Wednesday June 29th 2011

Happy Birthday Lynda! Lynda is our sister-in-law.

Yesterday we visited the information centre and booked a 3 gorge cruise. We were both excited about this cruise although I was a little concerned that I might not be able to access all gorges (knee). I took Nana's walking stick to help me with the ups and downs.

ready to board the boat

Our guide, Marc, welcomed us on board and kept the commentary flowing for most of the trip. He was raised in Spain and came here 8 years ago; fell in love with this region and also a local indigenous woman whose family has welcomed him and taught him much about the Jawoyn culture. He even has a skin name and explained to everyone about the moities (different groups that ensure the genetics of each group are not compromised).

Marc, our guide

With most guides, Marc was informative with humorous anecdotes to entertain the passengers. His depth of knowledge and love of this country and its people were evident from the beginning of the trip.

An agreement between the Jawoyn people and the government has enabled this country to be shared with everyone as long as the gorge was named Nitmiluk Gorge. Nitmiluk means cicada country. Marc shared many Dreaming stories about how the land was formed.

Looking at rock art that was painted thousands of years ago really brings home the age of the indigenous cultures of this entire country. Amazing people who really looked after the land and utilised the natural resources with deep wisdom and knowledge.

 

What an impact Europeans have had on the people, flora and fauna of Australia! Climate change will have a significant effect too if something isn't done soon. Say YES to a tax on pollution!

Travelling through the different gorges is quite a spiritual experience and when we had the opportunity to sit in silence near Jedda's Rock, it was very special. We'll have to revisit the film "Jedda" after taking this trip.

Massive ochre-coloured cliffs and gigantic boulders/rocks encase the Katherine River. The amount of water that flows down these gorges (13 in all) during the wet and in flood is hard to visualise. The trees grow under the water during this time and it's easy to see the effect of the force of the river by looking at the direction that they grow. They look as though they have been exposed to winds of such strength that make them bend their trunks and branches.

fresh water crocodile

In a crack, there will appear the odd tree or other vegetation hanging on and defying the odds to survive. Some even appear to be hanging upside down. Freshwater crocodiles bask in the sun and rarely move as we glide past; one was in the exact same spot as we started the trip and on the way back.

Moving between the gorges was not too difficult. The boat was moored and we walked along a pathway to the next level and a different boat. The first path was flat in most places with a few steps. Catching the second boat to the next gorge, we found out more about this river and the geography and geology. A helicopter ride would be excellent but neither of us are keen to do this but it would be cool.

falls at third gorge

The second walk was easy and short but when we reached the third stop, I was a bit worried. Not wanting to miss seeing the waterfall or the pond, I decided to have a go and with the walking stick and Robert's help and guidance, I made it to the pool after climbing many rocks.

The swimmers looked like they were enjoying their experience and it would have been amazing to stand or sit under the waterfall. If I could swim, I'd have been there. Bobby decided it was too cold so he looked on with me. More people sat on the rocks and took in the scenery than those who ventured into the pool.

To make sure that I didn't hold up the group on the way back, we left a bit before the main group and it was pleasant to sit in the cool of the boat before we did the return trip.

Our trip back was much quicker.

I made it!!!!

At a quick stop at Woollies Liquor Shop for Bobby to restock his diminishing supply of ale, we were surprised to see 2 security guards at both entrances/exits of the shop. One of them was almost a salesman for different beers, making recommendations about those on sale, etc.

At the counter, a sign is displayed asking for photo ID and this means everyone. Obviously, it's about controlling alcohol consumption by indigenous people. It created an uncomfortable feeling for me. The presence of the security guards indicates the probable confrontations that must occur.

June 28th 2011 Tuesday (Jennifer's 34th birthday)

Katherine Tourist Information Centre

Missed seeing Jennifer for her birthday but SMS, emails, facebook and a phone call made sure that we wished her a lovely day.

Katherine Museum was the tourist highlight of today. The collection was mainly about white Australian achievements and mementos with some indigenous Australian information. The information about WW2 was informative and once again I felt that we have forgotten this part of our history in the classroom and in society. Gallipoli is always remembered and rightly so, but as a nation, we don't seem to know much about the impact on NT and Queensland with the casualties, evacuation and damages.

The museum is located right near the original tarmac used in WW2. In a hangar nearby, there is a Gypsy Moth plane that was used by Dr Fenton (resident doctor for 6 years in Katherine). He bought the plane using private funds and loans to be able to service the outlying district. He did ask Rev Flynn (Flying Doctors) if he could fly under his flying doctor banner but was declined.

Katherine Court House (We liked the colour and the architecture)

Sheds house other displays that are kept in excellent condition. Some museums get a bit tired and rundown but this one is very well-maintained.

Monday June 27th 2011 Mataranka to Katherine

What a tough life! Mataranka yesterday

A short trip today from Mataranka to Katherine. It's getting quite warm up here now - reached 30 today. We're booking ahead as many places seem to fill up quickly.

Spotted this solar enhanced grave at Katherine Cemetery

Checked out part of Katherine Gorge this afternoon and visited an interpretive centre at the gorge. Really looking forward to seeing what this region looks like. We're hoping to go on a sunset boat trip tomorrow or the next day. A dawn trip is also offered and we'll do that one on our way back to Adelaide.

logo as a sculpture at Katherine Gorge Centre

Great to drive with window down
Can't do it with van mirrors attached

We wandered to a park to eat our lunch while we were at the gorge. As we walked closer, an unpleasant smell hit us; bats, more bats and even more bats were suspended by their feet from several tall trees. They covered the trees and we noticed that the departure point for cruises was under cover just in case of any nasty little accidents.

Bats! More bats!

Robert decided to have a look at the boat ramp - something he does in most places with river or sea access. He was astonished that a female tourist just waded into the water despite warnings from her friends, who watched from a safer place. There are signs in several languages everywhere warning about the presence of crocodiles.

boab tree

Checked out Jurassic Cycad Gardens today. Amazing place which has been developed over several years by a person who obviously has a passion for these ancient plants. He offered his collection to a government botanical garden but it was refused so he set it up himself. Apart from the huge collection of many different cycads, there are cacti that have unusual flowers.

The terrain in the gardens utilises the huge rocks that were already in this area. There are times when we expected to see a rock wallaby jump out in front of us. My knees had a really good workout - even Bobby built up a sweat.

Another green snake lurking in cycad garden

Needed to stock up on supplies so we stopped at Woolworths (no other supermarkets here). The price of tomatoes, cucumbers and other fruit and vegetables is much higher than at home. Barra is on the list and we've been told to go to the local butcher for the best ones.

Something small has bitten me - I have at least 100 little itchy (really itchy) bites on my arms and neck. It's either bites or a rash. Not happy. Wearing jeans and long-sleeved tops just doesn't go with the weather and I've smothered myself in insect repellant. Robert doesn't seem to be as appetising as me - no bites!

Art galleries, museum and School of The Air in the next couple of days.

Comments on our blog

I enabled the comment function days ago so I don't know what else to do. If someone can give me more info, I'll have another go.

Welcome to Ellamae Rose

Earlier this week (Wednesday I think), our friends Joanne and Wayne welcomed their daughter, Ellamae Rose, to their family. She was supposed to have been born just before we left on our trip but decided she'd keep everyone waiting. She's a very lucky little girl to have two lovely people as parents. I'll have to wait until August to meet her but I've seen photos and she's a sweetie.

Day - who cares what day it is? Sunday 26th June 2011

Spent most of yesterday sitting around reading and doing crosswords. Put out some of my jewellery and sold a few pieces (enough to cover a couple of nights in CP). Met some nice people which is a bonus. I ran out of display space so I used a clothes hanger with pegs and attached it to a tree branch - it looked speccy when the wind made it whizz around.

Bites on my legs, arms and back!!!!! Don't think they are of the mossie variety but they are itchy.

Bobby and Bill (a neighbour who is travelling north and west) organised for Pooh-Bahs to meet via Skype. Definition/explanation of Pooh-Bahs:another term for male wine drinkers who live in close proximity in our street and who 'meet' every Saturday afternoon from 3:30 p.m. until ???? and learn how to speak a different language that can only be accessed after a few reds. Partners are associate members and are welcome to meet but mostly they enjoy the peace for a couple of hours although they dread the different language at the end of the meeting. Most Saturday nights in our street are quiet although the loud snoring from males can often be heard coming from many homes.

Well it was just as though we were at a Pooh-Bah gathering. There were voices competing to be heard, much laughter, sledging yet with the occasional coherent comment about what everyone was up to. It was excellent to hear those familiar voices and maybe next time we will have worked out how to get some images showing instead of question marks. Naturally, the different weather conditions were commented on with Bill, Ros, Bobby and I making the most of short sleeves and shorts whilst those back in Largs Bay were wearing layer upon layer upon layer. They even met indoors this week so it must have been cold. Normally it's an outside meeting under cover.

About 8ish last night, Bobby rushed inside the van and told me to grab the camera. A tawny frogmouth was perched on a pole near the van. Sat there for a while as I took a few photos and then flew off - just hope I didn't blind it with the flash from camera. Didn't hear anything bump into a tree so I'm guessing it was OK.

Robert's just been told to wash the car with vinegar added to water to get rid of lime that is in water of the road crossings that we splashed through the other day on way to Elsey National Park. That will keep him busy for a while. I can have a coffee and do a crossword - maybe have a shower.

Checked out the barra feeding in afternoon when water is a bit warmer. Photos could be better - new camera one day. Most of shots are guesses because it was difficult to see the viewer.

Bazza the Barra

Just a comment

Walking and driving through Katherine yesterday, we noticed the number of indigenous school-age kids who were wandering around either alone or with parents/family. Why aren't they at school?


It's a cycle that won't change if positive steps aren't made. No school, no job skills, no jobs. 


Another very offensive and discriminatory sign that sits outside many indigenous communities is about prohibition of alcohol and pornography. It must be so demeaning for people who live there. What about non-indigenous people who abuse alcohol and children? 

Alice Springs Coles and Woolworths stores have just announced that they will stop selling cask wines soon. I don't know the answers but it all seems prohibitive and reactive.

Day 8 24th June 2011 Mataranka and Surrounds

Overcast this morning and only 18 but it warmed up during the afternoon to high 20s. We checked out The Stockman's Gallery where some local indigenous artists exhibit their paintings. Some stunning paintings with glorious colours. Inspirational! 


Headed out to Elsey National Park to check out the Roper River and camping areas for a stay on the way home after we've been to Darwin. We were pleasantly surprised with hot water for showers and toilet facilities and only $6.50 per person per day. Robert's keen to do a walk to Mataranka Falls from here and I couldn't manage it with dodgy knee. I had a few twinges today and I think getting in and out of van isn't helping it.


Mataranka Homestead has thermal springs that are more accessible with steps into the spring (although I didn't see them until I'd hurt both knees). Very nice in the spring at 32 degrees. Sprats swim by in schools and the water is crystal clear - sparkling!

enjoying the thermal springs at Mataranka Homestead

On the way into the springs, there was a very tame marsupial (maybe a wallaby, euro, kangaroo). Of course, Robert did his usual animal approach with "Skippy-like" noises. The animal did seem to like the head scratching and the ear tickling but definitely did not appreciate the back scratching and let Robert know in no uncertain terms by making a guttural growl.

lazy marsupial

Evidence of the flood damage could be seen with the flattened palms and muddy debris littering the palm forest floor. There is a mesh path that makes access very easy. Fruit bats enjoy this area and there is a path that has a canopy so that people can walk under the trees without having to wear a souvenir from a bat.






Rainbow Springs is just beautiful with its colour and ever-moving waters. No swimming allowed here. 

Back at the caravan park, the peacocks and peahens made their afternoon visit for some bread. They just forage all day.
Shortly before dusk, they emitted their unusual sounds and flew up to roost in a large tree. Campers below were a bit concerned but I guess the peacocks and peahens were here first. 

A bit hard to see but there are about 5 or 6 peacock/peahens in this tree.

Day 7 23rd June Thursday 2011 Mataranka and Katherine



another view of caravan park

Headed off to the barra feeding this morning. A short walk from our van across the park to the barra pool which hosts 8 or 9 barra.

barra fishing

Did you know that barra are all born male and stay like that until they reach salt water where they change to female and lay thousands of eggs? They spawn 7 times in their lifetime (once a year) and live for approximately 30 years unless they are caught or die from something else.

barra caught by hand

The display was pretty impressive, especially when the demonstrator bent down and caught a rather large barra with his hands.

A couple of kids tried their skills too.

Apparently, in the afternoon session, the barra are more active as the water temperature is higher. They don't cope well with cold water so a fountain operates from late afternoon supplying artesian water that is warm.

another view of CP

A quick trip to Katherine (130 kph permitted) to top up fuel, supplies, purchase a Telstra mobile phone and check out a few caravan parks took up most of the day. Katherine is a busy place!
The sales assistant at Telco shop came from Adelaide! His father was in RAAF at Edinburgh and is now at base near Katherine. Another example of a small world.

Day 6 Wednesday 22nd June 2011 To Mataranka

We’re still without connection to internet!!!! This entry will be uploaded at a later date but if I don’t record it every day, I’ll forget what we did.

On the road before 8:00 a.m. and heading for Mataranka. Getting warmer! We actually arrived at the CP too early. Robert made a huge statement. The reception staff had to be the best he’s ever met!!!! There was a group of school kids leaving the park as we came in. Barramundi feeding happens at 9:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. daily so they’d just seen this. There’s a large pond which has a fountain and other pumps to aerate the water along with water plants including water lilies. We’ll watch this tomorrow.

All the sites are $27 regardless of position. We were invited to take a walk around the park and choose the one that we liked best. This is a very pleasant CP; lots of shaded sites with tall leafy trees and grassed areas. There are also motel units that have the appearance of mud brick or rammed earth. Some sites have a couple of toilet/shower units with 4 sites around it – a bit like an ensuite. We had a wait of 2 hours as watering the grass was going to happen soon so we decided to empty the porta-potty. Highlight of the afternoon really.  There’s a restaurant, café and shop. I’ll be heading back to the shop later this week because there are some nice stubby holders, key rings, note paper and natural mossie repellent.

camp site Mataranka and clothes line

Short sleeves and shorts now – warmer clothes now stored under the bed.

We headed off to Bitter Springs, which was just down the road (5 min drive).  The water temperature in the spring is a constant 27 degrees – nice! We had a walk around the area and were surprised by the stunning colour of the water. The clarity and colour were very different to what we’d seen before. Check out the photos. The flow was quite fast and there were a couple of different exit points – one with steps and another with a vertical ladder. It is quite deep in parts but noodles can be hired from the CP so that’s solved my phobia when not being able to touch the bottom.

little fish in springs

Robert did a risk assessment for me by returning to the springs this afternoon while I stayed at the park and read. I’m getting used to the eReader – it’s very natty.

We’re here for 5 days so we have the awning and sarlon shelter thingy happening – very pleasant sitting outside reading. I even did a load of washing which isn’t exciting except Robert finally gave in and bought a folding free-standing clothes airer (like a mini Hills hoist except it’s light and it folds up to this small bundle).  He was never going to have one of those!!! It’s so cool – don’t have to go to the communal clothes line every 30 mins to check if clothes are dry. I’m easily pleased obviously because I really like this invention.

Walking around the park before tea, we came across a pride of peacocks (I don’t know what the collective noun for many peacocks and peahens is but I think ‘pride’ is apt). One of the males climbed onto a large rock and seemed to pose for me to take a photo looking as proud as a peacock. After I’d taken a couple of shots, he hopped down and joined the rest of the pride. Looking at the grass, there’s a lot of evidence that kangaroos abound in the park.

Proud peacock

Angry Boys just started. Yay!!!!

Day 5 Tuesday 21st June 2011 Wycliffe Well to Daly Waters

An early start this morning meant that we were on the road at 8:05 a.m. John and Helen came out to wave us off as we drove from the site. Coming into Tennant Creek, my phone made a few ‘knocks’ to let me know I had some messages. Jennifer asked if we needed anything done at home as there was a severe storm warning but the message was a tad late in arriving. Brigitte let me know that Carlien’s mum had died and although it’s sad, Carlien let us know a couple of weeks ago that her mum was not well so it wasn’t unexpected; she had her 100^th birthday in December – a good innings!

Most of the trip was uneventful except for a couple of incidents with driver’s caravan mirror. Same thing happened last year when semi-trailers with long, heavy trailers pass at speed and the mirror gets whipped off. This time, a low loader carrying 2 take-away houses whipped off the mirror but it stayed attached to the car (last year it rolled along the highway). After an adjustment, we resumed our journey when the twin to the first low-loader did the same thing. Gaffer tape to the rescue!

The vegetation is becoming taller and greener with new growth shining in the sun. Road damage after the floods is evident but not as bad as we thought it might be.  The Devil’s Marbles looked like gigantic lolly spuds (the ones that are rolled in cocoa). We’re going to check them out on the return trip.

Coming from the opposite direction were convoys of army vehicles. At regular intervals, a convoy would pass us and acknowledgements were made the usual Aussie way with a slight lifting of the driver’s right hand. We estimated that at least 100 vehicles passed us. Guesses about where they came from and where they were going turned out to be wrong. When we arrived at Daly Waters Hi-Way Inn, there were a few army recruits waiting with their vehicles on a side road.

Once we’d set up the van and Bobby had a beer, he went off to explore the park.  On his return, he told me that he’d spoken with the army recruits at length. Turns out that they were members of RAEME (Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) which was the group Bobby was attached to when he was in National Service. I suspect secret handshakes all around with a bit of bullshit as well.

Before arriving at this CP, we went into Daly Waters to get a site but it was full with the overflow area filling up fast. It was tight with cars and vans lining up like a car race on a grid ready for a Le Mans start. We gave it a miss and retraced our steps to this park but could only get an unpowered site. It’s not cold yet so I don’t think we’ll miss the heater.  Site was $14 and included a free beer.

Robert really wanted to check out a Mr Chook at the pub. Apparently, he’s renowned for his entertaining skills. We’ll see him on our return trip back to Adelaide.

The CP also serves barra burgers so we had that for tea – delish!!! A couple of Muscovy ducks met us as we were going for a walk around the park so the stale bread came in handy. They were people-friendly as Robert patted their feathers and lightly pulled on their tails while they gobbled the bread.

We also met Buster the Jack Russell and his owners who are from Mt Gambier and know Andrew’s mum, Joy. Such a small world!

We’re hoping that Mataranka isn’t as busy as this because we can’t book in with no phone coverage. Buying a cheap Telstra phone at next major town so that we have a double chance of connecting is at the top of the shopping list.

Day 4 Monday 20th June 2011 Alice Springs to Wycliffe Well

A trip of 450 km today went well. Crisp morning of 3 degrees but with clear skies and the warmth of the sun, it was pleasant in the car. No music today; we listened to ABC Alice Springs that had an excellent ‘All in the Mind’ about visual literacy and deafness with technologies (e.g.  video telephony) that enhance the communication experience for those with loss of hearing.  Did you know that there’s a university in Washington DC that is for deaf people.

Being a recently converted Dr Who fan (David Tennant fan really), I was interested in ‘The Philosopher’s Zone’ because it discussed good and evil and rationalism and emotions. More insights into Dr Who and the script writers looking at Plato, Socrates, Hitler and nuclear destruction of our planet led to different understanding.  As Colonel Klink often remarked, “Very Interesting!”

It was eerie that not long after listening to this radio program, we arrived at Wycliffe Well – the home of the best beer in the world, the best pies in the world and the most UFO sightings! Now with all these attractions, how could we go wrong?

The entrance to the CP welcomes humans (femaliens, malaliens and kidaliens). The walls of the service station and reception area are decorated with murals of aliens, space ships and other out of world creatures and objects. Different! Mobile phone and access to internet cover isn’t happening here – one would think with all the aliens and UFOs that technological communication would be a high priority.

As I relaxed with a coffee and book, Robert explored the park. It’s quite large with a lake, an old tourist railway, aviaries, restaurant and last but not least, bloody chooks walking around on the loose! Those of you who know me will understand my reaction as I enjoyed sitting outside with the coffee and the book to be accosted by a couple of chooks! Shooing them away the first time was OK but then another lot approached – I swear that they sensed the fear. I hate chooks!!!! A hasty retreat to the caravan was my next move. When Robert returned, he took guard so that I could return to the outdoors. Very pleasant too – even had to put on a summer top!

We know it’s a small world and after meeting the people next to us, we discovered that John lived on the peninsula and was Nick Rope’s grandfather! Nick attended LeFevre for 5 years and left when I retired. It turns out that John knows many of the same people whom we know. He lived in Carnarvon Tce Largs North for many years. He and his sister, Helen, are travelling together and are on their way back to Adelaide before Helen flies home to Perth. Both have lost their partners. How special to be able to travel with a brother or a sister! 

We spent a couple of very pleasant hours with them and shared stories of travels and family. They gave us a few tips about accommodation and tourist attractions as we head further north. You do meet some lovely people on holidays.

As it got later in the day, more campers booked in. On the other side, we have a huge bus with a mini-van in tow and painted in the same colours. Amenities here are spotless and there are a lot of shaded areas. A pleasant place to spend a few days just chilling.

The last of the frozen meals was eaten tonight – green chicken curry. Delish! Daly Waters is the destination for tomorrow and we think we might treat ourselves to a meal at the pub.

Day 3 Sunday 19th June 2011 Marla to Alice Springs

3 degrees this morning but clear, sunny skies made us feel warmer than what we were. Heading off at  8:30 a.m. gave us plenty of time to get to Alice Springs. 

As we didn’t want to listen to Macca with Australia All Over, I stacked up the CD player and we sang along to hits of the 80s, Grease and the movie soundtrack from “What Women Want”. A bit of car dancing (the top half of my body dances and I clap and sing) got the blood moving even though Bobby gets a bit concerned about the oncoming cars staring at me. Who cares!!! He should be used to me doing that by now.  And I stayed awake; it’s a bit hard to nod off when there’s good music playing. I was going to rip some CDs to my MP3 player but I didn’t get to it before we left – making jewellery is more fun.

Lunch stop was at Erldunda. Some bright spark created much amusement for new travellers with an amusing sign; NO FISHING stuck in the left-over muddy waters outside the service station.

Making use of the amenities wherever we stop, I headed off to the toilets. Casually looking around at the “ceiling”, I immediately thought of Georgina (a friend who suffers from arachnophobia). She would have been hyperventilating at the sight of 2 of the biggest spiders I have ever seen. Luckily, spiders at a distance don’t bother me much. I returned with the camera so that I could share a digital spider with George. 

Wedge-tailed eagles are very impressive with their size, confidence and arrogant looks. We saw one today that had all of these traits; as it picked through something dead on the side of the road, it didn’t even flutter a feather as we drove past. It just gave us a glance, stood its ground and went on with its meal.

The landscape stays the same for many kilometres then it changes from clumpy, low, green-grey foliage to scraggly trees that aren’t very tall then back again to the low bushes. There’s evidence of water in many of the creeks; some still have several pools and others have dark, damp, muddy patches. I guess by the time we do the return trip many of them will be dried out with cracks appearing.  To the side of the road in a few areas, there was a lot of water that hadn’t drained away.

Phone coverage was restored not too far out of Alice Springs and Robert suggested I ring CP to book a site. Lucky we did that as we got the last available site. The Stuart CP is very nice. Many tall, shady trees are scattered throughout the park and provide shelter and shade. Sites are quite big as well. Amenities are spotless. Big tick for this one.

Robert decided to give the Prado a clean so I tidied up the inside whilst listening to Port play West Coast. Of course, Robert wasn’t happy with the first part of the game and didn’t really bother to listen but he was a bit happier after returning from a shower to hear that they were only 14 points behind.  Sadly, the margin grew but it must have been a good game for a while. It sounded as though Port were having a go. Before the game, I sent a text to a Carlton supporter saying that the weather here was lovely (20 degrees) and maybe Port would win. His response was for us to enjoy the weather and not ask for divine intervention!

Our travel plans have changed after Robert had a chat with one of the permanent residents here. We were going to head for Tenant Creek but have decided to go to Wycliffe Wells. Tenant Creek is not a comfortable place to stay with looting being one problem.  Wycliffe Wells reminds me of the police series on ABC1 “Wycliffe”. I enjoyed that program – most of the English dramas and comedies are well done.

After persisting for some time with logging on to Gmail and Face Book and Blog, we gave up. I took Robert’s advice and did these entries in Word. Might read for a while now – I started a novel before we left and it’s the only paperback I brought with me. EBook is next and with so many to choose from, I’ll be very happy.

Day 2 Saturday 18th June 2011 Woomera to Marla

We've had no access to internet until today when we bought a Telstra gizmo and cheap Telstra mobile phone. There's a few entries to add to blog.

We woke up to a fine, crisp morning after a chilly night although it was very cosy in the van. The road through the centre doesn’t have many bends and much of the vegetation looks the same for kilometre after kilometre.

It didn’t take too long for me to nod off again but at least Robert had the radio to keep him entertained. Our new whiz-bang super-dooper aerial is great and this is a toy we both wanted.

Good time was made although checking our fuel consumption for a couple of days has resulted in reducing speed from 90 kph to 85 kph. It may seem penny-pinching but it will save us $10 and only add 30 mins to the trip per day. It all adds up.

Marla CP is an oasis in the middle of nowhere. You can select any available site you like and park on the dirt track with the van door facing a grassed area so that tables, chairs, etc can be placed on grass. There are a few tall trees to provide some shade but we weren’t fussed about that as we were only stopping overnight.

The amenities are tired and stained by the bore water. I’m glad I didn’t wash my hair; it was hard enough to shower.  No TV or connection to internet here. We don’t mind not having the TV and the occasional computer-free night is also a novelty.

Day 1 17.06.2011 Friday Woomera

Didn't get away as early as we thought but after some last minute packing we left home with a teary Mum and Dad as the farewell team. 

With the sun shining through the car window and the heater on, it didn't take me long to nod off - I was resting my eyes! We stopped at a park just out of Port Augusta for lunch. Egg and lettuce sandwiches with no mayo (it was in the car fridge and too difficult to get to but that meant no curry so maybe the after effects won't be too disgusting!

Sighted a few groups of emus (must check out the collective noun; I quite like an elegance of emus or a strut of emus) and several dead cattle on the roadside with the ever-present and opportunistic murder of crows. 

We were reminded of the flatness of the landscape as drove along the bitumen listening to Carol Whitelock and Peter Goers on 891. Our new radio antenna is living up to expectations - no static, no dropping out and no weird whistling noises. It does look a bit weird on the front of the car - a bit like a flexible fishing rod but it works.

Woomera Theatre

Caravan park at Woomera is OK. Clean amenities and only $25/night. We did the tourist drive and came across an area that displays a variety of rockets harking back to 60s. Even though they are linked to weapons of war, the science absolutely amazes me; these relatively small arrows hurtling through space at great speeds transmitting data. Probably not 'green' technology either.

Woomera is a very neat and tidy town - no rubbish, no graffiti. A few trees grow but with the lack of rainfall there's not a lot of lush gardens. Most of the houses look the same and there are rows and rows of 2-storey flats/units that appear to be unoccupied. In its heyday, this town must have hosted a few thousand people. 

After dinner, Bobby and I played a few hands of poker. He won - I don't have a poker face and I quickly lost my $2 of 20 cent coins. Our playing cards were purchased from Port Adelaide Football Club and before we began Robert commented that neither of us would be on a winning streak - not a very supportive comment. 

Sign says it all

At Rocket Display

Plan to head off early tomorrow for Marla (600 km from here). Robert's keen to get to warmer weather although it's not too bad here. We did get a bit of rain this morning but it cleared up as we travelled further north. 

Have we got everything?

Final preparations are in progress although the caravan has been occupied over the long weekend. Jennifer and Heath with Tiger have camped in the shed whilst working on documentation for 'Adhocracy' - it's much more convenient for them to pop over to Vitalstatistix from here than going back and forth to Richmond. It's also been nice to have them here for 4 days.

Sheets are drying, bedding is airing and packing can begin in earnest tomorrow. We've had some additions since our trip last year; a reversing camera so Robert can hook up the van by himself. We did make a good team last year with hitching up and placing the van on site - no arguments!!!! I think it was a toy that the boy had to have.

Only 3 more sleeps then heading for Woomera.