Uluru | Kata Tjuta National Park

Uluru on the way out

Uluru on our way home

Uluru The most Photographed rock in the world? could be, and these are taken with an iPhone, but still look spectacular!

Certainly Australia's most iconic rock, and as an icon probably only beaten by the Kangaroo and Emu on our coat of arms.
And speaks for itself, its a lot better than any camera can capture!

If you go to Uluru its important you do the Mala Walk, its free and goes for a couple of hours, the guide gives a great insight into the aboriginal culture of the place.

There is a misconception about climbing the rock that the main reason is that the local tribal elders don't want you to do it, this is true, and we should respect there rights as it is a very spiritual place to them.
But the main reason is that 35 people have died trying to climb the rock, so the coroner is trying to stop people killing them selves, that is the real reason!

And as its 450 ks from Alice Springs for a rescue chopper with a winch, might be better if fewer people did climb it.

For me the rock was a special experience, setting a goal to survive to get here was the start, 3 months downsizing, and 3 months on the trip have been a great diversion and therapy for my medical issues.

http://stockgrumble.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/clever-people-vs-well-meaning-people.html

So setting new goals will be needed to survive further, I need to get on with that.

This trip is nearing an end,  and it will be hard to top Uluru.

Trip Reflections

From Woomera we wandered our way home through South Australia and home to Albury.

Lessons learnt!

Australia has some incredible small towns,  all with a contribution to our rich history.
You could spend plenty of time doing this, three months is not long enough to do a trip like this, so will need to do some more.

Australia has a lot of  rocks, mosquito's, ants and flys!
but also plenty of Characters.

Great trip and I would like to thank Deb and our traveling companions Butcho and Amanda for putting up with me.

And after 90 days, 16,000 kms, constant tuition and assistance, women, bless their hearts, cannot read maps!  (joking sweetie!)

Woomera

Model of Rocket test facility at
nearby Lake Hart

Stayed overnight at the Woomera Caravan Park
The Rocket range is massive, about the size of England, and was a very busy place in the 50s and 60s.

Its a shame but now pretty much a ghost town with only about 20 Defense force personnel now stationed here.

Worth visiting is the museum and visitor information centre, where there is plenty of old technology to look at.

The Eldo Hotel is an incredible place, huge hotel, but while we were there, only the barman, a barfly, ourselves and a Kiwi couple in the whole place.
We had an enjoyable time with the Kiwis, and then walked home to the caravan park.
The town is a far cry from the old days, but well worth the visit.

Eldo Hotel

Early IBM computer

Coober Pedy

Means White Man in a hole in Aboriginal.
Not sure if its true but sounds like a good yarn. so will go with that.

Town

And they must have looked strange to them I suppose, looking for shiny stones in the ground!

The town has an untidy look abut it, as none of the holes are allowed to be filled in.
Makes sense I suppose if you dug under a filled in hole it would cave in on you.

The opal is part of an old sea bed, and precipitates at between 70 and 90 feet in a seam.

There is no way of detecting or geologically evaluating a site, you just have to dig to that level. find the seam, and have a look.
So you can be very lucky, or not so lucky.

Dugout

Our tour guide was in his 70s, (retired from mining), had come to Coober Pedy in the 1960s not intending to stay.
But enjoyed the place and has made a pretty good living. and reckons its the best place on earth.

The summers here are hot up to 47 degrees C, however temperature in the dugouts are 26 to 28 degrees all year around so its the preferred residence if you can afford one.

Serbian Church

Sebian Underground Church,
pretty spectacular

Amanda looking at an Opal? underground.

About 15 ks away north west of Cobber Pedy is an area called the breakaways.

No opal out here just an interesting colorful landscape that is worth driving out to.

Alice Springs

Arrived in Alice,and had a look around, reasonable size city, back to traffic lights.

The Telegraph Station was a good tour, in the 1880s was the first time you could get a message through to England within 24 hrs, prior to that a message might have taken 12 months by horse and then ship, so must have been a huge advance, the internet of its day.

Todd River at the back of the Telegraph station on the day of the visit, pretty much dry

On our return to the caravan park the sky was looking  a bit ominous, and the forecast was for thunderstorms, but it doesn't rain much in the centre of Australia does it?

Well it did, the most rain I have seen in a long time, storms very severe, with a lot of hail about 2 ks away in the centre of the city, not so bad in the caravan park, so we were pretty lucky.

Official was 38 mls at the airport, but seemed a lot more.

The next morning the low road to the caravan park was cutoff, and water in the Todd river that was pretty much dry the day we arrived.

Road to Caravan Park

Todd River after the storms

We spent a couple of hours in the National Transport Museum, this was excellent, you need
to set aside most of the day here, everything you can imagine that has been part of our trucking history, with some great stories of many of the pioneers of the industry.

Kenworth also have a great exhibition here, with a history of their contribution to our history

Rolls Royce Powered truck owned by Vesty Bros

Picture in the Museum 

Devils Marbles

Hilux and Lunagazer 

On the way to Alice springs we stopped over at the Devils Marbles Hotel
technically its at  Wauchope just south of the Devils Marbles

Caravan park behind the pub, nice spot, everyone ranked the meal as very good to excellent, and a nice quite spot, well almost.
As we sat down for a meal that night a chopper arrived and landed at the back of the pub.
He was a young bloke that does a bit of mustering in the area, looking for a meal drink and a bed after a long days work.

The fact that there were a few young girls as barmaids in the pub would have nothing to do with it would it?

Anyway he started the chopper at daylight, very amusing, off for another days work,

Our girls were a bit upset at the early noise, but at least we were all on the road to Alice Springs by 8 am.

Should find someone like him everyday!

Banka Banka NT

Stayed the night at Banka Banka

Daylight Ascent on the mount while everyone else was in Bed

Banka Banka is a working cattle station, of approx 390,000 acres, with about 80,000 usable,  the rest is stone, of various sizes. I don't know how the cattle get around it, you would have trouble walking it, let alone get a vehicle over it!

Famous for its red-back spiders if you believe the manager!

But there is a steel sculpture of one at the front gate, so probably not far wrong.

Pay Phone

The homestead and park are right on the Stuart highway, so owners obviously thought it a good idea to take advantage of passing tourist trade a few years ago so setup the caravan park.

The mount!

No power or phone reception, but a pay phone on site if you need one. Plenty of water, that is as good as you would get drinking water.
We arrived early afternoon, so got a good shady site.

Incidentally I was the only one to climb Mt Banka Banka, the others in the team declaring the climb "Too difficult".

I did it in a set of roman sandals, next time I will update my foot ware, kicking my toe several times, in the rocks I wasn't quite sure if I had kicked a stone or been bitten by a Death Adder.

Good place to have a stopover.

Camp Kitchen

Bar

View From Mt Banka Banka

View From Mt Banka Banka

View From Mt Banka Banka