Outback Trip

[AussieMick]

Hi Pummer67 ,I have just retired in January so have more time than I have ever had , that's why we are getting out as much as we can, also covid19 may ramp up again like it has here in Victoria, they are in total lockdown trying to bring numbers down again, they went from zero cases to 5,000 in a few weeks so are desperate to reduce numbers. You're turn will come to travel don't worry.

 

[blue32a]

Keep the photos coming Mick - This is great! You are making us all jealous in the UK

 

[AussieMick]

Alice Springs is here because in the 1870s a telegraph was built from Darwin to Adelaide, 4000 kms, it was a repeater station as signal got too weak, morse code.
The station was on a permanent spring as no water, no life.
Station master and family came up before railway all the way from south Australia by horse or camel and buggy.No add blue troubles then.
Once train arrived years later it was only a 400km journey across hot arid country like in pics.
Telegraph came overland from the UK all the way to Australia, across oceans as well just so colonists in Australia knew what was going on back home in England, pretty amazing effort really. If this blog is becoming a bit off the track let me know as I dont want to make it a history lesson.

 

[Nigel W]

View attachment 83018View attachment 83019View attachment 83020Alice Springs is here because in the 1870s a telegraph was built from Darwin to Adelaide, 4000 kms, it was a repeater station as signal got too weak, morse code.
The station was on a permanent spring as no water, no life.
Station master and family came up before railway all the way from south Australia by horse or camel and buggy.No add blue troubles then.
Once train arrived years later it was only a 400km journey across hot arid country like in pics.
Telegraph came overland from the UK all the way to Australia, across oceans as well just so colonists in Australia knew what was going on back home in England, pretty amazing effort really. If this blog is becoming a bit off the track let me know as I dont want to make it a history lesson.

It’s just perfect - keep it coming

 

[AussieMick]

Went out to Stanley Chasm today. It's about 50km from Alice Springs. It is a narrow opening through the mountain range caused by water flowing through softer rock gradually dissolving a deeper and deeper slot. It is on Aboriginal land and you pay a small fee to enter which helps with track work etc.

 

[Trouts]

GREAT thread @AussieMick thank you...
hope you're enjoying your travels

 

[Ricardo T]

Fantastic Mick, I remember going there all those years ago. Hows the temperature in The Red Centre?....We had 44.4 degrees in Adelaide when we travelled Oz..makes our UK summer here this year seem cool!! Guess your solar panels are working flat out? Safe travels and look forward to your next instalment.Happy Days.

 

[AussieMick]

Temperatures not too bad, 28c to 34c. Today we are heading out west so will lose phone coverage again, I will take more pictures to post when back in phone range .Strangely haven't seen much wildlife, kangaroos, emus, dingoes,etc, could be cause of lack of water at the moment. Plenty of birds around though . Will be camping where we can so have taken on fuel and water and food as supplies will be hard to find. Diesel is $1.28 in Alice Springs so prices are still down. Normally fuel is much dearer out this way so I'm lucky in that respect. Here are a few pics of Ross River station, it's a cattle station about 80kms from Alice Springs, they have put in a bar and restaurant, accommodation for tourists. You can go out on horse or camel to see the area. Its still a working station as well. Many horses used by Australian soldiers in WW1 were bred on this station and shipped overseas, when the war was over each soldier had to shoot his horse, only 1 was bought back to Australia, very sad times for the men I bet.Horses at one of the last cavalry charges in history, the battle for Beersheeba in 1917 from here.

 

[AussieMick]

The bark on this tree is finned like a heat exchanger on a motor, I guess it's for the same reason as it lives in a hot arid environment.

 

[AussieMick]

Spending 1 more day in Alice then out tomorrow. These are pics of Alice Springs from ANZAC hill overlooking it.
And pics of the waterhole that the telegraph station was built on and dependent on.
Its dry at the moment so they pumped water up to a tank they had made out of local stone. It would have been dicey in drought years. This dry river (Todd river) actually floods occasionally and has flooded out the town. Lastly this is what we cook on, a gas twin burner stove and a small bbq.

 

[Ayjay]

If that's a Weber Go Anywhere, we've got the same barbie but ours has only got a single handle on the top (I thought of modifying it to put a handle on each side like yours!). Brilliant little thing and you can pack all the stuff that you need to cook inside it as well.

 

[AussieMick]

Looks the same, had for about 4 years, great for travel but I use it at home too when it is only the 2 of us.

 

[VanDamMan]

I think we all learn more about the Australian history and environment than I ever did at school from your travels ...but one thing we have in buckets loads is water ..lots of rain...stay safe

 

[AussieMick]

Well funnily enough we learned more about English history at school than Australian when I went but that was a while ago, ask me about English kings and queens and I'm not too bad, I hope its changed now.
I learnt about Aus history by travel and reading.

 

[Ricardo T]

Same here, thats for sure. Heres our state of the art shower system back in 1990...a thick black rubber bag of water with a hose attached...warmed up on the roof during the day for a nice warm shower in the evening...I expect things have advanced some what since then Mick?

 

[Ayjay]

Ricardo - Thank your god for Photoshop (or sticky tape if you went low tech!). Back on topic (sort of): there's nothing wrong with a black bag solar shower - I survived on nothing but one of those (the sort that you can buy everywhere nowadays) for a couple of months in the desert a few years back - the main problem was that it got too hot sometimes and needed cold water added to cool it down.

 

[Pummer67]

Looks great mick. I think I'm just missing our travels in the van. Although we are making most of local days out. Today we were in the sea by 8am at studland on the paddleboard. Making the most of last few days of school holidays. Also the more info you give the better as it gives others like me of ideas of where to go when we do decide to travel there.

 

[AussieMick]

Back at Alice Springs again to fuel up ,water,Grog and food etc, had no phone coverage for last 4 days. Did the loop of Western MacDonnell ranges , camping at different gorges. Been really hot so stayed near permanent waterholes. Had a swim to cool off, water cold and deep. Still have the same type of shower if needed.

 

[AussieMick]

The 4 nights away from Alice Springs we followed the Larapinta Trail. It's a long distance walking track ,250 kms approx. We ran into a few walkers but its getting late in the season as its getting hotter from now on.
Its follows creek beds , mainly dry, and climbs a few hills/ mountains. We walked parts of the trail but it was hot and tiring as we have been sitting in the van a lot lately and have lost a bit fitness it seems. Its hard to imagine that water has shaped this landscape as it is dry so often but when it floods boy does it flood. These ranges were over 10000 metres high originally but millions of years of weathering have reduced them to about 1000 metres Its a very old land Australia.

 

[AussieMick]

Arrived at Uluru (Ayers Rock) ,440km SW of Alice Springs. Camped at only campground, $57 per night, staying 3 nights, deal is pay 2 nights and get 1 free,($114), have power and water so ok 8for where we are. Due to covid19 place is only 25% full, so no crowds. A few facts about the Van. Been on solar power only for last 16 days and fridge and lighting all ok. Use about 40ah a day due to heat and fridge compressor runs heaps more as van interior gets up to 39 degrees during the day. Nights range from 25 degrees to 8 degrees, the cooler is more comfortable of course. Pulling my little trailer uses from 10% to 25% more fuel depending on winds, strong headwinds use heaps more. Today averaged 8.4 litres per hundred km by vw gauge , probably a bit optermistic but still good economy compared to other cars l have had. As its very light traffic and long distances l use cruise control nearly all the time. A few pics of today's travel. Flat top mountain is Mt Connor which everyone thinks is Ayers rock but its about 100km before.