Berri

After four days in the Flinders Rangers we stopped on the Murray River at Berri, on our way to Victoria. It was a pretty spot and we enjoyed a few lovely bike rides along the Murray River. Very nice to see a large body of water after so much desert and so many dry river beds!

So over posing for photos....

Flinders Rangers

Our spell of cooler weather continued as we headed into the Flinders Rangers. We camped by a dry creek bed surrounded by huge red river gums and explored Brachina Gorge, another deserted settlement and the very impressive Wilpena Pound. It was somewhere Tim and I had wanted to visit for a while and we weren't disappointed.

Oodnadatta Track

The road out of Dalhousie Springs was just as bad as the road in, it was slow going and very bumpy. Finally we came out onto the Oodnadatta Track, the landscape is very beautiful, baron & dry and as we passed ruins from outposts left over from the old Ghan train line we could hardly imagine living out there.
We stopped at Coward Springs for another swim, this spring was a lot cooler and we all enjoyed a refreshing dip, it must be a little awkward during the peak season though, it's not very big.
As we approached Lake Eyre we were all pretty excited. It was completely dry but the salty, crusty surface gave way to thick gooey mud, the kids had a ball running on it. We could see a vehicle in the distance, which was past the edge of the lake. It looked stuck and when we made our way out to it we found two young backpackers who had been trying to get out of the thick gooey mud for a while. They were very relieved to see us and even more relieved when Tim was able to get them out!

Out to the edge of the desert

We left Alice Springs on a very wet morning after saying good bye to Sophia and Candice (great playmates during our stay in Alice) and set off to Mount Dare (the middle of no where) and Dalhousie Springs. We stumbled onto the geographical centre of Australia on our way which is known as Lambert Gravitational Centre. The road to Mount Dare was rough, slow and rocky but we made it in time for a cold drink at the bar before closing.
The road out to Dalhousie Springs made the road to Mount Dare look tame. It took us three hours to travel 70kms, thankfully we were rewarded with a cool day and a beautiful warm spring to soak our tired travelling bones in. It is a true oasis on the edge of the Simpson Desert.

Henbury Meteorite Craters

After an amazing week exploring gorges and gigantic rocks we headed back to Alice Springs for one more week of work before going south. On the way we stopped off at the Henbury Meteorite Craters, not as impressive to look at after everything we had seen that week but when you considered how small the meteorites were and the holes they made, we were impressed.

The Olgas

So amazing that these are so close to Uluru and made from a completely different rock! We walked through the Valley of the Winds, it was beautiful, breathtaking and hot! Lola finally reached her limit and declared "I hate going for walks".

Uluru

After Kings Canyon we were very excited to spot Uluru rising out of the distance, it is huge! On the afternoon we arrived we drove around the base, and the next day we did a guided tour and loved the cave paintings and stories that went along with them. That afternoon we rode around it and the next morning we walked around in the opposite direction. We felt very lucky to see it covered in rain and looking silver, basking in sunlight bright red with a blue sky as well as with storm clouds rolling in and it looking almost purple.

Kings Canyon

From Palm Valley and Hermannsburg we headed south via the Mereenie Loop to Kings Canyon. The road was quite rough, corrugated and gave us our first flat tyre. Thankfully it was just a slow leak and we didn't know about it until the next morning. After changing the tyre (after Tim changed the tyre) we did the Kings Canyon Rim Walk, it was already hot at 8am but off we went with over 5kms to cover. It was spectacular with the view distracting us from the heat all the way around. The kids loved looking over the edge as we made our way around the rim. The next morning we did the easier walk up the valley.

West Macdonnell Ranges

After 2 weeks of work in Alice we headed west to visit Ellery Creek Big Hole, the Ochre Pits and Ormiston Gorge, it was a great day exploring, walking, climbing and swimming, just beautiful! We spent a night at Ormiston Gorge and then on to Glen Helen Gorge, where Tim finally swam in the Finke River after missing his chance to 30 years ago. We carried on down the rough dirt road to Hermannsburg & out to Palm Valley. It is an ancient valley full of palms & cicads left over from the dinosaur era, just breath taking!!

 

Ellery Big Hole and the Ochre Pits

Ormiston Gorge