Day 7 Kings Canyon to Erldunda by Caroline

Last night we stayed at an unpowered site at Kings Canyon resort. There were dingos and wild dogs throughout the park, which was a great incentive for the kids to stay close. 

This morning after we got organised, we drove about 10 minutes to Kings Canyon, and decided that since we did the rim walk last year, we would only do the Kings Creek walk this time, through the centre of the Canyon. 

Somehow, Adelaide convinced Tilly to piggy back her the whole way...

 

It was a very pretty walk and well worth the hour. 

 

 The last 20 meters of the walk was closed, so we detoured a bit, and could see where a stack of rocks had fallen off the cliff and smashed the viewing platform.

We were a bit inspired after that walk, so we decided that we would do the rim walk again...and it was great, but hard work. 

Tilly found this little bloke and we watched him change colour as he moved across the rocks. 

 

We had lunch at the garden of Eden which was pretty, and an extra k's walk. 

 

We think that Adelaide might be part mountain goat. Danny thinks she is just like the kid off The Jungle Book. ( Mogley ) She refuses to brush her hair, or dress appropriately. She disappears into the bush, and when we find her, she is drinking at a spring. 

She did not stop talking the whole way around Kings Canyon. A couple of times she told me that I was holding her hand too tight, but look how steep the cliffs were!!

! 

She was worn out by the end of it, but the older kids coped well. Their faces say it all in this photo..

 

For the last 2 k's Adelaide kept trying to bribe Danny and I to carry her. She offered us all her money, then a foot rub, and when that didn't work, she even offered Danny " one of those squishy foot rubs" if he would just carry her all the way home. 

After we finished the walk, we had a sandwich at the float, and drove to Kathleen Springs to have a look at it. Danny and I had a quick look, and told the kids it was only another 2 k walk, but they were not keen at all, so we are now driving back towards the Lasseter highway. ( The main one between the Stuart Highway and Ayers Rock.)

Our plan was to get to Alice Springs tonight, but I don't think we will get that far. We spent too long at the canyon. Danny and I thought that we would have more time to relax on this trip, but we find that we are just finding more things to do. 

We are spending the night at Erldunda roadhouse. It is actually really nice. ( it's all relative! )

Day 6 Ayers Rock to Kings Canyon by Danny.

Before I start today I have to recap on the tail end of yesterday. 

While the rest of Yalara was waiting for the rain to pass, we decided to go out to the rock and see what it looked like. It was amazing. I've seen photos of it when it's raining but to see it for real was incredible, and we pretty well had it to ourselves.

The sun came out, and everything warmed up a treat. By the afternoon we ventured out to the Olgas and decided to do the trek less travelled - a 10 km hike through the Valley of the Winds. We didn't see anyone else for hours and it was awesome too.

The kids held up well and kept on plugging away over the rocks and trails, and got to swim in the water holes that the mornings cascades had left behind.  Bill jumped in first, the older girls waded and Adelaide couldn't wait to strip right off and jump in.

We didn't bring drinking water because we didn't think we'd be out there so long, but with every turn nature provided! It might have provided something to eat too, but Tilly reckoned she read something somewhere that something up here was poisonous. That put the wind up me.

It was 10k's up hill and down dale and the kids were very impressive. It occurred to me that Adelaide has now climbed The  Rock ( some of it ), walked up around and down Kings Canyon, and right through the Olgas - all at just 4 years of age! A bit of a trooper is our little free spirit.

It was nearly dark ( and the kids were nearly worn out) when a big storm blew up through the Olgas and it didn't leave us in any doubt why this was called " Valley of the Winds".  My feelings were mixed. On one hand the power of Mother Nature was exhilarating and it was all I could do to fight the urge to scream " I bought a jeep!" But on the other hand I couldn't help but contemplate the final words of wisdom from 'crisfloats' who built our flash accommodation -"never leave your awning left wound out and unattended"...

Bugger.

When we got back to Yalara, I was grateful the night was still and the awning was intact.  I grabbed a chair, sat under it and cracked a well earned beer. A wind storm blew up from nowhere and snapped one arm off the awning and the rest was left looking like it had been in a bar fight.  We now had a semi detached awning on the opposite side of the float, where there was no awning before.

Bugger.

This now brings me to today's blog.

I woke up this morning momentarily without a care in the world.  Then it dawned on me that I have furniture hanging off the float that ought not be there.  I tried to get out of bed which was made harder by a torn muscle in my neck.  I had a pain that was going to outlast religion.  This must have happened during, or after the beers I had trying to secure the awning. I knew the show had to go on, so I went outside to survey the damage.  It wasn't good.  It had more twists than a Hitchcock novel.  I grabbed a handful of light rope and ventured up the ladder - which was a feat in itself with a stiff neck - and walked across the roof to try and make sense out of the mess that used to be our awning.  I felt sorry for it that it hadn't reached its full potential in life - after all it had only been opened 3 times - but this was no time for sentimentality.  

As I wrestled with the broken framework I tried to tie it all together with the rope I had found in the toolbox, but until now I hadn't realised that the rope was hopelessly tangled in a big birds nest of knots. So as I stood upright on the wet and slippery roof surface some 3 meters off the ground doing my best not to slip, and with my stiff neck I tried to untangle the mess.  I looked like Steady Eddie doing Saturday night fever and soon realised that this would be better sorted out from the ground.

Back on terra firma I couldn't reach so I figured I'd drive the ute in and stand on the back.

Now the ute is bogged in the red sand.

Bugger.

This is the precise moment Caroline asks if she can take a photo, because it's my turn to write the blog today.  Through gritted teeth I smile for the shot (see below) and then contemplate exactly where I am about to throw a tantrum, and how I will get there (seeing as the ute is stuck).

 

 

Just then I hear the kids playing games and laughing in the float, and the world makes sense again.

We decide to go for a camel ride which is something none of us has ever done before, ( except Caroline thinks she has (Caroline wrote that bit - but I reckon if you've ridden a camel before you would remember it for sure - just saying!)). If you have never ridden a camel either it is kinda like riding a horse with a longer neck and a big hump on its back .... that makes funny noises. Ok, so it's actually nothing like riding a horse - it's kinda like riding ..... a Camel.

The ride was a real treat. It wasn't cheap but it wasn't a Gold Coast rip off either. They stopped the Camels in front of Uluru and took photos of us all - with our own cameras! No tourist shots here where you have to pay $50 a throw. Class act and I can't recommend the experience highly enough and the Camaleers were great guides too with terrific senses of humour. (Why do I feel the urge to yodel every time I read the word Camaleers? (Focus Daniel ...))

 

 

Bills Camel was called Murphy, Adelaide and I were on Darcy, Tilly and Jess were on Trigger (who recently won this years Camel Cup) and Em and Caroline were riding Cusko. Cusko was incline to want to take large chunks out of Japanese tourists, hence the Hannibal lecture outfit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got talking to management and LONGREACH might be playing at next years Uluru Camel Cup. A gig at the rock - that'd be pretty cool!

From there we went back to pack up camp and head out. I found myself momentarily staring at the broken awning  like that bloke off the colourbond ad, but I shook it off once I got the message that insurance had approved a new one in Darwin (no surprise that I am quite familiar with the process over the past 12 months!)

At this late stage of the afternoon we debated whether to head straight for Alice or try again for the Kings Canyon sunset we missed by a few minutes last year. We decided to make a charge for the Canyon and were determined to make the sunset this time. We missed it by a few minutes. This got me thinking about a definition some wise person once gave me of stupidity. They said "Stupid is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result". At least I think that's how it went, I can't really remember. Anyhoo, we'll give the Canyon sunset another crack next time.

Later in the night we got to witness a dingo shoot through with some tourists tea, the kids had a look at the constellations, and I got to watch Rod Dowsett perform, as he did last year, and then share a beer and a yarn with him. Good bloke.

As I type these last few lines it is nearly 11 pm, my family are asleep within touching distance, we are at the base of Kings Canyon in the great Australian Outback, and a lone dingo is howling loudly outside. Surreal is not enough to sum it up.

There is also one moth in the float and I have just about had enough of it head-butting the screen and fluttering around my nose, time for bed, good night.

Day 5 Ayers Rock by Adelaide

We just went to Ayers Rock. There were lots of puddles there. We stepped in them. Bill was the first one to touch Ayers Rock. 🇦🇺 It was raining a lot and we got very wet. We saw lots of waterfalls. This one was our favourite... 

I didn't like it because I got my shoes and socks wet.💜

 This is what Ayers Rock looks like when it is raining... 🕊🎂

  🦄🐞After lunch we went to the Olgas.

 

We went for a very long walk and had a swim at the Olgas

🌻🌹

Day 3 by Bill: Morgan to To the side of the road

This morning I woke up and had a shower with Dad. We are now on the road and I think we are going to Cooper Pedy.😀

This morning we saw a goat in the middle of the road.🐐 We are now on the road that goes straight to Darwin. It is called the Stuart highway. We have seen a dead piglet and some horses but we don't know if they are brumbies or not.🐴 There is a cattle grid roughly every twenty kilometres. It has been raining a bit and we found a rainbow and this is what it looked like... 

 

 We are leaving from Spuds roadhouse (at Pimba). We got some petrol and some lunch. For lunch we had chips.🍟

 There is now no trees. There are no fences on the side of the road, so Dad has to be carefull that he doesn't hit any animals.🐄 

Fences seperate different properties and that is why we keep on going over cattle grids.

The road is starting to get a bit grey.We just saw some really ugly sheep🐏 and goats🐐

I think we are heading into a storm🌦

There is a big pipe beside the road that goes from here to Darwin I think and we don't now what it does

It looks like this. 

 

We thought we were going to run out of petrol but Dad filled up the jerrycans so it will be all good.

 

We just filled up our ute with fuel. We decided to stay at the place where we filled up. Us kids just collected some

Twigs from some bushes. We are now sitting beside the fire and eating hot dogs. We're not at Cooper Pedy we are just on the side of the road. Goodnight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!😉😀😜

 

Day 4 - by Emily

This morning we woke up and had stewed peaches for breakfast. 🦄Right now we are going again. Dad is driving. Last night I slept with Adelaide.🐴 . This morning we went on a big hill and Bill made a fire, but it was not going. Then we went back .🌮All of the rocks were white and some of them were bright orange inside.🐎.Today we might go to Ayers Rock.🎀 Right now we are in Coober Pedy. Just then we went on the Coober Pedy play ground.💍Then we went to a shop. Then we went to a Coober Pedy sign and had a photo but some one  else took it. He was cranky because he didn't want to take our photo. Then they had their photo.🍩

 Now we are back in the car and going toward Ayers Rock. We might climb all the way to the top this time.🍉 The next place we are going to is Marla.💜 Right now we are in our car.🔷 And we are on the road. And at the shop we got a postcard and something to eat.💖 We saw some dogs. One of the dogs had a broken back leg.💎Then we went to an under ground shop, and took a picture with a statue. 🐢 Then we went on top of  under the ground shop and took a photo.🌸 Then we hoped back in the car and started to drive  on the road again.🌴 Just then we saw some horses but they where brumbies.🐚 And I saw them first.🍄 then we went to a petrol station and went to the toilet.🐳 All of the sand is red and very dasty.🏇 There are not many trees here.

 In Coober Pedy there is some kids that are aboriginals.🎠 we are sleeping in big tred which we call our horse float.😺 we call our horse float big tred because it's number plate says tr 35 ed so we call it big tred 😋It is boring in the car.📧 The road is a little bit red Because the sand is blowing onto the  road💌 Right now my sister Adelaide is asleep in her car seat.💝 Before I was just doing a dot-to-dot.💘 We might get some lunch.🍔 We miss Roseville and we miss the horses and the other animals and I miss family and friend.👧🏼😥waah waah.

 And we are missing you very much.😿Just then we went to the toilet but it was a long drop. It was yuk.😎 the long drop was in the Northern Territory.Then we had a photo of us in the Northern Territory. ( A stranger took this photo)   There is lots of hills here.🍪 Just then we went to a petrol station. At the petrol station there was a old tractor and we took a photo of us on the tractor and this is me.☄ Then we went inside the petrol station and had some lunch and all of us had some chips.🍟 But Dad had a cheese burger.🍧 And then we had a photo inside the shop.🍰  This is what it looked like. It was called Kulgera pub.   In the shop there was a big bird.🎂 The big bird was very scary. It's name was Charlie and the sign says it bites.🍦Right now we are going again.🍿Right now we are very close to Ayers Rock.  We went past a big blue rock called Mt Connor.🌯 Just then we saw the sun set.🍕It was cool as.🌿 This is what it looked like🌷   Just then we saw Ayers Rock and we saw some oglers.🍹we are going to sleep at Ayers Rock.🍫It is getting dark.🍭 And we are STILL in the car.🔶 we are still bored♦️because all you do is sit there.💙Jess is siting in the front with Mum and Dad and Bill is siting on the edge so is Adelaide and Tilly and I are siting in the middle.🛍 Right now we are parking.🍇 because we are sleeping at Ayers Rock for two nights .⭐️ and we might have noodles for tea.🍷 Right now Mum is booking in so we can sleep here.💚 we might go to sleep soon.🍒Right now we are finding a place to stay for two                     

nights.🌹This is were we are sleeping.

 

 Just then we put some red Sand in a bottle.💧We are having noodles or cheese on toast for tea.🍀 There is lots of ants. And they are eating us. Dad sprayed the ground so the ants do not get us.🐥 And Adelaide and I had to put some boots on.🐣 We are going to have a shower and then we are going to go to bed.😴 good night.

Day two, By Tilly

This morning I woke up and had stewed peaches and yoghurt for breakfast. Then we got up and got in the car.

Now we are driving to Mildura, whilst listening to the radio. At the moment we are in a place called Tulleybuc, which is near where my friend Georgia grew up.

I am feeling excited because today once we get into S.A we get to open our bags we got from Gagga and Dazzle.

We have made it to Mildura. At Mildura we did some shopping, for what we will need further on in our trip.

 Then we went to subway for lunch. Once we finished our sandwich we got a biscut.

The whole day today, there has been two hours until we get to S.A.

At the moment Bill, Jess and Adelaide are asleep.

 

 

There is only 50 kilometres until we make it to S.A now.

We just saw two emu's and a dead dingo. We are just pulling up at a petrol station. We just saw another emu.

Now we are finally in S.A. We got some photos taken by some people who we met.

Because we are in S.A, we get to open our bags from Gagga and Dazzle. We got a lot of cool stuff. This is what I got.

 

We got to a place called Renmark, and was going to stay there the night, but decided to keep on driving.

We saw a pelican that was flying in the air then came skidding in the water. It was swimming near us, then eventually came charging for us, so we ran. Then another bunch of them came down as well. We got closer and closer to them. It turned out they were quite friendly. 

 

Now we are driving again. We have decided to stay at a place called Morgan. We were playing around at the Morgan caravan park.

 This is the boat where we are having tea.

 At the moment we are watching the ferry going across the river. About to have tea.

At tea we met some people Jess and I had a friend called Mia, Emily and Adelaide had a friend called Charlie, and Bill had a friend called River.

We had tea, then we played with our friends. After tea we had desert. Then played outside again for a while.

Once we were finished on the boat, our friends and ourselves came back to our horse float, so Dad could show our friends Dad his guitar. Us kids played outside while the parents were listening to our Dads' music. Their Dad had a Jembai (that is a type of drum.) that we were playing with. He said that if you make a cup out of your hands and bang in the middle it will make a stronger sound. Our Dads had a beer, then they had to go back to their boat-house. We watched them go over the ferry and over to their boat. Now we are in bed, and Mum is in the shower, and we are about to go to sleep. Well we were going to sleep until a bunch of firecrackers went off, over the other side of the river. Now I think we are really going to sleep. But where not. Another bunch of firecrackers went off. OK goodnight.

 

 

Leaving Roseville

Today we left Roseville at 10.30. We had to go to Burrumbuttock because I had to play netball. We played against Henty and won. The overall score was 16 to14 and 2 minutes before that it was a draw. It was really hard to catch the ball because it was raining.   

We said goodbye to family and friends and then we went.

We have stopped at a few petrel stations but that is all.

We were just driving and then Dad hit a kangaroo us kids didn't see it but we felt the brakes go off and heard Dad swear. I have seen a lot of kangeroos today.

We are camping at Kyalite and are having tea at the pub.😀