THE ROCK

Grab an NT Lager, were back in the Northern Territory!

Tam thought it was about time I stepped into her UGG boots and write a blog so here goes.

After leaving Port Augusta (as quick as we could) we headed off to Coober Pedy. This would be the start of a long 3 days. We had 35km per hour head winds and could only get the car to 80km/hr. You could see the fuel gauge dropping as the car struggled against the wind.

We arrived at Woomera to have morning tea and check out the town. We had heard that it was worth stopping in as this is where they used to test rockets for the British Government. It was like we had stepped into one of those 1950's towns they have on movies where Nuclear tests were conducted.

Just when we thought we had left bizzaro town we entered another one, Coober Pedy. This is one of those places that you have to visit if you are up this way just to say you've been there. We got to do the normal things like having a mine tour and went through Fay's house, the kids got a kick out of it but I have to say it didn't do much for me. I think that it is a blight on the landscape. The piles of tailings from the mines just go on for kilometers and it is pretty obvious that they don't have the same environmental commitments to regenerate the landscape like they do in Kalgoorlie.

So on to Uluru. I have to say by the time we got to Uluru we were over it. It had been a long three days of driving 6-8hrs per day, one of our windows on the Caravan had been ripped off by a road train going past and wondered if we were doing the right thing but figured you can't do a trip around Australia and not see Uluru.

We did not know what to expect but about half way along the road we had a sneak preview of what was to come. We came across Mt Conner which they also call the false Ayers Rock. It was pretty impressive and I said to Tam, surely the Rock isn't as big as that, how wrong I was.

We arrived in time to check our van into the park and go out to the Rock for sunset. Wow, the photos don't do it justice. The size and grandeur of Uluru is something everyone should experience.

The sunset was great and we were so excited we drove around the rock on dusk just to see the whole thing. We went back to the park with all good intentions of waking up for sunrise but everyone was exhausted from the drive the previous day. So we had a bit of a sleep in and went out to walk around the Rock. We didn't get to do the whole thing but this again was a different experience again from the Sunset.

You can get right up close to the rock, the colours and texture of the rock where amazing. We also got to see some Aboriginal artwork in the caves around the rock. Then we did a trip to the Olgas which was just as beautiful. Still excited we came back the following day and experienced the sunrise before we had to leave, another amazing experience but one we don't have photos of because some idiot (me) forgot to charge the camera batteries!

We had been told and read a lot of negative stuff about Uluru. "Ulurules" they call it because there are certain places that have cultural significance to the Traditional owners that you can't take photos of and then there is the $25 per person entry fee (kids are free) which gives you 3 days in the park including the Olgas. I just don't get why people have a problem with it. We have paid $50 for plenty of dud attractions like Whale World (Albany) etc and this was certainly not one of them. The park is well maintained and clean and due to the huge amount of tourists that were there I believe they need some rules to control the idiots that want to carve their name in the rock or worst. For those of you wondering if you can still climb the rock, yes you can but they discourage you from doing it due to it cultural significance. I don't know why you would, we got enough out of our experience and the climb is just down right dangerous. Many people have died doing this climb and I can totally see why as it is a nearly vertical accent to the top with only a chain to hold onto.

So we had been talking about where to go next. The plan was to see Uluru, hightail it back to Adelaide and maybe see the Oodnadatta track and Lake Eyre on the way back. I had always had Kings Canyon on my list of things to see on the trip but it was a 3 hour detour and we just wanted to put the next 3 days behind us. But as it usually happens on our trip plans change at the drop of a hat, which is one of the exciting parts of not being locked into a time table. We got to the turn off to Kings Canyon and thought bugger it, lets do it. All checked in we went of to tackle some of the smaller walks in the afternoon.

The kids weren't into it and there was alot of whinging going on. The next day was the rim walk which is 6km of moderate to hard bush walking. It had been raining all night but we were determined to do it no matter how long it took. We got there and it started raining again and decided it was probably not a good idea to take the kids on the walk as it would be a bit too dangerous with the wet weather. I took Tam and the kids back to the van and decided to do the walk myself.

I am so glad I did. It was pretty tough at the start but wow, how much beautiful scenery can you jam in one place? I had read that this was one of the best walks in Australia and it certainly didn't disappoint. I'll let the pictures do the talking. It was nice to do the walk without anyone whinging but it didn't feel right to do it without Tam and the kids. I would have to say that this is one of the best walks I have done on the trip. I met a park ranger on the walk and he said that this was one of the best days to see the canyon as you got to see the water flowing in the park outside of the wet season, how lucky I am!  I eventually convinced Tam to do the walk the next morning on her own on our way out of the park and she was just as impressed as I was.

Once again we have been hampered by bad weather.  We had planned to do the Oodnadatta Track on the way back to SA but it just so happens we pick the week when they have had a flood and every town on the track has been evacuated!  So now we have missed due to the rain Kakadu, Litchfield, Mereenie Loop Road and the Oodnadatta Track.  I guess the positive is that we have an excuse to come back.

Thought I would also include some "Man" Stats for you:
So far we have....

Travelled 26,616km.
Spent $7,735 on fuel.
Our average L/100km used is 21.60.
The average price we have paid for fuel is $1.49/L
The dearest we have paid for fuel is $1.80/L at the Barkly Homestead NT.
The cheapest we have paid is $1.29/L at Roma.

So now we are off to explore the wonders of South Australia so stay tuned for Tam's next blog where no doubt we will be sampling the local grape juice.