ALICE SPRINGS (and the past week)

We have not had internet or phone service (other than small doses passing through a couple of towns) since our last blog so this is an update covering the past week.
Tuesday 10/5/11 drove from Coober Pedy to the South Marla Camp Site arriving about 2.30pm.  As soon as we stepped out of the car we were mobbed by BLOODY FLIES!  See photo of us enjoying the great outdoors with our fly nets on.  This was the only way you could go outside without ingesting extra protein and having them buzzing up your nose and in your ears!  No sitting outside enjoying the beautiful weather and no cooking outside either.  I thought the flies were bad at Lake Hart but they are even worse here.  It was amazing how much water there was on both sides of the road as we neared the camp site.  Not too many travellers stopped here that night.
Wednesday 11/5/11 I was woken fairly early by a howling sound.  It didn't sound like a dog and I wondered if it might be a dingo.  Royce was still sleeping so I got up, got dressed, put the kettle on and wandered outside to have a look.  Across the other side of the camp site (maybe about 50m away) sat what looked like a german shepherd dog.  My first thought was that some bastard had dumped the dog and we couldn't leave it there but what were we going to do with a dog!  It had german shepherd markings but once it stood up it was clear it was dingo.  The very long legs and the face were a dead give-away.  I walked towards it and it slowly walked away then stopped.  It did this several times - always keeping a good distance from me - but would stop and watch me every time I stopped.  It eventually wandered off into the scrub and that was the last I saw of it.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me but fellow travellers managed to get a few photos and have promised to email them to me.  I will put them up on the blog when they arrive.  In all the excitement I had forgotten the kettle was on and Royce woke to the sound of a whistling kettle and no Maryanne!  He did find me eventually but the dingo/dog was long gone by then.  A pretty overcast morning but a very clear sky last night. Still no enjoying the outdoors or cooking outside.  Managed to sit outside for a few hours and watch the stars because the flies had all gone to bed!
Thursday 12/5/11 headed off to our next camp site.  There were a lot of people at the South Marla camp last night.  This morning was clear, crisp day and quite cool.  No flies for a while - they must have slept in.  We hadn't been on the road for long when we had to slow right down because we had cattle crossing the road in front of us.  We saw 3 very large birds flying not far from us and we suspect from their size they may have been wedge tail eagles but we couldn't be sure. We drove past Agnes Creek camp site and in hindsight we should have stopped there.  We continued on to Marryatt but decided not to stop - it was a real dump with rubbish everywhere.  The North Marryatt rest area was a large open area but didn't feel very hospitable so we continued on and eventually pulled into the SA/NT border.  We decided we would stay put for the night and move on in the morning.  There were very little travellers when we first arrived but within half an hour we were surrounded and hemmed in by a huge group - members of the CMCA (Campervan & Motorhome Club of Australia).  We had met a couple of them at Lake Hart and the rest seemed quite friendly but it was certainly crowded and noisy.  Flies were again a problem but late afternoon they eased enough so we could site outside and have a beer and a glass of wine before cooking tea (again inside - mainly because there was nowhere outside we could do it!).  We saw a lot of cattle on both sides of the road on the way to the border, and at one stage a few horses (brumbies?).
Friday 13/5/11 I was woken about 2am by doors opening and closing and someone walking around in the near vicinity.  This continued for quite a while and I had a lot of trouble getting back to sleep.  I found out that the chap in the campervan on our left and the chap in the campervan on our right both had mouse problems through the night and that was the noises that I had heard.  We couldn't get our caravan door to lock when we were ready to leave.  This had been a bit of problem off and on since having the new door fitted but this time was really bad.  We couldn't take the chance of heading off with it unlocked in case it flew open so we spent a very long time trying to lock it.  We eventually put the jockey wheel on, jacked up the caravan and managed to get the door locked.  We stopped at Erldunda for a coffee - nice cuppachino but $6.50 each!!! On the counter were 3 glass jars - one had a large king brown snake, one had a juveline banded brown snake and one had a scorpion.  The two snakes were caught and killed in the restaurant in March and the scorpion was caught and killed in the cabin being occupied at that time by the waitress who served us.  The king brown snake was one of 3 caught in the restaurant in a 2 week span!  After filling our empty gas bottle we drove on to the Finke River camp site.  It has changed a lot since we were there last - a lot more grass and bushes.  Again the flies were unbelievable and limited our options of enjoying the outdoors. We couldn't lock our caravan door at all tonight so we had to rig up some wire from the door to the drawer handle! It was very very cold here at night but we couldn't put our diesel heater on because there was too much long grass under the caravan right near the heater exhaust system. Very crowded at the campsite tonight. Mice are apparently a problem everywhere at the moment and we had one very fat little one exploring the area near our caravan.  We put the plugs in the sink and kept our fingers crossed no mice could find their way in.
Saturday 14/5/11 still at the Finke River. Absolutely freezing last night so Royce decided he would get rid of the long grass under the caravan so we could use the heater tonight.  Woken about 5am this morning by dingoes howling.  I had gone outside for some reason today and saw the most amazing caterpillar 'train' (see photo).  I have never seen anything like this before.  They were moving from one tree to another about 20m away and they were nose to tail all the way.  It was fascinating to watch.  From start to finish would have been about 3 metres at least.  Because we still couldn't get the door to lock we decided to put the jockey wheel on and jack up the caravan a bit and see if that helped.  That meant winding up the stabiliser legs and that is when we discovered the front left is 'broken'.  It took and lot of effort  and quite a long time to get it to wind up!  After all that we still couldn't lock the door so back to wiring it up at night!  When Royce dug a hole to empty the toilet cartridge something fell out and we have no idea what it is or what it does so we are keeping our fingers crossed (but not our legs!) that it all still works properly.  The flies appeared to go to bed by late afternoon/early evening so we decided to cook on the Weber last night.  While Royce was standing there cooking the chops and snags one very fat little mouse came out from under the caravan and wandered around - almost at our feet - and wasnt the least bit perturbed by us being there! There is a reasonable amount of water in the Finke (more than last year when we came through) and it is flowing quite well.
Sunday 15/5/11 Still at the Finke and still avoiding flies! It wasn't as crowded here last night but it filled up again tonight.  Overcast day but the clouds cleared this afternoon.  Lazy - sit around - day today. 
Modnay 16/5/11 Still had trouble getting the door to lock but we managed to separate the screen door from the outer door and got the screen door locked then shut the outer door and clicked it into place so at least we could head off.  It was a pretty uneventful trip into Alice Springs.  We went to JC's Caravan Repairs and he suggested doing a bit of gouging out wood and filing the metal to see if that would help get the door to lock.  He was happy to do it but he would charge for it! He has quoted to remove the existing wind down legs and replace with drop down legs and whilst we cannot really afford it we will have to do something so we have given the go ahead.  He has ordered the new legs and is hopeful they will arrive on the truck tomorrow in which case he will do the job on Wednesday - but it could be as late as Friday.  We are hoping it will be Wednesday because we didn't really want to have to stay in Alice Springs for any more than 3 to 4 nights at the most.  We have set up at the G'Day Mate Caravan Park.  We set up, headed into the town centre and had some lunch.  We did very basic shopping (and will do the big shopping tomorrow) then came back and finished setting up (connecting hoses, putting up annex etc etc). Royce spent about an hour working on the door and it appears he may have been successful!!! Fingers are crossed.  We are looking at spending a day at the West Macdonnell Ranges but don't know which day yet.

Our ultra chic fly nets!!

Hemmed in at the Border. More arrived after this photo

A green ants nest - lots of them and quite large!

Self evident!

Caterpillar "train" crossing the track at Finke River

Caterpillar 'train'