Kings Canyon

Andrew and the boys squeezed in a short visit to Kings Canyon, staying only one night. We explored the resort and hit the pool in the afternoon, then watched the sun set on the cliffs. Five sun sets/rises in three days is a record for us!
An early start next morning to pack up and start climbing up the South Wall Return Walk. We didn't have time to complete the whole Rim Walk, as we also had to do the six hour drive to Alice Springs. We had an appointment to catch up with Andrew's sister Amber and her husband Michael for tea. Tim and Matt are becoming great hikers - we managed to power walk up to the southern wall rim, spend half an hour taking photos and looking around, then hoon back down in two hours! It may have only been a flying visit, but at least we got there!

Yulara, Uluru and Kata Tjuta.

Even having visited Uluru before (albeit many years ago on a hight school trip) the size of Uluru was still surprising when we went around a corner and caught sight of it. No matter how skilled the photographer is, a photo just can't do justice to the place. It's very impressive!

We checked into the Ayers Rock Resort  Campground and were given a site right on the edge of the park.

That night we took off for the traditional sunset viewing of Uluru, along with the usual crowd of other tourists. We snagged a great spot and met a lovely Italian couple on their honeymoon. Amazing views of the rock, but again, the photos don't do it justice.

Sadly Heather's uncle Ed died unexpectedly this week, aged 93,  so she needed to fly home for a few days to be with her mum and attend the funeral. We were grateful for the timing, as it meant that Heth could share most of the time with us at the rock, then fly out of Yulara before rejoining when we got to Alice Springs. Lucky we weren't in the middle of nowhere and out contact!

Our plan was to jam in as much as we could before Heth flew out. So the second day began with an early start to see the rock at sunrise, before completing the base walk around Uluru. Lunch in the resort township, followed by a little housekeeping, then a chill-out by the pool for a few hours.  Next came a quick sprint out to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) to catch the sunset, followed by dinner out at the back-packers bar. Busy day #1 - sorted.

Day #2 started the same way, early start for a sunrise viewing, except this time out at Kata Tjuta. We didn't have enough time for big a walk today, as we needed to get Heth to the airport, but we did hike into the first lookout area. We were quite surprised to realise that the rock formations at Kata Tjuta are very different to Uluru. The domes seem to be of sandstone with many rounded riverstone style rocks embedded within the sandstone. Kata Tjuta is quite impressive in its own right.

After dropping Heth at the airport,  Andrew and the boys hit the pool and went back to the back-packers for pizza and snooker.

Day #3 (Friday) was meant to be a relaxing day by the pool, before heading off to Alice Springs Saturday morning. However, at 10 am Andrew and the boys decided that they could do 'pool days' at home and instead hurriedly packed up and took off on a four-hour sprint to stay at Kings Canyon instead!

Northern Territory!

Yahoo! We've hit the NT at last. Stayed the night at Kulgera Roadhouse with a whole heap of other travellers. Mass exodus in the morning, with everyone hitting the road!

Coober Pedy

Very interesting place Coober Pedy. Stayed here two nights. After taking ourselves on a bit of a cooks tour, we took the advice of a couple we'd befriended and went on a five-hour tour run by    
BIG4 Stuart Range Outback Resort. Most informative and entertaining. Sounds like all you have to do is dig a hole and you'll strike it rich!

Interesting to hear that there is no more mining allowed in the town, but you can excavate extensions, new homes and sewers! As a result, some underground houses have many rooms. They seem to struggle with ineffective sewer lines too! One family bought a new house block, excavated the hallway and the sewer, then promptly left town! Hmmmm...

The wider Australian Serbian Church excavated a massive underground church, a 300 seat hall and then completely excavated a 300 space car park while trying to sort out the sewer.  When I asked how many Serbians were in town to justify such a massive church? We were advised that there are about 2500 people in town, 75% of whom are Italian or Greek, with the rest of the population split amoung another 100 nationalities.  Surely there's some in town??  Any??? ... I suppose all they needed was one clever one!

Driving around town, out to the Barrier Ranges where Mad Max 1 & 3 and many other movies were filmed, plus on the way to Yulara the next day, highlighted just how many mines there are. Mullock heaps everywhere. Apparently, due to the nature and fragility of opals, mining is best done by two men in small scale mines. Big machines in big mines destroy the gems.

Woomera and the rocket range

Our Woomera overnight stop-over was an interesting time. From being a heavily restricted military base in the 50s and 60s with a population of over 7000, it's now a well maintained, but seemingly 'ghost town-ish', base town of only 162. It's still in a restricted area and the base is still active, so you can't go wherever you want. Apparently a Hornet fighter jet dropped in to refuel just before we arrived.

Nevertheless, the boys and Andrew enjoyed looking at the rockets and jets in the Missile Park, as well as spending ours in the Woomera Heritage Centre, learning about Australia's involement in rocket programs in the 50s, 60s and even 90s and as late as 2005. The range has also been used for much other testing in the decades since the rocket and nucluear testing was completed. 

Heather enjoyed a sleep in the van!

Port Augusta, SA

We spent Thursday afternoon looking through the Wadlata Outback Centre,  at the recommendation of friends. What a fantastic place to visit!

It interactively covers the social and ecological history of the Outback, from dinosaurs, indigenous Australians and early European migrants, through to things like the early explorers, the RFDS and early road, rail and air transport. We all loved it, spending over three hours there.

Later on we discovered an observation point in a converted water tower. Clever!

Back on the road again!

Yesterday was a big transit day - Broken Hill NSW to Port Augusta at the top of the Spencer Gulf in SA. Today we'll be checking out the Wadlata Outback Centre, among other places, before another big transit day heading to Coober Pedy.