Half-lap Day 77: Indee Station -> Karajini

LiAM had a very restless night and was not feeling well. At about 4am Tony got up with him so that he could have a shower which helped him feel a bit better. Tony’s back had been giving him a bit of pain over the past few days, and as he got out of bed in the early morning it was really bad.

When I got up a couple of hours later I let the others sleep in. This was the coldest morning we’d had in a very long time, quite icy when the wind blew. I used the power in the camp kitchen to charge up the computer and my camera battery, and got the dishes done. Millie woke up when I got back to the tent. I had some breakfast then started packing up. Millie helped me on and off, and played on the iPad. The others didn’t wake up until after 9, by which time I’d done all that I could without packing up the beds and the stuff we needed for breakfast. Tony’s back was still extremely sore and he couldn’t bend at all or lift much – I’d figured I’d need to do most of the pack up myself if he was still in pain, so he might as well sleep as long as he could. I finished packing up and got everyone breakfast. The kids went looking for some wild horses someone had told us about the night before, but didn’t find anything. The sun was well up by now and it was hot again, looks like we’re heading back into hot days and cold nights.

Tony helped me get the bikes on to the trailer (probably the only bit I can’t do myself – oh, Caitlin had helped me fold the tent up) and we were hooked up ready to leave by 11.15. Tony was more comfortable driving than being the passenger, which was fine with me too. We headed south toward Karajini, and after a while saw Red Rock from the highway – very cool to see it again and from this vantage point.

For a good while the terrain was still flat and dry, with low spinifex and dotted with white gum trees. There were hills in the distance, and occasionally we’d pass some, they were all interesting shapes. Occasionally we saw areas in the hills where the mines were – cuts in the cliff or terraces of dirt built up from the mine. Signs of the mining industry were everywhere – constant traffic of 4-trailer road trains (all covered in red dirt), dirt roads leading off the highway, with mining company signs at the entrance, areas filled with identical demountable buildings. It was a very busy road, and most of the traffic was the road trains, caravans, and mining cars with their orange flags attached.

We stopped for fuel at Auski roadhouse. We had to give ID in the store to have the fuel released. It was only (!) 1.55/L which wasn’t bad given the remote location. This roadhouse was the least stocked we’d seen, just one shelf with a smattering of groceries and toiletries. They sold hot food and seemed to be doing a good business there. There was a caravan park attached (we’d considered staying here instead of Indee, but the reviews were all bad) and we used the toilets – really not great, although not the worst we’ve used. We were glad we hadn’t pushed on to stay here though, it didn’t feel welcoming.

From there the terrain changed – the hills were more like mountains and were even more fascinating. Deep red cliff faces at the top, and then green grassed slopes from a little way down. There were definite layers of rock and grass, so that they looked stripey from a distance. The road wound between them, and there were obviously gorges and ravines and valleys all through the hills, there was nothing straight or curvy about them, it was all jagged lines and really beautiful.

Turning west to approach Karajini we had those hills on our right, and flatter plains on our left, leading to another range. There were some tall mountains here, and I was wondering which one was Mt Bruce, the 2^nd tallest mountain in WA. We might go exploring there in a day or two.

We reached the National Park and drove around to Dales Campground. We went in to see the camp hosts at the entrance, and asked if there was still a site available (sometimes it fills up, and we hadn’t arrived until after 3 due to our unexpected later start). There were a few sites left and we were allocated a long, thin site. I was worried about whether we’d fit, but the lady said we should be fine. We drove around to find our site and I was even more worried about whether we’d fit. As we measured it out and discussed our options I really wished I’d asked for a different site. Our tent is 5m by 3.5m (including the drawbar) without the awning, and 5m by 6m with the awning. This site was only 4m wide, although she said it would be fine if the awing protruded beyond the bollards at the edge of the site.

In the end we backed the trailer in to the middle of the site and unhitched it, then Caitlin, Tony and I were able to turn it sideways, and fit a good bit of the drawbar in between two of the bollards. I’d been worried we wouldn’t be able to open the trailer gate far enough once we were in place, so we got out all our stuff before we turned it. As it worked out, we’d been able to slide far enough between the bollards so that the gate opened easily all the way. The awning will go a little over the edge of the site, but there’s a cleared spot there where we put our chairs, so that won’t be a problem. Our table fits nicely over 2 of the bollards, so they aren’t sticking up (at shin or knee height) into our living area. We’ve not yet had a site that we couldn’t get to work for our tent, I just have a bit of a panic sometimes when we arrive and I can’t quite see how it’s going to work.

The ground was rock hard in the middle and we could not get pegs in along the door side of the tent. We were able to peg in the other side (we figure the middle part has had caravans driving over it for years and has become extremely compacted), and then used bungee straps to tie down the tent corners to parts of the trailer, or pegs over on the softer side. It worked quite well.

With having to think for so long about how the tent would fit, then the very hard ground, and Tony not being able to bend at all, set up took longer than it ever had. The kids went and explored the campground and met a family with 2 little girls aged 4 and 2, so played with them for a while. Millie got out all her toys and played on the picnic rug near the car. Caitlin went for a bike ride, and Tony started cooking tea. I sat and read my book and had a cup of tea for a short while, then got the beds set up before we ate.

We had a delicious spaghetti Bolognese in the cold evening air – as soon as the sun dropped over the horizon the temperature dropped noticeably. After dinner I sorted out all the blankets and heated water for hot water bottles. I had a spare sheet and the kids suggested I hang it up so that their beds were separate from the rest of the tent – they loved it once it was up and want it there all the time. I found a hanging storage thing in my bag that we hadn’t used it and I hung it next to LiAM with his asthma medication and some Echinacea and butter menthols – he’s still not feeling great and has a sore throat – and he was thrilled to have all his supplies so easily accessible. I got into bed as quickly as I could and we read a couple of chapters of Inheritance. It wasn’t too cold inside as long as we stayed under our blankets, and the hot water bottles certainly helped.

Half-lap Day 76: DeGrey -> Indee Station

I was up at 6, just as it was getting light, to get all the food we’d bought yesterday organised into tubs so we could pack the car and the trailer and move on. It was beautiful working in that early morning light amongst the trees. The others came out as they woke up, and we had breakfast then the kids went back up to see the sharks again. Tony discovered some green stuff at the bottom of one of our water containers, so he spent a bit of time cleaning that out and sanitising the container. I had wanted to get away early and was starting to worry that we didn’t ever seem to be able to do it – then realised it didn’t matter. We have relaxed evenings and mornings, there’s no stress and little rush, and we can do this trip at our own pace. Just because most people are up and out between 7 and 8 doesn’t mean that we need to do that as well. And if there is ever a day when we really DO have to be gone that early, I’m sure we will manage it at the time.

So we got away by 10, feeling happy and relaxed and still not sure what our plans for the day were. We’d been thinking of going straight to Karajini (about 400km) but were slightly worried about getting a campsite unless we got there early, and the girls really wanted showers – after 3 days without one here, and with no showers at Karajini, they wanted a shower stop in between. I’d been told there were free public showers near a beach in Port Hedland, so we decided to shower there and then figure out the rest of the day later. We stopped at the railway bridge again because the digger was up on the sand pile and I wanted to get a photo of it – then we jackknifed the trailer as we attempted to back out of our spot. Looks like it’s only cosmetic damage though so it shouldn’t impact on our trip. We reached the beach and it was a beautiful spot, with a creek winding in from the ocean and gorgeous sand hills either side of it. The showers only had cold taps though and no one wanted a cold shower. We filled up all our water containers at the drinking tap there, and Tony rang a station stay we’d heard about to see if we could get in there with our 2WD car – no problems, they said, so we decided to stay there tonight and head to Karajini tomorrow.

We popped back into Woolworths to get bread and cash and petrol, then back out over the railway bridge for the last time, then out of Port Hedland. We only had another 70km or so to go to get to the station, so it was a short days driving today, but makes the trip to the National Park easier tomorrow. On the way to Indee Station we saw more 4-trailer road trains than we have seen on our entire trip so far, they’d be coming past 2 or 3 at a time. I counted the wheels – 84 altogether! They are amazing – although often quite disconcerting as the back 2 trailers often wriggle about a bit as they drive. They always stay well within their lane, but it looks a bit scary as we approach.

There was a big road train in the driveway as we turned off to the station, so we were able to have a good look at it. We drove the 9km in off the highway quite easily. This is dry country, red dirt, sparse trees but with lots of magnificent white gum trees. We saw a few areas where mining workers are obviously staying, and I think there are several mines on the station. Eventually we reached the homestead and were taken out to the camping area. It wasn’t flash, but as usual once we’d put the tent up I felt right at home. The kids played under a big gum tree, LiAM did a magic show, the girls ground up some of the rocks to use as makeup, and we wandered around and explored the place a bit. There were calves wandering through the campground although after LiAM’s cow incident earlier the kids all avoided the cows. They met some people with a dog and chatted to them, I talked to a guy who used to work here and had come back to get his swag which he’d left behind. He said the station was bigger than the whole area of Perth!

Later in the afternoon we drove another 9km into the property to see Red Rock. We had a map to get there, but a couple times we seemed to cross trails that weren’t marked and it was a bit sobering – it would be easy to get lost in country like this. The kids were joking that we were going to see Uluru – and when we saw the rock it felt like we were! It was nowhere near as big, but is a large red rock rising up out of the ground, a similar shape in profile to Uluru.

At the end of the rock was a beautiful rock pool, full of water and reflecting the big rock in it, as well as reflecting the rocks all around it’s edges. The water was freezing! Caitlin had found a path up to the top of the rock, and then saw an easier way up, which LiAM took. Tony followed them and Millie and I walked around the back of the rock looking for the Aboriginal engravings that we’d heard about. Millie decided to go and join the others, so we headed up to the top. The view was fantastic – most of the country was flat with the occasional large rocky hill, and a couple of small mountains in the distance. There was a river which wasn’t flowing but there were many many water holes. The white gums stood out amongst the spinifex and lower vegetation. We could see the big road trains traveling along the highway in the distance. The sun was getting low in the sky and the light was amazing. There was a flat, grassy area about halfway up the rock that Millie thought would be great to build a cabin on – a beautiful, peaceful place to live.

We wandered back down and Millie and I saw a sign that said ‘etchings’ so found one of the engravings in the rock – large emu tracks we think. The boys walked the rest of the way around the perimeter of the rock. Caitlin wanted to go for a quick swim and went to get changed, and found some more etchings – a couple of lizards this time. They were quite cool to see. Caitlin spent a short amount of time getting wet in the rock pool. I put my feet in and felt quite refreshed.

We headed back to the campsite, seeing more cows and a couple of kangaroos on the way. We went over to the homestead for happy hour at 5.30 – byo alcohol, and they provide nibblies. It was fun to sit around a large table and chat to the other campers – most of them were heading north and had just come from Karajini, so we had tips for the northern part of Australia for them, and they told us lots about the National Park. There was a lot of talk about football too – there was enough signal for Tony to watch the Collingwood game on his phone, and everyone was interested in the progress of the game.

LiAM and Millie and I headed back once they’d had enough, and Tony and Caitlin followed soon after. The girls and I went over to have our showers – nice and warm and good water pressure, everyone was happy. We had cup-a-noodles for tea and then set up the beds. Tony watched the rest of the game (with a disappointing result) in the camp kitchen. It was a very cold evening, possibly the coldest we’ve had since we headed north. We got everyone snuggly into their beds and read a couple of chapters and the tent warmed up a bit with us all inside.

Half-lap Day 24: Finke River -> Alice Springs

We were camped quite near the highway and we throughout the night we could hear road trains coming for a minute or two before they actually came past. The noise would gradually get louder and then it would be like an aeroplane going past, and then it would recede over the next couple of minutes. It wasn’t too disturbing though, there weren’t a lot of them and in between it would be completely quiet.

I was up in time to see the sunrise, I went down to the river and watched it slowly come to light and enjoyed the reflections in the water and the incredible peacefulness. I saw a few tour buses pass over the bridge on their way to Uluru – would have been an early start from Alice Springs! As the morning went on we saw many army trucks going south, big trucks carrying lots of supplies – and 2 of them were carrying tanks! That was pretty exciting to see.

Early morning on the Finke River

As we were packing up the tent we found a tiny scorpion inside it, running along the floor near the wall. We all watched him for a while, then I scooped him up in a cup (I did squish one of his pincers as I tried to catch him) and threw him outside (away from the tent). We chatted to our friends about the Ernest Giles track (I was thinking we might leave the trailer and just drive back in the 16km to see the meteorite crater) and they said it was the worst road they’d ever driven on, corrugated all the way with no respite. We decided to give it a miss, if they struggled in their huge 4WD. The other couple had broken several things on their van and both of them said everything they had was covered in red dust.

An extra camper in our tent

The kids wandered off to explore while we finished packing, then I went to take them down to the river while Tony put the last things on the top of the trailer. I found them talking to another family, a mum with 2 boys. We chatted for ages, and Tony joined us after a while with everything packed up and trailer attached and ready to go. Eventually I took all 5 kids down to the river, the water was beautiful and they were soon all completely wet (in their clothes, but since it was a hot sunny day, and fresh, flowing water, I wasn’t worried). They played in the water and in the sand, which was a bit like quicksand in parts, it was easy to sink in up to the knee. I waded around a bit then found a shady place to sit and watch them and enjoy the location. Tony joined me after a while and then the other mum and we chatted and the kids played for a couple of hours. It was a pretty magical way to spend the morning.

Swimming and exploring the sand in the Finke River

We got everyone out of the river and headed off around 1pm. We’d planned to stop at Stuarts Well for fuel and lunch, but the kids had had a sandwich before we left and Tony and I were happy eating in the car, and we had enough fuel to get to Alice Springs, so decided not to stop. There was a camel farm though that the kids wanted to see, so we pulled in to check out the camels, and an emu who was being amorous with the fence, a dingo on a chain and some birds. Not the greatest animal place we’ve seen so far.

There were several ranges of hills that we drove past before reaching the McDonnell Ranges and then Alice Springs – a bit different seeing many hills after so much flat land. We drove in to Alice Springs through a gap in the ranges and it was exciting to be here. We checked out a campground which was only $11 a night, but none of us felt comfortable there and the reviews we read were very mixed so we decided against it. We were stopped by the police on the way in, who asked if we were going to the bottle shop or the campground – later when I saw police checking ID outside liquorland at Coles we realised that the police check ID before anyone goes into a bottle shop. I hadn’t seen that anywhere before.

We drove up Anzac Hill – a lookout over the city – to rest for a bit and figure out where we would stay. It was a cool place to get a bit of an idea of the layout of the town, and the kids thought we were going to physically look for caravan parks from up there – we did it the digital way however. There was a place out of town where we wanted to stay, we rang them but they were full, so we found a place in town that seemed all right and not too expensive. It seemed nice when we arrived, nothing special – it’s a fairly basic caravan park with everyone laid out in a neat grid, not much atmosphere but clean and quiet and a good place to rest for a few days.

I crashed when we arrived. Last time I arrived in Alice Springs I was overwhelmed and a bit teary and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do – I thought that was because I’d just been on a 20 hour bus ride from Darwin. But this time I felt exactly the same. It’s an odd place – part city, part country town, part regional centre, part cultural and arts centre, part violent and unsafe, part touristy, part multicultural, it’s hot and dry and sometimes stifling, it’s a remote town but so full of tourists that it doesn’t feel remote – I am reading Tracks by Robyn Davidson (a lady who came to Alice Springs, learned about camels and rode a camel train from here to the Indian Ocean) and she says that having the ranges so close to town drives everyone a bit crazy and I see what she means.

Tony recognized that I was not coping well so he sat me down and made me a cup of tea before we set the tent up. The kids explored the park a bit and eventually I was up to helping set up. We used the free wifi for a bit, I sorted out my washing, and then we went for a swim in the pool. The water was freezing and I just had a quick dip before I got out, Tony stayed to supervise the kids and I went to Coles to stock up on much needed supplies, and got a hot chicken for dinner. I enjoyed driving around the town and discovering where things were, I even went over the river to get some hot chips to have with our chicken (there are Indian food places everywhere here, but only 1 fish and chip shop. Shopping in Coles felt like shopping in Griffith, very multicultural and the food options available reflect that.)

We were in bed pretty early, read for a while then off to sleep, keen for a quiet relaxing day tomorrow.

Half-Lap Day 16: Coober Pedy -> SA/NT Border

Most mornings when I wake up it’s still dark, and it’s only the birdsong that I can hear that indicates it’s nearly dawn. In Coober Pedy however there was no early morning birdsong – I guess with hardly any trees there are very few birds. Throughout the morning we saw one small flock of galahs (about 4) and a couple of other lone birds, it wasn’t until we headed further north that we started to see more, and even then it was only 1 or 2 at a time, and usually raptors of some sort.

After a quick cup of tea and blog writing we started packing up just after 7am. Getting the annex down was easier than last time – it’s going to become easier and easier I guess as we figure out the best way to do things. As the kids woke up they had breakfast and headed over to the underground room. We were packed up by 10 – a record for a full pack up. We nearly got it down before the flies arrived – probably about 9.30 they started coming in large numbers and the car doors were all open so we left with a car full of flies – we gradually opened the windows and shooed them out throughout the day.

We stopped in town to grab a few more groceries (the IGA didn’t have any bread the day before) and to fill up our water containers – out here the caravan parks and camping areas ask you not to fill containers from their water supply, as there is only limited water around. In Coober Pedy there were water filling stations – 30L for 20c, which was about what we needed!

On our way out of town we got more of an idea of how far the opal minefields were spread around town, and saw signs to more and more fields as we drove. I had wanted to see The Breakaways and the Moon Plain but couldn’t find consistent information on whether the road would be suitable for 2WD cars, and so we thought that with the trailer on as well it was unlikely the road would be ok. We decided to check out the road when we got there – and as it turned it, the road was closed, so the decision was made for us. We did see the dingo fence as it crossed the highway a bit further north – a very sturdy fence that covers thousands of kilometres and was built to keep dingoes out of the pasture land of the southern states.

The landscape outside Coober Pedy

We arrived in Marla a few hours later and stopped at the roadhouse for lunch and to stretch our legs. The Oodnadatta Track finishes here, so we got to drive on a few metres of the end of it (this bit was sealed – looking up the road it isn’t long until the bitumen stops. Would love to drive it one day, but not in this car!) We made a cup of tea and sandwiches and chatted to a guy who had just cycled the Oodnadatta track, Caitlin was inspired and is thinking about the cycle trips she would like to do in the future.

Heading further north, and listening to more Harry Potter, the landscape kept changing. At times there was grass and the foliage was quite green. There was even water in some of the depressed areas of land. All the creeks were dry though. As we drove the creeks became wider, and the dirt became redder. Occasionally there were hills or escarpments, for the most part the land was flat. We followed the railway line for a while and saw a couple of long long trains. The Road Trains we saw seemed more imposing than those further south – these mainly had 3 full container trailers, so they were more solid than the early ones we saw, they tended to be tanks or flat beds.

We arrived at the border to the Northern Territory around 4.30. The kids have now been in every Australian state or territory. There’s a rest stop with free camping right on the border. On the northbound side of the highway it’s all bitumen, which doesn’t make for an easy camper trailer set up. I’d read about bush camping on the southbound side of the highway – we missed the turnoff at first but came back and found a 2 wheel track leading through the trees. It was a bit damp but solid enough to drive on. Beyond the trees there were cleared areas where we could set up camp. At first we were the only people here, another couple in a campervan arrived after a while and set up at the opposite end to us, and that was it. The other side was full. We set up on red dirt, thinking we were in the northern territory, then realised we were probably still on the South Australian side of the rest area – happy to spend one last night in SA. The kids had fun running and riding from one state/territory to another. This is probably the closest we’ll get to the actual centre of Australia too – it’s a bit over to the east and slightly north of us (about 130km).

Caitlin riding from the Northern Territory back into South Australia

We explored the area around us – lots of ants nests of different types, scrubby trees, a fenced pasture next to us. The toilet was over on the paved side, but it wasn’t far to walk over if we needed it. Tony and Caitlin rode their bikes over when they wanted to use it. The noise of the road trains hurtling past was much louder on the paved side – I’m glad we chose the more sheltered side.

Tony cooked fried rice with eggs and bacon and the kids and I played Cheat. Millie hadn’t played before and picked up the rules quickly. The sunset was spectacular again – I kept thinking it was as good as it could be, and then it would get better! After dinner the kids played a game where they had to create ads for products and the others had to judge the ad, they played for ages. Millie had a great ‘ad voice’ – I think she could sell anything!

We did a minimal set up in the tent again, LiAM in his bed and the girls on their camping mattresses, and read Brisingr until Millie fell asleep, then the others played on their iPads until they were tired enough to sleep.