30 June, 2016

The Western Australian border was just 20 minutes from the camp and we stopped for the regulation photographs of us standing either side of the border, another long distance relationship! The road here continued to be wide  and reasonable going though we had many mud patches again to negotiate. Soon after the border, we turned north onto the Sandy Blight which immediately showed itself to be a lesser road being much narrower, then rutted and becoming more corrugated. The ranges here were rocky, red with folded cliffs of darker rock.

Pangkupiri Waterhole is in the Walter James Range and just a short walk over boulders took us to to the sound of the waterfall bubbling into a large rock pool guarded by a tall ghost gum. Green budgerigars flew in and out of the gums and holly grevillea.

 

The Sandy Blight Road was stunning. We passed through dune country into open spinefex then desert oak forests with lush green undergrowth with many wildflowers beginning to bloom.

Near the Sir Frederick Ranges it was quite slow going with river beds of stones washed from the mountains. Of course, we detoured for some way up the range over boulders as big as pumpkins.

 

 

1 July, 2016

Drizzle through the night kept us awake and by 8:45am it was still cool, just 11℃ and it rose to just 14℃ by 2:00pm. Through the day, we filled a container of salty water for washing at a bore. We don’t see much wildlife through the day but have come across the odd camel whose tracks we occasionally follow on the road. Budgies and other birds fly in and out of the bushes as we pass, but we see little else. The dunes here are a little like the ones we see on Fraser island but for the colour, of course. Several burnt out cars were on the sides of the road. 

The high bluffs of the Davenport Ranges were a good backdrop to the bright orange sand and pebbles of the flat plain we drove over. All day we passed a wide variety of plants in flower; dead finish acacia, upside down plants where the red flowers grow at the base, purple bushes, desert fuchsias. We were really fortunate to see the country this way.

 

2 July, 2016

Leaving the camp, we drove along a straight road towards Mt Leisler, a distinctive mountain near Kintore.

We paused for a cuppa at Tietkin’s tree to mark where he passed but it is now fallen and any markings he made are now mostly gone, for my eyes at least. Later we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn for the third time on this trip.

The Kintore Marbles is a miniature version of the Devil’s Marbles and we walked around them taking a photo of Mt Leisler in the distance. 

When we reached the crossroads of the Gary Junction Road, this leg of the trip was done, and writing this post at the end of our trip, I’d have to say it was one of the most enjoyable drives of the lot.

Kintore was next for fuel where we filled for $2.00/L.

We camped out of town between the intersection and the Kintore turnoff. Brad is a whizz around the campfire. A couple of nights ago he made an apple and sultana pudding with golden syrup and at this camp concocted  a banana cake in the camp oven. A legend!

Uluru – Kintore – 790 km

Fuel:        41 L at Yulara ($1.83/L)

                  27 L at Docker River ($2.20/L)

                  47 L at Kintore ($2.00 L)

 

 

 

 

29 June, 2016

Having reached Uluru, we were now a party of five vehicles and we left a crowded Yulara, stopping before we left the sealed road at the Kata Tjuta lookout. Uluru was just a blue speck on the horizon.

 

The road was very muddy in parts and occasionally was completely covered in water, so we drove on the high edge of the road where others had blazed a track.

 

Lasseter’s Cave was our stop for a cuppa. It was hard to believe Lasseter perished near here for lack of water for now and we crossed many streams with water over the wheels and the river below his cave was flowing well over its sandy bottom.

 

The Hope Range we passed through was rocky and was in sharp contrast to the red sand dunes we drove over for most of the day. Nothing in this landscape was as I expected, with great swathes of green pasture covering most of the roadsides and dunes.

 

We drove along the Great Central Road as far as Docker River where we paused at the local store for fuel ($2.20/L). Locals mingled around the store and sat outside in cars and a number of dogs lay scratching in the dust. We bought a small wooden trinket from a woman who immediately sat into the passenger seat of a very beaten up blue station wagon which was driven the forty metres across the road to the shop. Fireworks went on sale today for Northern Territory Day and so many were heard around the hills near our desert oak campsite to the west of town that night.

Twelve and a half thousand kilometres from the east coast through the deserts of Central and Western Australia

The weeks preceding this trip kept me awake thinking about our preparation. Questions of fuel, water, tyres, spares, reliability and food in remote areas but at all stages I was reassured by our companions, all experienced outback travellers, that we would have no worries. The only worry, I was told, was the unexpected. Rain.

June 2016 and rain had been falling for a few weeks in the red centre, north and west and for some time we wondered whether our adventure into the unknown would go ahead. The direct route via Boulia across the Plenty Highway was ruled out due to mud and flooding and so we drove the 2800km alternative via Mt Isa. Biloela, Emerald, Kynuna, Camooweal, the western towns flashed past with the Emerald to Kynuna leg the longest day of the entire trip at 776 km.

 Kynuna is one of those western towns that demand a stop. An iconic pub, a counter meal, campsite and a freezing cold shower in winter, and a stunning sunrise. 

 

Four days on the road saw us at Karlu Karlu, the Devil’s Marbles and we bypassed the overcrowded campground for a lovely spot on the edge of the creek just to the south of the park.

 Rainbow Valley, NT

Overnight at Rainbow Valley just to the south of Alice Springs, gave us an indication of the cold nights to expect in the desert as ice covered the tent in the morning.

 

 

Henbury Meteor Crater

Still driving south of Alice, we turned off the Stuart Highway for the short drive to the 4000 year old Henbury meteor crater formed when a half dozen rocks the size of a 200 L fuel drum left craters 180 metres across. The stony path to the craters was lined with green shoots from rain and the adjacent mountains, craggy and tipped with eroded, orange outcrops , the slopes dotted with saltbush, sage coloured bushes and low trees.

Outcrops and mounds of red and orange rock that had withstood the erosion were stark on the plains bursting with new growth. Puddles and large stretches of water lay in the depressions. Sharon drove again while I doodled in the sketchbook.

Uluru and Kata Tjuta

The campground was busy  with school groups and campers like us but it was good to revisit the Rock after 44 years. It was still the same but many things had changed. Then, we camped next to the rock and had free access to all parts of the site. Now, it is tightly controlled, and I guess rightly so considering the numbers that visit. 

The Rock was magnificent in all its greenery and water. We stepped around puddles on the path and streams trickled down the red slope to clear pools of fat tadpoles.

We listened to a guide at this rock pool tell how this water was once an important drinking place but now it is unsafe due to the climbers on the rock using it as a toilet.

In the afternoon at Kata Tjuta, I walked into the gorge beside a stream over the red conglomerate path worn smooth by millions of tourist feet. Today they were school children and Korean visitors.

To finish the day, we joined others in the Sunset Carpark. The dimming light made the Jeep appear the cleanest it would be in two months. Mud and dust awaited us.