Mallacoota

Sat (14/9) we picked up the van from Goldstream at Pakenham and headed east. 

Stopped at  Yarragon for lunch with friends Henk and Sue. We then continued on to Orbost where we spent the night in a really nice motel and had dinner at the Orbost Club.

Sun (15/9) we stopped for a short walk in the Cabbage Tree Palms. Very pretty, lush and green such a contrast from where we've been.

Then on to Cann River for morning tea with Mike's niece Monique and her family. We got to cuddle the new baby, Heidi.

Then Mallacoota and lunch with Mike's sister Anne and her partner Les. We then set up the van in the caravan park with a view of the water.

Adelaide to Melbourne

Mon (9/9) We continued to head south on the Stuart Highway. Our destination for the day was Echunga in the Adelaide Hills and the home of my good friends Mary and Bill. We left behind the heat and wide open spaces in exchange for the cold and damp that is currently blanketing the Adelaide area. This is our first night in a house since we left home. Lovely to see Mary and Bill and their gorgeous rural property. Thank you for a great night!

We have now "bagged" our first complete road. We have "done" the Stuart Highway and bisected Australia.

Tue (10/9) We crossed into Victoria today.

It's still cold as evidenced by Mike's attire. 

A very pretty rural drive today compared with where we were a few days ago. The canola is so pretty.

We spent the night with Mike's friends John and Sherryn on their beautiful property between Ballarat and Geelong. Another lovely night with very dear friends. Thanks so much!

Wed (11/9) Today we drove into Melbourne and dropped the van at the Goldstream factory in Pakenham. We are staying with Mike's sister and brother-in-law Claire and Dennis in Glen Iris. We are very fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family to provide their loving support.

We are now in negotiations with Goldstream. So disappointing to see what has become of our trip.

Woomera

Sun (8/9) we left Kulgera and headed south. We decided to have a bigger day and set our sites on Woomera, about 750 km.

We crossed the border after about 20km. We have been in the NT for 40 days. It's been grand! Just a pity that we had to cut it short, but we'll be back.

We stopped at Coober Pedy for lunch. On the way in there were heaps of mines - mounds of white rubble.....

The town is very opal oriented, but was all shut up as it's Sunday.

Then on to Woomera. This is what we looked at for most of the day.....

We got into Woomera at about 4pm and checked in to a cabin at the caravan park. Another double bed! All the cabins so far have had doubles not queens - and Mike doesn't fit (not a happy chappy).....

Woomera is a very eerie town. Only 148 people live here (I asked the lady in the caravan park office). There are missiles on street corners and a whole park full of them. It feels very much like a military base. It's deserted but not derelict, a town that's waiting.

We thought of a couple of options for the Crownie - a Woomera rocket or the Ghan.....

But the highlight was a fabulous sunset on a huge horizon.

Kulgera

Sat (7/9) Kulgera, NT. The first stop on our new route is the last pub in the Northern Territory. We are about 250km south of Alice and about 20km north of the SA border in the home of the flies. We stopped for lunch along the way and I ended up eating under my fly net.

We are both feeling a bit drained so decided to stop early and rest for the afternoon.

We are also 15km from the geodetic centre of Australia.

We have a "motel" room which is a little hut, but clean and comfy, so no complaints. 

We tried to buy a paper at the store, but they don't deliver this far out. 

The Demise of the Crownie - a change in itinery

Fri (6/9) I started to wind up the roof of the van at the Palm Valley campground. The winding mechanism malfunctioned. A spot of bother! The van is not usable and we are 150km from Alice Springs up the Finke River surrounded by amazing rock formations in the middle of nowhere.

We sat down and had a think.......

We decided to try and get back to Alice Springs - the van was still towable, but we needed to clear out the fridge and get some clothes, food and other stuff out. Mike managed to get the roof up a few centimetres so that we could open the door. We then chocked the roof and I crawled in and began the "retrieval".....

Of course we prioritised!

We then hitched her up and banged our way back down the track to Hermannsburg and then back to Alice. We got there at about 6pm and checked in to a cabin at a caravan park.

Sat (7/9) We called Goldstream in Melbourne. They recommended that we bring the van to the factory, so we agreed to bring the van back to the Melbourne factory. 

So instead of Kings Canyon, Uluru, the East MacDonnells and home via the Plenty Hwy, it's down the Stuart Highway into SA and across to Melbourne. Not sure how far, but it's well over 2000km.

We checked out of the cabin and found a shady spot to park the car. We got the van door open again and we organised ourselves for "plan B". After a few phone calls to let people know what was happening (and to let Mike's sister Claire know that she was about to have house guests!), we left Alice at about 11am and headed south.

Finke Gorge NP - Palm Valley

Fri (6/9) We left early and headed west, south, then east towards Hermannsburg. Another lovely drive with some pretty wildflowers. I think we are seeing the beginning of the spring bloom.....

We were also back on the corrugations. I spend a lot of time watching our CB aerial dancing.....

We stopped at Hermannsburg which is the site of the first mission in the area. It was a Lutheran mission established in the mid 1800s to "convert the heathens". Some of the original buildings (with German architecture) have been preserved and turned into a museum and historic precinct. This is the original church complete with a tape of the aboriginal choir singing hymns! Of course the Lutherans took the best land in the area,  an area that the aboriginals used to retreat to in the severest droughts.

Hermannsburg is now an aboriginal community - the land was given back in 1982. This sign was outside the supermarket, not quite sure what to make of it......

We then headed out to Palm Valley about 20km of 4WD track that followed the Finke River. A lot of the track was in the river.....

Lots of brumbies in the area. This lot weren't at all bothered by us....

Once again some spectacular red rock formations....

We got to the campground and found a lovely shady spot. We had some lunch and then went to set up. Our trip was about to take a dramatic turn.

West MacDonnell NP - the gorges

Wed (4/9) - Happy anniversary Mum and Dad!

Ormiston Gorge - this is the most popular gorge, the swimming hole is right near the car park. We did a 2 hour walk up to a lookout and the down into the gorge and walked almost to the end. Then we boulder hopped our way back along the dry river bed. A lovely walk and the gorge is beautiful. There were quite a few people in there.

Redbank Gorge - this is a couple of kilometres off the main road with a dirt road in. There were very few people there. We walked about an hour up and back the dry river bed of the gorge - part track, part sand, part boulders - and came to the waterhole at the end of the gorge. This is more spectacular than Ormiston with steep red cliffs. The water is VERY cold. Mike got in, I just wet my shirt and hat and splashed water on my head. This time we met a few people coming out as we were going in, but we had the place to ourselves when we got there. Lovely! Mike even skinny dipped until we heard some people coming up the gorge.

Thu (5/9) 

Glen Helen Gorge - this is only a 5 min walk from the "resort" - a caravan park, shop, bar and restaurant. This is a much more open gorge than the others, not quite as spectacular.