Shepparton to Alice Springs 

(18th May - 19th June)

I’ve finally decided to add something to this Blog. It won’t be as regular or as detailed as our website. This should be obvious when we have now been on the road for over a month and have just added this. I’ll add bits and pieces when we get time and will also slot in a few photos and perhaps a video clip or two depending on where we can get reception (in very limited supply in the places we have been travelling).

We started off on 18^th May with a few days in Ballarat visiting Claire and picking up a cold. Whist here, we received a phone call from our neighbour, Wally, to inform us we'd invited the world into our house by leaving the front door open! He duly checked and locked everything up for us - we were obviously in a real hurry to get away!!

From here we headed up to Lake Charlegrark, then into South Australia and followed the border up to Berri where we spent five days resting and recuperating before setting off for Ororoo and hitting roads untravelled by us.

Next stop was Farina. This was a pleasant place and we spent a couple of days just relaxing. The camp area is near the ruins of the township that was built with the aim of creating a wheat-farming community / rail-head for wool. Unfortunately, like all of this area, lack of water knocked this on the head. Although, it did last from 1878 until around 1980. This coincided with the closing and re-routing of the Ghan railway line. Sonja and I walked out to the very flat, very stony position of the cemetery about a kilometre out of the town. A lot of work has been (and is still being) done in signposting the area and creating walking trails. It was well worth the time we spent here.

Farina Campsite

OODNADATTA TRACK

From here we really started on our ‘adventure’. Up to Maree and then along the famed Oodnadatta Track. This track is a wide dirt road that follows along the trail of the early Ghan railway. There are numerous sidings and stops along the way to indicate where it ran until around 1980 when it was decided to reroute it because of the problems caused by flash-flooding knocking out the line many times. Our first day’s travel wasn’t too bad. Not much in the way of corrugations and very little traffic to cause us to deal with a lot of dust.

On the Oodnadatta Track between Maree and Coward Springs.

On the way we stopped at the Lake Eyre South lookout. We walked out as far as we could until the clay started to build up on the feet and we had to turn back. For those of you not familiar with Australia, Lake Eyre is BELOW sea level. It doesn’t often have water in it, but when it does, it becomes a large inland sea, home to many bird and animals for a short time. The water that fills the lake doesn’t fall in the immediate area. Much of it actually comes from rain that falls in Queensland and New South Wales. This flows through what is known as the Channel Country. The water that doesn’t flow all the way will seep into the ground into the underwater storage area of central Australia known as the Great Artesian Basin. The latter providing much needed water to most of Outback Australia. There is still water in the lake at present although much of the birdlife appears to have moved on.

Our next stop along the track was at The Bubbler and Blanche Cup. These are natural springs that appear in a few places around this area that were of great importance to the aborigines for fresh water. These are fascinating – HUGE mounds of soil in a desert area with water just bubbling out of a hole in the top. The Bubbler in particular reminded us of the hot springs in Yellowstone. The water here was luke-warm. 

Blanche Cup

We eventually stopped for the night at Coward Springs. This was once one of the Ghan stops. There is a bore here that provides a nice little spot for relaxing in the warmish waters. This is precisely what we did after having set up the van for the night.

Sonja enjoying the warm bore water at Coward Springs.

We had decided to spend a couple of days here because it was so pleasant – well set out, hot showers (if someone lit the boiler) and large rainwater tanks for fresh water. We had brought some firewood with us and so cooked tea on the open fire. We put out the awning and settled the chairs out ready for a couple of days of doing nothing…

Until we woke up the next morning and took a look at the sky. It was quite dark and the clouds were getting heavier. We decided to move on!

We headed up to William Creek where we decided to have a flight our over Lake Eyre North. Another couple joined us for a great one-hour flight. As a lot of the water has already evaporated we saw the contrasts of white salt, red algae, blue water and the various colours of the shoreline and surrounding country. It was our most expensive part of our trip so far, but well worth it when you consider the rarity of the event.

View of Lake Eyre from our flight - note the colours as the lake is drying out.

When the flight was over the couple we flew with (Len and Margaret) said they were going to continue on along the road but were not keen on camping on their own, did we want to join them? An excellent idea we rapidly agreed to, and so we set off. Our original choice of Duff Creek (selected from our great camping reference, Camps 5) turned out to be a drive UP the creek bed which neither of us thought was a great idea, so we continued on to Duff Creek Overlook. This is just a spot to pull off to the side of the road. As we pulled up beside Len, we watched his rear tyre rapidly deflating. At the same time we noticed he had lost one of the ‘feet’ from his van. Fortunately, we had spotted this just a couple of hundred yards back up the track (not realising at the time who it belonged to). Len and David removed the punctured tyre and fitted the spare. This done, Len and Margaret jumped in and collected the missing piece from their van. We settled in for the night with a nice fire under a fairly cloudy sky.

Sunset at Duff Creek Overlook - note the solar panels to keep
the second battery charged for the Engel Freezer in the back of the car.

Next morning, we had some drizzle. Not a great deal, but enough to get us moving quickly. The section of road from William Creek to Oodnadatta turned out to be a bit rougher and more corrugated than the section from Maree to William Creek. There was a deal of SLOW travel. We had one stop for a cuppa at the Algerbuckina Bridge – we pulled off the road and had a walk around this solid, 1892 construction. After our short stop here we continued on our corrugated way to Oodnadatta.

Algerbuckina Bridge

When we finally reached there (speed often down to 20kmph) we had a quick drive around the ‘town’ (quick, because there really isn’t much there) and then decided to go into the ‘caravan park’ for the night. While David filled the car with fuel he looked underneath the van as we’d noticed a slight tilt to the driver’s side. This was when we discovered we’d lost the u-bolts holding the springs onto the van. We had travelled the last 67kms with the van resting on the axel!! We know the distance because the next day (while waiting for repairs) the driver of one of the cars that came in told us he saw them just past the Algerbuckina Bridge! As Adam (owner of the Pink Roadhouse) said, “The Gods were with you mate!” Obviously the slow, careful driving paid off!!!!

The Pink Roadhouse

Van Repairs in Progress -
Watching what was being done to our van with the forklift was a bit scary
(Note the pink pyramid being used as security!)

The back of the van was lifted by the fork-lift so that a block of wood could be fitted to level the van and ease the van’s brake and we drove around to our site where we had an uneasy sleep.

At 8:30 next morning (Saturday) David drove around to the front of the Pink Roadhouse so that he would be noticed. At 10:00 am he was told to back up to the doors and it would be done soon. 5:30 pm saw the forklift again lift up the back of the van so that they could get underneath. Repairs were finished around 7pm and we were back into the caravan park for the night. As it turned out, it was a good day to be sitting and reading as it had rained for most of the day and judging from the appearance of the vehicles coming into the place, it was best not to be on the road.

The next morning, thanks to a lot of wind during the latter part of the day before and during the night, the track had dried out and we headed off with Len and Margaret to Archeringa Station via the Painted Desert.

Track into the Painted Desert

Part of the Painted Desert

We started on the Track towards Coober Pedy and then headed north from this on a rather rugged track, part of which required driving along the very fine gravel of the Goorikianna Creek – the Prado proved it’s worth as we made it through without any mishaps (with careful checking under the van at each stop)! We made a couple of photographic stops on the way. The area reminded us of parts of the Dakotas with the layers of colours in the sides of the hills. We had a very pleasant night by the fire talking to Hobbsy, the station manager, before turning in for the night.

Coober Pedy

Next morning we said goodbye to Len and Margaret as they headed north-west to Marla and we headed south-west to Coober Pedy over more corrugated roads.

The background image to this site was taken near Mt Barry, on the road out from Archeringa to the Oodnadatta/Coober Pedy road.

We spent three days at Coober Pedy. On arrival, despite threatening weather, we did the washing and managed to get most of it dry due to strong winds. The next day we did a tour of the area – the town, opal fields, the Breakaways, an underground house and an underground church (Serbian). This was probably the best way to get a good overview of all that makes up Coober Pedy. On our last day we wandered the township and had a look at an underground bookstore and through the underground Museum at one of the hotels.

Sturt's Desert Pea 

The Dingo Fence - the longest structure in the world! (From Queensland to Western Australia)

The Breakaways

Uluru (Ayers Rock)/Kata Tjuta (The Olgas)

From here we headed north again with an overnight stop at the South Australian/Northern Territory border. We just managed to get a spot as it appears to be very popular (free, with toilets and water). We left around 7 am after having to sit and wait for the ice to defrost off the windscreen! A COLD night! We had met up with another couple of travellers (Lesley and Rob, and Hazel and Paul) and spent the next couple of nights with them at Curtin Springs, about 80km south of Uluru. We decided to stay here rather than at Uluru as it was considerably cheaper. We were going to free camp there, but had trouble with the gas to the fridge and so paid for a powered site.

We stayed here three nights – Sonja had decided she didn’t want the cold, so we used power for the time here. We did a trip into Uluru where we spent a couple of hours looking at the Cultural Centre. Respecting the indigenous request not to climb the rock we did the 3.5 hour, 10.6km walk around the base of The Rock. This was quite an easy and interesting walk. There are lots of spots to stop and contemplate and some sacred areas where we weren’t to take photos. At around 4:30 we drove around to the sunset viewing spot and settled in for a time of great appreciation of how the colour of The Rock does change as the sun sets. We then headed back to Curtin Springs for tea and bed.

David's watch decided to die whilst we were here and he embarrassed himself when he went to show the others a slideshow he'd put together of the day's travels. According to David it was 7:30 pm. To Hazel and Paul (now getting ready for bed) it was 9:30. From then on, if anyone asked the time it was always, "Ask David" or "7:30".

View of The Rock

The Rock - Sunset

The next day we drove back and walked around Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). Again, some spectacular scenery, although the day was overcast and hence cut down some of the colour that comes from full sunshine.

King's Canyon/Mereenie Loop/Hermannsburg/Palm Valley

From Curtin Springs we drove to King’s Canyon, arriving around lunchtime. The resort here was quite impressive with SIX amenities blocks! (A change from the usual one or two). Sonja had decided she had done enough walking for a while and so, David and Hazel did the Rim Walk (about 3.5 hours of very impressive scenery). We caught up with an few others we had met at the Coober Pedy, the border and Curtin Springs for a drink and nibbles at sunset.

The next day, as a group we did the short King’s Creek walk. Evening entertainment was supplied by the resort with ‘The Roadies’. It was a fun night of old songs and plenty of audience participation (Including David up for actions to ‘Home Among the Gum Trees’).

Kings Canyon from the Rim Walk

David from the top of the canyon

The next day we said goodbye to the others as they headed towards Alice Springs and we decided to drive along the unpaved, very corrugated Mereenie Loop Road to Hermannsburg. At times we were again down to 20 kmph. (A few stops along the way to check underneath the van)! For those that don’t know, Hermannsburg is where Albert Namitjira grew up and learned to paint.

No explanation necessary - Excellent instructions for this road!

The township is quite small and non-residents are not permitted into the housing area. There is a Store, a service station, supermarket, police station, night patrol, solar power array attached to the diesel-powered electricity supply and the old Mission Station. We stayed at the caravan park (collect the key from the supermarket to enter the locked compound).

On our second day we spent a couple of hours wandering around the old Lutheran Mission that had been started in the 1890’s and existed until self-determination was declared for the aboriginal people of the area. Just before we arrived, the power to the town had been cut off and it was a little dark in some of the buildings. We spent the afternoon just relaxing. One couple we had met earlier (Sue and Ed) had arrived whilst we were out and we decided to drive into Palm Valley together the next day.

Sue and Ed had been in the day before and so decided to do a walk around an area on the way into the Valley. We all did the Kalarranga Lookout Walk before we continued on. This was David’s first four-wheel driving (apart from last year’s course) and it proved to be quite challenging in places over the last four kilometres in. He managed well and we spent about 2.5 hrs completing a walk amongst the numerous palms and cycads. It was well worth the trip in. The drive out seemed easier than the way in, and the parts where we expected to have some difficulties were not as bad as we thought. We had lunch back at the picnic spot near the excellent camp area (NO vans in here!).

Sonja at Palm Valley

Overlooking Palm Valley

Glen Helen and other Gorges

The next day we decided to head back over the corrugations for the shorter route to Glen Helen ‘Resort’. We had wanted to camp at Ormiston Gorge, but it appeared the gas regulator had decided it didn’t like corrugations and refused to let any gas through. As a result, we wouldn’t be able to keep the fridge going for the next three days. No problems at night as the temperatures dropped to below freezing, but not good during the day when it did warm up.  We therefore decided to stay at the ‘Resort’ (much to Sonja’s delight for the use of the heater).

View of our site at Glen Helen

The ‘Resort’ was …adequate – the showers were hot and they had toilets. The setting was great, particularly as the sun set and the rock wall facing the van glowed RED. They also had a resident musician four nights a week (we listened on two nights) who was excellent and well worth the cold walk to and from the building.

Glen Helen Gorge at Sunset

Glen Helen Gorge at Sunrise

After setting up we drove to Redbank Gorge for some great views. Next day we walked around Ormiston Gorge, the Ochre Pits (where the aborigines collected the prized ochres for ceremonial use) and Serpentine Gorge. David did the longer walks and Sonja, the short ones and keeping a watch on the things in the car. Our last day here was a rest one – a short drive to the Finke River where we met a couple who had just married and had their reception on the banks of the river, and a sit in the sun (using the van to protect us from the cooling winds).

Dingo at Ormiston Gorge

Ormiston Gorge

The Ochre Pits

We set off for Alice Springs, visiting and walking through Standley Chasm and Simpson’s Gap. We arrived a Standley Chasm around 11am which meant we were there in time to have the rays of the sun light up the chasm as we well as beating the tourist busses!

Standley Chasm

Simpsons Gap

We arrived at the Caravan Park in Alice Springs early afternoon and set up only to discover we were again next to Len and Margaret. We sent a text message off to the other travellers to discover they were still here and that they had arranged to have a barbeque to celebrate Sonja’s birthday as most of them were moving off the Wednesday. We visited a couple of places and found a gas regulator (bought a spare!!!) and fitted it, so we now have gas again and are ready for no-powered, free camping! We had a great night with the others, although it broke up a little early as it was starting to become quite cold.