ALICE SPRINGS (STILL)

What a rude shock this morning - we had to set the alarm!!!! (OK it was 7am which is not really that early but - think about it - we haven't had to have the alarm set for a looooong time!).  We were to have the caravan to the caravan repairer by 9am but by the time we got everything packed away, dismantled, sorted, locked up etc etc etc we didn't get there until 9.30am.  
The good news is that the door locked last night!  Yeah! and it locked again each time we wanted it to today.
We left the caravan, had a coffee and then toodled off to the West Macdonnell Ranges.  It was a beautiful sunny day with very little wind and ideal for being adventurers.
Our first stop was Flynn's grave, which was interesting.
A bit further on we visited Simpsons Gap.  This was a lovely spot and we spent quite a bit of time there.
Next stop was Standley Chasm.  Unfortunately this one cost $16 ($8 each) entry, but it turned out to be well worth it.  There were 3 different walks available and, naturally, we opted for the one described as "easy".  Bloody hell - I would hate to see the harder ones.  Despite all that we managed to get to the chasm to catch the last rays of the sun on the chasm wall.  The best time to see it is apparently midday but we were a bit late getting there.  Again this was a lovely spot and well worth the money.  We had some lunch there and then moved on to Ellery Creek Big Hole.  We didn't swim there but many people (mainly young ones) were swimming.  The water is apparently pretty cold. This looks like a really good spot to camp sometime in the future.
We had to make sure we were back in AS by 5pm to pick up the caravan so we debated about going on to Serpentine Gorge but thought we should have enough time so off we went.  To get to Serpentine Gorge you have to turn off the main highway. The other roads we travelled were really good.  This one was signposted as 3km but shortly after getting onto the road (and I use that term in its most generous sense) the sign said it was 5km! The road was abysmal and I would have thought it should be 4wd only.  A couple of kilometres along we got caught behind a small van travelling very very slowly and managing to get along with a lot of difficulty.  It appeared they may have decided to give up and were going to turn around when we came up next to them to check if they were OK.  They were a young German couple and we worked out they would leave their van and travel the rest of the distance with us. When we got to the parking area we decided not to go for a walk - the shortest was 15 minutes one way and we figured as it was getting late in the day and we were feeling old and tired it would probably be 30 minutes one way for us and we just didn't have the time available.  The German couple headed off promising to be back in 30 minutes and they were true to their word.  They said it was very disappointing and we didn't miss anything.  We dropped them back at their van and headed back to Alice Springs post-haste! We were going to cut it very fine and thought we may make it with a minute or two to spare. We had no phone service so couldn't ring them. We were not too far from AS when a very large wedge taile eagle flew across the road ahead of us and landed slightly off the road on our right.  Because we were running late we couldn't chance stopping and trying to take a photo which was a bit disappointing.
We made it back with seconds to spare (but the repair people were really nice about it).  The new legs looked good and work really well - much easier than our old wind downs.  They did discover some problems at the back end of the caravan with the framework and it is something we will have to have looked at some time but they didn't think we needed to panic about it just yet.  It appears water has been getting in and some of the timbers have rotted (similar problem to the front of the van).
Got the caravan hitched up and came back to G'Day Mate Caravan Park and we were really lucky to still have our site.  They were fully occupied and spilling over onto the roadways etc.  There was barely enough room for us to get our caravan through.
Set everything up and then decided to wander over to the Heavitree Tavern and have their $10 special for tea. Tonight was Beer battered fish and chips.  It was dished up wrapped in paper and was quite enjoyable.
We will be leaving AS tomorrow morning and heading off to Gemtree for a couple of nights and then on to who knows where!  Not sure when our next blog will be because we have no idea when we will have internet access over the next few weeks.
PS: does anyone know the difference between a Gap and a Chasm?

A beautiful tree near Simpsons Gap

Simpsons Gap

Part of the 'easy' path to Standley Chasm

At Standley Chasm

Standley Chasm

Ellery Creek Big Hole

ALICE SPRINGS

Is is now 9.07pm and if this blog has typos you will have to excuse me - I have had about 4 glasses of wine while watching the locksmith try to fix our door and while chatting with our neighbours and didn't get to have some tea until about 15 minutes ago!
Our day started innocently enough - woke up to a beautiful day, had brekkie, showered, tidied up and headed off to do the grocery shopping for the coming week.  Brought it all home, packed it away and did some general jobs and tidied up.
We had arranged for a new lock to be sent to us because it was clear the old lock was - to put it politely - shagged! Aussie by Design arranged for a new lock to be sent by bus leaving Adelaide last night and due to arrive in AS today about 3pm.  Started ringing at 3pm to check if bus (and package) had arrived but couldn't get an answer so we went for a drive and luckily the bus had just arrived and so had our new lock.  We then went for a drive to the top of Anzac Hill (see photos), then to Coles to pick up some persimmons then back to the caravan park to instal the new lock.
Royce made a start on the door and I made a start on cooking a piece of silverside.  Needless to say, the silverside was ready before the door lock was!  It showed all signs of progressing well but then we struck a snag somewhere (still not sure what went wrong) and neither Royce, Jim (our neighbour) nor I could get the key out of the lock or anything happening with the lock.  I eventually got on the internet and googled locksmiths in Alice Springs and on my second try found a really helpful Shane (????? something) Locksmiths).  I spoke with Shanes wife and half an hour later Shane arrived.  While we were waiting for Shane Jim brought his wife Sonta over and we all sat down and had an ale - there really wasn't much else to do.  Our silverside was cooked and removed from the pot and wrapped in alfoil.  I hadn't had a chance to get any vegetables done but I suppose at least the meat was cooked. 
Shane arrived pretty quickly and started doing the things he needed to do.  He was there for at least one and a half hours (while Royce, Jim, Sonta and I sat and drank and chatted) - if not longer - and it seems he may have finally fixed the door!!!!!!!! 3 cheers (although I don't want to celebrate too much yet until we go to bed because that is when we have had problems in previous days (Royce will fiddle with the lock and finally get it working but once the weather cools the lock decides not to work again and we go back to wiring up the door for the night).
Jim and Sonta stayed on for a few more drinks and then headed back to their caravan for tea and we came in and made corned beef sandwiches.  They were very nice but not quite the same as having the full vegetables and meat meal!
We had planned to take down the awning today and get organised so that we could take off early in the morning, drop the caravan off to have the legs done then head off for the day to the West Macdonnell Ranges.  Needless to say we haven't got anything done so will have to get up early in the morning!

Finke River

Camels at Stuarts Well

Top of Anzac Hill Alice Springs

View from Anzac Hill looking towards Heavitree Gap

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'

Coober pedy

Just a quick one. Our last night here and heading off tomorrow morning. We were sitting around last night when there came a light tapping sound. It took a while before we realised it was raining! Luckily we realized before it got too heavy and we were able to get the last few bits of washing in and bring in our chairs etc. It rained reasonably heavy for quite a few hours. When we got up this morning we were fogged in! Not something I associate with coober pedy. I spent almost half my day on the phone with telstra trying to sort out why I had intermittent Internet access on my iPad and couldnt send emails. After a few hours on the phone, several calls, and being transferred numerous times we finally got it working! Yay! Now I don't have to get the laptop out every time - will be much easier.
Last blog now for about a week - talk to you again from Alice springs!

COOBER PEDY

We left Lake Hart yesterday morning (relieved to be leaving the flies behind) and made Coober Pedy about 4pm yesterday.  We are staying at Riba's Underground Camping & Caravan Park.  It is about 5km from CP on the William Creek Road.  The caravans are above ground but apparently the tent sites are underground.  We haven't explored them yet.  Whilst we said goodbye to the flies at Lake Hart we said hello to a whole lot of new, friendly ones here! 
We went out for tea with Royce's cousin and her husband last night and then back to their place after to help with some family history they are working on.
We were reasonably late getting to bed last night and got woken up at 7.20am this morning with a phone call from Rory & Emma wishing me a Happy Mother's Day.  HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the wonderful Mums out there! Hope you have all had a terrific day.
We headed into CP to do some shopping and had a coffee and cake, came back to the caravan park when Kate & Trevor rang to see if we wanted to meet for coffee, so back into CP for another coffee and catch up with them.  Back at the caravan park we decided to do our washing, finish putting groceries away and then catching up on emails, charging all my gadgets and fiddle-farting around.
We have been able to skype a couple of people today which was good.
On our way into CP we saw a wedge tail eagle feasting on roadkill, and on our way out of the caravan park this morning we saw two people coming in - each on a unicycle!  We think those who ride 2 wheel bikes out here are pretty crazy, but riding one wheel bikes is even worse!
We will probably spend a bit of a lazy day around here tomorrow - may go noodling - and then head off Tuesday morning for Alice Springs.  We are planning to take approximately a week to get there and I probably won't be able to blog before Alice Springs because we won't have phone/internet access for most of the journey.
Saw Marshall when skyping Rory & Emma today and he is looking well but Emma is concerned he may be getting a cold as he has been a bit off colour today.  Hopefully he is OK.  It was lovely to be able to see him and I certainly miss him a lot.  We didn't get to talk to Kane on skype because Rory & Emma had visitors so Kane had to be outside but hopefully we will get a chance to talk to him before we head off Tuesday morning. 

LAKE HART (STILL)

Royce has a new nick-name "Rocky".  He was sitting outside yesterday working on his zebra stones and a couple of guys from neighbouring caravans came over to see what he was doing and they gave him the nickname!  They chatted for quite some time and we then joined them just after 4pm for 'happy hour'.  Another couple camped right by us also came over.  A good size campfire was built and lit and we all sat around chatting and telling jokes until about 10pm - with a short break while we all dispersed to cook and eat tea.  It was a fun night.  Most of them have headed off this morning (all travelling north to Darwin) and we have hummed and haa'ed about whether to stay or go.  The dilemma is that I have to have mobile phone service on Monday so I can pay the washing machine repairer on Monday.  If we head off today then there is a good chance we will either have to stay in Coober Pedy longer than we wanted or we will be out of range.  We have decided if we are careful we will have just enough water to last if we stay put and head to Coober Pedy on Saturday.  We will then stay 3 nights and head off again.  Hopefully the repairer doesn't let us down and actually does come on Monday - I don't want to have to spend more than the 3 nights in CP.  That will be enough for us to catch up with Royce's cousin, do some shopping, washing, fill up the water tanks and recharge all the batteries.
The flies here are really bad.  It was a beautiful day yesterday but I couldn't sit outside for any length of time because of the flies.  I spent most of the day inside doing cross stitch.  I don't know how Royce tolerated it but he did sit a bit away from the caravan out in the breeze and that may have helped.
I will have to get used to the flies I suppose but I might do it in small doses!!!
We were woken very early this morning by what almost sounded like thunder but it didn't roll like thunder. One of the other travellers said it was explosions, possibly from Camp Rapier (near Woomera).  Just dozing off when a B double (or similar) drove into the camping area, turned around and drove out then parked on the track for about half an hour.  We then decided to give up and get up and have a cup of tea.  We saw a beautiful sunrise this morning.
Unless something really exciting happens I probably won't blog again until CP or thereabouts.
Over and out.

ANDAMOOKA - LAKE HART

We both slept reasonably well last night but were woken early this morning when Royce rolled over in bed and promptly started another nose-bleed!  Finally got that to settle, cleaned up all the blood and mess and sat outside having a cuppa.  Blue sky this morning and looks like it could be a nice day but after seeing all the ants on the ground outside the caravan and the swarms of flying ants sheltering under our awning we decided we were going to leave.  The flying ants were getting in our hair, ears, nose, eyes etc! Packed everything up and took off.  We thought we would have a look at Roxby Downs but ended up just doing a short drive through and didn't really see anything of interest.  We drove through to Pimba and filled up with diesel (165.9c/l) then headed off to Lake Hart.  We weren't too sure whether we would stop at Lake Hart because it is normally pretty busy but it was about 4.15pm by the time we got there (we were a bit late leaving Andamooka) so we decided to stay.  Luckily we found a reasonably level spot and set up camp.  The place is pretty full and some people who came in later have had to go on to other areas.  We met the people in the caravan next door and chatted for a while with them.  They are on their way to Darwin as well.  We tried out the Weber Baby Q tonight to cook up chops, snags and onions and they turned out well.  We hadn't used the Weber before but I think we will get a lot of use out of it.
As usual, a beautiful sunset at Lake Hart - see picture.  We think we might stay put here for at least 2 nights and perhaps a 3rd night (if the flies aren't too bad during the day) and then move on to Coober Pedy.
We saw a bit of wildlife today - on the road into Roxby Downs a blue tongue lizard was crossing in front of us.  We slowed right down and stopped next to him.  He promptly turned around and hissed and opened his mouth at me!  We left him alone and moved on.  After leaving Pimba there was a flock (?) of emus about to cross the road but they changed their mind and headed in the opposite direction.  They were right by the road and there was about 8 or 9 of them.