woman takes off her sunglasses, and there stood my cousin Gaylene.  Bloody hell, you could have knocked me down with a feather.  What the hell was she doing here?  What a lovely surprise, and what a reunion. Here we are five thousand kilometres from home, in the middle of ALICE SPRINGS, and parked two car lengths behind us, was Gaylene and her partner Ray.

They are part way through a 5 week holiday, having travelled up to ALICE from ADELAIDE.  They had arrived in ALICE at almost exactly the same time as us, and were staying in a motor camp at the south end of town.  Turns out, the motor camp they were at, had been recommended to us, but we opted for the one we were at, only because we had been told it was more ‘child friendly’.  Had it not been for that, we could have well found ourselves both booking into the same camp at the same time.  Talk about coincidences.

We arranged for Gaylene and Ray to come around to our caravan for drinks after tea, and headed off to a liquor store for some suitable refreshment.  This was the first time we had purchased liquor since being in the Northern Territory and we suddenly came face to face with their strict liquor Licensing Laws.  Too many to bore you with here, but basically they have been put in place to help control the amount of booze being bought and consumed by the Aborigines.

When we got to the liquor store, there were about half a dozen ‘Indigenous persons’ of both sexes in there selecting their booze.  Like us they were all going for the cheapest wine they could get.  Obviously all they were allowed to purchase at any one time was two bottles, because they all lined up at the counter with their two bottles each. 

There were signs on the counter saying booze could only be sold on production of suitable identity, eg Drivers Licence or Passport.   Each of them had their identity cards ready and the guy behind the counter zapped them in his computer.  In each case he refused to serve them, and took their booze off them.  They didn’t argue or anything, just quietly left the shop, as if they were expecting not to be served, but thought they would give it a try anyhow.

When it came our turn to be served, Christel handed over her New Zealand Drivers Licence which he accepted without any problem.  We asked him why he had taken the booze of the ‘Indigenous Persons’, (Doesn’t that sound so politically correct).  He said each time he sold booze he had to swipe their identity card to check whether or not there was any restrictions or court orders against their name.  It was also keeping tabs on how often they were buying booze of course.

It was also against the law for him to sell to an intoxicated person, and the computer had obviously shown that they had already purchased booze that day.  If they had drunk that and were back for more, there was a good chance that they were drunk, and on those grounds he had refused them service.  Basically he had sole discretion on who he sold to, and his decision was absolute. It was a bit of an eye opener on just how bad the booze problem must be, among the, here we go again, ‘Indigenous People’.

Back at the caravan we had tea and then Gaylene and Ray called round and we had a great evening catching up on family and sharing travelling stories.  We have arranged to go out for a meal with them tomorrow night.

Wednesday 1 st June.

Today we planned to visit a Cultural Centre and Museum which was just across the road from our motor camp.  First of all though there was a good long school lesson while a couple of loads of washing got done.  The Cultural Centre was pretty good with lots of ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Art on display, plus an interactive display on water availability, conservation, usage and wastage.  The museum had some great displays of stuffed animals, birds, snakes,

lizards etc as well as rock formations and the various minerals and precious stones found in the area.  We never got through it all and will have to go back.

We then drove into town to check out and book a place for tonight’s dinner, and then went up Anzac Hill, which is a lookout in the middle of town. 

We had a lovely meal and night out with Gaylene and Ray, before heading home for bed.  Gaylene and Ray are heading off tomorrow, and we arranged for them to call round for a cuppa on their way out of town in the morning.