Half-lap Day 30: Elliott -> Daly Waters

It was warm all night so hard to get a good night’s sleep, but we all felt better in the morning anyway. Everyone was awake by around 7.30, and we had breakfast and started to pack up. The kids played with the kids from the caravan next door, Millie took her animal friends over there again, and LiAM and the little boy wandered around after the peacocks. We chatted to a retired nutritionist who is travelling around Australia for a few months by herself, and said goodbye to our friends next door. I saw the little frog again sitting on top of the soap shelf in the shower.

When I took the key back to have my deposit returned, Caitlin came with me to buy herself a slushie, and Millie saw a very cute unicorn that she wanted to buy. I tried to convince her to wait until we could find it somewhere cheaper, and she reluctantly agreed. The shopkeeper overheard our conversation and asked if she had to pay for it out of her own money, (yes), then said he’d put in $3 if she could pay the other $10, so she very happily bought it (after spending a bit of time deliberating over whether she really wanted that one or an equally cute seal). Caitlin saw a lady that she’s met a few times on our travels and we chatted to her briefly.

We were on our way just after 9.30, and with the windows down it wasn’t too hot in the car for a while. Before we left Tony and Caitlin had seen 3 kestrals swooping around together near our tent, and as we drove we saw many many more, sometimes in groups, sometimes alone. At one point we saw 2 birds up ahead eating some roadkill, right in the middle of our lane. The looked like crows from a distance. As we approached they didn’t move, even with Tony beeping the horn – and they didn’t seem to get any smaller. We realised they were wedge-tailed eagles – one of them flew off as we pulled into the other lane to go around them, the other one stood it’s ground. It’s so amazing to see them up close, they are SO big. We also saw a flock of red-tailed black cockatoos fly up from a tree as we passed. Today we saw our first 4-trailer road train too - they are long!!!

We only drove about 160km, and it was heating up as it got later in the day. We stopped at the Daly Waters HiWay Inn for petrol (and saw a 4WD with a spare tyre that had been torn to shreds) then drove in to the Daly Waters Pub. We were given a shady unpowered site and set up while the kids explored the caravan park. I went with LiAM to see if we could find the pool, none of us could see it. We chatted to the guy next to us, who had a Labrador and said the kids were welcome to pat him anytime.

Once we were all set up we all went to check out the pub – it’s full of items that have been donated by visitors – shirts, thongs, ID cards, hats, bras. There are funny outback signs everywhere and it has a great atmosphere. We found the pool out past the bar, and came back to get our swimmers. It was so great in the pool, the water was cool but not too cold, and there were shade cloths so it was possible to get out of the sun. There were several older couples hanging out in the pool, so we mainly stayed down the shallow end. Millie’s water confidence has grown so much in the last month. She jumped in and turned and swam back to the edge, then swam increasing distances to me or Caitlin or Tony or the edge. After a while she realised she could swim from the steps to the other side if I was there to catch her, and she swam back and forwards for ages.

Memorabilia at Daly Waters Pub

I got out after a while and read my book, then LiAM and I came back to the tent and played cards. The others returned after a while and we hung out here, playing cards and chatting. Our neighbours from Alice Springs arrived and we caught up on our journeys of the last few days. A bit after 5 we went back to the pub for happy hour, and met up with our neighbours from Devils Marbles. Their dog was there too, he’s an assistance dog so is allowed in the bar. We chatted to them, Tony and I had a beer (my first full beer in a very long time and it was great place to have it) and the kids had slushies. Once they’d finished they went back to the pool, where they met up with their friends from Kings Canyon. The kids all swam together for a while then Millie’s friend got out. I had a quick swim and Millie did more laps across the pool to me and back to the steps. Tony stayed chatting to our friends with the dog – they were sitting at the closest seat to the pool so it was easy for us to be in different places. I read my book once I’d had enough, and we bought some hot chips to share for tea – we got a double serving but it still wasn’t very much. They were delicious with the gravy though. The atmosphere in the pub was great, there was live music and lots of people there for the beef and barra bbq, and the water in the pool was a perfect temperature. We were the only ones in there for ages.

Eventually LiAM and I came back to the tent again, played cards and got ready for bed. The stars were incredible, a deep black sky with bright stars peeking through the gaps in the trees. Tony and the girls came later, everyone was exhausted and happy, so we got into bed as quick as we could and read for a short while.

Half-lap Day 29: Devils Marbles -> Elliott

It got a bit windy overnight, and with the windows open it felt different, and none of us slept very well. It meant that we were easily all up before sunrise which was great because we really wanted to see the sun come up over the rocks. There was a rainbow to the west, and some nasty looking storm clouds (heading south) – the rainbow was there for hours and added to the magnificence of the changing colours on the rocks as the sun rose.

We packed up but didn’t rush – it’s quicker after a 1 night stop because we don’t get so much stuff out. I had trouble with the zip on the main door of the tent – Tony managed to get it to a point where it can be closed all the way, but we can only use one of the zips, not two. As we were packing Caitlin’s iPad mini slid out of the car and the screen cracked. When Tony went to put his bike on the trailer he discovered he had a flat tyre. When Millie sat down to have her breakfast I noticed a spider on her seat – a redback! I was feeling a bit jangly after all of that but the rest of the pack up went ok, the kids played with their stuffed animals in the tent and had a great morning. It was pretty cool packing up with these huge boulders looming right above us. Oh and it only cost $7.70 for the night – a great place to camp. We had a long chat to our neighbours as we finished getting ready, a very friendly couple with a gorgeous little maltese terrier who the kids adored.

We drove to Tennant Creek and got petrol, decided not to do anything else there. We had hoped to go out to see The Pebbles, but it was 6km of dirt road each way and we chose not to risk taking the trailer out there. The drive north was quite similar to the day before, and we were hoping to do another 450km and make it to Daly Waters. Tony noticed the engine temperature rising alarmingly – we stopped, checked the engine and the coolant and everything else seemed ok. We kept going – the temp went up again. We turned the air conditioner off and the temperature went back to normal. We tried it a few time – air con on, the engine temperature rose, when we turned it off, it dropped back down. So we continued driving, with windows down and Harry Potter as loud as we could make it. It wasn’t too bad for a while but as the outside temperature reached 35 degrees it became more uncomfortable in the car.

The next town we reached was Elliott. We thought perhaps we should stay here for the night and continue on in the cooler part of the day the next day. I jumped out of the car to go and check out the caravan park, and could only find one of my Teva sandals. I looked everywhere and the other one didn’t turn up – I must have left it on the ground when I went to get out of the car to help Tony check the engine. I was inconsolable – those shoes were my birthday present for this trip and they were starting to get really comfortable. Caitlin lent me her sandals and she wore her thongs.

Tony went to see about the caravan park but they weren’t there. We had seen that there was a mechanic in town so we drove to see him and the kids and I walked back up to the BP to get ice blocks. The kids got a slushie each and I got a zooper dooper – they did help us cool down a little. The mechanic said he thought that maybe the compressor on the air con wasn’t working, and gave Tony the number of an auto electrician in Katherine. I asked at the BP about camping (wiki camps had listed it as an option) and he said only at the caravan park. We headed back down there as we figured we couldn’t drive any further in this heat without air con. A local indigenous man offered us a painting for $30 – I wasn’t prepared to pay that much at this stage.

The caravan park cost $30 for the night and it was very very basic. There was one other lady camped there in a campervan and no one else. The grass was long and unkempt in places, the fittings were all old and broken in places. We’d been given a key for the ladies toilets but the men’s weren’t locked – that makes it seem like it was a safety issue which made me a little nervous. It didn’t feel like a nice place to stay but we were all too tired and hot and a little stressed to keep going in the car. The girls were feeling so hot they went and had a cold shower in their clothes, which cooled them off a little.

There were a lot of peacocks and peahens around the park which was pretty cool. We got set up and sat around for a while, the kids played their ipads, I hung the washing out, Tony fixed his bike tyre, then another family arrived in their caravan and set up next to us – things felt a bit safer then. They had a 5 year old girl and a 3 year old boy and had driven all the way from Mt Isa that day – 880km!! The kids all played together – Millie and the other girl got all their stuffed toys out and played a Frozen game, LiAM and the boy wandered around and looked at peacocks and sticks. One peacock kept attacking its reflection in our neighbour’s car, it was pretty funny. More people arrived as the afternoon progressed and we relaxed a bit.

Tony and Caitlin went for a bike ride around the park, and found the swimming pool – wiki camps had said there was a pool and we hadn’t seen it so thought it was old information. The pool looked very inviting and not old and run down like the rest of the place. We went for a twilight swim which was beautiful. There were bats flying overhead and birds in the trees and a swim made all of us feel much better. Tony left first to go and heat up left overs for dinner – when I went to leave I couldn’t reach around to open the latch to get out of pool enclosure. The manager came out to feed his dogs and I asked him to help us – the dogs came with him and started fighting with each other right in front of the gate where we were standing  - it was quite scary. The guy called them off and we made it out of the pool yard and back to the tent with no further problems.

The town’s little supermarket was the store at the front of the caravan park, so I was able to buy myself some thongs so that I had shoes to wear. I haven’t worn thongs in probably 20 years or more so it’s going to take me a while to get used to them – they are pretty comfortable though.

In our visits to the toilets and showers through the afternoon and evening we saw several frogs (on the soap dish, on the window, on the floor) and geckos on the ceiling. After we ate leftovers and potatoes for tea we headed for bed as we were all exhausted, but it was still in the mid 20s so it took us a while to settle down enough to fall asleep.

Half-lap Day 28: Alice Springs -> Devils Marbles

Packing up after 4 nights can always seem like a big job, but we are getting better all the time at knowing what order to do things in and how to fit everything in to the car and trailer. The couple parked next to us were in a big motor home, and as he washed the outside of it very carefully, the guy seemed amazed and a bit dubious about our efforts to pack it all up and be on our way this morning. We had everything done by 10.30.

We stopped for petrol and then headed north for a long day of driving.  Listening to Harry Potter really helps the time pass quickly. We stopped once to check something and I got out and looked at the ruins of an old well – there are many of these stone wells from the 19^th Century which were built as the country was explored, allowing more people to come out and travel the area, and be able to find water more easily. We saw some telegraph stations as we drove past, and were impressed with some of the hills and escarpments we saw – the land was much hillier here than the Stuart Highway to the south of Alice Springs. We ate lunch in the car (tuna on saladas) as we drove. There still weren’t many animals to be seen, although we did see several dead cows by the side of the road.

We pulled in to Wycliffe Well for very cheap petrol – about 30c per litre cheaper than in Alice Springs! This is apparently the UFO Centre of Australia, there have been UFO sightings here and the service station and caravan park are done up like alien spaceships and there are alien references and souvenirs everywhere. I used a very dodgy toilet near the servo then discovered there were better ones inside. The kids explored a little then we got back in the car for a bit longer until we reached Devil’s Marbles (a drive of 413km from Alice, our longest driving day so far).

We had made good time and were at the Devils Marbles by around 3. The campground behind the rocks was filling up but we found a great spot in the corner, which would soon be in the shade of some of the rocks. It was very hot and it was hard work setting up the tent/waiting for it to be set up, but once it was up there was great shade along the back of it so we put the chairs there and everyone had a cold drink. We made good use of our new neck coolers too and they did help cool down the whole body.

We had a quick wander through the marbles – amazing rock formations, then Tony drove back 10km to Wauchope to see if he could watch the Collingwood game at the pub. The game was on and he enjoyed watching it and seeing some of the local station owners come in for a drink – Collingwood lost though which was disappointing.

The kids and I wandered a bit more through the rocks and found a good sunset watching position, then hung out at the tent for a while. Tony arrived as we were going back to watch the sunset, so he was able to come with us. Millie rode her scooter. The light on the rocks was beautiful, so red and bright, and the view was incredible whichever way we looked.

We saw a truck pull into the day use rest area – it had a tractor and other vehicles stacked on it, Tony was very impressed with the stacking job. I wandered closer to see if I could get a photo of it for my nephew, and had a good chat to one of the drivers. They were moving the equipment for someone moving from Horsham to Darwin. We talked about driving the Stuart Highway, living in different places, and horses. Caitlin rode her bike over to find me and she and the driver had a good chat about horses and The Man From Snowy River. We walked/rode back to our camp in the dark, and had to pause to let a herd of cows cross our path and then run through the Devils Marbles.

We had burgers for tea and sat outside for a while marveling at the stars – the moon has been too bright most nights for us to see all the stars, but this night was dark and clear and incredible. I took a few photos using the tripod but had trouble getting it quite right. It was warm enough to sleep with the windows open, cool to be able to lie in bed and see the stars up above us.

Half-lap Day 27: Alice Springs

We took things fairly easy in the morning, enjoying the opportunity not to rush to get ready. I checked my email and one of my travel newsletters told me about a website to find the cheapest gas bottle refills – very handy as that was one of the things we were planning to do today! LiAM and I headed out in the late morning to get the gas bottle refilled, buy him some new swimming shorts (which we did, he found some he loved) and buy enough neck coolers for everybody as the 2 I’d already bought worked so well. As we drove in to town we saw lots of people walking in, dressed in Port Adelaide colours, obviously on their way to the AFL game. The sports store where we bought LiAM’s swimmers were selling tickets to the game and said there would be a queue at the ground, so we got Tony’s ticket for him. It was also cool to listen to the AFL station on the radio, as they were broadcasting from Alice Springs and talking about the things that we could see ourselves.

We had some lunch back at the tent then headed out again, dropping Tony at the ground – it was exciting to see the crowd gathering. The kids and I then went to the reptile park. We arrived as the 1pm show was about halfway through, and I said we’d prefer to go to the 3.30 show, so we started looking through the gecko cave while the show was on. Very cool to see so many different types of geckos and read about the different survival techniques they have. We wandered then through the rest of the park – seeing lots of snakes, lizards, skinks, frogs and turtles. It was really fascinating and the information was all interesting. Outside they also had a perentie, and a salt water crocodile, both pretty exciting (although the croc was just sitting there, occasionally opening it’s mouth. The perentie was prowling around and was much more fascinating). Cool to see lots of thorny devils as well.

We had looked at everything by about 2.30, so we went for a walk before the show. We walked back into town and went to Target where Caitlin had bought some cheap lollies a few days before, everyone wanted to get some and this was the best chance to do it. Back to the reptile centre where we had a look at all the animals again, then sat down for the presentation. The girl was really good, explained a lot about the different reptiles, and then we got to hold them – a blue-tongued skink, which was cool but not new, the kids hold a friend’s pet blue-tongue quite often; a bearded dragon which was very exciting, he held on to our hands with his feet and happily sat on our arms; and a 3m long, 7kg Olive Python!!! He was heavy, and wound his way around our torsos, arms and legs. It was an amazing experience which we all loved. Millie was only able to hold him for a very brief time, and he wrapped himself right around her body several times so she felt a bit constricted as she was unwrapped! I was impressed with the girl who gave the talk too, she put no pressure on anyone to hold the snake, but by the end, everyone had had a go, even the people who were very scared.

We spent a bit of time in the gift shop, the kids spending some of their money on little crocodiles and snakes, and me buying some birthday gifts. We met Tony at woolworths where he’d bought dinner, then back to camp where we had spaghetti bolognaise. Tony had enjoyed the game, although not the result. After dinner I went back in to town to do a big grocery shop so we had supplies for our trip continuing north, then back to camp and to bed to read for a little while.