Manyallaluk ( then to Katherine)

We woke after a good night sleep, most probably because it was so quiet and prepared for the day ahead. We were to get to an aboriginal cultural experience ad were looking forward to it.

Slowly all of the Guides appeared from the local village and set up for the days activities and Josh headed off to have a talk with them while we packed the van ready to leave at the end of the day for Katherine.

We waited for a coach load of Americans to arrive, a group of students on a cultural experience before commencing and started a little late but still happy.

We started with a walk through the bush with our Guide, John, who certainly had a good knowledge of what was around and had grown up in this area with his parents. He spoke of the many plants and animals of this area and explained their purpose to the Aboriginal people. At one stage he dug, in what appeared to be a pile of dirt and produced two plant roots that were bright red and were used for dying clothes or plant fibres used for the basket making.

He surprised us all by grabbing a leaf off a tree that was full of ants and held it to show us what it was. The problem was that the ants were stinging him and running all over him but he wanted to show and tell us what they were used for. You could eat them, he did, but they were quite bitter, and you could also use them as a cold and flu medicine. This would be in a similar way to current Vics that you rub on you chest, by squashing the ants and then rubbing the juices on your chest.

There were plenty of other examples of food and medicine that he showed us along the way.

We then got to do Josh’s favourite, didgeridoo playing. John was very good at it, the rest of us well let’s just say that we are not going to make a career out of it with some very strange noises made. Josh produced the best sound, although he did not quite get the hang of the circular breathing, neither did I.





Lunch was a BBQ which included sausages, steak and kangaroo tail, yes that is right! We started the other activities. By the way we did all try the kangaroo tail except for Josh and while not the most exciting meat, was not bad either.

While waiting for lunch to be finished, josh went for a walk and spotted 'Big Red' an old horse that had stayed in the area after the farming had stopped. The horse was free to come and go as he pleased but got a treat today as he was fed a few lettuce by Josh & Chels.

We then did some spear throwing, visited the gallery of art, did some basket weaving, painting(we have the proof of this!) and fire starting using sticks. All very interesting and made it for a great interactive day. We were very lucky to be given the paintings that were drawn by the guides, of course ours, especially mine was better!





It was then a case of doing the last minute packing, saying good-bye and then on to Katherine. It was back along the dirt road and then on to Katherine for a couple of days to explore the Katherine region.

Mataranka to Manyallaluk

There was no rush this morning and so we did not pack up the night before but left it all to do before we left. We only had a short journey of just over one hundred kilometres and were not sure of what to expect when we arrived so took our time.

We were still all packed by 10:00am and of course had to have one more swim (relax) in the hot thermal pool. After unwinding again, well we had packed up, we thought it was time to make a move and so headed up to the front of the park for morning tea before setting off.

It was then off in the car on our way to Manyallaluk to hopefully get an experience of aboriginal culture and expose Chelsea & Josh to what this people is all about.

We were only on the made road for a short while before we headed off into the bush along a stretch of unsealed road. There was certainly plenty of dust everywhere and the car and van turned a shade of red as we left a dust storm behind us.

We arrived at the camp site and no-one was around at all. We had a quick look around and finally found the pool, a small man made swimming hole filled by a natural spring that was very cool and refreshing. We spent most of the afternoon on our own, expecting someone to come and talk to us but no-one came. Well not exactly no-one, we did get greeted by two dogs that followed us everywhere. They were Freddie and Reptile.

Eventually, out of the bush, we met one of the guides named Nathan, who became friends with all of us, especially Josh. We found out that Nathan was a Collingwood supporter and that gave he and Josh something to talk about for quite a while. Eventually the footy came out and they had a kick together, both in bare feet, josh soon had a bright red kicking foot! He had fun anyway.

After talking to them for a while we headed off up a walk to see the sunset over the range and look at their village from the higher vantage point. They have built a hospital, school and sporting facilities and are in the process of rebuilding their community to offer something worthwhile to its population.

We ended up being the only people there for the night and lit a campfire, sat back and relaxed with the sounds of silence. Quite a strange experience being the only people around!

Mataranka

There is little more to do here than relax, swim, relax, swim, relax, swim and so that is exactly what we did.

We did venture out to Bitter Springs, about three kilometres down the road for some more swimming in a different spring. While the swimming area at Mataranka was man made, at Bitter Springs, it was a natural setting. We had been advised to take goggles and snorkel and we were glad we did, what an amazing experience. I would never have thought about looking under the water, but we were all glad we did, even if Cathy nearly drowned.

At Bitter Springs, where it was more a swimming hole we were able to float down a small section and view the scenery both above and below the water, well worth it. Josh and Chels had their own surf mats and Skinny and Cathy shared one. Now depending on who you believe, either Cathy was trying to drown Skinny or Skinny was trying to crash Cathy into all of the trees. Whatever the story, they both laughed and cackled like a couple of young kids.

This is an experience not to be missed, as long as you can swim. The basic difference between the two pools is that at Mataranka, you sit or float and relax where as Bitter Springs is more of a place to swim and enjoy the surroundings.

Renner Springs to Mattaranka

As we had been able to go a little further yesterday than planned, we had a shorter day than expected, still about 400 kilometers, but were able to arrive in Mattaranka by mid afternoon and head for the warm mineral spring baths and relax.

A highlight of the drive today was a visit to “Fran’s Teahouse” just north of Larrimah. This was advertised as a place where we Fran had opened a Coffee Shop in the Old Police Station and was a local identity not to be missed. Well we did not miss it, and while we paid a little more for our food, it was worth paying for the entertainment, Fran.

She was in a small kitchen, hidden behind fly screen and made her way to the door in the next room to take the orders from people, one client at a time. She did not like being watched and told us not to do that. Fran has been cooking pie for over thirty-five years, twenty-five in her current location. Cannot say it was a restaurant, a café as we are still not sure what it was but the food and entertainment were great!





Then it was on to Mattaranka where, after setting up the van, we were all able to go and soak in a warm spring bath. The water came out at about thirty-four degrees and so pleased some of us but not others as it was a little too warm and just like a bath. (Well for one of us anyway!)

This is a very popular stopping spot for people to sit back, relax and unwind after a long days travel and now we know why. I think Cathy could have stayed here for a few more days, weeks.

Nothing more to do here than just sit back and relax and so we did!

Alice Springs to Renner Springs

After packing up and getting on the road well before 8:00am, it was sit back, relax and get ready for a long days driving. We had every intention of making it to Threeways, but would wait and see how we got on through the day.

There was the obvious apprehension about the car and if it was really right and ready to start the next phase of the journey, but we could only take the mechanic at their word and start going. Thankfully all went well.

This is the end of the first part of our amazing journey, now it was time to set off on part two from Alice Springs to Darwin. (With a few stops along the way of course!)

We stopped for morning tea at Ti Tree, lunch at Wycliffe Wells,( a place we had originally planned to stay at) and then continued on. Wycliffe Wells is the place in Australia that has the most sightings of UFO’s and I think that this was one of the attractions of staying there. It is actually a service station with a bar, shop and caravan park and not much more. We did not think that we missed too much.




On through Tennant Creek, a proposed day stop on our original plans, and further to Threeways. It was here that we needed to make the choice of whether we were going to turn right and head for Queensland or keep on going and although tempting, well not really, we kept on going.

We passed by Devil's Mable's and had a quick look at the rocks. It was amazing to see how some of the did not roll away, they seemed to be sitting in limbo. Would have liked to spend more time here wandering around, but maybe next time.




We had started driving before 8:00am and finished after 5:00pm so it was a long day on the road. There were no fights between the kids and we had a pleasant day in the car. As for Skinny and Cathy, that is another matter!

We drove onto a small place called Renner Springs, again little more than a service station, a pub, a small shop, some units and a caravan park but that was all we needed.

We actually felt the heat for the first time and it was away with the winter PJ’s and on with the summer ones. This was the first night we were able to sit outside and gaze at the stars until we were ready for bed.

SUMMER IS HERE! Sorry to all our Melbourne friends and families! (Not!)

Alice Springs Day 7

Now hang on, we are not meant to be here for day 7! Hopefully it is our last day, not that we dislike Alice Springs that much but we just want to get on our way.

After reviewing our plans, we have decided to make some changes to our destinations. One thing that has really become apparent to us is that Chels and Josh have seen little about the true Aboriginal culture and currently have a slightly distorted view of this race and we need to do something about it.

We have found a place called Manyallaluk where we are able to go in for the day and experience the culture first hand and so have put it into our itinerary. We will stay there one night, have a full day to experience the culture as part of a tour, and then travel onto Katherine at the end of the day. Not what we had planned but now very important.

This means that we now have to long days in the car ahead of us in order to catch up and be ready for this day, in actual fact we will get ahead of our original plans but it pays to be a little flexible. We will now travel to Mataranka in two days instead of four and then move on from there.

As we were assured we would have the car that afternoon, we started packing up and getting ready for the next stage of the journey. Alice Springs to Darwin via a few places.

Off to the shops to stock up with food until Katherine, it is much cheaper to do it this way as well as washing etc to make sure we would be ready to go the next morning.

After hearing nothing about the car, I rang at about 4:30pm to be advised that the car would now not be ready until the following day, maybe by lunchtime. Of course, I was not happy with this and said that I had been advised it was to be ready by now. What can you do? I needed the car but of course it had to be in perfect condition before we could continue.

Amazingly, no more than ten minutes later I was called to be advised that the car was ready! I was happy, amazed and concerned all at the same time.

How could it go from tomorrow lunchtime to being ready in ten minutes? I was advised that there was a miscommunication at there end and my car had been worked on, tested and was now ready to be picked up. Sure enough, I was picked up and taken to collect my car and it was sitting there waiting for me, I was told all tested and ready. After paying the bill (OUCH!) I was able to drive away and go back and start loading the bits and pieces.

As a bit of interest, the part arrived from Sydney in less than twenty-four hours, it then took twenty-one hours to travel from one end of town to the other! Amazing as this is a distance of under twenty kilometers!

Alice Springs Day 6

We are all packed and ready to go, well we should be! Instead it was a sleep in and decisions about what we were going to do for the day.

We had previously seen and been told about the Alice Springs Desert Park but had not made it there. We now had the time and so decided to go and visit! Thank goodness we did. We went with no idea of what to expect, the best way to be sometimes, and were not disappointed with the park.

When you enter the park, you pick up a set of headphones and a type of radio that you carry around and push the appropriate number as you arrive at a specified location. What a great idea, not only because it gave you a running commentary, as your pace, it also became a game to spot the numbers and kept you from worrying about how far you had gone, or how far you had to go.

We started with a movie on the development of the environment and then walked around and visited areas and a nocturnal house. There were many snakes, lizards and animals in this area and so we got to see them in a miniature version of their habitat.

We saw many different types of desert landscape, each with its own story and information for you to hear or read about. Cathy was fascinated by the different uses of the many plants around the desert and became an expert on the different plants and their uses.






This place was well worth the visit and filled in the morning nicely.

After lunch it was off to visit the location of the Alice Springs School of The Air and get an insight into how many of the children in remote areas deal with their education from prep to year seven. After this they either attend boarding school or do their schooling via correspondence from Darwin. It was a shame the kids were on school holidays and so we did not get to see any classes in action, but we did get to see how it happens.

Chels and Josh were asked if they would like to do schooling this way and Chels said no, Josh yes. Chels was not happy about not being able to talk and play with her friends, once we explained this to Josh, he quickly changed his mind as well. After all, who would he play footy with at playtime?

I had heard nothing about the car and so chased what was happening to hear that the part had arrived in Alice Springs and so the car would be ready tomorrow afternoon. This now meant we started planning around a Friday departure and so worked out what the next few days had in store.

Alice Springs Day 5

DISASTER! The car needs a new part and they do not have it in Alice Springs! The option was given to the part being delivered by road or by air. One would take twenty-four to forty eight hours, the other a minimum of four days. We chose the air freight option of course!

I rang RACV, thank goodness we have Total Cover to see what we were entitled to. We were able to get accommodation paid for the extra time in Alice Springs as well as a free hire car so that we were not stranded. It was expected to take about forty-eight hours and so we go the car, a ford falcon, (with Victorian number plates on it!) for this time. This covers the cost of this year’s membership, well worth it!

As you can imagine, we were not happy at all as this was not what we needed to happen to us, but what can you do, it is part of traveling. I have a friend who traveled overseas recently and was delayed because of aircraft connections, so it can happen anywhere to anyone.

We now have to make alternative plans for the next couple of days, could have been worse I guess, we could have been in the middle of no-where.

As you can guess, nothing much more happened for this day as I was not in any mood to do anything or go anywhere plus we had more time to just sit around and relax.

In the evening, Chels and I went to a talk at the caravan park about the moon stars and planets that we could see. I must admit to not being too excited at the start about this, but as the talk went on it did become more interesting. We did learn one major thing that may of you may know: How do you tell the difference between a star and a planet? Answer tomorrow. Only joking! The difference is that a star twinkles and a planet does not, it is a constant solid light! Did you know that?

We saw the moon through a telescope and was able to se the craters very clearly. We identified three planets and many stars and constellations. Oh and we saw a few satellites pass over. We were given a website, http://www.heavens-above.com/ (I think) that would tell us about any satellites that would pass over where we were that night.

After a bit more star gazing it was back to the van to ponder what had happened to us and what we were now going to do to fill in a couple of extra days here in Alice.

Alice Springs Day 4

It turned out to be a bit of a rush this morning as I had thought that a guided walk commenced at 10:30am but then re-read the brochure to find it started at 10:00am. So we were up and out a little quicker than we thought as we had to get to Simpsons Gap.


We arrived at the Gap a couple of minutes late but the tour had just commenced and so we joined in. This is part of a series of free guided walks, talks and slide shows offered at a range of national parks around the Northern Territory, you can do just one, as we did or any of them if your are in the right location at the right time.




The wind was very cold blowing through the Gap and so it was quite chilly as we stood and listened to the guide explain about the flora and fauna in the gap, It was very interesting to hear about the way different trees and plants provided food and medicine for the aboriginal people. We also learnt that Simpsons Gap was originally Simsons Gap and the extra ‘p’ was added some time later, by who no-one knows. They also do not know why it was called Simsons Gap in the first place.

There was a water hole at the end of the gap, and it was rather amusing to see a “no swimming permitted” sign a fair way down the creek where it was all sand and no water to be seen.




We then headed to Standley Chasm for a walk through a track and into the Chasm itself. We did have to pay to get in here and it was shown that this was all on private land and not part of the National Parks.









We headed off, the first part was fairly easy and the initial part of the Chasm was accessible to all who wished to walk the track. It then turned into a difficult climb and we quickly realised that we had gone far enough and that it was time to turn around. Even though we thought we had become experienced bush walkers and climbers, we new our limits!



After the walk we retuned to Alice Springs to sort out a few things, including a car that seemed to be misfiring at low revs. I found a Hyundai dealer and booked it in for the next morning to make sure that everything was ok as we had many kilometers to travel between here and the next major city Darwin.

Back to relaxing, gee holidays can be hard!

Alice Springs Day 3

Started the day with a free pancake breakfast at the caravan park, their Sunday morning special. The staff make pancakes for everyone staying at the park who is willing to take a plate, knife and fork and line up with everyone else to get breakfast. It is used as a time to get to know other people travelling and nametags are written and worn by those attending.

After breakfast, it was off to the Todd Mall Market, held fortnightly, where for the first time in Alice Springs, we felt like we were with a lot of tourists looking around. There was a lot of artwork, jewellery and other bits and pieces found at a market. We did not buy anything as nothing really appealing that was worth carrying for the rest of the trip. This market trip was a real highlight for Josh, not!, and he was not to keen to go and was happy to return back after we had finished.

After a bit more shopping, a new warmer sleeping bag so that they could start sleeping in the rent and a few bits and pieces it was back to the van for some more rest and relaxation.

A quick diversion up Anzac Hill for a look around alice Springs.





Chels and Josh hired a two seater go-kart to peddle around the park for an hour, for the rest of us it was a quiet relaxing afternoon.

Alice Springs Day 2

Another quiet morning, before heading off to do some sightseeing.

We visited the Royal flying Doctor Base and learnt a little about the great work that these people do. I hope that we do not have to use their services on this trip, but have great regard for what they do.

On our tour, we were told that there is a waitlist for people wanting to use join the RFDS and this is a good thing. They cover a fair amount of Australia, doing emergency work, transfer of patients, clinics in remote areas and so much more. With more and more people travelling on the roads, they area also more and more in demand. The RFDS is funded by the government but also relies heavily on donations from the public to keep flying in the air.

We picked up two new family members here as well, John the flying bear and Dawn the nurse bear. John after the founder and Dawn, the lady who officially opened the RFDS.

Nothing much else today, time to rest and recuperate!

Alice Springs Day 1

Alice Springs day 1

When planning the trip, the intention was to make sure that we included some rest days where we had nothing planned and could sit back and relax without feeling we had to head off and see things. This was our first real day to do this.

Washing, playing , bike riding, relaxing and some cleaning were all on the agenda today. I thought I said a day of rest?

The day started early with a flock of birds deciding that they liked the tree right above our van, and so went the sleep-in and we were awake early again.

The highlight of the day was the oven works!! Cathy cooked the first lot of biscuits for the trip, and although taking a little longer than usual, they looked great when they came out and tasted even better.

We did go into the town centre in the afternoon to have a look around just to see what there was to offer. It was during this first visit that we were introduced to the local aboriginals, I must admit to feeling somewhat depressed when looking at them as they seemed to live in conditions that did not seem to be what should be expected. I am not an expert in this area, but wish there was someway this situation could be worked out as it does not give a good impression to the kids about the real aboriginal and their culture

Yulara - Alice Springs

What a cold morning it was this morning. Not sure if the was the coldest by temperature, but certainly felt it. Everyone was wrapped up trying to find someway of warming up. We got up nice and early, well except for one sleepy head who did not want to wake up.

Time to dismantle another campsite and set off for our next destination today. We are off to Alice Springs. The annoying part is that we have to back track to the Stuart Highway before we can start on a new road. Neither the Ernst Giles Road or Meringue Loop are passable by van and so we have to stick to the Lassiter Highway.

It was goodbye rock and off to a new destination. We all tried to get a last glimpse of Uluru and Kata Tjuta as we drove away, what an amazing palce this turned out to be.

Most of today we are on the road and so not much to report.

The countryside is constantly changing, leaving the red centre we headed back to a mainly rocky land, passing over many dry rivers and over a few ranges. The scenery is not what you would call amazing but is very interesting to see.

When we arrived in Alice Springs and found our caravan park, the McDonnell Ranges Park, Cathy and Skinny headed off to the supermarket to re-stock the cupboards, that were not exactly bare, but needed re-filling. We will restock next week before leaving again.

Yulara - Kata Tjuta

Well today we, I, thought that we, I, was going to achieve the main goal of the trip! To watch Skinny ride off into the sunset and not come back. Well at least part of this came true!

At 10:00am Skinny was picked up by a young man on a Harley to be taken on an hour long ride around Uluru. She was given a leather jacket, gloves and a helmet to wear for this experience of a lifetime. Skinny jumped onto the back of the bike and they rode away with Skinny holding on a little bit tighter than she had been told to. Problem was they came back!




You will need to get all of the details of this from Skinny as this is a special part of her experience of the trip but it can be said that she came back with a big smile on her face after the ride.

The kids and I went for a bike ride as well, except we had to peddle and did not have the leathers, but of course wore our helmets. We road around the resort we were staying in to have a look around and buy some extra supplies that we needed.

We then sat back and prepared ourselves for yet another walk, one that we did not realise would be more exhausting than any of the walks we had undertaken before. We were going to do the “Valley of the Winds” walk at Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and at just a mere 7.5 kilometres thought it would be easy after our longer walk the day before. We were wrong!



I filled the car up with petrol, at $2.04 per litre thinking that this would be enough to get us to Alice Springs and we were on our way. Little did I realise that we would travel over 100 kilometres during the afternoon to get to and from Kata Tjuta.

The Valley of the Winds is a fantastic walk, with scenery beyond expectation, but the walk itself proved to be a little more difficult than any we had attempted before. The walk to the lookouts was up and down gully’s, over rocks and dirt paths but it was well worth it. This was nothing we had been to before and was different from Kings Canyon and Uluru.



Cathy thought that this was the most spectacular walk she had taken and was amazed at the scenery along the way even if the walk was difficult. Everyone agreed that this was far more spectacular than the walk around the Uluru, even though the site of the rock was still amazing. If you get the chance to have a walk here, do so but be prepared for a hard walk. Even if you only make it to the first lookout it is worth it, if you get to the second even better.







At the second lookout, you get the choice of turning around and walking nearly 3 kilometres back or keeping on going and walking the round trip with an extra kilometre or so attached. We kept on going and found it to be a most exhilarating but tiring walk.




After about thirty minutes of hearing the High School Musical songs being regurgitated, I mean sung, two children were bribed to keep quiet for the rest of the walk so our bodies could suffer in silence while giving our eyes and ears the chance to take in the natural surroundings. Again the photos do little justice to the real thing but they will give you and idea of what the countryside is like.





We all came back very weary from the walk and after a little souvenir shopping on the way back, started packing to get ready for our trip to Alice Springs tomorrow.