Alice Springs to Yulara

Day68-Day72 (Sept 22 to Sept 26) Alice Springs & Surrounds.

Saturday morning I dropped Carol in town to have her hair done and then did some shopping when I picked her up around lunchtime. Nice and sunny again today. The pump on the camper is cavitating so there must be a leak somewhere. I got underneath and checked all the clamps which all look OK. There is mud beside the tap on the tank outlet so it looks like that's where the problem is. Doesn't seem to be leaking too much and it's a bit hard to tell exactly where it's coming from.

Sunday we did the tourist thingy and walked around Alice, up Anzac hill and drove the short way out of town to the Telegraph Station, which was the original site of the town and where the water hole the town was named after is. Also had a presentation and tour at the RFDS which was really interesting. I didn't realise that it had started in Alice Springs. They also had the same wine goblets that we'd seen way back on Day1 at New Norcia and should have bought but didn't, so of course we bought 2. They had the RFDS stamp on them which is good to have.

Monday we did some blog stuff, (more pics up :)) as well as some trip planning for the next stage of our trip. We have decided to go through the West Macdonnell ranges, along the Mereenie Loop to Kings canyon, then Yulara and down into South Australia. Did a big grocery shop this afternoon to stock up on everything we need, including alcohol. The alcohol shops don't open until 2pm. We were loading the shopping into the car when Carol got a message on her phone. The sale of our unit in Wynnum had gone through. We'd had such a busy day that we'd both forgotten all about it!

Tuesday morning we had breakfast and before we packed up the camper I poked my head under the camper again to check the leak. Definitely the tap but there's a bigger problem too. The bushes on the drivers side shock absorber have flogged out and this has caused the cover over the shaft to break at the top and it's sitting down on the reservoir. The shock itself is still working OK but we'll have to get it repaired. 

This means a change in plans, we booked 2 more nights to give us a bit of time to get things sorted. Carol went into town to look at a material place that has aboriginal prints and I got in touch with Jim at Pioneer in Perth. He gave me the Pioneer agent South Australia, so I gave them a call to organise a date to get it changed.

Wednesday, we've decided to do a day trip out to Ormiston Gorge, do the pound walk, then stop off at a few of the sites back in to town. Even though the shock is still working we have decided to stay on the seal as much as possible. Tomorrow we will go down the highway and in to Kings Canyon that way, then on To Yulara and do Uluru and Kata Tjuta, then come back out to the Stuart Highway and head South to Mount Barker, outside Adelaide where the Pioneer agent is.

We got up early and were out at Ormiston Gorge before 9. We checked the walks information and set off on the 7 km pound walk ..................... or so we thought! Seems we didn't read the board properly and it was 40 mins or so before we found where the walk started. Got a great view once we reached the lookout but all in all it was an average walk. Had really sore feet by the end, I'll have to invest in some new boots in Adelaide I think.

 Stopped at the Ochre pits and Standley Chasm on the way back to Alice, both interesting in their own right. Called in at Bunnings once we were back in town and I bought a 13mm tap in case the leak in our water tank gets worse. Did some last minute shopping before getting back to camp about 6.

As I said before, I was last in Alice Springs in 1994 for the masters games. The differences since then are large, it's now a bigger town with a lot more in the way of shops and it seems to be a much more inclusive place as well. 399.1km travelled over the six days.

Day73 (Sept 27) Alice Springs to Kings Canyon

All packed up after breakfast ready to leave and the brake lights on the camper won't work. Pulled the plug apart and check the connections, all seem fine. Plug the plug back in and lights are working OK. Must have been a bad connection from sitting for 6 days. Good road all the way down to Erldunda Roadhouse, it must have been downhill I think because the fuel consumption was down below 13/100km at one stage. Fuelled up at the roadhouse, madhouse more like. We've worked out that it is school holidays in NSW, Vic & Qld and there are certainly more people around, in fact way more than when we were further north. Erldunda lays claim to being the centre of the centre and there is a sign proclaiming just that and people were getting their photo taken in front of it. Bloody tourists ! Stopped for lunch a bit further up the road and checked the tap underneath the camper again. It's definitely leaking a lot worse so I'll have to look to change it at Kings Canyon camping ground.

Arrived about 3pm with lots of others! Check in was a bit casual and the non powered area was totally disorganised. Eventually found a piece of dirt to park on and I got the second ground sheet out and put it down so I wouldn't get completely covered in red dirt while I replaced the tap. 

The $2.30 Bunnings one seems to be doing the job. I was concerned that I might loose all the water out of the tank but the intake is up high and must have a pipe internally down to the bottom which makes sense. We copped the afternoon sun after we set up but it is only for one day so we just put up with it until it disappeared. A steady procession of people up to the viewing area to see the sunset and its effects on the hills. Chatted to the neighbours and they said that there was a sign up in reception saying Yulara is booked out. We'll take the risk tomorrow and see what happens. Plan B will be to come back to a road side camp or back to Curtain Springs. Amenities are average considering it labels itself a “resort” and the price you pay, which was $40 for an unpowered piece of dirt. Mince chow mien for dinner. 

487.2km travelled.

Day74 (Sept 28) Kings Canyon to Curtain Springs via Yulara

Up at 5:30, still dark but there were some others up. Breakfast and pack up, then drive to the Canyon car park. The rim walk is 6km and takes 3-4 hours so we wanted to get it done early before it got too hot. Started about 7:30, lots of steps to climb first up then a bit up and down but well worth the effort. 

A much more interesting walk than Ormiston Gorge a couple of days ago. Feet were pretty sore by the end but it was a really good walk. Took us just over 3 hrs and we were on the road just before 11. Stopped for lunch at the Lassiter highway, ten a big hill appeared that I thought was Uluru but then I remembered that there was one that was before Uluru. It was Mt Conner, apparently. It, Uluru and Kata Tjuta and all in a line. Got to the camping ground at Yulara about 2:30, lots of others checking in and a sign on the door saying they were full. Asked at the counter when sites would be available and were told tomorrow so we booked for 2 nights. Not only is it school holidays but it's a public holiday in most parts of the country on Monday as well. Damned inconsiderate I would say, what about us grey nomads who are quietly going about our travels, then have to deal with all these hordes of people!! Drove to the park entrance for a look at Uluru, then decided to head back and see what the free camp was like that we had passed earlier but it looked a bit remote so we continued back to Curtain Springs. While we were at Yulara, we booked a cycle ride for 10:30 tomorrow morning, so we don't have to rush back in the morning.

Curtain Springs has a pub and fuel and the camping area is free, just $3 for a shower. Paid for 2 showers when we checked in and after setting up I went and had one. I think I must have been first for a while because it took ages for the hot water to come through and I was beginning to think there wasn't any when it finally warmed up. Went for a beer at the pub and watched the cockatiels in the big cage. When we got back to the camper, it was to find a motor home set up very close to us. Not sure why, there was a heap of room. Some people just like to be close I guess!

Neighbours on the other side had told us about the Stuart Highway south being closed form the 1^st to 21^st October at various times. Apparently the army is playing war games. Tried to google it but not much information out there. We'll have to find out what we can from others or when we get to Coober Pedy. Leftover Chow mien for dinner. 

423.7km travelled.

Day75 (Sept 29) Curtain Springs to Yulara

Fuelled up after breakfast. Diesel in this part of the world is the dearest we have come across so far. The road house at the junction coming in was $2.07/lt and Kings Canyon was $2.17. Yulara is the same according to the fuel app we use so at $2.14/lt Curtain Springs is relatively cheap. Paid for a 1-3 day pass into the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Park and went through the cultural centre before getting our bikes and taking a ride around the base of Uluru. Really busy with lots of people around. The day is cloudy and quite windy so it was a pleasant ride. Took us about 2h 20m, with lots of stops for photos where allowed. There are several places that are of cultural significance and the traditional owners ask that no pictures be taken in these areas. It's not always clear where these are so even though we tried to comply, there might have been a couple of occasions where we took some that we shouldn't have. 

When we got around to the point where the climb is, it was closed because of the wind. I climbed it 24 years ago when I was in Alice Springs for the Masters games and a group of us flew down to do the climb. I don't remember anything back then about the traditional owners not wanting people to climb it. It is going to be closed to climbing permanently after October 26 2019, so that may be part of the reason it's so busy at the moment.

Checked in at the caravan park, we were in the over flow part and it's not full but not much available that isn't miles away from the amenities block. Found a spot against a bank which gives a little bit of shelter from the wind. The only thing is it's very close to a caravan, they were out when we set up and I don't think they were too impressed when they got back, and here we were complaining yesterday about the motor home, pot.....kettle …... black maybe?

Had a shower and went to the sunset viewing area, us and just about everyone else that's in town !! Manged to get a spot where someone had obviously left from which was lucky. Got chatting to a couple from Sydney travelling in a motor home, got some good photos even though it was still a bit cloudy. 

Back for a late dinner of steak and salad. 161km travelled.

Day76 (Sept 30) Yulara to Kata Tjuta.

Up at 6 and away early to Kata Tjuta. Cloudy and windy again today and the car park was more than half full by the time we got there. We decided to do the walk to the second lookout, 5.4km rather than the full loop which is 7km but when we got to the second lookout we decided to keep going and complete the loop rather than retrace our steps. Amazing place, very different to Uluru and it certainly lived up to its nick name of “valley of the winds” in parts. It was so strong in parts, it almost felt like it was going to blow us over. The second part of the walk was pretty easy and we completed it without problem. Bumped into the couple we had been chatting to last night as we were going back to the car, they were just starting as we were finishing.

Stopped at the supermarket on the way back to camp to relax. The neighbours on the other side to the caravan had gone, so we did a quick hitch up and moved away from the caravan. Much better, they spent a fair bit of time inside watching their TV with the volume up and the windows open. Gotta love caravan parks! Had an early shower to make sure we got some hot water. Salmon rissoles and noodle salad for dinner. 

125Km travelled.

Figures for September

Here are some figures for the month of September;

Travelled from Gibb River Station (WA) to Yulara (NT)

Days travelling 30

Kilometres travelled 4691 (14078)                                                                             156.37/day

Diesel 792.78lts (1948.7) $1032.66 ($2807.99)                                                         $34.42/day

Camping fees $927 ($2057)                                                                                        $30.90/day

Tours etc $1605 (Mitchell Falls,Lake Argyle ) ($2622.94)                                      $53.50/day

Other Expenses $1393.97 (Food, alcohol, hardware, chemist,gas)                        $46.47/day

Pajero Costs $545.63 (New Rear Shocks & Air/Bag repair)                                  $18.19/day

Mitchell Costs $0

Total costs/Day                                                                                                           $183.48

Mitchells Spotted 1-(2) Home Valley, Kununurra, Lake Argyle

same one we saw at Pender Bay

Dearest fuel $2.17/lt Kings Canyon