Fletchers Creek to Kunnunurra

Throughout the night another two campers setup , one strangely enough an older couple setup a shanti under the bridge in the mozzie zone not sure why as it wasn't going to rain and the river was all but dry , only enough to breed mozzies and strand hundreds of fish , the other was a massive yank tank with a massive trailer behind loaded to the hilt for only two people who took nearly a good half hour of driving forward then back and around trying to get sorted and revving loudly with a little yelling as can happen I know after a long day on the road.

It didn't take long to get to Turkey creek where we absolutely had to stop on the name alone for Jordan Dole and the kids with the big turkey joke still on their minds lol.

Trailer tyres fully aired and a snack all round we continued up the great northern highway where twenty minutes later we spotted and elderly gent on a touring push bike heavily laden with a flat tyre , so we turned around to offer assistance and luckily we did it looked like although he was fairly fit it was hot out here to be doing this type of travelling .

 Two of his spares were only 20 inch bmx inner tubes that would never fit his 26 inch tyres , he must have been sold the wrong ones but wasn't too fussed about it as he had ridden from cairns weeks ago and this was his first flat.

A lovely hour later after assisting with valves , water and refitting his complex inner geared hub we swapped credentials and he explained  he was German ( of course lol!) and that he wrote books on his travels which were quite popular and did tours of Europe explaining his ventures to forums over there and they were amazed at Australia's hospitality especially in the outback .

He had promised to send a book so we shall see on that but it would be interesting .

An hour and a half later we were crossing the roadworks on the diversion dam heading east across the  lower ord river which was a welcome change to previous dry and dusty conditions .

We booked into town at Kimberly land caravan park for three nights as recommended by our good travelling friends and former work colleagues geoff and Steph Bell ( top people who we talk to still regularly ) .

A good price for three nights and I was happy so we took off into town (after setting up with all shade being taken advantage of next to bow the Boab tree next door) for some fresh fruit and veggies as we needed some after crossing yet another quarantine border .

Being a Coles it was fairly reasonably priced and I'm not sure how but we spent just $20 short of $400 which would last two to three weeks we hoped , enough till Derby we hoped unless we took a job we had heard about for a few weeks care taking on a private gorge along the Gibb river road .

Home at the park we stashed the food and enjoyed lunch but the pool and kicked back for the remainder of the afternoon and watched yet another brilliant sunset 

Kunnunara

It's the morning ritual again must be 5 am and no dramas getting up and at it here as the mornings are brilliant .

A cuppa brekky and a shower for some of us ,the rest were good .

I put a new bolt in the lower front passenger shock mount as the other one was broken and MIA which upset our park owner as there was no mechanical repairs to be done on site but quite frankly stiff bikkies.

We had let the park know about our extra night so that was sorted , and we took off towards Wyndham, our first stop being Molly springs. A mere 17 Kms down the road and a few more off road into the local hideout of Molly Springs where after a short walk and a wade through a smaller pools edge we reached the spring fed waterfall of Molly Springs and the water was still going over with the pool below a pristine clear picture of this area .

We wasted no time getting in , the boys and I by jumping in the deep end the girls by a slow wade before the plunge .

We spent an hour or so here jumping diving bombing into the tranquil cool waters and it wasn't even 9am lol.

We were joined by a local worker and his backpacker partner who were just relishing the sunshine .

A wet sandy  walk back to the cruiser and a cool drink then back on the sealed road to Wyndham , a short while later we took the grotto road turn off to another Kimberly oasis ! The Grotto  .

We grabbed some snaps from above and spied the cool water below and a rope swing , yippee we were in like Flynn but the mrs was more than a little edgy about the unbarriered walk down the 150 tentative steps to get there.

Once there we passed a few other travellers and said our hellos before the kids and I were on the massive mooring line now used as a rope swing into the pool below with different heights achieved along the rock ledges .

Shahla was more keen than the boys and she easily went higher, being shorter and all .

I was the last to go and being the tool that I am had to go higher , a massive swing later I could have sworn I hit a turtle or something hard in the water as I nearly reached the other side .

On the walk out we surmised it to be possibly a little rock shelf I hit as I kicked off to swim back .

Back up the steps to the car with the eldest being a complete dick and carrying on which I don't normally mention but it was getting to near critical levels and needed to be dealt with .

That aside it was an awesome morning .

Another 40 Kms we were in Wyndham , a pleasant little spot but I'm glad it was just a day visit as from what we seen and enjoyed it paled alongside the greater Kunnunara area.

We took in the port area first and the new wharf but the tide was massive so we passed on throwing a line and weren't up for the historical museum ( something for adults later I think !).

We drove past the mine loading dock and some interesting parts of the port before heading back to the town proper and on to the heights above for the five rivers lookout where the view were amazing excepting the smoke haze filled horizon which didn't help for good shots but was a great vista none the less.

Hot dogs with cheese and the last of the home made sauce for lunch with cool drinks as the breeze was warm and sun blazing up here with little shade .

Back in town and a pic of the giant croc then a talk with a local family who made amazing carved boabs pods with intricate carvings of the turtle and crocodile that she was looking to sell , I would have but all that stuff would likely break in the camper which was a shame .

Just out of Wyndham we came across a silly tradie that had tried to do a u turn on roadworks while talking on the phone and he got stuck on a grader scraping with his trailer sticking dangerously across the road on a roadworks area so I helped snatch him back down the other side away from the dangerous side tipping road trains that tend not to slow down or move over.

This done using my as new snatch strap ( thanks Adam ) and promises of a carton the universal top end currency to be delivered to our site this arvo ( yeah right !!) all done and dusted although it did break my reversing camera grrrr.

A quick trip back to Kunnunara stopping off at the town side of the Ivanhoe crossing but as the sun was unrelenting and little shade we gave a flick of lures a miss for the day, it's a pity the crossing is closed as I was really looking forward to it .

Back at camp and some housework of cleaning out the freezer and reorganising it then a swim with a cold drink before tea.

Busy night in the pool area tonight but we still managed to use the BBQ for our tea with salad chatting with friendly families both from Aus and overseas .

Still not happy about early sunrises but it does cool it down a bit 

Well it's now 730 pm and no sign of my carton of piss , bloody trades lol you get that .

Everyone is looking to head to bed as it had been another big active day.

Purnululu

Started the day pre dawn again but with a bed side view of the sun raising its head over the limestone range to the north of us and it's only 530 .

We all awoke soon after and after two cuppa's and some spaghetti on toast we began to pack up as the hill side here got plenty hot in the day so we thought we could knock over some northern section walks today and another we wanted to do was closed so we got on with packing as Vincent the ranger came up for a but of a yarn and hello as it was his land we were camped on with permission from his parents but this was all good and he told us of some good places to go and about a good size freshwater croc in the riv where we were going to swim yesterday but not to worry , we had swam with freshies before with no issue and expected the same here but we were keen to make tracks again north as the weather wasn't getting any cooler and buildup would soon be upon us .

We dropped the camper back at the station and setup the solar panel to work away while we were walking .

First stop was Stonehenge with an interpretive signed walk along a creek telling us about native bush tucker and medicines .

We only took twenty or so minutes to do this walk and at 9am it was already warm and the area fairly exposed but we all enjoyed the learning story, some we knew and had heard of others were all new.

Then we passed a few others along the rocky road towards the blood woods , the escarpment walk and echidna chasm .

Four other cars in the echidna chasm car park and a flash 4wd motorhome from Europe somewhere that would be more at home on the Paris Dakar rally than here but half their luck I was just jealous .

we had pre chilled all of our water bottles for the chasm walk which was only 90 minutes long but we wanted to detour and picnic with the midday sun shining on the chasm walls bringing out the orange iron hues in the sedimentary rock.

We clambered along the creek bed into the chasm where the first section was pretty impressive with palms dotted along the high ridge lines and in some nooks and crannies .

The next section after a short rest was decided more diffuse but fun with some rock clambouring and two sets of steep steps with handrails but we enjoyed it immensely , although Corinna was more than a bit apprehensive about a few overhanging boulders wedges tentatively only a few metres above .

At the end of the chasm we rested and ate our shapes with cool water and waited only 20 minutes for the sun the shine down into the chasm before our eyes and leave great rays of light and amazing shadows around each bend , we sat here for a good half hour and chatted with some nomads about our last few amazing days in this country .

They took off and we slowly followed  behind but we never heard the croak of some frog as we had on the way in .

It seemed to take no time back down the chasm to the cruiser where we had refreshments and made our way back to the ranger station to re hitch the camper which was still there thank god .

We said our goodbye to the rangers to let them know we were off country and thanks again .

The windy corrugated road road was once again on us but seemed tame compared to the way in but we were stuck behind a bloody navara , lol.

Four small water crossings along the way and we once again reached the northern highway where we pulled up only 30 Kms up the road at Fletchers creek rest area only mid afternoon but we needed to charge the camper by solar a bit more and we were in no real hurry.

Camper setup and a chat with a local ex stockman in the way to a mine in Derby to work who was quite helpful , we set about a late lunch of hamburgers and homemade potato salad in tortilla wraps then the kids went playing along the nearly empty creek bed trying to rescue stranded fish of many varieties .

A little journal and blog time for the oldies then a few phone calls with acold drink thrown in and the sun began its red decent over the horizon , amazing sunsets I love the top of oz for that.

Plans made for Tommorow and the next few camps and we neede to restock shortly and refuel at a good price as well.

Today had been another special moment in the region and bring on many more!.

Palm creek to Purnululu ( Bungle Bungles )

"While we all had an early night and slept well a few times nearby cattle were heard nearby .

It's crazy waking up at 5 am on a no work day but its a magic part of the day here awaiting sunrise but still light due to being in the middle of a closed valley.

We were keen to push on to the Bungle Bungles but had the formalities of brekky to roll on through then journals and pack up before the heat set in .

We we're swimming in the springs again by 830 before we left to get the fine dust that comes with packing campers but it was great in the water.

Dash had lost his goggles in the water yesterday but as it was three times my height in depth I tried in vain to find them but had fun trying .

Solar panel had shade most of the. Day so we needed a good charge up driving back in to Halls Creek after stopping to check out old halls creek town nearby , unfortunately item and vandalism hadn't helped this place at all so we didn't get a lot of history apart from what Bonnie had told us and the tourist info in town .

No need for supplies in town today we simply added funds to our savings account to use and checked our emails, Facebook and post the latest series of blogs .

Quite a laugh sitting on the side of the road getting mobile reception and watching locals screaming around on quaddies , motorbikes and dodgy looking utes with up to 9 in them some had seats in the rear tub but seemed to get around just fine without authorities as we used to on the farm I guess as well.

A quick nature stop on the side road at Patin river caught some young backpacking nudists out but not that the male was peturbed one bit as he waved and smiled away ,but with his package I'm guessing he had little to worry about lol.

Around the 100 km mark we made our way in to the ridiculously corrugated creek track into the park , now we went to 25 psi and it was still pretty bad and slow going but we persisted but came across some unlucky tourists caught out going to quick and fully inflated and after offering help and soome advise seemed not to give a hoot so we kept going passing more than a few speedy backpackers in 2 wd vehicles .

We arrived the 56 or so Kms in to the ranger station and explained we were guests of the TO people we met the previous day with no issues till the head ranger came in and he gave us his rhetoric , most of which was quite arrogant but a little understandable , he obviously thought little of TO people letting others visit their land , I tried to ease his mind explaining we had done similar things before and were self sufficient but I'm not sure this helped , a shame really but we pushed on none the less.

A few turns later and 20 or so Kms further we reached our campsite down a management only track which was rare but appreciated on our part ,  away from the crowds for the next few days .

We looked around down to the Lower Ord river for a good spot to swim but a bug arse bull hindered our efforts a little here although we found a decent swimming pool despite lower water levels around and the fishing looked promising .

Back at camp we unhitched and setup the solar panel made a late lunch and took of into the tourist area of park again passing Elephant rock and some brilliant formations along the way .

We then took off on the domes area walk and took the track east to Cathedral gorge which was spectacular in size and how it was formed , on the way back dash and I took another detour to Piccanniny creek lookout further up and got some valley views below and were soon tonguing for some more water as our bottles were now empty in this late day heat , luckily the sun had disapeared 

Over the range to the west .

Some great shot we retraced our steps back through the domes to the car for a we learned cold cordial with the others .

There wasn't a lot of tourist activity here Atm I'm guessing heat and late in the season and day did that.

20 Kms back to camp with some more photo stops we had tea in dark as the sun sets far too early here and we discovered today no daylight savings to look forward too either , ah well.

Bangers and mash with onion gravy for tea all round and a cold beer for me finished off our day perfectly here , this is great, the kids are sleeping soundly ( well snoring actually !)

We may make the most of another early day here Tommorow so all of our water bottles and cordial are full and chilling in the fridge for tomorrow's walks .

Palm Springs

As the sun was up we thought we would join it as the canvas wasn't keeping its warming glare out so up for a cuppa and look around before bacon and egg sandwiches and journals for the squids.

It wasn't long after brekky we ventured around the sight a bit more and of course a swim or two.

Sometime before lunch we had some visitors pull up near us and they joined us in the springs and we talked to the younger girls befor the older sister and parents joined us .

That was the start of an awesome day all round for us as they took is in and told us about this place and the land around here as the kids played the older ones talked and shared stories , I must admit it was such a warm feeling and it was great the kids were mixing in with some true locals , as it turns out our new found friends were Traditional Owners of this land and Purnululu ( Bungle Bungles ) and after a day and walkabout around the springs and a nearby house where a market gardener lived they invited us to their camp in Purnululu for no charge in a secluded camp away from the tourist mob .

Bonnie and Malcolm Edwards taught us and the kids a lot in one day about this place that no guide book will tell you , so when they said we wold love you to use our camp I was over the moon , their camp was right on the Ord river a short distance past commercial operators camp and we could stay as long as we liked but I'm sure 2-3 days will be an immense opportunity to explore the land in a way most tourists don't and also do the usual tourist haunts with a new gained insight into the way true locals see it .

We learnt a few stories from the area both good and bad and about some plants and local history , I won't go into much detail except to say the feeling of home like much of the top end and Central Australia seemed to be very real here , things just felt right I can't put a finger on it but some of the things we thought that we would have loved to do but just never really knew how to do now seem to be just happening , perhaps it's all just time and place .

the time came for photos , a swap of phone numbers , lol and bloody Facebook yes even here and details to pass onto their brother the ranger in Purnululu .

As they left the boys went fishing for turtles and managed to get a beautiful size cod but as I already had a lovely silverside on I said put him back , much to the disgust of all the kids , I should have let them keep and eat it .

Tea was beautiful and a bit of a treat we actually have never eaten silverside camping before and lapped up the mustard cream sauce and steamed carrots, corn and spuds .

After tea around the fire we discussed our awesome day as we ate a choc  marshmallow ball Shahla and mum had made prior to tea .

Noisy night out here with wildlife but now we had our sights set on the next few days and couldn't wait.

Wolfe Creek Meteor crater , Halls Creek to Palm Springs

It's hard not to love waking up out here , regardless of the hour or temperature , already warm and only 515 am WA time the day was decided overcast and the wind from yesterday had tired up dust all around the horizon so me made the most of the early sun cover and had an early brekky cuppa's and packed up which seemed a massive task as we had unpacked a lot of gear , both for comfort and fun for the kids ie -swings , tents and such .

We were I the road about 8 am and took our time getting into town where we filled up at the bargain price of $181.9 cpl which is 60 -80 cents per litre better than what I thought it may be .

I must admit to thinking not much of this town on travellers tales alone but it was clean cool and well set out with clean amenities throughout .

After a fuel up we checked out the visitors centre with local kids playing under the sprinkler to cool down , yep great idea guys it's a pity they turned it off before we got to enjoy it too.

Some handy info to be used while in the East Kimberly and a top up off water supplies at 20 cents per litre but the quality was good .

We wanted to check out some of the Ord river regeneration area around here and although It was late in the dry here there where still some waterholes to be enjoyed .

We weren't keen on staying in town so pointed towards Palm Springs in the hope we would avoid the weekend festivities here in town and also hoping no one be camping where we were heading .

So first stop from Hallaas Creek  was the china wall a metre or so wide strip of quartz ridge exposed above the surrounding hillside apparently stretching into the Bungle Bungles many Kms away.

Then down the track past a local community and into Caroline pool where while the river want flowing there was still a significant waterhole where we spied bustards and a black water goanna catching his lunch , I'm sure this place would be nicer in the wet but not the best campsite around so we checked out up further,  the old stone hut we were told was nearly not evident so we passed this by .

Concerned at lack of camping areas we bypassed old halls creek town and made a beeline to Palm Springs were we sat up fairly comfortably and had a swim in the serene waters in the spring fed pool before having lunch and I made the most of having water but washing the car off quickly then scrubbing the camper tarp top as it was making us filthy dirty ever time we packed up and setup because of the dusty roads A rinse of the food prep area we had lunch of salad sangas and plenty of liquids .

All clean we set the camper up with the annexe as we rarely use it but the shade would be useful .

Back to the springs for the arvo with a few bevvies thought the later arvo we made the most of swimming where it was to be had, there where plenty of catfish , turtles , black goannas and bream around but the boys could catch none of them but spent a few hours trying anyway.

The water here was very deep and cool in many spots but the spring feeding it was warm .

Althroh the afternoon and early night locals and travellers stopped and refreshed and we gave some water and containers to a mob heading up to a community on the top of the Tanami desert.

This was a fairly busy road for trucks surprisingly , they do a good job traversing this track through the hills around this place.

Ej lit a fire not that we needed it as it was about 20 degrees but the ambience was nice.

The boys and I struggled with a big log across the dry creek and dash fell on its end winding himself then Ej cut his hand on two sharp edges on it , they both tougher it out for this log and didn't give up till we had it at the camp .

I had a later night waiting for the log to burn through which took awhile , we all slept very well till 530 ish then tossed til 6 or so when we got up.

Wolf creek meteorite crater

The night was restless in the camper but the boys slept well in their swags again ,

We awoke a few times for toilet stops and a windy night setting in late and awake bloody early obviously used to the previous time zone , Corinna in particular .

Even though we took our time on brekky and cuppa's we still had made the walk to the cater before 9am which was already very warm , it was an amazing feature in an otherwise flat barren land , not satisfied with snaps from above  Dash and I took a walk down the very rocky walls to the crater 50 metres below and seen some flora and fauna up close before making our way back up the slippery slope back to camp.

A few more travellers had arrived and a couple made the journey down to the crater floor .

Back at camp it was hard to believe it wasn't mid morning so we set up a swing for the kids and played some Wolfe creek cricket with a early drink for the oldies .

This continued on until the arvo then we tempted fate by watching Wolfe creek the movie and ate noodles for lunch as we watched and Shahla and mum played in her little shade tent .

We remained alone in the park until the ending of the movie thank god and then organised a shower for the girls in the tree overhanging our camp then dash also had one while the rest of us updated our journals before tea.

We agreed on chow mein for dinner as the amazing red sun set around us yet again .

The wind had all but gone but the sky had been filled on its perimeter by red dust and some clouds above had kept us cooler this afternoon .

What a big day it seemed like as we struggled with the new time zone and doing dinner in almost darkness , ah well daylight saving may be our saviours in a few weeks , or our undoing lol .

Smiths Gift Bore to Wolfe Creek Crater with excitement

The plan was to be fed and packed and on the road early I'm not sure why as we obviously forgot about the upcoming time zone advantage .

Once on the track yet again the conditions were still favourable for us and we stuck to a fairly constant pace of 70 ish Kms per hour with some slower and a couple quicker sections when we came upon a stranded French backpacker in a vs commodore wagon with a flat tyre and seemingly no idea how to fix it, so I felt obliged to help the poor bugger and within half an hour we aired his tyres down a tad to lessen the shock on the car and fitted his spare tyre which was already plugged on the sidewall , thanks and a yak later we took off  then 30 minutes later we took the side trip to check out the ruins at Mt Doreen station and the abandoned ruin .

Looks like the odd person camps here but mostly just rusty ruins of a few vehicles and a old pump station or generator housing and the half circle of a shelter of some sort .

A few happy snaps and a cold drink later we took a different track back out to the Tanami with a few more pics of the old mine site and the stone building still standing strong albeit without a roof .

As we entered the track proper a nomad was parked in a rest area with his roof up , as it was a Nissan I was a little concerned , lol.

But he was just having a cuppa for morning tea and we discussed the track ahead with some animated commentary on some wrecks in the middle of the road .

Then up the road again with quite a bit of mine traffic and yet another game of car and mouse with a mob of fellas heading north in a troopy.

We made lunch at the unusual hour of midday , yes strange for us !). Where we made hot dogs with home made sauce ( thanks aunty neena) and some good mustard as we sat we watched a fleet of four graders making the track a bit more hospitable for the travellers we packed up from the sticky north wind with fire in the distance that looked to be covering a massive area to the south west ( I'm afraid maybe towards our friend Willems famous gq patrol!).

As we slipped back onto the famous track we slipped in between two graders and gained a good lick of speed on the newly graded side of the road for quite a while then phone reception and quick check of emails on the fly past the granites where I was supposed to be working last year but gained good local employment in Darwin the day the job was offered .

The sealed section and mobile coverage petered out soon enough and of course a wee stop was needed for Shahla bear so we found a nice camp site and Shahla did her deed and I added a jerry to the car just in case .

As we entered the track again we got passed but some backpackers in a falcon wagon with a surfboard on top and what looked like very meagre supplies .

We managed to pass them fairly soon as we could handle the conditions better and their shackles sounded pretty shagged .

I decided to try and fuel up at Billuluna but man what a mistake that was , we just missed the shop and as we needed a fuel card not a credit card we had no option but to hotfoot it as this town was a real shocker and made all feel uncomfortable and we had been in plenty of outback communities before now.

6 cars of mostly aboriginals we had been passing on the Tanami pulled up behind but needed fuel more than us before heading Into the desert. 

The store owner wasn't any help to all 7 cars wanting fuel as apparently it was empty .

Now the friggen car had no dash lights and wouldn't start , talk about a Wolfe creek moment or what and with the a few locals who wouldn't or couldn't  talk and the travellers who were only keeping  to themselves we got the tried to get  hell out of dodge to no avail, after sorting out main fuses and neutral selector switches I eventually found a broken main fusible link had broken on the start battery I wasn't fixing it here so I jump started the connecting cable and cruised to Wolfe creek arriving at an early darkness of 6 pm , yes a few hours outside of our comfort zone as we tried to make the most of the time advantage over the W.A border .

Not long before the turnoff a black cat crossed in front of us , omfg what an ominous sign before heading into the crater site .

However this was forgotten as a brilliant dust red sun descended in the west .

Once here it was all good we quickly setup with 4 other campers around and made toasted wraps and weren't long out of bed all a bit weary from the longer day and time zone gain .

Alice springs, Tanami road to Smiths Gift Bore

Today was departure day and I was chomping at the bit , a cuppa and I skipped brekky so I could get our now empty gas bottle full I decide to get another diesel jerry as well and fill it up for our Tanami trip , then I found a bike shop to get the replacement axle spear I needed.

I did the run around of all the tech places for a sd card adaptor for the iPad but to no avail then I tried jaycar who also own itech world who happen to stock the gadget I much needed at a fairly inflated price but hey this is NT and I needed it to make this blog more smooth .

A few books for the kids at the book exchange that we had been struggling to find , then some easy lunch a top up of medical gear and finally our alcohol yippee , this makes the long corrugated drives more bearable lol ;).

So obviously due to the alcohol restrictions in lace it was now after 2 pm so we headed out of town and we were  surprised at exactly how far along the Tanami is sealed as no one managed to tell me .

We aired down at the first dirt section and omfg how bad was this road going to be , I think I may have made a bad choice here but it was sandier and softer a short section later then bloody hell thre was another 40 odd Kms of sealed road and another dirt then some more bitumen but it was all good just getting late in the day and I was already a little weary ( yeah soft I know but corrugations take their toll).

We managed to find a half decent wiki camps site for the night here at Smiths Gift Bore in a girly open area with plenty of wood and quickly setup our camper and then Corinna made a yummy pumpkin and chicken risotto to fill our bellies as we sat around yet another awesome campfire as was becoming our trend of late .

While waiting for tea we chucked a mystical fire bag on the fire and watched the colours emerge as it melted away and the chemicals did their magic .

The night was again noticeably warmer but the fire was mostly for ambience and fun for the kids as tea  simmered away and we battled a few more bugs .

I was  determined to beat a path along the Tanami even if we only do it once .

I find myself thinking of our friend Willems gq patrol somewhere only 600'kms away from us ,all alone from its owner in the dunes wasting away , I wished we could help bring it back for him .

Bedtime is up and I bid my hopefully captive audience audieu.

Alice springs ( yes again !)

There was no real rush to get out of bed however there was a coffee in ur hands before the 8 arm was hit and we slowly all woke in the relative peace and quite of the showgrounds .

The area was massive with probably 3 acres in a large area then anothe two area spread out along the oval with well set amenities that were nice and clean and showers were hot to boot!

Simple brekky of corn flakes and we set out into town for a couple of car parts and useful knick knacks to make things more organised in the camper.

We had some washing to do so off to the overpriced laundromat we did one load and dried it as well as we thought we were heading off but I had to wait for an axle seal to come into stock Tommorow so we did the tourist thing around town soaking up free wireless Internet and getting some lunch at the supermarket and fresh bread  with pasta salad .

30 cent cones all round held cool us down then into Kmart to try to find a new Doona cover for the parents but stocks were low and would be replenished overnight .

We checked out a few more bookstores and local art stores and tried to find out some more info on Tanami track conditions which proved rather fruitless which sucks considering its distance and importance.

We decided to head back to the showgrounds for another night and a absolutely beautiful plate choc full of cold meats and fresh salads the boss whipped up , man I missed that wombok and fried noodle salad.

I was feeling a little average so I read a book while kids got some computer time , but as I threw a water bottle on the bed it bounced back down smashing dashman's computer screen in the process.

I was so pissed off with myself as I'm always pressing on everyone to look after expensive and fragile items yet there I was smashing shit up , accident I know but I felt Superbad for doing it .

Lights out I calmed down getting back into my Bourne Ultimatum book which had been laying dormant for a few weeks so I jumped both feet into many chapters before retiring for the night .

Tommorow hopefully the two things we needed would be in stock and of course some much needed alcohol for the parents as we wouldn't see any at half decent prices for many weeks I guess.

Ni ni 

Chambers Pillar to Alice Springs

We made the most of the early cooler weather to pack up and pointed the cruiser and camper back down the track along its corrugated lines and checked out Marybale but being a Sunday the well known art and craft shop was shut and it was a quick lap of the town then past the flower covered cemetery over the hill past the rubbish dump along a small track to the old Ghan line which we followed back to Rodinga and missed hundres of coach bolts and debris along the way .

The road was better but not a lot and it kook us 4 hours to reach Alice Springs where we fueled and and re supplied as best we could but it would need to be a weekday to replace some items on the car namely the inner rear axle seal and hopefully a sd card reader for the iPad so can load images here in the blog.

Then lunch at maccas and off to setup at the cheaper option of the showgrounds which was so good with clean toilets , showers actual grass sights and power and not clogged in next to each other , the kids played with some other travelling families nearby and threw the boomerang on the oval before much needed showers all round and simple dinner of spaghetti bolognaise .

Some reading for all or Internet time and we all hit the sack.

Henbury , Rainbow valley , Chambers Pillar

No dingoes last night and the wind died down overnight as we'll, but of course as soon as the sun shined its beautiful warming rays of light the mighty annoying fly was in full effect .

Brekky sorted and us packed up in good time we headed out of the reserve and came across a fairly new magna left by backpackers nearby but no useful parts but such a waste in my opinion from rob ably just a flat tyre it seems .

It wasn't long till we reached Rainbow valley for a couple of walks , one to mushroom rock an interesting wind eroded peice of earth and then back via the clay pan walk .

We had the place all to ourselves which was a bonus.

The place was magic for photos of erosion and colourful rock formations but we opted for not camping her as the flies were mad as and not a lot of shade either.

Back out the same way we came in I pulled intomStyarts well roadhouse to top up and grab ice creams all round then back down 20 Kms along the Stuart .

We came to Hugh river stock route turnoff , opened the gate and headed along the recently graded track towards Mary vale station.

It took us about an hour and a half to do the stock route.

We then called in at Rodinga and the old Ghan railway siding which although newer than the southern ones was in a pretty bad state and the rubbish and crap from the recent Finke desert race was atroshish but. We did manage to rat some timber from the crates that where just left there and we then had a late lunch and some happy snaps .

Another  30 minutes to the station we took the Chambers Pillar historic reserve turnoff .

The track from here was very corrugated and rundown so it took us the better part of two hours to reach camp with probably half an hour to spare before sunset.

We took the scenic walk while the boys climbed the pillar steps and we took pics of Castle rock , the Pillar and the other nearby formations in the setting sun which brought out some magnificent colours.

Then I walked to read the storyboards on the chambers pillar walkway and back for some romance with the mrs as the kids had gone and we enjoyed the tranquility of the setting sun alone .

A latish tea of tomato and tuna pasta then sit around the great fire and talk about our day and wondere about dingoes here.

We all slept soundly this night .

Uluru to Henbury meteorite craters

As I expected I pulled up a little later and tighter in the legs than normal but after a cuppa I was all good .

I ducked into the shop for milk bread and a new bucket .

As we packed up the girls had a shower while I made egg and bacon sangas on the newly commissioned BBQ opposite us .

Then we hooked up the the robust camper and I jumped through the shower for a quickie and a shave before departing .

We then departed a little later than expected but that was fine and within a few hours stopped at Erldunda for a fuel top  up as we were heading bush again and conditions were a little unknown at this stage and also a cheap eat , nothing special here folks !.

A little up the road we turned into Henbury station and then into the Meteorite site where we scantily setup and then commenced some well deserved schoolwork for a few hours escaping the afternoon sun in the rotunda provided area , although nearly eaten alive by local black flies intent on entering every moist orifice they could.

The kids took refuge eventually in the camper as the flies were breaking their concentration apparently , lol all good then I made a tent for Shahla to play in with dash and relaxed a little before a yummy dinner of chilli con carne burritos with lettuce and cheese and Ej made a delicious cheese and herb damper that turned out perfect in the camp oven over the red coals .

After the days driving it only took one beer for me to turn in this day after the rest had gone to bed so I finished my journal .

There where only two couples a little across from our site and they kept to them selves fairly quietly 

No dingoes that we seen but tracks were around .

Uluru , Kata Tjuta , valley of the winds

So as I was saying it was a little ugly to wake up early for our 45 minute drive to the Olgas but we had cuppa's and cereal then took off , once again waiting at the park entrance for non ticketed tourists and a toilet break before we set off on our walk , as luck would have it a group was starting at the same time as us but I'm guessing you would be hard pressed to have it any other way for such popular  place .

The first lookout was only a little a bit up the rocky path and we where there soon enough with the vista before us quite different to Uluru and the conglomerate mix of rock that made the Olgas was quite different to Uluru .

Ej decided in things he didn't want to do a big walk so the rest of us set out for the second lookout down the very rocky path then a stop at the drink tank at the valley below and dash and  I continued on alone to the second lookout overlooking the valley of the winds where there was yet another group and also some other people we had seen earlier who kept me in awe as she had walked the Annapurna range in Nepal a few years before but never made it to ba camp unfortunately but man I would love to do that some day .

Then down another steep rocky path into the valley and we made pretty good time on the so called difficult track and as we walked and took many vista filled pics I heard Corinna call me up at the pre arranged time on the UHF for a health check from the car park and when I reached the next hill we confirmed we were still alive and 40 odd minutes off the car park.

A few hills and stops later past another group of walkers and we made it back to the car park and some cold drinks .

A bit of a rest and relay of our walk to the rest of the family we drove to the eastern side and then did the Wulpa gorge track which was a beautiful walk into a tranquil quite place .

Along the way some young  European tourist was clambering upto a cave higher up which was highly forbidden , I paid him little mind but a few others got quite upset and yelled for him to get down right now and some took pics and managed to call a ranger with the trace of a signal up higher .

The end of the walk on a platform was so peaceful it was lovely and informative on the local,plant life .

Following our walk we headed back to the picnic area for chicken and salad wraps and we came across the young European couple again but were polite and kept a small conversation .

Back on the main rd to Ayers Rock we passed a indigenous police officer racing the the Olgas possibly  to fine or apprehend the mislead bloke or maybe coincidence .

We took some eastern aspect photos for the sunset viewing area on the way back .

The rock was finally open for climbing so reluctantly I was coerced into climbing but while most of the family stopped at chicken rock , dash and I made it half way up before we decide to head back down , mainly owing to dashmans slippery soled sneakers that were dressing me out every time he   Slid a little and because we where both physically buggered from walking the nearly 11 Kms this morning .

However it was still bloody high and we got some good shots of the land below .

It was not far of happy hour so we headed back to camp where the boys swam and I did clothes washing while the girls popped into the centre for some cultural dancing and they learnt the emu dance .

As Corinna came back we grabbed some happy hour drinks and a few pizzas from the cafe near the bar and ate while our neighbour hung around talking about his take on all this so called sob cultural crap.

That generation can be so racist I mean I'm far from perfect but it seemed so rude as isn't that what everyone came here to experience !

It has been another massive day and I was totally shagged so after a little preservation to leave in the morning we jumped into bed .  

Uluru rest day and sunset over the rock

Today we think we earnt a rest day so we slept 8 am and once we were out of the camper there was hardly anybody around as they were pretty transient here so either touring in the morning cool or packed up and gone somewhere else.

A great cuppa later we went into the hill behind the common for some spear and boomerang throwing where I had the misfortune of trying to squeeze out some sunscreen from the tube ( oops the foil cap was still on !!!) so over half the tube spurted out all over the paved area in front of 30-40 other tourists from all nations and over my beloved wife and our Nikon dslr camera , but thankfully no one or anything was harmed although it made for a ruckus of laughter all around and both Corinna and I were a bit embarrassed but laughed it off eventually .

Dash was enthrallled as you can imagine,  in the spear and boomerang throwing and we all had a go , even though the wind was up a bit we all did pretty good but as I took my boomerang turn it went awesome and being light weight it came right back into the middle of the fair crowd narrowly missing a few but no doubt giving some foreigners a new found respect as a weapon .

Cruskits and some drinks for an easy lunch the boys took time out for a shower each and we hung out at the pool then back to the local waterhole which was more than a little contagious as we enjoyed happy hour and a half with cheaper drinks while the kids played in the games room for a while .

About 530 pm we headed out to the rock viewing area and gained an awesome view of the rock as the sun began to disapear below the horizon , the kids mostly sat on the roofrack and we sat our chair on a seating area below while the go pro took a photo every second and we snapped off a good many on the Nikon while we enjoyed another cold bevvie , still sober to drive back where dash , I and Shahla joined Dapto dave and his family around the fire drum as dash had earlier got some great logs for another site lol.

A pommie couple came to join us not long after and he kept dash amused with European trucking stories as that was his job for 40 odd years previously and dash loved to hear about this as he played euro truck simulator a bit on his laptop .

A few too many beers and laughs later we said our goodbyes and we fell asleep soon after , I slept like a baby but wasn't so fresh at 530 am when we awoke to do valley of the winds at the Olgas 

It had been a great day though .

Uluru

Up at sparrow fart this morning as we had a 10 km walk around the base ahead of us and some detours .

We caught the sun peering over the rock as we got through the park entrance after a bit of a wait there for our 3 day pass.

Once there the rock was closed for climbing and we began our sojourn around the rock clockwise from the Mala Carpark reading the story boards as we went . 

It was still a fairly busy time with many buses coming and going but we tried to keep to ourselves but we did run into some travellers from other places on the red centre way we had met before .

The women's business cave area made for some great shots with the kids and talking points on the grinding bowl looking areas on the rocks just inside the cave .

From there we went in to the men's sacred area at the base of a waterfall where owing to a more permanent water source the plant life was pretty alive compared to other arid regions and the birdlife was abundant with swifts flying all around us .

Someone ahead gone to quite an effort with the few chairs provided handcrafted from local timbers and moulded together .

From here we ventured out into the sun on the western side of Uluru where we weren't permitted to photograph a rather large portion of this side of the rock so a walk to the north western side with a constantly twisted neck craning for better glimpses of the rock face as it was now a little way from us as we walked firstly along the road around then on to the dusty track on the northern side where we still couldn't take pictures , the actual brochure mention I think 2 or 3  areas we can't photograph not half the bloody rock .

We stopped at the first aid/rest area and was a little miffed at the lack of toilets as you need to drink a litre an hour but there is no public toilets hence why I seen many wet patches and even a few white flags of dunny roll not far off the track , quite a shame really I'm sure the funds are there to build it and I would rather see a toilet than faeces and pissy smells .

We passed our neighbours on bikes going anti clockwise shortly after then we rested and had some more fluids as it was now 930 ish and quite warm already .

The camera was snapping away merrily and we took the detour into waterhole of the eastern side where the Woma story was created then the cave nearby and I had to carry Shahla for a bit .

One more non camera area where we learnt the blue tongue men story and how not to steal someone else's hunt .

We where finally back at the start and the rock walk still not open but I think we where to fatigued to climb at this point anyway .

Ahhhh airconditioned comfort of the car at least until the cultural centre for a nice ice creams and some learning .

We came across the German bike rider yet again who told us how a dingo tried to steal his roast chicken and he scared it off growling loudly , lol.

Many items where for sale here but pretty pricey so we just got a hat pin with our icy poles.

Back at camp after the ride back we tidied up a bit and kicked back in the pool and lounged around .

Then off we went to the pioneer hotel next door with the intention of happy hour drinks and no cooking for mum and dad but alas it was a all you can eat salad and dessert but the catch was you cook your own meat on the provided BBQ hot plate , ah well it was still once not to clean up and the drinks were cold and well priced.

Back to camp for a but of reelection and talks about the rock with neighbours then we slept well with the exception of the generator running .

Kings canyon to Uluru

Even though we were up early for the sunrise we didn't leave the campground till shortly before 10 as we were in no particular hurry and the kids enjoyed playing with others .

I emptied the three fuel jerries into the cruiser and had no problem reaching the resort campground with some to spare along the way we anticipated Ayers Rock like many millions of tourists before us I guess and when mt Connor came in to view we naturally assumed it to be Ayers Rock ( even though it was still 140 Kms further south )

We passed our parallel travelling family just out of kings creek and yakked briefly in the UHF and they had got stuck two times on boggy hole track for up to three hours the first day then 2 the next and kept calling on ch 11 for us as we had said we were staying around there but kept going , I felt so bad for them but they laughed afterwards at their lot on the track as you do afterwards .

Shahla still didn't believe us when we explained it was a common error and not the rock .

A quick stop at curtain springs for ablutions and we were nearly here.

We were given a site away from others as we requested however the wind made it difficult to put our annexe up so we didn't use it and after we where set up we went into the town common for some lunch , shopping supplies and information.

Lunch was the first hurdle as when the five of us hungry mob walked in an absolutely rude backpacker maître de trundled and almost ran away from us and went over to discuss something that appeared rather urgent with the Indian chefs behind

 the pass then another waiter then the bloke from ayers wok next door , with all of them looking at us , this was downright rude so I let them know and we were ignored so I gave the manager the big hands up to say WTF and we about face and took out money to the indigenous cafe across the court.

Good move as it turned out as the sandwiches they made to order with our scrumptious milk shakes were excellent , both in value and flavour , so good we had dessert there too , it was great to see William Angliss assisting in training these hospitality hopefuls as I know they did a great job with me (biased , yes you bet your butt I am lol.)

Then a little local indigenous bloke Leroy gave a a bush yarn on indigenous weapons and tools which dash enjoyed big time especially in regards to spears , axes and boomerangs and how to get spin ides resin to make his tools and weapons .

Then it was off to grab some  groceries from the local IGA which we needed in most regards .

We grabbed a twin pack of Italian chickens to chick on the webber for a nice treat with salad .

Then a new lens cover to replace the one we lost as the stubby holder wasn't quite cutting the mustard .

We caught the setting sun from a campgound lookout nearby with a cold beverage and too many other people but who wouldn't want to come here , I can't believe it took us this  long to come here but at least we were all together for this amazing experience .

We had planned to do the base walk around Uluru in the morning so it was a fairly early night but the bloody treatment plant or diesel generator behind us was bloody loud on such a quite night and we were on the next dune to it .

Kings Canyon scenic rim walk and side trips

We certainly rose early this morning drinking our coffee and dining on toasted sangas while we watched the sunset over the canyon with great views from the outer edge of the park where we were .

Camelback sand backpacks donned and full of snacks , ice cold water and first aid kit handy we headed for the walk a few Kms away .

The first few hindered metres were hard and we had a few stops on the way up and miraculously had phone reception brief enough for us to get a few messages but not enough to send any back .

The kids done a great job getting around the walk this morning with both sidetracks to the cottrell's lookout and the garden of Eden both taken making it a 7.3 km walk all up .

The garden of Eden walk was amazing and I was surprised to see water and aquatic life there among the cycads .

The lookout detour was well worth the effort over the bridge with the canyon views and also above the garden of Eden and over to the flat rock wall across the canyon floor .

Corinna even took the daunting stairs and bridge all in her stride .

There was so many picture  opportunities I'm sure a quarter of the memory card is just Kings Canyon!

On the way back we couldn't wait to dive into the cool waters of the pool .

That we certainly did for a few hours then a later lunch of wraps and some relaxing time either on journals or books.

Dash went for a ride around the park to explore and as is his way he came a crops doing some rock jumping which apparentLy he had done 4 or 5 times before but when an audience appears he came off but lived to tell the tale .

Back at camp we simply lazed the the day away with some early happy hour drinks and talking with fellow campers which was great but I like the mrs were reminded being time of corinna's mum as this lady , so unknown to us but a world of familiars as she obviously lived for her kids and grand kids it was great to hear her talk of her life and travels and stories of her family but not long after she left I saw a tear or two appear in my wife's eye and I knew exactly what she was thinking as my line of thought was similar.

It was time for another dip in the pool before tea then I sat down here on the edge of the park yet again amazed at the beauty of the canyon from the western  edge as the sun dips away .

Soon we will eat tea and watch the sunset yet again , yeah I know its a hard life but someone's got to do it .

Palm Valley - Boggy Hole- Kings Canyon

It wasn't hard to be up before the sun this morning but it was a restless sleep for most of the family owing to a snorer next door very close and being a a little warmer .

We were fed and packed up at 830 a new record I think in this camper but I managed a couple of sunset shots over palm paddock .

We said our goodbyes to new found friends who we will probably run into a few more times this week , then we headed back out to Hermansburg where we had a quick look around but decided against the pioneer village , we had mobile reception so we checked emails and Facebook briefly before heading back down the Finke river yet again.

The going at first was very corrugated but after 15 Kms or so became sandy and softer.

The park this side was rugged in its beauty but their were plenty of birds and amazing little purple flowers and sunny side up eggs and yellow paper flowers to admire . 

It took us about an hour to reach the boggy hole area and as there were some campers there we kept going on past policemans waterhole and had lunch at flowing waters where were still a few palms and some water to splash in .

The track was in better condition condition than I was lead t believe and it took us about 7 hours with plenty of rests and photo stops along the way to get from Hermannsburg to the resort at Kings Canyon 

We enjoyed the sunset briefly throwing its glow over Kings Canyon as we prepared dinner .

A load of washing and a quick swim to freshen up and that was our day done and dusted .

Palm Valley

You would think that being up nearly an hour before the sun we would make the most of the day to explore but not really , while time wasn't particulary wasted we sat around enjoying our wake up brew for nearly an hour before the kids woke up but due to a cloud covered sky we didn't get our sunset shots over the valley as planned but none the less it would be better for walking the tops of the escarpments .

A good brekky and a second cuppa was had then Shahla went to play with her new best friend Aishe.

I tried yet again to get some pics of jones and sd card onto the iPad without success no matter how I tried .

Then a little handy work on the camper and a cool shower before filling a pack and drinks for our walk around the escarpments and into palm valley.

The drive in was true 4 wd ing and I loved every bit of it without any dramas on the 4 km in .

The kids took the 5 km walk in their stride with Shahla leading the way for a large portion of the walk.

The  rid life and flora is truly wonderful here for a semi arid region and we came across some bush tomatoes and a few other plants we had seen othe places but the cycads and red cabbage palms were truly magnificent , reminiscent of some valley of dinosaurs , but without the dinosaurs !

There was still quite a lot of water about really and you could see Finkes flood force in high places further up the river.

It took us 2 hrs 5 minutes to do the walk with plenty of sightseeing stops as well as snacks and water to keep the energy up .

We caught up with our fellow traveling family friends towards the end of the walk which made shahla's day who informed me I left the cruiser driver door open which the shut for us luckily , I can't believe I left it open as I'm generally anal about security whether it's visually a tempter or for checking locks but all was good as it was just as we left it .

Back at camp for a later lunch we dined on soup as it was cooler then lounged around camp a little , I for the bikes off the roof and found I was missing my axle spear quick release and the bike was sitting akward but I found the qr axle just missing the nut which I replace with my seat pole clamp nut and dash and I rode off to do another walk a few Kms away .

The ride was awesome then the walk just as good giving us perfect views ( although cloudy ) over the surrounding escarpments and palm paddock below .

We hid the bikes and made our way up to a saddle above and scrambled the rock ledge to get better views were we read a storyboard on the local legend of the tawny frogmouth father and needle tree son .

Then a quick sprint down hill to the bikes for the downhill rock ride to camp .

Corinna had made Thai green curried chicken with udon noodles which was lovely then after we finished it was time for our ranger talk .

All set up around the fire ranger dave gave his talk and answered a few of our questions and gave some helpful tips on future campsites and drives around here .

A few frothies later around the fire with fellow travellers topped the night off and as we walked back to camp dash found a scorpion on the road near our camper , he was tiny but still no doubt packed a punch .

We made sure everything was packed away as we again had the nosy dingoes close to camp .

Finke river campsite to Palm valley

It was a good 30 minutes before sunset when Corinna and I awoke and the sun was yet to poke its head over the macdonnell range behind us so we stayed up to enjoy the site it offered as we drank our morning brew .

The kids woke fairly soon after and with a simple cereal brekky we were on the road nice and early .

Compared to the last few days where we were only doing less than 100 Kms per day as there was so much to see , well today we actually clocked up nearly 200 Kms before we set up camp and finally it was off road for quite a large part of that .

We headed back  only a short distance to Glen Helen gorge to check road conditions and to look at the large gorge behind the old station .

After chatting to the owner briefly we decided against the mereenie loop pass for the western section as i  was keen on doing boggy hole and policemans waterhole along the Finke river which is very rough and slow going but from what I had seen in pics and stories would be well worth it 

Our first stop today was at spectacular redbank gorge which was a rocky little walk down to the gorge but well worth it as has nearly every gorge or roadside stop along this red centre rd.

The views on today's windy drive were simply amazing looking out over Mt Sonder then mount razorback and over to N.T ' s highest peak of Mt Ziel .

After a sealed windy section uphill we came to Tyler's pass with captivating views over krichauff range mereenie range Gosse bluff below and the valley between .

We took the dirt road into Gosse bluff where we took several short rocks explaining the dreamtime stories of creation of this crater and then the scientific explanation  of the way this area was formed from a comet crashing into the area millions of years ago forming the riches and crater we were in .

The other walk dash and I did was a small rocky outcrop overlooking the crater floor below , and the cave poched walls around us. 

Whilst cooking lunch of noodles here I accidently spilled the whole bloody lot onto the ground wasting it all ( or feeding the crows lol ).

From here we took the Unsealed and very corrugated Larapinta drive towards Hermannsburg and turned of briefly to visit Albert namantjiras house he built in 1944 .

From here we took the turn off for Palm valley ( Finke river national park ) where after airing down again we reached the campground on the 4 wd only  track just short of the valley walk .

The kids had a swim in Finke river behind our campsite and revelled at the chilly waters .

Happy hour was upon us so bikkies dip and a frothy went down a treat all round .

Shahla had made a friend in another camp near us her name was Aisha she was happy playing with her for most of the night while I made a mean batch of beef and veg vindaloo with couscous .

A couple of dingoes were on the prowl for food scraps and managed to take some from backpackers nearby but we were packed up well enough to not worry too much but we got to see them fairly close in our campsite just the same .

Bugs were every where here as where large cycadas which got in everything but it was now bed time it had been yet another action packed Red centre day.

Hugh river - Ellery creek Big hole -Serpentine gorge - ochre pits-Ormiston Gorge

Its beginning to be a habit now ,  the sun shining in alerting us to its presence of morning then the coffee and brekky ritual , today being spaghetti on toast then journal time and on the road but not too far again today it would seem as although we were just going with the flow we had no real idea how long each destination would keep us there or was it a packed camp site in which case most time we would do the walk and drive on after completion.

The same was said for several places today , Ellery creek big hole was on paper a bit of a draw card  but I didn't get our snorkel out of the rooftop bag for a swim in the slightly mossy but still fairly clear chilly waters much to the disappointment of the boys , however it was redeemed by a rock scramble up to a set of cave shelters which were up higher and great to explore .

Then it was only a short distance to Serpentine gorge where a massive 4x4 man expedition truck driven by an  elderly Swiss couple came in to the car park next to us and joined us on our 1.1 km trek down to the gorge howevere no one here opted for the lookout above .

The it was yet again a short drive to the ochre pits further along the west macdonnell ranges where the local Arrernte men would collect the many different ochre colours from the areas cliffs and then the women would ensure they had enough for their ceremonies and to trade amongst other tribes.

We made ourselves some chicken and salad wraps in the deserted picnic area here shortly before the walk under the watchful eye of a rather large raven who got no satisfaction from us .

From here it was onto Ormiston Gorge where we were hoping to spend the night but it was chock a block full so we simply took our short walk to the gorge after a quick chat with our neighbours from the caravan park in Alice springs.  we explored the area somewhat then braved the very chilly waters for a quick swim before making our way to the cafeteria for an ice cream as it was a lovely warm day .

Here nick the kiosk manager told us of a spot in the secluded campgrounds next door but alas there was no where our camper would really fit and be anywhere near level , so we consulted our maps and pondered what our friends had said about a nice free camp along the Finke river and decided upon this as our nights stay although early in the day we liked the thought of exploring and being well rested before tea .

It was a shame really about Ormiston gorge as there was a rangers talk on the area.

This location however was a real treat as there was lovely water in the river where the kids took a brief swim while we setup and had a refreshing bevvie or two  before dinner.

As luck would have it we scavved some wood and a sleeper from a deleted campfire nearby and this made for an awesome fire to finish of our day .