Week 2: Outback South Australia to Central Australia - 1631 kms
Day 8 was consumed with discovering Lake Eyre. In the morning we drove down to Halligan and ABC Bays and walked to the edge of the lake. Lake Eyre only totally fills once every 20+ years and only has water in it about once every 6+ years. Lake Eyre is the largest salt lake in Australia and the third largest in the world. It is also the lowest point of Australia at 15m below sea level. The visit to Lake Eyre involved a 75 minute drive from William Creek down a very good condition 4wd track and then a 200m walk to the edge of the lake, There was an amazing number of small sardine like fish and grasshoppers dead on the sand, obviously caught by the evaporating lake, of course Fred and Tavi had great delight in chasing Adelaide around with the dead fish. The water was very salty. The weather was terrible we were all rugged up in coats and beanies, the wind felt like it was coming straight off Antarctica not the Strzelecki Desert. The afternoon saw us discover Lake Eyre by air in a tiny eight seater with a pilot who looked too young to legally drink. Pete took the seat next to the pilot and the rest of us piled into the back. Octavia who suffers motion sickness and hates any form of scary ride put on a very brave face, closed her eyes a lot and finally put herself to sleep to avoid throwing up. Fred got very sick of the headphones and kicked them off 5 minutes into the 1 hour flight and probably now has hearing damage. The view from the air was great, you really did get a great appreciation of the size of the lake. We were also very luck to see a flock of pelicans who take refugee on an island in the middle of the lake. From the air you also got the sense of how it is in the middle of nowhere not a house to be seen for miles and just flat dirt plains with little vegetation. The evening was spent having a great meal at the William Creek Hotel and retiring to our peaceful hotel room where we slept by the noise of the diesel powered electricity generator all night. News from Mt Martha was as good as it could be, with news that Dad was recovering slowly, however the long term position has got worse and thus I have made the decision to break up my trip and fly home from Alice springs for 12 days and catch up with Pete and the children in Darwin.
We took the opportunity to make Day 9 a rest day and catch up on a few items which needed completing. The first part of the day involved driving back from William Creek to Coober Pedy, buying provisions including post cards, followed by doing some minor running repairs to the van and packing it up ready for our biggest day of travel to date. The second part of the day involved moving into our underground house which was to be home for the night. The house is run as a B&B and was exceptionally comfortable, it was great to have a proper shower and toilet (which we didn’t have to share) and to not feel cold for the first time since leaving Shepparton (for the children the highlight was having a TV and being able to watch Packed to the Rafters, unfortunately MasterChef was not being shown).Underground houses maintain a constant temperature between 18-23degC which is great for an area where the temperatures can vary greatly from below zero to the low, if not high 40’s. Post cards to home and diaries were then written.
Day 10 was a long slog, 736kms and just under 10 hours, to travel from Coober Pedy to Ayers Rock (Yulura -the town that provides the necessary infrastructure for Ayers Rock). We decided to not break the trip and avoid going through the whole set up process again in towns which really have nothing to offer. The drive until Ulura came into site was just long, although it was fascinating to see the landscape change from flat dust dessert to more heavily vegetated sand dunes. One highlight was definitely crossing the border into the Northern Territory, as this meant that for both Adelaide and I that we have now been to every state and territory in Australia. Pete had achieved this feat some time ago and the little two just have Western Australia and the ACT to go! The sight of Ulura in the distance is really quite magical, it is even more beautiful than the pictures. Ayers Rock Resort in Yulura is a mini city with everything from camping to 5 star accommodation and restaurants’, a medical centre, police station, a little shopping village. Camping in the camp ground gives you access to the whole resort. This was home for the next three nights. It was beautiful to watch the sunset over Ayers Rock with a glass of wine in hand.
Days 11 and 12 were spent exploring the Ulura-Kata Tjuta National Park. Day 11 was a visit to the rock, unfortunately the rock climb was closed (apparently it is now very rarely open as safety precautions imposed due to wind, temperature and rain take precedent. In fact it had only been open for 2 hours in the last 2 weeks) due to high winds and thus we settled for completing the rock base walk of 10.6 kms. The walk was just a flat circuit and in many places over 100m away from the edge of the rock and thus quite boring. Due to the numerous scared sites around the rock, photographing in many areas is prohibited. Due to the monotonous nature of the walk it was very hard to keep the children interested, however promises of snack treats at certain intervals kept them going. Fred walked all the way and only whined a little, a real miracle for the child who still wishes that he could fit in a pram. The cultural centre established next to the rock is very interesting with a great history of the local Aboriginals and the flora and fauna found in the area. Day 12 was spent at the Olgas completing the 7.4kms Valley of the Wind walk. This was a beautiful walk through the domes, up and down the valleys, much more strenuous than the rock base walk, however all made it without any complaint. If you only have time for one walk – do the Olgas.
Day 13 saw us move from Yulura to Kings Canyon Resort and take a rest from the walking, much to Fred’s relief, although this was short lived when a compulsory 2 hour homework session was enforced, although who can complain when the class room looked over the George Gill range. The children also caught up with some friends they had made at Ayers Rock Resort and thus had a lovely time running a muck, The caravan park was just beautiful as the back drop of the George Gill range was gorgeous. Wi;d dingoes roamed the parks. The evening saw us watching and participating in a local show put on by the Roadies, a duo, who during the day manned reception at the resort and who wouldn’t last more than 10 seconds on Red Faces and thus as you can imagine was world class. The children loved it to such an extent that they made me re-live it the next night, some how Pete managed to escape.
Day 14 was again a hiking a day, this time taking on the Kings Canyon Rim Walk, a leisurely 6 km walk with a 100m climb at the start just to get the heart going. This was a beautiful walk around the rim of the canyon with spectacular views and a beautiful detour down to a beautiful billabong. It is a pity that the weather is so cold as the water looked very inviting. Tavi, Adelaide and I felt that we hadn’t quite done enough walking for the day and also completed the 2km Kings Creek Walk. Adelaide still had enough walking and decided to accompany Pete on a 1 hour walk around the resort, oh to be young! Dinner was spent watching the sunset over Kings Canyon – that’s living the dream
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