This is Arno's Wall. Thanks to Wikipedia, I can tell you that it extends for almost 70m and is 2m high in places. He migrated to Oz 30 years ago, and most of the stuff in the wall is salvaged from the tip. The rocks come from his own opal mine.
After leaving Winton, and having thoroughly soaked up all things Matilda, we felt we had to go to THE waterhole (supposed). Combo Waterhole. Child #1 put on a spectacular display of cranky-pantsing for the entire 2.6km walk. Not that you could tell in the photo...
Us....singing, sitting, and waiting for the billy to boil...... now what tune is running through your head now, hmmm?!
DAY 60 (24th May): Onward from Winton, we headed towards Mt Isa. There's still a bit of water lying around, we stopped at a river and had a bit of a look.
On the way, we stopped in at the remains of a town called Mary Kathleen. Not a ghost town in the true sense, as they had sold off all the buildings, and just the concrete pads remained. It only closed up in 1982. You can drive around all the streets and figure out where things were though.
Then it was on to Mt Isa for the night.
DAY 61 (25th May): The two days we were in Mt Isa coincided with the local show. Somehow, the kids didn't realise. Even though when at the lookout below, they could SEE it over the back of the hill!
Anyway, to the day's adventures, first stop was at the underground hospital. Back in 1941, there was a large contingent of American soldiers in Mt Isa, and the mine was producing a lot of lead for the war effort, so it stood to reason (they thought) that it could be a target for the Japanese. So some miners built an underground hospital, just in case, and all very secret. None of the people in the town knew about it, and when the Americans left, they sealed it up. It was found after the property nearby wanted to expand, and wanted to level the hill it was built in. All the stuff in it was just left there, the restorers found some photos and have put it all back how it was in the day. Fascinating stuff. Amazing that it remained unfound until 1971.
From there we continued to the lookout that the kids didn't look out of very well....
Then onto the dinosaur display. There's an area close by that they are finding lots and lots of fossils in.
DAY 62 (26th May): We drove. And drove and drove.
650km today. We made it to a place called Three Way Roadhouse. I'll leave you to imagine the bumper sticker. Pete got one.
DAY 63 (27th May): From Three Ways, we headed south - lots of driving again. And lots of ROCKS! About time we had some more rocks. First stop was at the Devil's Pebbles. A bit meh.
From the Pebbles, we drove on to the real thing - the Devils Marbles. Spectacular stuff.
On from the Marbles, we passed an interesting roadhouse......!!! Wycliffe Well is the self-proclaimed UFO capital of Australia. There was supposedly sightings here a few years ago, they've really run with the theme!
DAY 64 (28th May): Another day with lots of driving. We stopped in Aileron, home to the Anmatjere Man (and woman and child, but they came along later). A big thing, yes, but a bit like the Big Australian Farmer way back in SA. Too much meaning. Impressive though!
And then we were there - the red centre.
DAY 65 (29th May): Had a bit of a lazy day in "The Alice". I think we deserved it.
DAY 66 (30th May): A day of rocks! Lots and lots of big, red rocks..... We left Alice Springs and took the long way to Uluru, driving the Mereenie Loop so we could see some more sights. First stop was Simpson's Gap. We arrived at about 9.30am, so its was very chilly, and the sun wasn't hitting the rocks so much. Still, you can see it was pretty red!
From there, we then drove to Standley's Chasm (thanks Mum, for the recommendation!) it was a bit of a walk away, through very pretty - and GREEN - surrounds.
After ol' Standley, we took off for Palm Valley - another recommendation from Mum. What wasn't mentioned was the drive in. This was the sign we saw:
Ok, so I know you want to see some of the real off road stuff, right? Well, here's some quality camera work for you :)
After that 3 hour jaunt, we headed for Kings Canyon for the night, and $2.19/L fuel...... yay.
DAY 67 (1st July): Up early again, and we started off with taking a quick look around Kings Canyon. There were two walks to do - the rim walk, or the creek walk. Looking at the steps going up to the rim, and looking at the kids..... we chose the creek walk! Not as speccy - we'll have to return in a few years to do a force-march then :)
More red rocks! Yet again, we were there too early to get the full sun on them. Ah well.
We hit the road again, and passed this:
Finally we got to Uluru, unpacked and went to check out the rock. I have to say that nothing really prepares you for the size and sheer spectacle of it. Everyone has seen pictures of it, but to actually stand in front of it and look up..... wow..... Both the kids wanted to climb it....
It did fill up pretty fast though.
DAY 68 (2nd July): A Day of Rocks, Red Dust and Disaster. (Believe me, this day needed a title!)
This was the day that we were to start the serious journey back west. We started out super early so as to catch the sunrise at Uluru, which I have to say that even thought the actual sunrise itself was quite spectacular, the whole colours of the rock was a little underwhelming after the display the night before. And it was cold. If anyone wants a business idea that’s guaranteed short hours and big income, go open a coffee van in the sunrise car park. I was a little amused at the fact that it has to be one of the only times people had their BACKS to the sunrise!
The sunrise, silhouetting the crowds
The rock at sunrise. I was happier looking the other way.
We returned to camp, packed up, and set off for the border.
Kata Tjuta (or the Olgas) is on the way, so we stopped in there for a quick look. Very striking, yet again, we were probably too early in the morning to be able to see the wonderful colours that the sun produces. Ah well. We did the shorter of the walks up one of the gorges. I have to say again – nothing prepares you for the sheer size of these rocks. Amazing.
This tallest one is actually a couple of hundred metres taller than Uluru. The walk we did took us right up into the gorge on the left.
It was a bit harder going that we realised, but the kids did really well. Lots of loos-ish rocks, and very uneven ground.
Again, water at the base! The walk continued up through the scrubby stuff behind us.
Again, the kids thought they might climb it. They didn't stand a chance :)
At the end.
Following our usual strategy, we were too early to get the sun on the rocks, but it was hitting the top of them.
In their entirety.
Then it was hit the road time. We took off on “Australia’s Longest Shortcut” that goes from Uluru through to Laverton in the WA Goldfields – about 1100km in all. And it’s dirt road all the way. And in the NT, it’s not the most well maintained road. Lots of sudden dips, some that had our backsides leaving the seat, and one that we suspect had the car leaving the ground – oops! This was the beginning of the disaster part. We’d done a little gravel driving a couple of days before, and had found that the canopy wasn’t dustproof (few things ARE red dust proof!) so I had fortunately bagged some of the loose stuff. We stopped at one point so I could get the kids something, I went to the back……. And we had no back anymore. Just lots of pieces of shattered glass, and the brake light hanging from a wire. And loads of red dust. Crap, crappetty, crap. At the next roadhouse, they gave us a piece of cardboard so we could partially cover it, but when we stopped in Tjukayirla Roadhouse (the most isolated roadhouse in Australia!) for the night, loads had turned into bucketloads. Blergh.
And, I'll leave it there - I know, you're all DYING to know what happens next now! I'm just giving you the Home and Away ending to an episode - hehehe!
Hope you're all well and warm! It's cold back here in the west - what's going on??
K, P, M & J xx
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