tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74088196062635156212024-02-20T02:32:43.799+11:00Our Story of Australiaa family caravanning adventureMichellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.comBlogger154125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-55155279418956724522009-09-22T21:20:00.003+10:002009-09-22T21:45:35.596+10:00Day 207- AdelaidePicked the truck up. Fixed, apparently. ? <br /><br />Mum and Dad bought a new caravan?!??!?! What The?!?! That was fast! So we called past to have a look. Noice! Kitchen a bit small for me but then i make a mess when i cook so....<br /><br />Then time to pack my bag for tomorrow's flight and Tim got things somewhat tidied up to travel.<br /><br />Still raining, raining so not much else to do. Hired a buggy to ride around on for an hour. Wind Chill Factor -5'C ! LOL! But Jordy thought it was fun so probably worth it. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYyIYeFATRFujc4TE8U5kJJ9EgxbLTIEdpl7kTEMS64a0bokMlvKS9UJbJiIAROCq9RwfMoUukpmUKMaweEYl20DlK4i7DXhy5h6OVLFLgBee5RzT79H-eP2b2Jj2zwy7fVWQ_rx4onwO/s1600-h/adelaide4_Jpush.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 284px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYyIYeFATRFujc4TE8U5kJJ9EgxbLTIEdpl7kTEMS64a0bokMlvKS9UJbJiIAROCq9RwfMoUukpmUKMaweEYl20DlK4i7DXhy5h6OVLFLgBee5RzT79H-eP2b2Jj2zwy7fVWQ_rx4onwO/s320/adelaide4_Jpush.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384256437207858066" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYfxzFFcL-kHqOSt0Ip10gjKYM-yOBlsCbQ-A2ouCxHhxeNgsW0tcaxP1wUhJuM42pRZarNZpxIt7Xt7TZFf4pgELRmGA15x9Ufxox1GKlTfU8zqahDN4pZPzgJNv0HPH9WxcnyK0JFSf6/s1600-h/adelaide4_Dpush.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYfxzFFcL-kHqOSt0Ip10gjKYM-yOBlsCbQ-A2ouCxHhxeNgsW0tcaxP1wUhJuM42pRZarNZpxIt7Xt7TZFf4pgELRmGA15x9Ufxox1GKlTfU8zqahDN4pZPzgJNv0HPH9WxcnyK0JFSf6/s320/adelaide4_Dpush.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384256425130848626" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDf3nmT6L6N_f-fetAzd0x4iR9PELNLlu7VZog0ggpD5K871yx05j41p2h_Uum_5KnIOiQC-7qCUyCP42Kq0FzCpDxdGuycv1nQN3k_rJwXDO5lpwzRwkwMM4DdJdB9ESTThSheUo_x28K/s1600-h/adelaide4_Dhelmet.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDf3nmT6L6N_f-fetAzd0x4iR9PELNLlu7VZog0ggpD5K871yx05j41p2h_Uum_5KnIOiQC-7qCUyCP42Kq0FzCpDxdGuycv1nQN3k_rJwXDO5lpwzRwkwMM4DdJdB9ESTThSheUo_x28K/s320/adelaide4_Dhelmet.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384256418903445426" /></a><br /><br />Happy Birthday Ray and Al!!!!!Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-58203363198345981392009-09-21T21:17:00.000+10:002009-09-22T21:20:44.103+10:00Day 206- AdelaideNothing much interesting happened today. Tim took the truck out to get fixed. Loooong story. GPS units suck! <br /><br />I took the bus into the city with the boys to get some banking done. Tim met me in there, we had some lunch, wandered in the rain!<br /><br />Wet, wet, wet day.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-68031777461307872452009-09-20T21:08:00.000+10:002009-09-22T21:17:42.406+10:00Day 205- AdelaideWe were going to ride the bikes along the coast up to Semaphore or The Grange but the weather was a bit iffy so we drove up instead.<br /><br />Called into a beach-side carnival sort of setup that looked fun. It's almost like a fun park (cos it's a permanent setup) but set up like a carnival with a ferris wheel, kids merry-go-rounds, jumping castle, clown ball side stall things. And i think it would be a heap of fun except it's $5 a go for every ride even for the little kids' stuff. And there was totally no carnival atmosphere seeing as we were totally the only people in the whole place!?!? Anyway, Jordy had a ride on the Flying Bee and grinned the whole time. Darcy slept unawares in the pram.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHa9n321Q-M2KWZchwMcXhtbiBZpNk_Wd-othnRQt_watE94E-RV3QM5dtUayCPNkCQAgOlvAKUhsss_rpxct943c-S3A6t4VlZe2Vhy7F1Ao7q7gB3zRhsaWf-Cy3GGsHHcY3rigwex8B/s1600-h/adelaide2_flyingbee.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHa9n321Q-M2KWZchwMcXhtbiBZpNk_Wd-othnRQt_watE94E-RV3QM5dtUayCPNkCQAgOlvAKUhsss_rpxct943c-S3A6t4VlZe2Vhy7F1Ao7q7gB3zRhsaWf-Cy3GGsHHcY3rigwex8B/s320/adelaide2_flyingbee.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384249063043851282" /></a><br />Had a wander along the jetty and the mini-train line (only runs in summer). Darcy finally woke up and they played in a great playground for a bit.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iTpsb3VHL9NEbXcEypZ0xtu_5lM7JYjOzfKIbxaRVVlfHRD4p794SvgBUkcSitUEdCD7ntCUfoalZnlBxG5srxu4sW68U2Tskuu8OBWxhCwcWEWWu2xRXSLFyFuK1qs-D0CQMRaRRrm-/s1600-h/adelaide_semaphore.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iTpsb3VHL9NEbXcEypZ0xtu_5lM7JYjOzfKIbxaRVVlfHRD4p794SvgBUkcSitUEdCD7ntCUfoalZnlBxG5srxu4sW68U2Tskuu8OBWxhCwcWEWWu2xRXSLFyFuK1qs-D0CQMRaRRrm-/s320/adelaide_semaphore.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384249068755365874" /></a><br />Headed out to Harbourtown which is just a big outlet shopping centre, nothing special. Jordy wanted to stay in Toyworld all afternoon.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZl03Hiz-LOf6mCVq1p3clyiZkjFYpdNnO1bI87VosxagqyfirL9z25fCQtbCDnkTh_RnLRzDlxBCZKakcRHFbueSYdtZynGrn96d8WrznuDy72rlwzJhI3TwtUOZRRZBRtWtOhLJVt6u/s1600-h/adelaide_Jtoys.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZl03Hiz-LOf6mCVq1p3clyiZkjFYpdNnO1bI87VosxagqyfirL9z25fCQtbCDnkTh_RnLRzDlxBCZKakcRHFbueSYdtZynGrn96d8WrznuDy72rlwzJhI3TwtUOZRRZBRtWtOhLJVt6u/s320/adelaide_Jtoys.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384249074822976722" /></a>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-18570032660919031562009-09-19T20:32:00.000+10:002009-09-20T21:06:01.005+10:00Day 204- AdelaideDecided to head into the city for the day. The bus stops right out the front here so we figured it would be easier to catch that rather than drive and have to find a park. Funnily enough the kids really enjoyed the bus ride. Darcy was hilarious- every time it stopped at a bus stop Darcy would day (and sign) 'finished'... and then we'd start moving again and he'd say 'more', he did it every single stop (and there were a LOT of stops!) <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggQN_x9zg2FLG8rNIO_DI0oeGQCAuCUsoUnrc-6VhDffDAGiyISKDESXDuZDVbFtOwk7FHnbiVmygfbECmjthom7WdoshlfEvaLw82y7j_IA4NtO03H8j8veiqRdhvRuU0enQ3RodQP-fG/s1600-h/adelaide_mall.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggQN_x9zg2FLG8rNIO_DI0oeGQCAuCUsoUnrc-6VhDffDAGiyISKDESXDuZDVbFtOwk7FHnbiVmygfbECmjthom7WdoshlfEvaLw82y7j_IA4NtO03H8j8veiqRdhvRuU0enQ3RodQP-fG/s320/adelaide_mall.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383503142996367570" /></a><br />The city was really nice. Had a nice feel to it. Not country-town like Darwin by any means but not as crazy bleugh city-fied as Sydney. Went for a wander through the mall area and then headed for the food court! LOL! We couldn't sit for long cos Jordy was keen to get to the museum. :) On the way we stumbled across some neat street sculpture, including some pigs. The sign for pig is to push the tip of your nose up with one finger... this is Darcy signing 'pig' except he has to stick his finger right UP his nose when he does it. So funny to watch.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbQ4Bw96qJArb-U-BYR3Vy07D49JQ0RpatuRsXvJxeYizrrLWod-rBOQW3eRAR_FtJxc5jZvl2DThXNMoWlXh15zVIx-9_AJ2RQKtSplEwHCwSU3TAo6zhQTJmlUlexYrZ7vYXy3bEaxV/s1600-h/adelaide_pigsign.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 312px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbQ4Bw96qJArb-U-BYR3Vy07D49JQ0RpatuRsXvJxeYizrrLWod-rBOQW3eRAR_FtJxc5jZvl2DThXNMoWlXh15zVIx-9_AJ2RQKtSplEwHCwSU3TAo6zhQTJmlUlexYrZ7vYXy3bEaxV/s320/adelaide_pigsign.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383503159273805090" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOYDtkcASxfdeNLif2lPF0U-3Re2UsasHwZw7JiYNao_IfJcFw_wgnX1Lu8qksT4yBNKjP33YlVLM5I7KVk-8Hn2hkcYuK7WU2mg158mI3VcIhy7hv2UOSZdW7FGIckuxQBYFbGAlSy6FF/s1600-h/adelaide_pigs.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 202px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOYDtkcASxfdeNLif2lPF0U-3Re2UsasHwZw7JiYNao_IfJcFw_wgnX1Lu8qksT4yBNKjP33YlVLM5I7KVk-8Hn2hkcYuK7WU2mg158mI3VcIhy7hv2UOSZdW7FGIckuxQBYFbGAlSy6FF/s320/adelaide_pigs.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383503154095034194" /></a><br />The museum was quite good and we spent a few hours wandering around there. Had a great display of animals from around the world that was surprisingly interesting! From there we had another bit of a wander through the shops. <br /><br />Stumbled across a street performing magician that was funny to watch so we joined the crowd and watched his show.<br /><br />Found a Borders bookstore. I could have spent all day there! It was one of those massive ones with a Gloria Jeans inside like down in Sydney where i have spent many many many a great day. Only enough time for a quick browse before Jordy was off wanting a donut. So back to the food court for a delicious afternoon tea before heading home.<br /><br />Tim and Jordy discovered a frisbee while playing in a toy store so as soon as we got back the boys had a throw and kicked a ball around for a bit before dinner.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkc_ybfKYklyvQgSjECGGlpykl7MWYOgRPlviVRHgbHmFSpTmpQ6P8vdDojjDZzwY5RNveIhg4DbDPifGdl0EDGAFJmhtiQhNbf9CRokvyXFA0uNxspzzxmqDOA3gqJrX2D0sSYpf-NTW7/s1600-h/adelaide_frisbee.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 305px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkc_ybfKYklyvQgSjECGGlpykl7MWYOgRPlviVRHgbHmFSpTmpQ6P8vdDojjDZzwY5RNveIhg4DbDPifGdl0EDGAFJmhtiQhNbf9CRokvyXFA0uNxspzzxmqDOA3gqJrX2D0sSYpf-NTW7/s320/adelaide_frisbee.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383503134729460994" /></a><br />So it sounds rather boring but it was actually a nice low-key laid back kinda day.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-17321122334817693842009-09-17T22:25:00.003+10:002009-09-19T20:30:37.143+10:00Day 203- Victor Harbor to AdelaideA bit sunnier this morning so we had an easy packup with no rain. We were not in a rush this morning cos we only had about 80km to travel so we had a few stops planned on the way to check out more of the Fleurieu Coast.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhGCoT-Mc_NMEFoxdNlge1HnK-X_boX3enZ17FhOLb3UcOCfMJoRl-nSgvdA515CHYZTu9xK-sCjFszRwHZxxGskYt6VHtMG2KEXnFTOErSUxaEpv0XvQlTD_s4dSjJK0QDo0OcSNoFjqp/s1600-h/victor4_flower1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383106917986743026" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 134px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhGCoT-Mc_NMEFoxdNlge1HnK-X_boX3enZ17FhOLb3UcOCfMJoRl-nSgvdA515CHYZTu9xK-sCjFszRwHZxxGskYt6VHtMG2KEXnFTOErSUxaEpv0XvQlTD_s4dSjJK0QDo0OcSNoFjqp/s200/victor4_flower1.jpg" border="0" /></a>First stop though was back to Basham Beach to see the whales again. Darcy was asleep last time so we made sure he stayed awake to see them this morning. Jordy was more interested in picking the flowers. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFv0WAk1IwMwTSoHHQaiMu226_N9ImrOJSWkVa9Q4EQk1QanAPNe9-VQxuCxoaDiv_g-F_9g8ARbJjWwcURDMNVpp18jsV0emmJ2acM14Wp2nVUwEs8iqdXPPf3S65o-x3fYIEm1IA79Y7/s1600-h/victor4_flower2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383106267047241682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 206px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFv0WAk1IwMwTSoHHQaiMu226_N9ImrOJSWkVa9Q4EQk1QanAPNe9-VQxuCxoaDiv_g-F_9g8ARbJjWwcURDMNVpp18jsV0emmJ2acM14Wp2nVUwEs8iqdXPPf3S65o-x3fYIEm1IA79Y7/s320/victor4_flower2.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOqq1KS5AMKAE4_dv7fgz6_eSQWH1gn3qI2_Y4ACHWSG65-yFhdGK5BQ-S35YnDnYvO0Mun-PLpqSBJBa6ZQ1emtGFB9GZ04AaaReXIp0KTx4LgCgJlh7GpVBzmcE3uYnIlAsFPX0x2VP/s1600-h/victor4_flower3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383106264209128210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 195px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOqq1KS5AMKAE4_dv7fgz6_eSQWH1gn3qI2_Y4ACHWSG65-yFhdGK5BQ-S35YnDnYvO0Mun-PLpqSBJBa6ZQ1emtGFB9GZ04AaaReXIp0KTx4LgCgJlh7GpVBzmcE3uYnIlAsFPX0x2VP/s320/victor4_flower3.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQB6N9sbsXrZH1Za-DPMYR33tJC-dn_Kuzw8VyOunpLCmDCooRb4oVVl6BLXJOriYZlxCIU3T6uhpO8L2lifqNzvHVykgZ19zJ60rcSBNct_8q-pj2KlWikP1iOm3aOfusiykMxRpHsAA/s1600-h/victor4_flower4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383106260780350834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQB6N9sbsXrZH1Za-DPMYR33tJC-dn_Kuzw8VyOunpLCmDCooRb4oVVl6BLXJOriYZlxCIU3T6uhpO8L2lifqNzvHVykgZ19zJ60rcSBNct_8q-pj2KlWikP1iOm3aOfusiykMxRpHsAA/s320/victor4_flower4.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />There were about eight whales in the bay that we could see. A few in nice and close. But there were no rolls or fin-flaps for us today. We watched the mother whale and her calf for a while before heading off along the scenic route north.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge5P6SnJAV-yXXIJzXPZ_Zws7ei7qRcicu8dQqls_qIk3l_H57rT1LnsMU89GJ-gYibfE1oXRLvzzWusPZYAg0QyItVFnpoXnsmJd-P8qzF5_7pdLfBzhVO6eUGLyq3Tu2KZTBWy-mlB8H/s1600-h/victor4_whale.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383106241283956018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 190px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge5P6SnJAV-yXXIJzXPZ_Zws7ei7qRcicu8dQqls_qIk3l_H57rT1LnsMU89GJ-gYibfE1oXRLvzzWusPZYAg0QyItVFnpoXnsmJd-P8qzF5_7pdLfBzhVO6eUGLyq3Tu2KZTBWy-mlB8H/s320/victor4_whale.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5mzHzOgd2RSIiU6mk6dbuRnJ4XVyToBYBIjtDJzzWX0TYb3wwFyH5ObtgyCeftAG8FC9xSi8BLmU4VwXvvCoO1zg-pisuj3GYS3g8AKFFzg78GvT6Ebf1NXid_OV8W6fGqdBy1Dr8yLgh/s1600-h/victor4_spinning.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383106253513563506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5mzHzOgd2RSIiU6mk6dbuRnJ4XVyToBYBIjtDJzzWX0TYb3wwFyH5ObtgyCeftAG8FC9xSi8BLmU4VwXvvCoO1zg-pisuj3GYS3g8AKFFzg78GvT6Ebf1NXid_OV8W6fGqdBy1Dr8yLgh/s320/victor4_spinning.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Mum and Dad had seen some seals at Second Valley yesterday and we had heard from other travellers we were chatting to a few days back that the whole area around Second Valley was lovely so that's where we figured we'd head to for morning tea.<br /><br />The truck had other ideas. About 20km past Victor Harbor there was a big whooosing noise and then a pfuuf pfuuf pfuuf hissing noise that sounded like it was not good news. We pulled over and Tim had a look at the engine bits and the hose from the intercooler into the turbo had come off (please ignore any technical jargon! i might be giving things the wrong names so if you actually care about the mechanical side of things please talk to someone other than me!!!!). Much cursing and headshaking and Tim stuck a couple of cable ties around to keep it on and we crossed our fingers for a town or service station.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnlfAc6KtlZnbj9Oc9S4EBlg8HEpwiOMERj06BxEUY43eVryboz4CBEPknzMFwnokX3wlK19lPLCjmVb89PaO3YXqs4dpe41xd5jduFbkn-ru_zQxicDks-0ihPFYxAPkmE_vLY0aNwzs/s1600-h/fleurieu_pinecone.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383117511552723490" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 134px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnlfAc6KtlZnbj9Oc9S4EBlg8HEpwiOMERj06BxEUY43eVryboz4CBEPknzMFwnokX3wlK19lPLCjmVb89PaO3YXqs4dpe41xd5jduFbkn-ru_zQxicDks-0ihPFYxAPkmE_vLY0aNwzs/s200/fleurieu_pinecone.jpg" border="0" /></a>We got a few km along through more winding hills and she went again. So we pulled over the only place we could which was right on the bend of the road amongst the rolling hills and green green farmland. We called the AAT guys (NRMA sort of people) and then we sat and had apple pie and a cup of tea while the boys played in the grass. It was actually a lovely spot on the side of the road as far as side of the road spots go, and the kids fed millipedes, poked at snails, and chased ladybugs for the best part of an hour before they decided they wanted a blankie to go nigh-nights in the grass :) <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHklGqaRpRu7YQiFwjBMCew_XV6h1XgsKV4cU97kl3c2lRhC_ODEDz_JbU2RWispIONF9AacqX8MdlIk-ls82YUcMcJhrH5DVWHB6biinUNVB_KesCDVSIKBSlSrfmXT0ihmXzhPUL95xB/s1600-h/fleurieu_snail.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383107607455542418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHklGqaRpRu7YQiFwjBMCew_XV6h1XgsKV4cU97kl3c2lRhC_ODEDz_JbU2RWispIONF9AacqX8MdlIk-ls82YUcMcJhrH5DVWHB6biinUNVB_KesCDVSIKBSlSrfmXT0ihmXzhPUL95xB/s320/fleurieu_snail.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQZIwOjGzuTBynCBmXvQ4U9K6vLY-fM0ck0WaJDLdT2ajoHrHhMpMScSQ4zZK21tL_rj0ix13HESuXci9OWM6yXWU_8espo2R9arJd4D__Ie4uEMQXBoSXb8koTIGEUjRuR67wigRPA5oz/s1600-h/fleurieu_clover.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383107596665834370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQZIwOjGzuTBynCBmXvQ4U9K6vLY-fM0ck0WaJDLdT2ajoHrHhMpMScSQ4zZK21tL_rj0ix13HESuXci9OWM6yXWU_8espo2R9arJd4D__Ie4uEMQXBoSXb8koTIGEUjRuR67wigRPA5oz/s320/fleurieu_clover.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3rJIfXknbbYgl-2T1l_amSz3NuoYoL2mh6rRfTGdwIVSeZWYXuBrk1NUXhgivPs-Mi6qdHseWil477MtjnESNt9R7AD-50XmGHrrwWWCeCWTGRbhTmc0laFWjfa-9pVgvHFnE54lVV_p/s1600-h/fleurieu_clover1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383107588135270146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3rJIfXknbbYgl-2T1l_amSz3NuoYoL2mh6rRfTGdwIVSeZWYXuBrk1NUXhgivPs-Mi6qdHseWil477MtjnESNt9R7AD-50XmGHrrwWWCeCWTGRbhTmc0laFWjfa-9pVgvHFnE54lVV_p/s320/fleurieu_clover1.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSzRpbRVupkh1-MWVMEp0Pi0LzVMvUx2ZQpNf9DmQjTXtuG8QhcFl1KNGseG6jZsC3-ehpGgI4eK8mP8FfBppt_ABYC0DxoW4OX2d4KOnMgfYyhJmvBZOI__BbJHUfaA4VEEA4m27gGtYB/s1600-h/fleurieu_resting.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383107603828847874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSzRpbRVupkh1-MWVMEp0Pi0LzVMvUx2ZQpNf9DmQjTXtuG8QhcFl1KNGseG6jZsC3-ehpGgI4eK8mP8FfBppt_ABYC0DxoW4OX2d4KOnMgfYyhJmvBZOI__BbJHUfaA4VEEA4m27gGtYB/s320/fleurieu_resting.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp9ae-AkdBzXqOyWNHLLMsLZXuPQcijb33WWxIqqUYXjNebTZXihfh7PXz1NVaDq0JXPLHuGdYKXGQaDCmb9tIzwNr2YGox9BaPhhf6JvnT3c6ErqMOj5nN5F5zFJis_jdeW1Azz1_eDJN/s1600-h/fleurieu_fix.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383117522160278386" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 148px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp9ae-AkdBzXqOyWNHLLMsLZXuPQcijb33WWxIqqUYXjNebTZXihfh7PXz1NVaDq0JXPLHuGdYKXGQaDCmb9tIzwNr2YGox9BaPhhf6JvnT3c6ErqMOj5nN5F5zFJis_jdeW1Azz1_eDJN/s200/fleurieu_fix.jpg" border="0" /></a>The car-guy turned up and didn't actually do a whole lot. Tim had told them on the phone what we needed (a clamp thing) and he turned up without one, poked around in the engine for a bit, said he could not guarantee that his jury-rig would work but there was a spare parts shop and a servo about 20 or 30km away. Thanks....<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBngrRjzoTVXuSLvQg4BH9qXcra4ozFaELpbmIeCSCO-9CieXB5kkvLfLper-A4GZS1nzgSSEuvy-vETpvbodKS1dVZZRCHyfZftsZvVxDD5K5AraG-qDrbZkNHTyJHei_ImpZKoNaSGo/s1600-h/fleurieu_coast.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383121697760759890" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 134px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBngrRjzoTVXuSLvQg4BH9qXcra4ozFaELpbmIeCSCO-9CieXB5kkvLfLper-A4GZS1nzgSSEuvy-vETpvbodKS1dVZZRCHyfZftsZvVxDD5K5AraG-qDrbZkNHTyJHei_ImpZKoNaSGo/s200/fleurieu_coast.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />So off we went with fingers still crossed. Got about 5km this time before it blew again. hhhmmmm.... made it to Yankalilla, had lunch while Tim bought some hose clamps and fixed the connection. Decided to bypass Second Valley and just head to Adelaide cos it was getting late and had taken us four hours to do 40km, even though the scenery was incredibly beautiful.<br /><br />But the saga does not end there. I have no idea how much further we got... maybe another 10km but the hose blow off again but in a different spot so there was obviously a pressure problem somewhere and it was more than just a loose hose clamp. This time we were on the main road so nowhere safe for the kids to play while we waited for someone to sort shit out. Two unhappy kids, a heap of phone calls, and waiting around and in the end Mum and Dad drove down to meet us from Adelaide. They towed the van for us and Tim just had to drive the truck to a repair shop cos it was impossible to arrange a tow. Got there right on close time (Friday Beer O'Clock) but they had a look, patched things up for now and we can take it in on Monday.<br /><br />We were glad the day was over when we arrived at the van park. Really nice park. Great amenities. Ordered pizza cos we could not be half-arsed to cook. Jordy and Darcy made friends with some other boys that were about 8 and 10 and they threw glow-sticks, kicked a ball, and ran around in the dark playing hide and seek until late. No idea where their parents were. The eldest boy said they were "just cruisin" which i guess means hanging out. But they came into the van to watch tv for a bit and i was hoping their parents had some idea where they were! ???Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-48514077053882083672009-09-17T22:22:00.001+10:002009-09-18T22:25:49.810+10:00Day 202- Victor HarborAnother rainy, cold, and windy day. <br /><br />We decided to hide inside for most of the day, which was actually quite relaxing. Rode our bikes down town and the boys had a big play at a great playground for an hour but that was about the highlight of the day.<br /><br />Not a single photo to be had!Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-64259714842332744852009-09-16T21:55:00.001+10:002009-09-18T22:22:44.174+10:00Day 201- Victor Harbor<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh35atBNm2NcMPcAmRbJORlNk4tCkWT6lbCPLbMsi5gVlwFdzStfQIsJDb3bo42quHHiR8Py7YAdFyl_0QzbLoL9tPPizI1vB_DPcvK48bfdbljumo9B5gQBIah0T0eUvRxv9hb8W_ILe1/s1600-h/victor3_hopscotch.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh35atBNm2NcMPcAmRbJORlNk4tCkWT6lbCPLbMsi5gVlwFdzStfQIsJDb3bo42quHHiR8Py7YAdFyl_0QzbLoL9tPPizI1vB_DPcvK48bfdbljumo9B5gQBIah0T0eUvRxv9hb8W_ILe1/s320/victor3_hopscotch.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382779161450270674" /></a>Cold and blustery rainy day today. Rugged up in some warm clothes and headed off into town. First stop to buy more cold and flu medicine! LOL! Then we had lunch at a cafe in town. Had a quick look through the Whale Centre where the kids had a ball in the "bone house" and doing some fishy jigsaw puzzles and looking at sea creatures through the microscope. Then it was time to go see the penguins.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0FiF8hmvdOQOM4sr432QVFIw9u9sFeLEEpnHZu3IG12Ec9ODNLH15ss8KWILWs8DAQBGZa7kKE0HAism-vpfMN0UD0DJ2lg9dTZobqJsA1d3b_wBWuwnTcDdmHDXFVEca7uHJkviO9W9/s1600-h/victor3_horse1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0FiF8hmvdOQOM4sr432QVFIw9u9sFeLEEpnHZu3IG12Ec9ODNLH15ss8KWILWs8DAQBGZa7kKE0HAism-vpfMN0UD0DJ2lg9dTZobqJsA1d3b_wBWuwnTcDdmHDXFVEca7uHJkviO9W9/s320/victor3_horse1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382779174538056722" /></a>We took the horse drawn tram across the causeway for the 1.3km trip to Granite Island. There are eight horses in total that work a three hour shift for four days of the week. In their time off they gallop around 100acres of farmland just in from the coast or enjoy a morning swim in the ocean. Must be nice for them! :) <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXpKxD19JmlgO6Jqm_DZtKPa-nqfrVgdNrCWoZriV3KSTgGn-njDNgX1RRxn-yQaibbMPLIUpDoXo2vbnbNMYVy72A5ES5vvJO8CbVg5ObcTjP6gzynnYyLMn0rqt3b7A1XzfzUAC5DLim/s1600-h/victor3_horse2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXpKxD19JmlgO6Jqm_DZtKPa-nqfrVgdNrCWoZriV3KSTgGn-njDNgX1RRxn-yQaibbMPLIUpDoXo2vbnbNMYVy72A5ES5vvJO8CbVg5ObcTjP6gzynnYyLMn0rqt3b7A1XzfzUAC5DLim/s320/victor3_horse2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382779166916898642" /></a><br />The Penguin Centre on the island is like a little rehabilitation and research centre. The volunteer staff were super nice and really generous with their time and stories and we watched them being fed and heard all about how each of the penguins came to be at the centre. Then we saw some "baby" penguins. They were 9 weeks old and were almost as big as a full-grown penguin they just still had a heap of that fluffy fur around their necks instead of proper penguin-skin. Aparently they are born the same size as a chicken chick but between 3weeks and 9weeks they just shoot up in size until they are ready to fend for themselves at 10weeks, so these fellas were about ready to be kicked out of home. They were wild pengiuns and not part of the centre but their mum and dad chose to nest in one of the nesting boxes attached to the centre so we got to peek at them! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRBjj-BnT9ZrlOHUwj8A2J_xoxAsaYo1MWmDEu2tjTt3vs5wJv0FWCaEQ9UYxjlHvuNLqScKybyoCcy3LOtbhh6qs3EoZAMsOh7LowyB-n8ahZAwDLuxC-rrKkkvR6g-xFU2VlpOY5EhmD/s1600-h/victor3_penguin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRBjj-BnT9ZrlOHUwj8A2J_xoxAsaYo1MWmDEu2tjTt3vs5wJv0FWCaEQ9UYxjlHvuNLqScKybyoCcy3LOtbhh6qs3EoZAMsOh7LowyB-n8ahZAwDLuxC-rrKkkvR6g-xFU2VlpOY5EhmD/s320/victor3_penguin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382779183046896578" /></a><br />Had a bit of a fight to get the boys out of the penguin centre. Jordy wanted to read the books and Darcy wanted to draw. Fair enough too, i guess, but we wanted to have a quick look around and there was only one more horse tram back to the mainland that evening and we did not want to miss it! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilZ3SKHQYIqbZAHkVifBTE9ePYeIRagX3GJWisZZuZtTjlHh0nuDaqkK5drBXiJQVtCtQUGrKKPSDjqgGTBSQDubgUJ91QRvc9mfUXBM4kwMGvvxW3qRZKhGJmBGVnsL9E7W6el_A2APq_/s1600-h/victor3_drawD.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilZ3SKHQYIqbZAHkVifBTE9ePYeIRagX3GJWisZZuZtTjlHh0nuDaqkK5drBXiJQVtCtQUGrKKPSDjqgGTBSQDubgUJ91QRvc9mfUXBM4kwMGvvxW3qRZKhGJmBGVnsL9E7W6el_A2APq_/s320/victor3_drawD.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382781405900513778" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0FN937_ldy4N4sxK50-xZGQXl0xNkoyaXoHTzB6s3iV7Z-nnlm3h46_cqDur03pCdpJLGQ_vHbqC5OwBTPesjxZiHpM2fUjsPATh3MlsNUlrqa5d0yqvtBf2ZNf8dOJi3dRP71wz8MQw/s1600-h/victor3_tramJ.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0FN937_ldy4N4sxK50-xZGQXl0xNkoyaXoHTzB6s3iV7Z-nnlm3h46_cqDur03pCdpJLGQ_vHbqC5OwBTPesjxZiHpM2fUjsPATh3MlsNUlrqa5d0yqvtBf2ZNf8dOJi3dRP71wz8MQw/s320/victor3_tramJ.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382779191596403026" /></a><br />Darcy adopted a randon grandmother on the tram on the way back and held her hand and sat next to her and pointed at all the birds and rocks.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-50285305288487438352009-09-15T10:14:00.003+10:002009-09-16T10:28:39.652+10:00Day 200- Victor HarborVictor Harbor is lovely. The scenery is beautiful, the town is lovely, the people are super friendly. If we were still looking for a place to settle i reckon it would be hard to look too far past here.... except for the cold!! Holy shit! Have i mentioned how cold it is?!?!?!<br /><br />Went into town to try and get Jordy a haircut. He is once again being mistaken for a girl! LOL! And his hair is a shambles. I actually hacked three big handfuls off the other day- he fought and screamed the whole time so it was seriously a grab and cut effort but it got out the worst of the dreads that were forming and the locks that he kept compaining about being in his eyes.... we've been trying to talk up the whole haircut experience for him cos he used to love them. But not anymore. And we could not get him into the salon chair today so have had to abandon the idea once again. <br /><br />And Darcy has a serious mullet! But i want to keep a lock from his first haircut the same as i did for Jordy so will wait til i get to town for that. <br /><br />There is lots to see and do in the area and because we are here for a big relax and have lots of time we just scoped the place out today. Drove to Basham's Beach were the whales are. They are soooooo close! Was amazing. I only had my little point-and-shoot camera so could not get any decent photos but we intend to go back again so i will get some later. They rolled in the water and jumped and rode the waves. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrR-ARtDZOsjYrmsoqIUixXyI8LsiU82kDA-Z-b8GXibiK5ugxj5GOTwh1dZKJqx2Zsz_boIDoTebV8OmH5Niu_vbyGOEKBpOKxz3hodQy-0kOcJWsrsXghEU7GNu6pYmnxP3ACSwMDSm/s1600-h/victor_bashams.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrR-ARtDZOsjYrmsoqIUixXyI8LsiU82kDA-Z-b8GXibiK5ugxj5GOTwh1dZKJqx2Zsz_boIDoTebV8OmH5Niu_vbyGOEKBpOKxz3hodQy-0kOcJWsrsXghEU7GNu6pYmnxP3ACSwMDSm/s320/victor_bashams.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381854885466126386" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvzTkPCEN7rAGzkYdJz7ND5ApXYEsYwD-KTAz0E6Vw2WgUnYvD3AR57XyxdyIGFoPA7o-m_SuoG3rrOz0DWrHxEHybOoR6RaceS6rZ6ziYgQKaR1NbqIf24ES0K2BGGqvrRsFsD-WWquOE/s1600-h/victor_whale1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvzTkPCEN7rAGzkYdJz7ND5ApXYEsYwD-KTAz0E6Vw2WgUnYvD3AR57XyxdyIGFoPA7o-m_SuoG3rrOz0DWrHxEHybOoR6RaceS6rZ6ziYgQKaR1NbqIf24ES0K2BGGqvrRsFsD-WWquOE/s320/victor_whale1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381854900800546546" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00R1qbKbW2pgc_z0J35wtHw3jvwrNlUNkB-g7jZmWiz5vb34CXzRnDQUgmVatM-DgSCOJfuKKBZs66seevbwXvRXPor1qqAXZB-lQKS4VJMMe4ulxI_CwOcnAAHZudzov1ECVG0DHoUDC/s1600-h/victor_whale4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00R1qbKbW2pgc_z0J35wtHw3jvwrNlUNkB-g7jZmWiz5vb34CXzRnDQUgmVatM-DgSCOJfuKKBZs66seevbwXvRXPor1qqAXZB-lQKS4VJMMe4ulxI_CwOcnAAHZudzov1ECVG0DHoUDC/s320/victor_whale4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381854927415982098" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMlbw3AG4H0lL2z96eMCk6kJj9gDbBhUdX9FZvdXK8sdHLvcsWp9LuZDw70BSzeimLrylSZL1AbrejT-VIcYNl9nKWWREjrCfU8H1tImSVCWPcTiRp8JnRIXouM3Tp9IIkMUxq_8pXKl8D/s1600-h/victor_whale3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMlbw3AG4H0lL2z96eMCk6kJj9gDbBhUdX9FZvdXK8sdHLvcsWp9LuZDw70BSzeimLrylSZL1AbrejT-VIcYNl9nKWWREjrCfU8H1tImSVCWPcTiRp8JnRIXouM3Tp9IIkMUxq_8pXKl8D/s320/victor_whale3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381854917147678818" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5gyNXozMKsah4lOXG8t4-q8IumfGmmfZlJVpzRm9NuAW3U82D37qCvXm8ikD35W2FvIehHEHFgrrIyYH6N9gs8Aew9UHzWLzacMyNTvEvu6k61bk1Umj66qqHLkWPD8godukry4GhgZgI/s1600-h/victor_whale2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5gyNXozMKsah4lOXG8t4-q8IumfGmmfZlJVpzRm9NuAW3U82D37qCvXm8ikD35W2FvIehHEHFgrrIyYH6N9gs8Aew9UHzWLzacMyNTvEvu6k61bk1Umj66qqHLkWPD8godukry4GhgZgI/s320/victor_whale2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381854909167273090" /></a><br />The kids are loving the grass. You don't realise how nice grass is until you live without it for so long. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyD6AGOsRPiO4KwMZi-6AATIDHp7g4A_9jbNzg6pr68rmzsmgActkyKOmAHf0jtg67AinjqRpz4cl4EL71yxDy2ZFZF6uIYrc7UP7vKHoHRHWReAbXY3CO9IbEvfDHsKEkdMRj0eKfL1RB/s1600-h/victor2_grass.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyD6AGOsRPiO4KwMZi-6AATIDHp7g4A_9jbNzg6pr68rmzsmgActkyKOmAHf0jtg67AinjqRpz4cl4EL71yxDy2ZFZF6uIYrc7UP7vKHoHRHWReAbXY3CO9IbEvfDHsKEkdMRj0eKfL1RB/s320/victor2_grass.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381855437527550626" /></a>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-12947913063716138382009-09-14T10:00:00.000+10:002009-09-16T10:14:24.928+10:00Day 199- Kapunda to Victor Harbor<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMKGw8-PbtXwCKKD-7f35n1-_aKK7rrTC0vnQ32aFeuGq4-PkGouhKLGE0HZh1yYKtK_DfucXZD1rV91QQgzZXs3kHmKUfJZg0yRhcEi728_AEx9ruR1CNMcwv9RKub7SQVGNv2UdWZqn/s1600-h/kapunda_fire.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMKGw8-PbtXwCKKD-7f35n1-_aKK7rrTC0vnQ32aFeuGq4-PkGouhKLGE0HZh1yYKtK_DfucXZD1rV91QQgzZXs3kHmKUfJZg0yRhcEi728_AEx9ruR1CNMcwv9RKub7SQVGNv2UdWZqn/s320/kapunda_fire.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381851782866599362" /></a><br />Today felt lazy too. Just drove a few miles from Kapunda to Angaston for a look around. Soooo many little wineries out here and so many familiar names- Penfold and Seppelts and a dozen other favourites. I think it would be a wonderful place to come back to and stay in a B&B and hire a car and just cruise the wineries and cafes for a week (note to self- win lotto soon.)<br /><br />Instead of wineries we called into a yummo cafe (Blond Coffee) for a super good brunch, a wander through the town, a mini cheese tasting, a browse through an old book shop, a play in the playground, and then a mouthwatering look through the Angas Park fruit company shop. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSoOls9dHL0HkvJN414N8O3KypP7c4QKrrvzzqM19P0ldASZuXs8SZMMNdG0BzTR-1T69njx8Dhmh4ZdAe3I7IP_lvWrrkO1SaugWtcDkwBxxKBcp7OjUHTTRg_uHiL2BGeZ9rvlOMK_i/s1600-h/angas_Dhorse.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSoOls9dHL0HkvJN414N8O3KypP7c4QKrrvzzqM19P0ldASZuXs8SZMMNdG0BzTR-1T69njx8Dhmh4ZdAe3I7IP_lvWrrkO1SaugWtcDkwBxxKBcp7OjUHTTRg_uHiL2BGeZ9rvlOMK_i/s320/angas_Dhorse.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381851794085450290" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSzLiteBVZhpa5Go5OAP011YORtO3rnngLF0crhjQvO_81mP58yIDjry_LmJ-AnLZhtvPP9pu-DgalTkdJVQR-HNROCjIFGDF3Bc5tPRT8x7n03jnvBG0eFVxGh_6t1Xay5hAPPc3m7rO/s1600-h/angas_Jhorse.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSzLiteBVZhpa5Go5OAP011YORtO3rnngLF0crhjQvO_81mP58yIDjry_LmJ-AnLZhtvPP9pu-DgalTkdJVQR-HNROCjIFGDF3Bc5tPRT8x7n03jnvBG0eFVxGh_6t1Xay5hAPPc3m7rO/s320/angas_Jhorse.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381851790098222578" /></a><br />Between us all we bought some yummo looking dried fruit, choc covered cashews, choc nut clusters, tropical sugared fruit bits, yoghurt covered sultanas... yummmmmm!!<br /><br />Then we cruised through the Barossa and meandered our way down to the Fleurieu Peninsula past fat dairy cows, woolly sheep, and adorable alpacas. Windy here too! And the wind seriously is coming straight off Antarctica! To go all of a sudden from mid-thirties during the day and mid-twenties at night to the cold cold cold of down south is really hard to take.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-25105134122067329432009-09-13T10:28:00.000+10:002009-09-16T10:34:00.581+10:00the price of fuelDiesel prices have dropped 25c a litre in the space of a day! We were paying around 1.47 to 1.55 a litre and now every station has a constant 1.23. Nice!<br /><br />Over the course of our travels the most we ever paid was 1.75 at Kulgera which was right on the NT-SA border.<br /><br />Tim wants to know what the price is at home... Dave???Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-37619016554856058412009-09-13T09:22:00.002+10:002009-09-16T10:00:12.168+10:00Day 198- Port Germein to KapundaHad a stroll along the jetty at Port Germein this morning. The longest wooden jetty in Australia! It was really long. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDGB42-vs3rOz-w5cgw5-3NhK68JChgADdjR0YBX2Anm_VnJ2wMzWnHON_o8tiByVeStorrTU_Mussw1BVdoK3F0y5xwxBVR2UZAe9jig2iwTH-X-65g9E9GeSznP0n62z-Vt9rpInzYGh/s1600-h/germein_jetty.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDGB42-vs3rOz-w5cgw5-3NhK68JChgADdjR0YBX2Anm_VnJ2wMzWnHON_o8tiByVeStorrTU_Mussw1BVdoK3F0y5xwxBVR2UZAe9jig2iwTH-X-65g9E9GeSznP0n62z-Vt9rpInzYGh/s320/germein_jetty.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381847117663487810" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi05lIa1e4ugmU5_7KHR9ITjRq3x_xXqVDRDaaTzte68QMDJQ1EBoz60xFnX4V1pq4W6h-Z10YJ2P5w0aZzkQ3Jc_Q7N_wc-qNriY1-ZVsgVfrwtkVaAtWTO3ppzknFBmcAUQirlvhCh86s/s1600-h/germein_playground.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi05lIa1e4ugmU5_7KHR9ITjRq3x_xXqVDRDaaTzte68QMDJQ1EBoz60xFnX4V1pq4W6h-Z10YJ2P5w0aZzkQ3Jc_Q7N_wc-qNriY1-ZVsgVfrwtkVaAtWTO3ppzknFBmcAUQirlvhCh86s/s320/germein_playground.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381848235847753090" /></a><br /><br />Then time for a lovely leisurely drive through the Clare Valley. The landscape finally changed from dry saltbush to green valleys!! yay!!! We all loved the experience of the territory and the desert has an appeal in its own way, but to be back to green hills and valleys is such a relief!<br /><br />I know Mum took some photos as we were driving through vine covered hills and fields of bright yellow canola (or something pretty!) but the only shot i got was this dodgy-arse one that does nothing for the beauty of the area. Sorry! I wondered a few times if the farmers would mind if i sent the kids into the flower covered hills to run and frolic so i could take a photo... but i decided they might have issues so we just kept driving.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8tbHbBHq2wBa72Hk86rKMf_fukXvF5HLuh_BJV1IQZ8nGJUfFUOuLXVsGosSaya3H08FPoWW6dUmlP76lcLSIISqjXtyBRi0YhyJdus3tztvLMUAe8NmtF7cEjfINBejMYtiUCSSBFq3/s1600-h/clarevalley.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8tbHbBHq2wBa72Hk86rKMf_fukXvF5HLuh_BJV1IQZ8nGJUfFUOuLXVsGosSaya3H08FPoWW6dUmlP76lcLSIISqjXtyBRi0YhyJdus3tztvLMUAe8NmtF7cEjfINBejMYtiUCSSBFq3/s320/clarevalley.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381847123790493810" /></a><br />The towns are gorgeous. Old stone buildings and tree lined streets. Everything seems built with stone here. Almost every field has an old crumbling barn or cottage from generations ago sitting on a hill. Lovely to look at. <br /><br />We debated doing some wine tasting but to be honest we don't need more wine!! And i still have a cold and am totally not in the mood to taste wine so we did not bother. <br /><br />Arrived nice and early at Kapunda which is on the edge of the boundary between the Clare and the Barossa Valleys. They had a medieval festival and a bit of a market on in town so made a quick camp and then wandered off for a look. It's really cold and windy and just bloody chilling here! If you can manage to get out of the wind it's ok, but jeepers! the wind just aches to the bone. This poor medieval guy had a hell of a time keeping his flag pole under control and i was worried he'd blow away! There was apparently an archery display on later in the afternoon but we did not stay for it. I can't imagine how anyone could shoot any kind of target with the wind howling the way it is. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJpaV5MiVFx5_-0Hpo06a7Q_UuguE2BSoyZZxOaoVXBUNPjB1fIbwzWsCXXkpBLLx1bpV6GpNR_5JHZooKY3hY6NMwf2Ehvb36YSGzpAETfj8AtwxO80Q3Mtak2EQa_ilT_4uQ4TNC-u4/s1600-h/kapunda_parade.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJpaV5MiVFx5_-0Hpo06a7Q_UuguE2BSoyZZxOaoVXBUNPjB1fIbwzWsCXXkpBLLx1bpV6GpNR_5JHZooKY3hY6NMwf2Ehvb36YSGzpAETfj8AtwxO80Q3Mtak2EQa_ilT_4uQ4TNC-u4/s320/kapunda_parade.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381847614082614098" /></a><br />There was a rather excellant playground on the walk home and the kids stopped for a big play before we came back to the van and did blog updates and hid from the wind. Tim finally managed to catch a footy game that evening!Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-26064372586349560802009-09-12T21:18:00.002+10:002009-09-14T22:03:01.285+10:00Day 197- Lake Hart to Port Germein<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9Rq6qONLiqfibrWcxJf66iZ6FzVwJPEtC9Xzrfa3OqufMUeirGCUFMXLGapymtlov2qCsDS81yP8eCMwBV2eTIKEyDyHXFmX1i5TUA3owlaATGK54QN1ZZH5jxrnF8wB3fQpFiWLi6h_/s1600-h/woomera_Jrocket.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9Rq6qONLiqfibrWcxJf66iZ6FzVwJPEtC9Xzrfa3OqufMUeirGCUFMXLGapymtlov2qCsDS81yP8eCMwBV2eTIKEyDyHXFmX1i5TUA3owlaATGK54QN1ZZH5jxrnF8wB3fQpFiWLi6h_/s320/woomera_Jrocket.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381289055323962258" /></a>Called in to Woomera this morning to see the rocket and aeroplane display. The boys thought they were all pretty exciting. We spent a good hour wandering around all the displays. It probably would have been quicker if we were not fighting to stand upright against the wind that was blowing. No idea why anyone would built a rocket launching base some place where the wind would blow any rocket 5mile sideways before it managed to get anywhere near outer space... anyway.... <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh147VILrFEZPI0vDqqHLtHvFrxwy2Nk_YFE32IaJXtiC8wWNMMGtZ9KK0JxQfmNskDkw7nVQcmpKyO9WN9xYKeDIwxbD3uEZsAnA7vW3gu7nZcJLycYDmo0VXvG09Scj2wLHhH6H_6xyXn/s1600-h/woomera_rocket.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh147VILrFEZPI0vDqqHLtHvFrxwy2Nk_YFE32IaJXtiC8wWNMMGtZ9KK0JxQfmNskDkw7nVQcmpKyO9WN9xYKeDIwxbD3uEZsAnA7vW3gu7nZcJLycYDmo0VXvG09Scj2wLHhH6H_6xyXn/s320/woomera_rocket.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381288905583573138" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1iozUuIJ59rQz3xTWn3t0bZ9XeBI6vZQs83BnKc3npN1s7tsYxNRHct9Hj2FnpxWDnd3PX_Xa3ZWeoMhSWoVphBZQ1jbxfjE2GNOdX9moUrdRU8GbIa-NLe0YZWIB9lCQosptyMZlKAmN/s1600-h/woomera_Dplane.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1iozUuIJ59rQz3xTWn3t0bZ9XeBI6vZQs83BnKc3npN1s7tsYxNRHct9Hj2FnpxWDnd3PX_Xa3ZWeoMhSWoVphBZQ1jbxfjE2GNOdX9moUrdRU8GbIa-NLe0YZWIB9lCQosptyMZlKAmN/s320/woomera_Dplane.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381288894400077698" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgem1TOSFbSqbmvNRLplsAnt7OdHqsayoXDPM_JMZpQ4tTVriUQmsc7PyRkPmTlyFrk7ffh98A4DF5Ctfr3HfDAMDiYRpVWHF9xTKa47FkQfZ5d4Uz7iXdCfbQ603ygiPzTghlygazVgjLc/s1600-h/woomera_boysplane.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgem1TOSFbSqbmvNRLplsAnt7OdHqsayoXDPM_JMZpQ4tTVriUQmsc7PyRkPmTlyFrk7ffh98A4DF5Ctfr3HfDAMDiYRpVWHF9xTKa47FkQfZ5d4Uz7iXdCfbQ603ygiPzTghlygazVgjLc/s320/woomera_boysplane.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381288889455502290" /></a><br />Oh, we called into the tourist information centre and they had a ten pin bowling alley in there. My god! Did Jordy put up a fight. The bowling alley is just like the game on Lala's phone and he wanted in there for a game and was not taking no for an answer. Have to plan a day bowling when we get back to Port!<br /><br />We had thought we'd stop at Port Augusta but we made good time and, to be honest, there was nothing really in Port Augusta. Amazing how dry it is. It's on the coast but it is totally desert sand dry. We drove over a little bridge and the river was amazingly salty with a huge froth all over the road that looked just like snow. <br /><br />Down the coast a little further and we picked Port Germein. Quite a cute little village with Australia's longest wooden jetty. The van park was right across the road from the water. It was still crazy-windy but i imagine when it wasn't windy it would be quite lovely.<br /><br />Made camp and then went to the local pub for lunch. Ordered a schooner and got a middy. Apparently in SA pints are schooners, schooners are middies... no idea what you get if you ordered a middy, a little seven perhaps?Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-84943196200384977152009-09-12T20:47:00.002+10:002009-09-14T22:08:51.729+10:00Day 196- Marla to Lake HartAnother massive day today, about 570km or something. HUGE! The road is as boring as bat$hit. Seriously. We thought the road from the QLD border to Tennant Creek was boring. We were wrong. That was a barrel of laughs compared to this. Miles and miles and miles and miles of nothing but red dirt and saltbush scrub.<br /><br />So it was with a great deal of excitment that we greeted the big piles of coloured dirt outside of Coober Pedy from the opal mines. For 30 odd km out of town there are all these huge piles of dirt from all the holes they have dug looking for opals (and finding them from all reports! Lots of opal out there!).<br /><br />We called in for lunch and to have a look around. WINDY! My gosh. The kids were a little freaked by it and Darcy kept whimpering and burying his head into me to avoid the dust that was whipping around in the air. I can't imagine living there. The sky was all grey and the sun obscured from the amount of dust in the air. There are even mines being dug right in the middle of town- this is the street just straight off the main road. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNTWEY3mBIdSqG71qLhqXNCr3kEDgziEO15x6-ABCfAxFibdY5ETcbdOdY8ArgjDsYb491lp5vE7e2IRgNLVCwfZE82yCIGCPyyPGtuGHEJfWEauGzXU-kZ55Q4cejOHzVof6G6hJ7JLM/s1600-h/coober_street.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNTWEY3mBIdSqG71qLhqXNCr3kEDgziEO15x6-ABCfAxFibdY5ETcbdOdY8ArgjDsYb491lp5vE7e2IRgNLVCwfZE82yCIGCPyyPGtuGHEJfWEauGzXU-kZ55Q4cejOHzVof6G6hJ7JLM/s320/coober_street.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381280750947624994" /></a><br />And imagine playing footy on this field- <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOug4zb8ujNS1AcZK1mkMhAS9yUa-MDvL1ga9lweoOIXRsS3yyKIzEz54NUrRLfRd4qdnJNSEnsodu4zIIlqFGCMxHPKwuL4NyVGo2xxa3ZDWy8wbJk4B0Uns_Ta0glhCAd4UoMzp2x5zS/s1600-h/coober_footy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOug4zb8ujNS1AcZK1mkMhAS9yUa-MDvL1ga9lweoOIXRsS3yyKIzEz54NUrRLfRd4qdnJNSEnsodu4zIIlqFGCMxHPKwuL4NyVGo2xxa3ZDWy8wbJk4B0Uns_Ta0glhCAd4UoMzp2x5zS/s320/coober_footy.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381279799229903538" /></a><br />Had a great lunch at an underground cafe and then had a look around the displays on the history of the town and how they mine the opal. Went to an underground church which was pretty cool (literally- it was heaps cooler in there than it was outside). <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIFq1ggCaCyjplDMNCiBZqNMacsejxXIN8iJ1pwLeW7V6ef1OFPwp2oOvmtwAZKxEKoqa5jNmuQkd7PWrbEQrZa-oF7PxQheR_ZlbHJ8U1nIvazk0qUqyw47pMLgtZbvA5lsYfh3Y8xCSN/s1600-h/coober_church.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIFq1ggCaCyjplDMNCiBZqNMacsejxXIN8iJ1pwLeW7V6ef1OFPwp2oOvmtwAZKxEKoqa5jNmuQkd7PWrbEQrZa-oF7PxQheR_ZlbHJ8U1nIvazk0qUqyw47pMLgtZbvA5lsYfh3Y8xCSN/s320/coober_church.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381279792664157682" /></a><br />Then it was back in the truck to see how far we could push through. We were planning to just grab a camp by the side of the road and there were a few listed in the Camps4 that we were aiming for and as Jordy kept sleeping we kept driving. He had a massive sleep! YAY! And we ended up a good 100km past where we thought we'd get to.<br /><br />We assumed Lake Hart was an actual lake and it looked quite nice from the lookout that was our stop for the night. Turns out it is a big salt pan. No water at all! Just shimmering white salt. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiBshqAiBUSl-SQFxpVxDBtZXlntNZy1gXrxgiR3Dq1_w-G5QXufA1oPlelN_WMAELRbkgViXdCGH30XuEsQFfOL2oUkqbE6sFQWj4DnUnmZoNvPJLayjOgCa0qFDp_vh5oyI4TZtMRsJ/s1600-h/lake-hart.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 182px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiBshqAiBUSl-SQFxpVxDBtZXlntNZy1gXrxgiR3Dq1_w-G5QXufA1oPlelN_WMAELRbkgViXdCGH30XuEsQFfOL2oUkqbE6sFQWj4DnUnmZoNvPJLayjOgCa0qFDp_vh5oyI4TZtMRsJ/s320/lake-hart.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381279814134823682" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fOyl2T6mw2R-4Vrwkplg3xWiPHw8_BvbYQKtux8a6sR1E9d5Hh1LzJGJE-hoH97SgdcDiQ4j8lkMHXyxx-9zffqTSJXNJ1t0f_YX1ye1jCaFsoILKfCqLdMCL2EF5ywYcfcUxZBrr-6P/s1600-h/lake-hart-salt.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fOyl2T6mw2R-4Vrwkplg3xWiPHw8_BvbYQKtux8a6sR1E9d5Hh1LzJGJE-hoH97SgdcDiQ4j8lkMHXyxx-9zffqTSJXNJ1t0f_YX1ye1jCaFsoILKfCqLdMCL2EF5ywYcfcUxZBrr-6P/s320/lake-hart-salt.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381293134763030498" /></a>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-49931683406922148532009-09-10T18:05:00.000+10:002009-09-12T18:14:50.071+10:00Day 195- Uluru to MarlaBIG drive. Did about 525km which is just totally freakin amazing for the kids. Jordy still sick so he is not travelling well but we really just wanted to push through as far as we could. Stopped at a roadhouse van park for the night. Nothing at all interesting today except we left the NT and are now in SA.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDm83X0D4_SysJtWlKEvj0UIz7nD-lGQpkA-KUOUtBjsZwx7QkMRg19aA1IQd8TtSq6uYd-T_Zx7TIbODa42vh3iHkHTYH4BgCysWA3tiTJixtie7Fu3TRWDT-mJBHFhO6_fzfwnOKEoyC/s1600-h/SA.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDm83X0D4_SysJtWlKEvj0UIz7nD-lGQpkA-KUOUtBjsZwx7QkMRg19aA1IQd8TtSq6uYd-T_Zx7TIbODa42vh3iHkHTYH4BgCysWA3tiTJixtie7Fu3TRWDT-mJBHFhO6_fzfwnOKEoyC/s320/SA.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380491015110382786" /></a><br />Strangely enough the north of South Australia looks remarkably like the south of north Australia! LOL! Dry desert country with nothing at all for miles and miles. The road out here is soooooo incredibly boring.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-8936483299888146332009-09-09T21:26:00.002+10:002009-09-12T18:05:51.728+10:00Day 194- Uluru (and Kata Tjuta)\Lots to do out here! We wanted to see Kata Tjutu (The Olgas) and had heard that the full Valley of the Winds walk was pretty impressive so off earlyish before the worst of the heat kicked in.<br /><br />We knew it would be a big walk with the kids and were not sure how far we would get but there were a few options so we just stuck them on our backs and headed off. We had done a few walks carrying the boys but this would be the biggest and the most difficult- lots of loose rock and a few steep climbs. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30LRRnaJTaefp7lc5sY6-djglJ60TmrnJkmsWX3xEI_uXg8XWB0h_jYAq8m7o_UMyF3TjQNyPg3chdPE1qXY8_UFmxFNNkuj5vFQ8MKwCmbMjDwIqmvfqd42q0KW6cZqq-Qawxiswu1Jf/s1600-h/uluru_kataoffwego.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30LRRnaJTaefp7lc5sY6-djglJ60TmrnJkmsWX3xEI_uXg8XWB0h_jYAq8m7o_UMyF3TjQNyPg3chdPE1qXY8_UFmxFNNkuj5vFQ8MKwCmbMjDwIqmvfqd42q0KW6cZqq-Qawxiswu1Jf/s320/uluru_kataoffwego.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380488596746568722" /></a><br />The walk to the first 'lookout' area was not all that special. Bit of a view but not at all earth-shattering. So we slogged on to the next point. It was not too hard really, just tiring! The rock here looks totally different to the surface of the rock at Uluru even though i think it is all part of the same subsurface rock (i might be wrong!) The second lookout gave a great view over the rock formations but was not as impressive as the base walk at Uluru and, according to Tim and Dad, nothing at all compared to the climb (and in my opinion the Rim Walk at Kings Canyon is heaps more interesting too!). <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUpEYBuMGpIjiuMRGbwth6l_G81_LYbBs8VnQBmN7UHTMPvlY0fpgiXm3rO7pRJw3HTf8Q1bKPHKXAgS-KaS67LjwNOKcj3CAQxJPon2Zh99SYBz2YhT6vpUpiuZiXumw9TJvTULajzgA/s1600-h/uluru2_katavalley.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUpEYBuMGpIjiuMRGbwth6l_G81_LYbBs8VnQBmN7UHTMPvlY0fpgiXm3rO7pRJw3HTf8Q1bKPHKXAgS-KaS67LjwNOKcj3CAQxJPon2Zh99SYBz2YhT6vpUpiuZiXumw9TJvTULajzgA/s320/uluru2_katavalley.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380489003936527506" /></a>We stopped for lunch at the second lookout and from there we decided that Dad and Tim would take the boys back the way we came and Mum and i would continue on the rest of the circuit. The rest of it was a lot more impressive and really gave a better feel of the rocks and their valleys but it would have been a hard climb down with the kids and a very hot walk for them so i am glad i did not have to carry Darcy for it!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgHq2-DX2N_0l8pKU32yMa1GpOYp72JJttjM2RLx1NZmy0V8-0t-DDtkd13etIn8C00Toros6ohVKdYYryFYpn3x6eEvInHrOv5FyfUZYhrqyGMpHSiBQOCw-Mu0OLxCwlSYTMshRl_GHQ/s1600-h/uluru_katalunch.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgHq2-DX2N_0l8pKU32yMa1GpOYp72JJttjM2RLx1NZmy0V8-0t-DDtkd13etIn8C00Toros6ohVKdYYryFYpn3x6eEvInHrOv5FyfUZYhrqyGMpHSiBQOCw-Mu0OLxCwlSYTMshRl_GHQ/s320/uluru_katalunch.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380488607378190338" /></a><br /><br />Back to the car around 12:30 so we had time to call into the Cultural Centre on the way back. You should probably do the centre as the intro to the park but the timing did not work for us so it was good to have a look around and see the storyboards. <br /><br />Dad was booked on a helicopter flight with Jordy so they left to head back to the resort and Tim and i and Darcy went for a drive around the base of Uluru seeing as we ran out of time and energy to cycle around it. I did another walk on the 'back' side of the rock and saw the rock art and the waterhole (two different aspects from what we saw yesterday).<br /><br />Then back to camp while we waited for Dad and Jordy to get back. When we saw him we asked "Where have you been!?" and he was all excited to tell us he was in a helicopter. We asked what he saw and he said "Nothing, we just went up and flew around and around in circles and landed in the same place." LOL! Apparently "we couldn't see any animals there." not sure why he was looking for animals, and the pilot did not have a proper steering wheel like in an aeroplane, he just had a stick! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3uExZXRkJ1-ggYQiwogiQTovitiGEnFJXlP4YtjgMz0p1nff-u2ZssGzYPs4lnkjgXMHAM04Qkz2swehd3RC0sIDfwDaHUCsPsZ9gnjFCfVKWy9fTT4qJoShLC-gwqLwkStCHC0yv1xE/s1600-h/uluru2_heli.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3uExZXRkJ1-ggYQiwogiQTovitiGEnFJXlP4YtjgMz0p1nff-u2ZssGzYPs4lnkjgXMHAM04Qkz2swehd3RC0sIDfwDaHUCsPsZ9gnjFCfVKWy9fTT4qJoShLC-gwqLwkStCHC0yv1xE/s320/uluru2_heli.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380488610512238770" /></a><br /><br />Dad said he was really funny on the flight. Dad would try to show him the view out the window and Jordy was more interested in listening to the pilots chat in his earmuffs. But he loved it so that's all that matters.<br /><br />Felt like a really big day and we were all buggered. The kids freaked out about having to have a shower and it was another super cold night (5'C!!). Jordy and i are coming down with a cold!<br /><br />Uluru was a great experience. There is so much to see around the area that i really think you need two complete full days at least (more would be better). We had a day and a half so we crammed in what we could and i think we did really well. I would have liked more time to leisurely stroll around the full base walk or at least cycle it. And i think the canyon floor walk might have been nice at Kata Tjuta. And there are LOTS of guided tours of Uluru that i think would have offered a nice perspective on the cultural and history of the rock and its people.... one day. Next time i think i'll fly there! It's a friggin long way to drive.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-70626274751280547762009-09-08T21:48:00.004+10:002009-09-12T17:26:12.935+10:00Day 193- Watarrka (Kings Canyon) to UluruUp super early this morning for me. I wanted to do the Rim Walk but we also had a long drive ahead of us to get to Uluru. The walk was listed as taking 3hours so it was going to be a sunrise walk! I was speaking to the people camped next to us and they said they did the walk from 8 til 11 and there were still some parts of the canyon wall that were dark so they wondered if it would be any good for sunrise... but the Kings Tour bus did a tour from 5:30 so i thought there had to be something to see.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGw7JdhNhsIWmBDmVzPMizdT1-kkg0LLR0bx5hAMCKnD5vIMnqmQlMVoZPw4C_h9muL4Qn951lI6yAYp_ye5JN0aNgXtTvBGPIkssddpVE77EBgU5GcAi1nuMjIIMd9142eQZCCjhdRL5e/s1600-h/kings2_sunrise2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 222px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGw7JdhNhsIWmBDmVzPMizdT1-kkg0LLR0bx5hAMCKnD5vIMnqmQlMVoZPw4C_h9muL4Qn951lI6yAYp_ye5JN0aNgXtTvBGPIkssddpVE77EBgU5GcAi1nuMjIIMd9142eQZCCjhdRL5e/s320/kings2_sunrise2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379417867967456402" /></a>It was COLD and dark when i left at just after 6am, and i actually dawdled a bit getting out there cos i thought i would be far too early. But Kings had it right! It was absolutely glorious first thing. The climb up the hill to start was a hard slog but the rest of the walk (7.5km in total) was a nice climb with only some steep parts. And as the sun rose you could watch as the light slowly lit up the side of the canyon wall. I took a gazillion photos but they really don't do it justice. The colour was incredible and the shape of the rocks was totally unique. There were areas of sandstone domes that had weathered away to form lots of ball shapes all in a grid together, and ripple marks all over the floor at the top where it used to be a massive inland sea, and sections that looked like a huge ampitheatre with steps all in a semi-circle that looked just like seating. And then down in a gully there was a waterhole all surrounded by ancient cycad palms. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKY8GYEWdgWO2inizd4t-hhNiBeFX2AvCjckgKCJncQty3WzCl3YTUnNraszydyxanvV0NauXkud8im8qnRIohPxZRWbPEgAP1JJz8WOf5pt5DtCuJ6j39sAWsC0eDEDH7PAqZsP7TP8R/s1600-h/kings2_sunrise1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKY8GYEWdgWO2inizd4t-hhNiBeFX2AvCjckgKCJncQty3WzCl3YTUnNraszydyxanvV0NauXkud8im8qnRIohPxZRWbPEgAP1JJz8WOf5pt5DtCuJ6j39sAWsC0eDEDH7PAqZsP7TP8R/s320/kings2_sunrise1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379417102299770754" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Pi6Q3XzKC5jPQqeE_kGFF4cxlT9_rXGG25yxDijvDeSvYsWGRg-J6mvadlo0uMD5O1iuMGEHq3EQMHL-YeqBEzw4rRW0o8fW4368Zj-ycoMPT-L_NMpsfsVaNcEelxUbe-wG7shacMKV/s1600-h/kings2_sunrise3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Pi6Q3XzKC5jPQqeE_kGFF4cxlT9_rXGG25yxDijvDeSvYsWGRg-J6mvadlo0uMD5O1iuMGEHq3EQMHL-YeqBEzw4rRW0o8fW4368Zj-ycoMPT-L_NMpsfsVaNcEelxUbe-wG7shacMKV/s320/kings2_sunrise3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379417111219622434" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh70CCWd1UU3rwm1k733zPsL-arJBmbEkBNBABjK-lIoaelzkmNeqUzaP-cslAdEi6he2hN5jstBkhmprAx7ExNR2DlnegjuysNr6R-XtvehQrcFFu8BHZLivaMZidhW0tNU9iW1ulLpJNT/s1600-h/kings2_sunrise4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh70CCWd1UU3rwm1k733zPsL-arJBmbEkBNBABjK-lIoaelzkmNeqUzaP-cslAdEi6he2hN5jstBkhmprAx7ExNR2DlnegjuysNr6R-XtvehQrcFFu8BHZLivaMZidhW0tNU9iW1ulLpJNT/s320/kings2_sunrise4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379417116648261970" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNX2Xh9_WNiwbC3WSH5xD02qKyh8zFjvoqU6vKImZhIGMkaU0Dq-XK8xpXJKszJsniztAaeNARQyCjla_KYvjLnw-RP7vzJ1C_E2IzVCeAy7Y_kf_nrQVM9SRV20ohIvvAh_iz2rFi6EwR/s1600-h/kings2_sunrisebridge.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 219px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNX2Xh9_WNiwbC3WSH5xD02qKyh8zFjvoqU6vKImZhIGMkaU0Dq-XK8xpXJKszJsniztAaeNARQyCjla_KYvjLnw-RP7vzJ1C_E2IzVCeAy7Y_kf_nrQVM9SRV20ohIvvAh_iz2rFi6EwR/s320/kings2_sunrisebridge.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379417122568848930" /></a><br />I was really disappointed that Tim and Mum and Dad missed it because i think that without doing the Rim Walk there is not all that much to Kings Canyon. The Riverbed walk is not really worth the massive drive out there to get to it but seeing the canyon from the top, and seeing it at sunrise, was absolutely magic.<br /><br />I made good time (and certainly did not feel like i was rushing) and i finished the walk in 2+half hours so i was back at camp nice and early to get things packed up and get us on the way.<br /><br />We called into Kings Creek Station on the way out cos Tim was keen to try a camel burger after a bloke we met on the road raved about them.... but they were sold out!! Bastards! So we looked at the camels (which Darcy kept insisting were 'dogs') and wandered for a bit and then back in the car for the rest of the three+half hour drive to Uluru. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg00yK8EtyPOufnHFug9es3i8WYnoJrcJBfkR6Bw2uVlgrDlpnoofRXPkP2XzfLtVYiPzOboMF3GnVplO6cHrbBAoU1wcGcQ_ApDvT7N3kpXrn1zknFHRys9fXwSAetyK2TeZI2QzwSRWWI/s1600-h/kings2_camel.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg00yK8EtyPOufnHFug9es3i8WYnoJrcJBfkR6Bw2uVlgrDlpnoofRXPkP2XzfLtVYiPzOboMF3GnVplO6cHrbBAoU1wcGcQ_ApDvT7N3kpXrn1zknFHRys9fXwSAetyK2TeZI2QzwSRWWI/s320/kings2_camel.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380470160684169698" /></a><br />Kids travelled like champions and we arrived about 1:30. Set up our camp and off to The Rock. We could see it for quite some distance out so we were keen to get a good look to see if it was "just a rock" or if it did look like something special. We were not disappointed. It really is incredble to see. The surface looks like all one big smooth piece of rock, but not SMOOTH smooth! It's all patina'ed but it's all one piece of sandstone and it looks almost like a shell. Then there are lots of pock marks and holes and caved in bits and actual caves and overhangs and gullies. So not the least bit disappointing to see! <br /><br />I had decided not to climb it (all the tourist info asks that we not climb it to respect the wishes of the Traditional Owners because it is a sacred place) but Tim, Dad, and Mum all wanted to cos it really is a once in a lifetime sort of thing. So we loaded the kids in the bike caboose so i could ride around the base while they climbed. Tim is in the yellow shirt, Dad is in the white shirt standing sideways having a chat (when is he not having a chat!?!?). <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JzTqsiENt13M6poxu_7mioKES0zLl35mozaP6jlzMk7DsTbKgLdN-yyp5vVU6ZnB4dYKNuvxboEY5ZT94Vytm2795rVqlHYvjl1uCOfxwWi-h-zG5l7uuDkeLJUClPEMYTQIQq_oY0Tp/s1600-h/Uluru_climb-up.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JzTqsiENt13M6poxu_7mioKES0zLl35mozaP6jlzMk7DsTbKgLdN-yyp5vVU6ZnB4dYKNuvxboEY5ZT94Vytm2795rVqlHYvjl1uCOfxwWi-h-zG5l7uuDkeLJUClPEMYTQIQq_oY0Tp/s320/Uluru_climb-up.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380470165540120434" /></a><br />But it was fun to watch the head up the rail so we waited for a bit. And then two minutes into the climb Mum stopped! She'd had enough! It felt like it was straight up and she was not sure she would make it, and coming down looked scary so she did not even make it to the chain railing. <br /><br />So, instead, Mum and i and the boys watched Tim and Dad disappear over the top of the rock and then we went for a bit of a walk around part of the base. Lots to see and walking around even a small section made you realise how huge Uluru is. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6yQchLfk0uiP-gN5NdJWl0BJowyw0V_0ZkI478vND5k7Lx13xdjfOtMyVcVVw7ethAkja7thXp3ouYyzFGKjhiezFiRRgaN_QSdjR_9KrPxr-Lxay8JxIZ6ljd2GFz-2IjOXZdndWfH6z/s1600-h/uluru_basewalk2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6yQchLfk0uiP-gN5NdJWl0BJowyw0V_0ZkI478vND5k7Lx13xdjfOtMyVcVVw7ethAkja7thXp3ouYyzFGKjhiezFiRRgaN_QSdjR_9KrPxr-Lxay8JxIZ6ljd2GFz-2IjOXZdndWfH6z/s320/uluru_basewalk2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380472290275496098" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrUgOd9jtPhqmanXGZu76vvt3mj_1n5CTk0PVl6VUwLkCEqOSst10D7L6gfpiLVdrdcEjTpnoFgTxykJJzhC7g6z_I0j0VeIMS6xJ68VZK9RJKkyADA_urX_MnGgvE9VJYWPz0PvMfK5e/s1600-h/uluru_basewalk.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrUgOd9jtPhqmanXGZu76vvt3mj_1n5CTk0PVl6VUwLkCEqOSst10D7L6gfpiLVdrdcEjTpnoFgTxykJJzhC7g6z_I0j0VeIMS6xJ68VZK9RJKkyADA_urX_MnGgvE9VJYWPz0PvMfK5e/s320/uluru_basewalk.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380472283171369314" /></a> We did not go all the way around as we wanted to be back to watch them climb down again. While we waited Darcy decided to have a play in the dirt (as Darcy does!) <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHq78FXrg6dqO-Uv6j1A9WVkCQunLzQ2ko7ZtBTNF80BPvB7cqlkG5R0-cSxiHsGWqEkTATaoWjqfaUdn1uy31YPr4Sllrl_DnTsyGe8XJ-G88QHm8nCgzDlgBXZQ8-29ahGtnUdutsXN/s1600-h/uluru_Ddirt1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHq78FXrg6dqO-Uv6j1A9WVkCQunLzQ2ko7ZtBTNF80BPvB7cqlkG5R0-cSxiHsGWqEkTATaoWjqfaUdn1uy31YPr4Sllrl_DnTsyGe8XJ-G88QHm8nCgzDlgBXZQ8-29ahGtnUdutsXN/s320/uluru_Ddirt1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380473691594862754" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-Cy0rz5XXjSdQqcIat6kKPNbW2MvGALxOs-LF0th6wRcSqWUqwG_VzLFgH2YWRmm1yeR6gr_BU2gi_9fNSzAJVVmJ4AsXG6gNxpttamidQGEv91W1znxrN39bH5sWj-yxFHqVL2Q8frM/s1600-h/uluru_Ddirt2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-Cy0rz5XXjSdQqcIat6kKPNbW2MvGALxOs-LF0th6wRcSqWUqwG_VzLFgH2YWRmm1yeR6gr_BU2gi_9fNSzAJVVmJ4AsXG6gNxpttamidQGEv91W1znxrN39bH5sWj-yxFHqVL2Q8frM/s320/uluru_Ddirt2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380473680545456370" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqrohijh4OflFjirgVKOlD_gJJ3f9uk7wtNjXgj_ZPDZ0951ifKhFT8qpu01KQY7f7edh1ZwNfsxiWXviVGHLSVr9fV-dkFrZ7D9s_5jKy-eskNCu3XG5n_DWElDT5DIC4EIU7dq_wZKq/s1600-h/uluru_Ddirt3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqrohijh4OflFjirgVKOlD_gJJ3f9uk7wtNjXgj_ZPDZ0951ifKhFT8qpu01KQY7f7edh1ZwNfsxiWXviVGHLSVr9fV-dkFrZ7D9s_5jKy-eskNCu3XG5n_DWElDT5DIC4EIU7dq_wZKq/s320/uluru_Ddirt3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380473677687718642" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhatMRkzp4Xmgt4q_CYZBl2ze0-h-H2hhgNnCx5ZpvfAVfY2k2RBTxDHAtPHUF7X0BNKd0-pKZhGV7gtMqOaikGJ87SF5CDSGXSGOBO0HbRRiT6qpWzcIgRGlEdwiXqksOekNGQfUpySCqL/s1600-h/uluru_waiting.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhatMRkzp4Xmgt4q_CYZBl2ze0-h-H2hhgNnCx5ZpvfAVfY2k2RBTxDHAtPHUF7X0BNKd0-pKZhGV7gtMqOaikGJ87SF5CDSGXSGOBO0HbRRiT6qpWzcIgRGlEdwiXqksOekNGQfUpySCqL/s320/uluru_waiting.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380472301912499602" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8NvmGnd6dy9FlUd8whi0OOIV26h0LKy_rz6Yol25yzoPtmFjzej2w2-6kF71W3yIn7tnZkXGJS4YGPSKgpuLaqDXiKKqR3tKhFtApi6YP8_VNp0C9ovxVzDyWyOYJAJzGjT34H5xS0Wo/s1600-h/uluru_jordyclimb.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8NvmGnd6dy9FlUd8whi0OOIV26h0LKy_rz6Yol25yzoPtmFjzej2w2-6kF71W3yIn7tnZkXGJS4YGPSKgpuLaqDXiKKqR3tKhFtApi6YP8_VNp0C9ovxVzDyWyOYJAJzGjT34H5xS0Wo/s320/uluru_jordyclimb.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380472295612356786" /></a> Took them just shy of 2hours and it was apparently terrific. This is our first peak of them coming back over the crest. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqfUO3t0apnUcB_mt0F9ayI35KkFdudR4bq-ytIhUtS2sEgpV_4EGMM63mzUQ_joF9FzQcYF6Uqstka9ZMRYt8lbqMpWdZbXSUbhfDciCCkn3T0vLw5nd7bLnIntJMQ0FBeA9-B0jkSnLB/s1600-h/uluru_top.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 175px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqfUO3t0apnUcB_mt0F9ayI35KkFdudR4bq-ytIhUtS2sEgpV_4EGMM63mzUQ_joF9FzQcYF6Uqstka9ZMRYt8lbqMpWdZbXSUbhfDciCCkn3T0vLw5nd7bLnIntJMQ0FBeA9-B0jkSnLB/s320/uluru_top.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380472307234486562" /></a> <br />Tim said it was a totally alien experience. The top of the rock was all undulatating and pocked and was like a martian-red landscape with the occasional scragely tree growing out of a crevice. The view was awesome. He could see Mt Connor which is something like 100km away. Uluru felt HUGE but everything else around him seemed to stretch on forever. <br /><br />He can't describe why it felt so amazing but even apart from the fact that it was a tough climb and so really rewarding to get to the top, it was also amazing because Uluru is such an icon of Australia and seems almost like a rite of passage. <br /><br />I can totally see the dilemna with people that want to climb Uluru (cos i actually really did want to climb too!) because i know that we really respect the site and respect that it holds such power for the Anangu people and we don't want to compromise that or disrespect their wishes or seem to take for granted the fact that we are allowed access.... but by the same token it is part of our land and our country too. And we heard the stories of their ancestors and hear their law and we know there is soooo much more to Uluru than the climb and did not come JUST to climb but i think that choosing whether or not to climb is such a personal thing. I am glad that i saw the base and saw the sacred women's site along the walk and saw the rock art and the waterhole etc i am also glad that Tim and Dad got to see the top. ???<br /><br />They were both pretty buggered after their efforts but it was really close to sunset. So we headed back to the viewing area and joined the hundreds of others lined along the fence to watch the rock change colour as the sunlight faded. Another great experience! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5PQIrg9764OwVdAa-YWDksWou7AATcXkuhVW9NURt04LxS1MJqs8esG9hAEjBX1Op4t-K35nPCFs-fqXkbgq1Q5h6YCnmvDpFaaUQ0q20NSfAYQa2Y1cg4jnpEfzDvJ4w9-W31Z7X-r5/s1600-h/uluru_sunset.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5PQIrg9764OwVdAa-YWDksWou7AATcXkuhVW9NURt04LxS1MJqs8esG9hAEjBX1Op4t-K35nPCFs-fqXkbgq1Q5h6YCnmvDpFaaUQ0q20NSfAYQa2Y1cg4jnpEfzDvJ4w9-W31Z7X-r5/s320/uluru_sunset.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380475930558115074" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3GtCwSy45K1_Lk0Gdq_hee89rKJ9EDzsMIWk4UlLMt3HTShLi0Jza1FuXhWPd_rvtS_2yoIqa4s_tsNlPPLAcbgc8nH-hoSTrDOUHn2IM4MUppAqI-8MuGgZRGobph2Lcsd2E80VUizn/s1600-h/uluru_sunset3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 197px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3GtCwSy45K1_Lk0Gdq_hee89rKJ9EDzsMIWk4UlLMt3HTShLi0Jza1FuXhWPd_rvtS_2yoIqa4s_tsNlPPLAcbgc8nH-hoSTrDOUHn2IM4MUppAqI-8MuGgZRGobph2Lcsd2E80VUizn/s320/uluru_sunset3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380475923776621458" /></a><br />Not surprisingly the kids both fell asleep on the way back to the campground so we had a bit of a messy bedtime trying to sponge them down (they were FILTHY!) and get them back to sleep before a lazy dinner and we both crashed ourselves. <br /><br />Plans for a sunrise viewing were cancelled due to lack of energy!Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-60732838705572339912009-09-07T22:05:00.002+10:002009-09-12T16:49:19.181+10:00Day 192- Finke River to Watarrka (Kings Canyon)We had a few miles to cover today. I think we did about 350km in four and a half hours. We were initially going to stay at Kings Creek Station which is 40km from the actual canyon. We had heard that it had a nice atmosphere and was cheaper than the resort and that is also did a mean camel burger! But as we were approaching the turn Tim commented that it was still a distance to the actual canyon and if I intended to do a sunrise walk in the morning it would add a lot of km and time to the morning… so a last minute decision had us continuing past and heading to Kings Canyon Resort. Glad we did cos it turns out the two places are both the exact same price and the resort, while not all that resort-like, has lots of grass and nice amenities and a good playground for the kids.<br /><br />Made camp, went for a play in the playground, checked out the local store and servo (diesel $1.62 @ L which is actually 3c <strong>less</strong> than we paid at Erldunda) before heading off to the canyon for a look. <br /><br />The rock is a vibrant red colour and is quite impressive to see, but the riverbed walk was not as great as Tim had hoped. I did not mind so much as I know I will get a different view of it in the morning when I do the Rim Walk but from below you don’t get to see all that much. You can see the amazing straight cuts of the rock but you don’t walk through the canyon so much. Well, I guess you do cos you follow the river, but you don’t feel like you are surrounded by rock. (You can see in between the two rocks the little bridge that is part of the Rim Walk). <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAh4YgUu3la3V7IMWoO7Jphwjzp3vh4xfzUHcVzxSq9KcYSg0aV2JatCmxR-KxmulnmOIWQXgiWGxlK4PJgA0g0e7Vi3LOAItcnTLREyGl0j-73BOl7fJer5W54M_N_j6TWXoH7dK-c00/s1600-h/kings_bridge.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAh4YgUu3la3V7IMWoO7Jphwjzp3vh4xfzUHcVzxSq9KcYSg0aV2JatCmxR-KxmulnmOIWQXgiWGxlK4PJgA0g0e7Vi3LOAItcnTLREyGl0j-73BOl7fJer5W54M_N_j6TWXoH7dK-c00/s320/kings_bridge.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379370902384619026" /></a><br />We had left Mum and Dad on Saturday in Alice Springs and we knew we would catch up tomorrow at Uluru but we ran in to them today on the walk. Jordy spotted their car in the car park initially and then half way along the path he tracked them down. They had to come back and do the walk again as Darcy would not come back to be carried by me when Grandpa (his favourite) was around to carry him instead.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZKzglejtbXsRtiD8Nq7h2q9aJMSozv2qYBfzCiybY2zQb_GfSuDwKTIiwZXR6mJbIWfzH3nHQLimKwIw3J4QpqpjjXGhguy6jlmSILwZJLC2PzuKtN8mN1ZAt5BYfNpxLfqGKM8K38Lg/s1600-h/kings_walk.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZKzglejtbXsRtiD8Nq7h2q9aJMSozv2qYBfzCiybY2zQb_GfSuDwKTIiwZXR6mJbIWfzH3nHQLimKwIw3J4QpqpjjXGhguy6jlmSILwZJLC2PzuKtN8mN1ZAt5BYfNpxLfqGKM8K38Lg/s320/kings_walk.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379370898069505330" /></a><br />This is the walk straight up the hill that starts the Canyon Rim walk for me for in the morning...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyxbERmopX6Frp7JUSsdGjRG31fHGdmw483ATVHD0DXQ3uyAh_kYWnwRqebVyRboo0LaOWX0oiSKuJyQp-5jGOHiubbE3RsxM2m9R_lT4SWjXuza4-xJ5mGVaGzEmezSNr9uYiq0kLfEV/s1600-h/kings_climb.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyxbERmopX6Frp7JUSsdGjRG31fHGdmw483ATVHD0DXQ3uyAh_kYWnwRqebVyRboo0LaOWX0oiSKuJyQp-5jGOHiubbE3RsxM2m9R_lT4SWjXuza4-xJ5mGVaGzEmezSNr9uYiq0kLfEV/s320/kings_climb.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379370912127915122" /></a><br />An easy dinner and an early night. Bit cold here!! So all the blankets are out. And we were told not to leave shoes outside cos the dingos take them. The bloke across the street must have thought the people were joking when they told him not to leave his shoes outside and he had a pair of Nikes taken- apparently he was not happy!Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-52545132113932995672009-09-06T21:33:00.005+10:002009-09-09T07:58:32.640+10:00Day 191- Glen Helen to Finke River<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjruhIBER4UM3kXoicS7ol7C55Pa9mbKSqpCFCFmc3-tEyTir_ZueNAjpE_55SX19P8FZiTrAk_Tx20qfRLJpz8xgTV0XK0ECSlAf9axsHY4PR6YIHF-oOO4YYwDOP7fZWCsfLrAtJItbIW/s1600-h/wmr2_glenhelensunrise.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjruhIBER4UM3kXoicS7ol7C55Pa9mbKSqpCFCFmc3-tEyTir_ZueNAjpE_55SX19P8FZiTrAk_Tx20qfRLJpz8xgTV0XK0ECSlAf9axsHY4PR6YIHF-oOO4YYwDOP7fZWCsfLrAtJItbIW/s320/wmr2_glenhelensunrise.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379064851624291730" /></a><br />Left Glen Helen Resort and headed back through the West McDonald Ranges with our first stop Ormiston Gorge. We’d seen a few waterholes yesterday and the kids were fresh and full of beans so we headed up the hill and did the Ghost Gum walk to the lookout over the gorge and waterhole instead. Really nice little climb that gave a great perspective of the range and that the kids enjoyed. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvVXMRX9tuB4RVhjHuTQ6iaR1EifdpXNR01bTw89lQLpeVk8wJOwli_3TkhZ-g3U3BKketFF0RhzO3fZXZdiKFHizJ3bx396EKlAJElYQ7KD9xBlchtjU2smv7L6wj-R7S2PktiTOPSsV4/s1600-h/wmr2_ormiston.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvVXMRX9tuB4RVhjHuTQ6iaR1EifdpXNR01bTw89lQLpeVk8wJOwli_3TkhZ-g3U3BKketFF0RhzO3fZXZdiKFHizJ3bx396EKlAJElYQ7KD9xBlchtjU2smv7L6wj-R7S2PktiTOPSsV4/s320/wmr2_ormiston.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379064815872933570" /></a> <br />We took some snacks and sat up on the lookout for a quick morning tea before climbing back down and then heading back towards Alice. The rivers and floods are different here to up north. The water table here is really close to the surface and the rivers flow strongly underground. So the rivers flow after rain because the water is close to the surface more so than because the river itself fills up. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyVNmTxLbX_7o_sA0oCEb0EecTL6-XgUzVHafvScBWG0hkOsgI7bDSxVwWBYIyQOjWhHMBmHMX4rtpZWK7p-Ise5VHA_RSiVAVg21QsuDX5rUiLL6-D6PG-iinenBl3vMp_UPw2c5zrUvX/s1600-h/wmr2_ormiston_stairs.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyVNmTxLbX_7o_sA0oCEb0EecTL6-XgUzVHafvScBWG0hkOsgI7bDSxVwWBYIyQOjWhHMBmHMX4rtpZWK7p-Ise5VHA_RSiVAVg21QsuDX5rUiLL6-D6PG-iinenBl3vMp_UPw2c5zrUvX/s320/wmr2_ormiston_stairs.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379064855858053538" /></a><br />Our last stop was at the Ochre Pits . Apparently there are lots of areas throughout the ranges where ochre was traditionally gathered, and the ochre here is not considered high quality, but it was really interesting to see how it is in vertical layers all just standing up along the riverbed. And the yellows are so bright! The kids were both asleep though and so did not get to see it. I think they both would have liked rubbing their fingers in the dusty ochre. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQX-XX94DPOYDDYshpNtUPZulSwcQWB8Kf-33s0J11VGcnkkbx7uTFCJTGZ3pyhwOCV10BoqbdCTASTTcGOwpHO5Ft88CD55WodPg52x1wpnc9Hx_YHr62bjzU8eWsIGpb7h-9v8RqLPCl/s1600-h/wmr2_ochre.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQX-XX94DPOYDDYshpNtUPZulSwcQWB8Kf-33s0J11VGcnkkbx7uTFCJTGZ3pyhwOCV10BoqbdCTASTTcGOwpHO5Ft88CD55WodPg52x1wpnc9Hx_YHr62bjzU8eWsIGpb7h-9v8RqLPCl/s320/wmr2_ochre.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379218727690934322" /></a><br />Then back to Alice for a quick lunch. Jordy had seen the playground at Macadonalds (which is how he says it) so we had to stop there so he could have a play. Which, of course, meant he was too busy to eat anything!<br /><br />Then in the car again for our trip south. We has no chance of making it the whole way to Kings Canyon so we chose a nice sounding free camp on the Finke River (riverbed!). A nice easy set up and plenty of time to wander around the dry riverbed and check the place out. Jordy ran around the little sand dunes and then posed for a photo that he told me was for Nanny and Poppa. :) <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuQxDF34Y0zzQY6ZL8ZuJc8y8gKh_aLChI1Ys-mZEccbUGHQUb1kZGYHKIv-siTqbmxtFpzdlyJliQdLB579URSXvPrLp-tuFEZj2nIuy_oHCW3V_LK4ReVkSYtCsZbWyi9dZWL6gU6ap/s1600-h/finke_riverbed.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuQxDF34Y0zzQY6ZL8ZuJc8y8gKh_aLChI1Ys-mZEccbUGHQUb1kZGYHKIv-siTqbmxtFpzdlyJliQdLB579URSXvPrLp-tuFEZj2nIuy_oHCW3V_LK4ReVkSYtCsZbWyi9dZWL6gU6ap/s320/finke_riverbed.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379218742569953122" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINqS3p3z-OltT5DExlpDbSRND_CF5aNiBx0UEUgjbsVJoi8JR14H_7xdBXqKQh9H4s-5p4-m1L5tPxpExNgHQLu5SS2Kbf6AKciyYTV1I93T_3FJ52hfG4Tv5Qf9ScoAOYuTPRePa_QCZ/s1600-h/finke_Jdune.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINqS3p3z-OltT5DExlpDbSRND_CF5aNiBx0UEUgjbsVJoi8JR14H_7xdBXqKQh9H4s-5p4-m1L5tPxpExNgHQLu5SS2Kbf6AKciyYTV1I93T_3FJ52hfG4Tv5Qf9ScoAOYuTPRePa_QCZ/s320/finke_Jdune.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379218741596025314" /></a><br />We were the first campers there and it looked like it might be a lonely camp but then one, and another, and another campervan arrived until the area was nice and full with about eight or so of us there for the night.<br /><br />We had a great fire and chattered to a few other travellers and enjoyed the peace and quiet and an early evening.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5E-aMuAPjDWHYZL2iJKahN4R7m0LQXFZVKDG-XCM3EiSSWnbi4skwa-T0KtA4MxeIz3A8nFr7ePxLHF80uqeLd5CtKsQbPW3v-wh_niasZXSwdOlWMxP79do4J_MKbzyBtMYfiuVVQNx/s1600-h/finke_fire.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5E-aMuAPjDWHYZL2iJKahN4R7m0LQXFZVKDG-XCM3EiSSWnbi4skwa-T0KtA4MxeIz3A8nFr7ePxLHF80uqeLd5CtKsQbPW3v-wh_niasZXSwdOlWMxP79do4J_MKbzyBtMYfiuVVQNx/s320/finke_fire.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379218729943113890" /></a>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-65616640554169515762009-09-05T21:28:00.001+10:002009-09-08T21:55:35.337+10:00Day 190- Alice Springs to Glen Helen Gorge (West McDonald Ranges)We did not leave Alice Springs until just after 11am this morning after doing some grocery shopping so we were lots later on the road than we had planned for our trip out through the West McDonald Ranges. We had planned to camp at Glen Helen and then from there head around the Mereenie Loop to Kings Canyon. I had read lots of conflicting info about the road conditions from rough 4x4 only to unsealed but suitable for conventional cars so we had hoped we could get through that way. But, no. Tim and I were already on our way when Dad phoned the campground and asked.<br /><br />It may have been easier to leave the van behind and do the West McDonalds in a day trip but with the kids it would have been a BIG late day so we decided to camp at Glen Helen anyway and then head back through town on our way south.<br /><br />First stop was Simpsons Gap. Beautiful scenery and a nice easy walk along the dry riverbed down to the gap in the range to the waterhole. No idea how often, if ever, the river flows or how often the waterhole dries up. Lovely breeze here too which was something we all missed out at Litchfield! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPTshtzV-tt5yaqiinSF2ayd0dEpP9TpmF1QrCGiLH5azp-ZSW15xIyyuKRIMOcn69zv01gdWRDNHfccA28FsBGSrM3-3EwzgNED1pOGyJDlXNcWkAMRLg3h7IQUir776dvoxBFH4R88t/s1600-h/wmr_simpson_riverbed.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPTshtzV-tt5yaqiinSF2ayd0dEpP9TpmF1QrCGiLH5azp-ZSW15xIyyuKRIMOcn69zv01gdWRDNHfccA28FsBGSrM3-3EwzgNED1pOGyJDlXNcWkAMRLg3h7IQUir776dvoxBFH4R88t/s320/wmr_simpson_riverbed.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379062080777286290" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo0-Td3fecnEF_BJQbkmQ5PDLVQ5KvYhYyIj4RYSJTpP3sdsrI0XG3xtPbQxc8_B78MTYX7l3i_8_49kQLJjfSilxRJYaKh4tM7j3gW04LzYAQVFX7yrTLKKWi8W0HTzvsjTCKAaZbkBzn/s1600-h/wmr_simpson_gap.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo0-Td3fecnEF_BJQbkmQ5PDLVQ5KvYhYyIj4RYSJTpP3sdsrI0XG3xtPbQxc8_B78MTYX7l3i_8_49kQLJjfSilxRJYaKh4tM7j3gW04LzYAQVFX7yrTLKKWi8W0HTzvsjTCKAaZbkBzn/s320/wmr_simpson_gap.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379062074149789794" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3TFqwrHvJfiaH7GoNwyCOxgwoXNqj9E_fkUG0Nx25gy-jeeoiWZ-xM3UHfu1IPJD5ed-aeYZuzbJQdkvigl6BoGvNR-ynp4NRN9RHHfIx7TYQMW0n7-18gFWGemtXf_NSePMTgNU-L1-g/s1600-h/wmr_simpson_water.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3TFqwrHvJfiaH7GoNwyCOxgwoXNqj9E_fkUG0Nx25gy-jeeoiWZ-xM3UHfu1IPJD5ed-aeYZuzbJQdkvigl6BoGvNR-ynp4NRN9RHHfIx7TYQMW0n7-18gFWGemtXf_NSePMTgNU-L1-g/s320/wmr_simpson_water.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379062086524718210" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzSqiAh1G_m-TT77Ga-RZfT6-rHog1PNKLYLY28oU-7YtUFVwHzzE7fbmlCxwgkt-WA26DDVKJ93URKTuM-5uUcGtbSuPUN-5KtQJv9w1vEzc4TyqkWqYmdK7tz783s93ybMS0op1Uer_/s1600-h/wmr_simpson_water2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzSqiAh1G_m-TT77Ga-RZfT6-rHog1PNKLYLY28oU-7YtUFVwHzzE7fbmlCxwgkt-WA26DDVKJ93URKTuM-5uUcGtbSuPUN-5KtQJv9w1vEzc4TyqkWqYmdK7tz783s93ybMS0op1Uer_/s320/wmr_simpson_water2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379062094490425874" /></a><br /><br />We did not go to Standley Chasm. Firstly because of the cost, but also because it was hot and the kids were not in the mood for the 1.5km walk to the chasm. So we kept going to Ellery Creek Big Hole. Had a late lunch and then went for the stroll to the creek. Nice swimming spot! But cold!!!! The kids threw rocks into the water. Darcy tried running in for a swim but I managed to catch him. <br /><br />We decided to head straight to the Glen Helen campground and do some of the other sights on the way back out tomorrow.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiReX5DDMR3FPn5v91HnV9rtOHmrNocwzlq16uVRaCUTyvTDKWa_UZY4zdUOaO3VzSCew_L3tV72FA8nHdW-EasLl59MMRhcw5SM4gDZbjIH7LHuXyWa69WWJoP6FXa5RDIJlyOER0W6K-O/s1600-h/wmr_glenhelen_water.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiReX5DDMR3FPn5v91HnV9rtOHmrNocwzlq16uVRaCUTyvTDKWa_UZY4zdUOaO3VzSCew_L3tV72FA8nHdW-EasLl59MMRhcw5SM4gDZbjIH7LHuXyWa69WWJoP6FXa5RDIJlyOER0W6K-O/s320/wmr_glenhelen_water.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379062101233553554" /></a>Glen Helen was not all that impressive at first sight, but inside the rough-looking building is quite a nice little bar and a rather flash looking restaurant! Nice atmosphere. The back of the resort looks over the massive sheer wall of the range which is quite amazing. A quick setup and then off for a walk around. We headed straight down the riverbed walk to the gorge and swimming hole. There were some brave souls in for a swim who guaranteed us that is was absolutely beautiful once you were in. And it probably was, once you were totally numb! The water hole links on to another waterhole behind the cliff walls and that waterhole gets full sun so is lovely and warm… except that you have to swim though the first one to get to it! So no swimming for us this time. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKp_kSKSougqtW0xjlcdt9zZTxI8vjU0tMZ69xe2e1rDG_NRKTAPfvAnDgVlg8RQjsm2X08ThGVg3UiFwr7G3LRGLByRrVYjToLWZQkadaxYD-I5Io190r9ehVgo31nYg9jOVhuMJxM0qf/s1600-h/wmr_glenhelen_camp.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKp_kSKSougqtW0xjlcdt9zZTxI8vjU0tMZ69xe2e1rDG_NRKTAPfvAnDgVlg8RQjsm2X08ThGVg3UiFwr7G3LRGLByRrVYjToLWZQkadaxYD-I5Io190r9ehVgo31nYg9jOVhuMJxM0qf/s320/wmr_glenhelen_camp.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379063072415934914" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFuqhya23KQPeja3Pv1TTAlZH1K1RaBuUBMoGdsNy43Ma9qvqMj493ortQRNADS0EIHLw_uq2D20keYUxJMkv8CbeuUUSApWjvf2mgLecpGwV8mszIyRqFICnauZF77ASHJn2QN0PPGujB/s1600-h/wmr_glenhelen_trail.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 202px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFuqhya23KQPeja3Pv1TTAlZH1K1RaBuUBMoGdsNy43Ma9qvqMj493ortQRNADS0EIHLw_uq2D20keYUxJMkv8CbeuUUSApWjvf2mgLecpGwV8mszIyRqFICnauZF77ASHJn2QN0PPGujB/s320/wmr_glenhelen_trail.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379063068758638978" /></a><br />Of an evening the gorge wall looks amazing. It towers above us and covers half of the stars in the southern cross and it glows a little from the reflected light from the back of the bar area. We have a full moon though which is drowning everything out or we would have had an incredible sky full of stars.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-82738737230459778232009-09-04T21:16:00.005+10:002009-09-04T22:32:56.978+10:00days 187 to 189- Litchfield to Alice SpringsFinally!! we are away! yay!!!<br /><br />The boys and i caught The Ghan from Katherine to Alice, and Tim drove the van down. Booking online i was able to get Ghan tickets for under $300 all up (only had to pay for two of us) which was well and truely worth it so we could get to the centre fast cos with the kids it wold have taken a minimum of five, more likely six, days full on driving but we could do it in two days this way.<br /><br />The Ghan was pretty decent. I think if you did not have two toddlers to chase it would be much nicer! And if you had no great need for sleep it would be perfect! LOL! I thought the seats fully reclined for us to sleep on- but not so much. We got on board around 5:30pm and arrived just after 9am the next day so it's mostly overnight. The boys played with their new matchbox cars and planes, and were happy to look out the window and chat to other passengers so both really enjoyed the trip. I would have liked more than two hours sleep.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjTu0Vhw3EbCOedrQKiS1_spuAVpw-ujdvAFQWE-LOTzPXL_NYqmdsxIkE1WQnWLMgOVKkQw69GQzREIKdF1nJC5kcfX6Bvb35zCgNTURY27opq0KqZkDmkHloUOxTbhBiyXiYoZ65hxDu/s1600-h/ghan.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjTu0Vhw3EbCOedrQKiS1_spuAVpw-ujdvAFQWE-LOTzPXL_NYqmdsxIkE1WQnWLMgOVKkQw69GQzREIKdF1nJC5kcfX6Bvb35zCgNTURY27opq0KqZkDmkHloUOxTbhBiyXiYoZ65hxDu/s320/ghan.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377585090077730178" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhMTSJAgHamW_zgqa0nRf5tVBKaQSPEjCI8di58XImCrWFnX9ErVYsCl95ZoZ6V_NZjWDtnENwJWDQ7gluha5jP01sYo7Vy0h6Ze6DWgdmFgrnuHIl9iNPyZQAdbmokbiXCqYDaOoZiFW/s1600-h/ghantrain.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhMTSJAgHamW_zgqa0nRf5tVBKaQSPEjCI8di58XImCrWFnX9ErVYsCl95ZoZ6V_NZjWDtnENwJWDQ7gluha5jP01sYo7Vy0h6Ze6DWgdmFgrnuHIl9iNPyZQAdbmokbiXCqYDaOoZiFW/s320/ghantrain.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377585084713093122" /></a><br />Alice Springs is really nice! We had heard that it was a bit crappy, but i have no idea what they were comparing it to. The people are lovely and friendly, the town looks nice, lots to see and do, the locals that gather in the parks and on the hills are all family groups and are happy playing and chatty... nothing at all like the undercurrent of aggression and anger we encountered at Tennant Creek and other places.<br /><br />Anyway, the boys and i checked into the Big 4 and then were picked up by our hop on/hop off tour bus. Had an enjoyable tour of the town, a look at Anzac Hill where we could see The Ghan still at the station. Darcy fell asleep on the bus! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy7Ip3ajIPS4aa79IsODOUQNCYA_qgCMW7mE4KHTfi5mt0aSBkGzfr8MNg-zcA3EMZ4tlUybohncV8ylycGnTWJbYF_KKvijBii8covfoTiszRWLhoX9BlOGQNXINUjusNN9rEvv8AKJiQ/s1600-h/alice_Dasleep.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy7Ip3ajIPS4aa79IsODOUQNCYA_qgCMW7mE4KHTfi5mt0aSBkGzfr8MNg-zcA3EMZ4tlUybohncV8ylycGnTWJbYF_KKvijBii8covfoTiszRWLhoX9BlOGQNXINUjusNN9rEvv8AKJiQ/s320/alice_Dasleep.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377585109585563906" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho76nm78KjA418ANWaAcVqJ4Vboho4eFjPCLtN3Hx0Jq-GUwcLdOWKzaTdLV3yhO9AsVwYTpl-OkIfe5b_eH75at5ckT141-MU2Xmkt2KJHSUq8hKTgZoKe_OLT0JBG7yarh-JaoIjht3D/s1600-h/alice_view.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho76nm78KjA418ANWaAcVqJ4Vboho4eFjPCLtN3Hx0Jq-GUwcLdOWKzaTdLV3yhO9AsVwYTpl-OkIfe5b_eH75at5ckT141-MU2Xmkt2KJHSUq8hKTgZoKe_OLT0JBG7yarh-JaoIjht3D/s320/alice_view.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377585104134402978" /></a> Then it was Jordy's choice for what he wanted to do. He chose the Flying Doctor Museum (big surprise) where they spent forever on the flight simulator console pretending to fly and pushing a heap of buttons. Then they had a go at the peddle radio. Had some lunch, went back to the flight simulator and then jumped back on the bus. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoPSA0i23dE7OapfCIXVk9kOB0pid33UNjw4mRXSjS7T_a4qFhmWF5zXa6CZF8qO_g4xFDXbYh7f3MxA-7NUVtvqgvlm7E10ow8JhtmOkZ5NnjbzJEp4JHn4yRWvWPXhq_hLj0XBWEdWdt/s1600-h/alice_radio.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoPSA0i23dE7OapfCIXVk9kOB0pid33UNjw4mRXSjS7T_a4qFhmWF5zXa6CZF8qO_g4xFDXbYh7f3MxA-7NUVtvqgvlm7E10ow8JhtmOkZ5NnjbzJEp4JHn4yRWvWPXhq_hLj0XBWEdWdt/s320/alice_radio.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377586637139523010" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF08a_htstNHkDyo3aYbb8eOSvG7pVD1bipI4yBtyyMvGY_xMtVzzE106Qe6OBbQa2neEsS6UCJo9kpoLf-tlUO1idAdroWohymyePf-OhgncxEnZpcWUGJ5ZF8c3umZA4pgXEsgWi3QfW/s1600-h/alice_fly.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF08a_htstNHkDyo3aYbb8eOSvG7pVD1bipI4yBtyyMvGY_xMtVzzE106Qe6OBbQa2neEsS6UCJo9kpoLf-tlUO1idAdroWohymyePf-OhgncxEnZpcWUGJ5ZF8c3umZA4pgXEsgWi3QfW/s320/alice_fly.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377586631451111474" /></a><br />Next stop was the Old Ghan Train Museum. Another selection from Jordy. Out the front was a playground and a toy area with all-things-trains and i did not think we would get past that into the actual musuem. Eventually we did! And the boys ran squealing through the old Ghan carriages and looked at all sorts of train-related bits that they found fascinating. Is it really a boy thing? I can't figure where it comes from. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCwgqDeAsq0A96jgMLMEEjlqbWvOF4C6AcZC6m7NYSVeGnQC0Mmrkx48xSCv42HNlEseQZ57pI_XYYWz4KP07f5Qg8szy9wxUwBqHJfyFanKix_l9Vo7j9_9hMTTie_m-bU7TgRfWCK5P/s1600-h/alice_oldghan.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCwgqDeAsq0A96jgMLMEEjlqbWvOF4C6AcZC6m7NYSVeGnQC0Mmrkx48xSCv42HNlEseQZ57pI_XYYWz4KP07f5Qg8szy9wxUwBqHJfyFanKix_l9Vo7j9_9hMTTie_m-bU7TgRfWCK5P/s320/alice_oldghan.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377585098017827890" /></a><br />Then back to the van park. It was only mid-afternoon but we were all buggered after a busy morning on not much sleep. Tim surprised us by being there already. He had a good run and had driven late the night before. We spent the afternoon just playing in the park playground (really great playground here!).<br /><br />It got super cold overnight. We were not prepared for it and had to drag on lots of blankets from around the cabin. First really cold night we have had for absolutely months... maybe even the coldest since last winter. I am not really sure, but i know our bodies have forgotten how to deal with it.<br /><br />This morning Jordy was sitting at the table waiting for breakfast and i was trying to get him to put a jumper on. He said he did not need one and was not cold. A minute later, in a really sad voice, he told me he could not stop his chin from wobbling! I convinced him to put on a jumper!<br /><br />Today we did another lap on the hop on /hop off bus. Checked out the Araluen Cultural Precinct with the art gallery, museum, and Strewloh Research Centre. Kids had a ball in the musuem. They were rather noisy in their appreciation of the displays and we were asked to keep it down... oops! Then we had a look around the Todd Mall (lots of galleries and souvenier shops and cafes), then back to the van park playground and jumping pillow.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zKeqiVRrC2L3SdEkbN3wPzoY9muH5r51U0KuSL2XF_H29ev0jyzV2gbnQGst3CuQ_X140FRsGdV2RLq2iFuJgyPhN9Sl38zuOMqv1qXURU7BTXk8fV1sIh_htUDETKgmIOZ7D0_4Mpe5/s1600-h/alice2_museum.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 203px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zKeqiVRrC2L3SdEkbN3wPzoY9muH5r51U0KuSL2XF_H29ev0jyzV2gbnQGst3CuQ_X140FRsGdV2RLq2iFuJgyPhN9Sl38zuOMqv1qXURU7BTXk8fV1sIh_htUDETKgmIOZ7D0_4Mpe5/s320/alice2_museum.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377586653006896146" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr5ib69Yostum6A9OukWEm6PnbgbXBFEUxp07WMaHEf4SGSi5ZwD_0NJiqF2fd7xw0tn4ZyMnLYIFhAJFv2Kv-r31jx04f81g_b0omveGlFcCw_rU87jJJtklUBdcyP4bmOdpf3ZpEEiFp/s1600-h/alice2_sticks.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr5ib69Yostum6A9OukWEm6PnbgbXBFEUxp07WMaHEf4SGSi5ZwD_0NJiqF2fd7xw0tn4ZyMnLYIFhAJFv2Kv-r31jx04f81g_b0omveGlFcCw_rU87jJJtklUBdcyP4bmOdpf3ZpEEiFp/s320/alice2_sticks.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377586644578055538" /></a><br />Mum and Dad caught us up today. We'll head off to the West McDonald ranges tomorrow and they will check out more of the town and we'll all meet up again at Uluru in a few days time.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-83122327540538985242009-08-26T20:55:00.004+10:002009-09-04T21:11:30.611+10:00week 27Warning! Nardia, probably best if you don’t read this entry!<br /><br />Almost all packed up. After four months in one spot we are all spread out and in a mess! Had a bit of a thank you - farewell - birthday dinner for Tim on Saturday night, which was a lovely gesture of the boss. We tried long-neck turtle! A bit…. Hhmmm… chewy! LOL! Plus I was told to grab a leg and peel the skin off which is a little offputting when you can see the long claws of the thing and the skin is quite tricky to peel away. Anyway, they were part of the farewell gesture from the mob here and I was actually really keen to taste it but it was not quite what I expected for some reason. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUouhRf-yk4oC1xeGW4vN5kmshYFqGAGH_dhci_YzGRKK6PWRnC4Fg_bTds2pQT5uXQONz7Qsjv2430sr2uM3wYS78zz8UhfqkzRT7YbLOe7LE2PoEKj_mzcyAtMjtxVFqvRMqCHcoN3W9/s1600-h/turtle_fireside.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUouhRf-yk4oC1xeGW4vN5kmshYFqGAGH_dhci_YzGRKK6PWRnC4Fg_bTds2pQT5uXQONz7Qsjv2430sr2uM3wYS78zz8UhfqkzRT7YbLOe7LE2PoEKj_mzcyAtMjtxVFqvRMqCHcoN3W9/s320/turtle_fireside.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377566463037082786" /></a><br /><br />We did not get to see them cook it the first time but then on Monday afternoon they cooked up the last of them. It had been a stinking hot day (38’C) and around 4pm a bit of a breeze picked up and cooled things down a bit (maybe 34’C!) so we figured it was cool enough for a fire! ROFL! Bloody crazy. Anyway, Zac got some dried pandanas seeds that make great heat-beads and also add a nice smoked flavour. Then he lay the turtle belly down on the pandanus seeds until it started to cook just a little and then turned it over and cooked it more until the legs poked right out. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXHss-KZkhWhpK2l6dPCbeyJ7Q3XQb6TKuI2qrjIpubk8joYUKpZTD6bT2z_vqaa-VCE19X3tbyfv3E7QF6zW649LoXt2oeKhSktz8HhixYD7_Mdccku6mrwA2rl3cueaLd_9BoazMvTC/s1600-h/turtle_fire.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXHss-KZkhWhpK2l6dPCbeyJ7Q3XQb6TKuI2qrjIpubk8joYUKpZTD6bT2z_vqaa-VCE19X3tbyfv3E7QF6zW649LoXt2oeKhSktz8HhixYD7_Mdccku6mrwA2rl3cueaLd_9BoazMvTC/s320/turtle_fire.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377566469779172242" /></a> Then he took it off the fire and tried to slit the throat to reach in to pull the intestines out in one piece because they are apparently really tasty! ?? Anyway, did not work out so well! And he had to try again from the bum end. Not pretty! After that it went back on the coals until it was all roasted. Then he split the shell to expose the belly and meat inside. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvlEB67vfPD3_QjRBIJ7BVAwuL0RAcMz487XogHtgkjGqmF1KU7lDt5uDq85tpYh4zWTD8zhyphenhyphenQQd_k3jX7dH9Y6RfrYF_ot9_mh0xCKZJQFdWOpnWKnTp1xs23WKs4O3v3QZ70lO510D2/s1600-h/turtle_poke.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvlEB67vfPD3_QjRBIJ7BVAwuL0RAcMz487XogHtgkjGqmF1KU7lDt5uDq85tpYh4zWTD8zhyphenhyphenQQd_k3jX7dH9Y6RfrYF_ot9_mh0xCKZJQFdWOpnWKnTp1xs23WKs4O3v3QZ70lO510D2/s320/turtle_poke.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377566484991022018" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtR7GYiFToqpWvouUXzk3Ijk8B4h21I0sm17fXmGePVJ1sb-VHPj0EOQhZVyEpEARkOvZXzD4pp7XbBKF85dXVhBezo_QQQheWQeAx_HwrJMOdLhIVtieCT6BoeNUKW6nqW8pES2SShNTr/s1600-h/turtle_gatherin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtR7GYiFToqpWvouUXzk3Ijk8B4h21I0sm17fXmGePVJ1sb-VHPj0EOQhZVyEpEARkOvZXzD4pp7XbBKF85dXVhBezo_QQQheWQeAx_HwrJMOdLhIVtieCT6BoeNUKW6nqW8pES2SShNTr/s320/turtle_gatherin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377566473313449154" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJV9gwxZ60xHTb-viFP-AVX6PB4mImTfRttqn0IBwuUMilgTt0ZkChAkYtRoeUDy_H42KwkhkkNWU_CbzaauSKdhtAX2BkMFf6qcMoVstChORt1iXY0wYO1r7C_jR0lYlWC_Rjuw6Yq4o/s1600-h/tirtle_cutopen.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJV9gwxZ60xHTb-viFP-AVX6PB4mImTfRttqn0IBwuUMilgTt0ZkChAkYtRoeUDy_H42KwkhkkNWU_CbzaauSKdhtAX2BkMFf6qcMoVstChORt1iXY0wYO1r7C_jR0lYlWC_Rjuw6Yq4o/s320/tirtle_cutopen.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377566490124052290" /></a><br /><br />I had intended to try some more of it but Jordy had a minor accident with a bit of a split lip so I was back in the van when it was all scoffed down. Tim said he tried the intestine, the meat and the green bile bit that is supposed to be delicious but it still tasted like bleugh! The smell is something I could not describe either. Most meat I think smells quite appetizing while it is cooking… but turtle really smells odd.<br /><br />We were chatting about how the old women find the long- neck turtles cos we had heard out at Kakadu on the ranger talk about how they walk through the mud and look for little bubbles and they reach into the mud up to their elbows and drag out a turtle… pretty impressive we thought. So we asked about how Zac and Sam went when the old aunties took them out to get them. Must be modern bush tucker cos apparently, if you know where to go and at what time, the turtles just walk right out on the road and you drive past and pick them up! LOL! They drive up and down this section of road at whatever time of day and by the time they reach the end of the road and turn around another turtle will be there… up and back, up and back, until they have enough! <br /><br />Not much else to talk about except the weather. Bleugh. The build up has begun and it’s hot and muggy and the nights are sticky and the afternoon and early morning sky is pull of storm clouds that do nothing except make you think it might just rain to cool things off but instead they just hang around and do nothing. Talking to customers today though and they were out at Labelle Station (about 15km or so away) and this afternoon it bucketed down out there. The people were southerners and they said they had never seen rain like it. I want to see it!!!! But if it does not rain really soon we will miss out (for this year at least).<br /><br />Not long to go!!! Jordy is really enjoying his countdoan calendar and has started to ask where abouts on the calendar was Lala’s visit and things like that so we had to get a bigger calendar to show him more dates . So that was fun too. He is getting really excited about our train trip and he also can’t wait to head off on “the big road” to see new stuff and to see the really big rock (Uluru).<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgU4iGfaJPjvrV572xVLlItovtXIMcyhe15gqUyBOwshK4bbcUDkioMkCb0hulutY6l9FrA0jOA4Rm52HsmKim9x61g5951HCv50-a40f9uYkCKrj2zMkhK3P9HwDVE-1dF50f3LnQM2I1/s1600-h/countdown.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgU4iGfaJPjvrV572xVLlItovtXIMcyhe15gqUyBOwshK4bbcUDkioMkCb0hulutY6l9FrA0jOA4Rm52HsmKim9x61g5951HCv50-a40f9uYkCKrj2zMkhK3P9HwDVE-1dF50f3LnQM2I1/s320/countdown.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377567519302679762" /></a><br /><br />I can’t wait to have a real shower with fresh clean water! I can’t wait to have grass instead of sand. I can’t wait to get out and see something different. I can’t wait to have phone and internet reception again. I can’t wait to escape the constant background HUM of the generator.<br /><br />I will really REALLY miss the food! All you can eat cheesecake and apple pie and jam drops and barramundi and kangaroo and T-bones and delicious wombok salad and super salad with the works sandwiches and beers and chips and milkshakes and iced coffees….. <sigh><br /><br />I won’t miss the snakes or the cane toads but I will miss the wallabies and Darcy will miss all the lizards and bugs. <br /><br />I am totally annoyed that I never got a chance to get any of the local geocaches! Pathetic! I know. But the couple of ones that I tried with the kids were just too hard while lugging them along with me and I never got back on my own. One more reason to make sure I head back this way again.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-84228600204804822512009-08-26T16:23:00.005+10:002009-08-26T18:14:04.900+10:00Week 26- Channel PointWe have been wanting to get out to the coast here for ages (pretty mush since we got here) but for various reasons we have not had the chance. Well, we finally decided we had to just GO! And we all totally regret not going sooner! <br /><br />We did not technically go to Channel Point, but that’s the easiest way to find it on any map. Because we have gotten to know a lot of the locals and, in particular, the local aboriginal community, we were lucky enough to be able to head out to the community on the coast out here. So we loaded the boat on the truck, packed a heap of food, and off we went.<br /><br />It’s just a dirt road out there with not much in the way of signs and as we got closer to the coast and reached an intersection Tim called Mal up on the CB and asked what way we were supposed to go…. “Just turn at the land council sign for Bolgol Community was all they said…” was Mal‘s reply. I think Dad thought Tim had directions and Tim thought Dad had directions! Apparently the instructions Tim got was turn left at the black water tank and right at the coconut grove but we were at a fork in the road and there were no water tanks and there certainly were no coconut trees… .So we picked a road and off we went. 10km later we hit a locked gate so we turned around and came back. Then we chose the other road! LOL! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKKnXWVy5k2Pv6zTSqV2DtFvlbG3ZyOLZByfxKCI71vhuAN49L5dfIy1A-KmAtmH_YOY2dDjRZl7kxLUoNd6oqFKLmvQ2l6dVoyHeDER0PEtqraH8FBArF76Y3mzEXF2Z5ae_FHJIdyw3/s1600-h/channel_dad4WD.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 201px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKKnXWVy5k2Pv6zTSqV2DtFvlbG3ZyOLZByfxKCI71vhuAN49L5dfIy1A-KmAtmH_YOY2dDjRZl7kxLUoNd6oqFKLmvQ2l6dVoyHeDER0PEtqraH8FBArF76Y3mzEXF2Z5ae_FHJIdyw3/s320/channel_dad4WD.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374177332434076178" /></a><br /><br />Road #2 was bumpy! And we put the truck through her paces with some 4WDing, sand bogs, ditches, and tight turns. Then all of a sudden we ended up at the coast. We still had no idea where the mob were that we were headed out to see and had to call in and ask for directions at the first camp we came to. A bit further along found a green water tank and a heap of banana trees…. Near enough! so we stopped for a chat and to find out where we were supposed to be. The view from the huts along the water was just amazing. It would be a totally different life but to just live out there on the edge of the bay would be incredible.<br /><br />Eventually we found our coconut trees and we parked the cars in the shade, unloaded the boat, set up some chairs and off we went to explore.<br /><br />We did not realise at the time but the tide was fairly well in when we first got there and would probably have been the best time to swim if we were going to take our chances. The aunties said the crocs come in with the tide but apart from then it was usually safe to swim. LOL! I think if we went again we would know where and when to go for a swim but this time we thought it better safe than sorry. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsf0swsh95eyGf6hMLMYqBXdEqY_VvGqsTSNMsmtvRVgjoqjPNIFEGMQ4BoSeRDPiocUVF1aIDJUcjQC2vdw8CrwrfdfpAJveRvMN4UL7k5AXl_PzkogBhanxhbTqkocOREQLT3xAci1y/s1600-h/channel_shipwreak.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsf0swsh95eyGf6hMLMYqBXdEqY_VvGqsTSNMsmtvRVgjoqjPNIFEGMQ4BoSeRDPiocUVF1aIDJUcjQC2vdw8CrwrfdfpAJveRvMN4UL7k5AXl_PzkogBhanxhbTqkocOREQLT3xAci1y/s320/channel_shipwreak.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374156869977426386" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nYn5_N1MWA3oEppaIvx6mzzAY6kwn-RWpNIXfoCIufXZyoqEkHdDUGCo4tCAMGDI71GAwKe8VOdU_4Y005uYT78ZA2Twch6K6PfSr6RykQTFfelG-T4VduMiHd_ABllqN93qc4w23cCQ/s1600-h/channel_beach.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nYn5_N1MWA3oEppaIvx6mzzAY6kwn-RWpNIXfoCIufXZyoqEkHdDUGCo4tCAMGDI71GAwKe8VOdU_4Y005uYT78ZA2Twch6K6PfSr6RykQTFfelG-T4VduMiHd_ABllqN93qc4w23cCQ/s320/channel_beach.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374156857944920498" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovviSqF9BxuVVSSmPe8dRNaaa1XZy4ayiwAdsNaXOooag_l-RNkQm3Tl_5L6GSxCDIQIQTev-DjvrZMKYvCwG1L21rPfTLZrGx4Mf_8gBDT-ar68auH4aIh_vUjJ07j5a885UCGTVn8ei/s1600-h/channel_Jshell.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovviSqF9BxuVVSSmPe8dRNaaa1XZy4ayiwAdsNaXOooag_l-RNkQm3Tl_5L6GSxCDIQIQTev-DjvrZMKYvCwG1L21rPfTLZrGx4Mf_8gBDT-ar68auH4aIh_vUjJ07j5a885UCGTVn8ei/s320/channel_Jshell.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374177364377513282" /></a><br /><br />Tim, Dad, and Jordy headed out in the boat to see what they could catch. We did not have high hopes seeing as it was the Spring Tide, is that an official thing?? Or just what the locals call it? No idea, but it is the extreme high and low at the moment and the fish have gone someplace nicer. But that’s about our luck with fishing anyway. Suffice it to say- they caught nothing! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaJPtYCiHJaua7vjpPRkMgoT4VbRiUZMSm790Q4qiwyCZCWlPhx04gyDcuyutTsSL7k0694DLIRjYvRygihxBzJvoS-k_PxOP5HqjCXfkMhix5IG4O54Bdz_W0Cbs4h_AIZ7CZGiPCinE/s1600-h/channel_dragboat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaJPtYCiHJaua7vjpPRkMgoT4VbRiUZMSm790Q4qiwyCZCWlPhx04gyDcuyutTsSL7k0694DLIRjYvRygihxBzJvoS-k_PxOP5HqjCXfkMhix5IG4O54Bdz_W0Cbs4h_AIZ7CZGiPCinE/s320/channel_dragboat.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374156847861964562" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1BVIXXNX-Ih-dQcTkHULqBN6NG-SbWW5n65bZJjr-bPDRAoBaecEYxWOFQeTCnAOzE_gdFASFll8I1lsDESWBnmNZk2JkC0mSQwjBWX_A_-YbTrPFFzq6fMLiAwjaoWuWpwVypiEY_pDf/s1600-h/channel_boatinbay.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1BVIXXNX-Ih-dQcTkHULqBN6NG-SbWW5n65bZJjr-bPDRAoBaecEYxWOFQeTCnAOzE_gdFASFll8I1lsDESWBnmNZk2JkC0mSQwjBWX_A_-YbTrPFFzq6fMLiAwjaoWuWpwVypiEY_pDf/s320/channel_boatinbay.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374159990403558546" /></a>The water was only a metre or so deep all the way around the bay half way across to the reef near Perrin Island! It was funny cos as the day progressed and the tide went out further and further and further we decided that you could probably walk to Perrin Island… then we found out later talking to one of the locals that yes, you’d get wet but you could walk across with the low low tides. Incredible to see cos Perrin Island is about 20km away off the coast. Hard to imagine until you see it. The height difference between high and low tide if 7m! Wow! 7m! Can you imagine that in Port???? The whole of the river would be dry. You could drive to the North Shore. You’d have to pack a cut lunch to get out to the surf at Lighthouse!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNHtV1ElYi_mqkCcQfKqqdzeH-p3RhrUF7VuwwKUu3UK5fYqrR1zHGJ4moJa_yWB0HQjQv8Es32-RqRQj8fouLQt5UecBd2jeu6KW4S85XAl-vhxkxmQdY0uTh1U2_8BWs9_8coVtwck1/s1600-h/channel_darcywayout.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNHtV1ElYi_mqkCcQfKqqdzeH-p3RhrUF7VuwwKUu3UK5fYqrR1zHGJ4moJa_yWB0HQjQv8Es32-RqRQj8fouLQt5UecBd2jeu6KW4S85XAl-vhxkxmQdY0uTh1U2_8BWs9_8coVtwck1/s320/channel_darcywayout.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374182509316556130" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPThK8yVYbvTBMYDDfuSiVL7NPB2RJJRsr-92j4Cq9FREoAwBXuW7UCm_QSsgWW6dDisd8vkwL5Juh-kP6Fsc0HzbIKniDoCP3PNyxtsghgPgsjUlS3INqmXls_-8BE7qQ9NmnRpBT9ER/s1600-h/channel_tide2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPThK8yVYbvTBMYDDfuSiVL7NPB2RJJRsr-92j4Cq9FREoAwBXuW7UCm_QSsgWW6dDisd8vkwL5Juh-kP6Fsc0HzbIKniDoCP3PNyxtsghgPgsjUlS3INqmXls_-8BE7qQ9NmnRpBT9ER/s320/channel_tide2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374182500316003026" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_7N4XinktdPq0h88MSnDrW5HBFj4dLKc-_65cbOXPF_Dj7P5pT50LmvnSR0S8ucIg9CnR9pUo6Mk3YIXCrnrrqPH-c4ik8MkFRHfKUY2bmGkyQSPNHI1KzmV3AfOtf6KgUfrFSfI5f9q/s1600-h/channel_tide.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_7N4XinktdPq0h88MSnDrW5HBFj4dLKc-_65cbOXPF_Dj7P5pT50LmvnSR0S8ucIg9CnR9pUo6Mk3YIXCrnrrqPH-c4ik8MkFRHfKUY2bmGkyQSPNHI1KzmV3AfOtf6KgUfrFSfI5f9q/s320/channel_tide.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374182493461045170" /></a><br /><br />Anyway, while they were out in the boat Mum, Darcy and I decided to go for a walk along the beach. We only made it a few hundred metres. The rock pools were far too interesting. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizK2XQ0pm8SgK7FcydvYXAE4Cggtfb4Xtc0hL56B1UHak4ObbDZZuLQnYHi75PcIjyJHC3Hh_lBZngRXc1a0rKl4M2qXCa9oZDQcU-Z64w-mknuWkSrEEmkzZypukalFl7NgPBnhFcOlSj/s1600-h/channel_rockpools.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizK2XQ0pm8SgK7FcydvYXAE4Cggtfb4Xtc0hL56B1UHak4ObbDZZuLQnYHi75PcIjyJHC3Hh_lBZngRXc1a0rKl4M2qXCa9oZDQcU-Z64w-mknuWkSrEEmkzZypukalFl7NgPBnhFcOlSj/s320/channel_rockpools.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374179303801349106" /></a> Darcy was totally enthralled by the shells and little pools and fish. He spent the whole time bum-in-air looking and digging in the sand and water. The seashells were amazing- lots of beautiful whole shells that you don’t see around the coast anywhere else anymore. When we first arrived Jordy found a couple of fantastic big purple/black cone shells and I thought they would be lovely to keep… until we discovered that the little creature inside was still very much alive! I’ve never seen a shell like it. They were all over the place making their trails back towards the water…. I kept looking but I never did manage to find an empty one. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaeIXGA2C-11HTPm8DTsXuv4OBRtvewchzFtPtk1NlZGdgiud8pZxtAYWKlBTeX-Y3bJOhYOQkBP97C_UAfkQAvIzEx9RuHLK97zef094S8_pQv_UbY5QcizdViwg7ORhVHyD2b6aUZqAb/s1600-h/channel_beachshells.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaeIXGA2C-11HTPm8DTsXuv4OBRtvewchzFtPtk1NlZGdgiud8pZxtAYWKlBTeX-Y3bJOhYOQkBP97C_UAfkQAvIzEx9RuHLK97zef094S8_pQv_UbY5QcizdViwg7ORhVHyD2b6aUZqAb/s320/channel_beachshells.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374159975405610290" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJ6LWFPnZlF-g5PEKvOnEtcuUlNM72o4LVuEQ1RR15rALJHt5ENzcsSABbqhh_r_i-MC1oGU_-IZRLhb26RkOk-q02yxIuFaKP68r8CMk1jk0VyW_jmjcF3fQq1Atf49GxTKGIvjBQ1qF/s1600-h/channel_Dbeach.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJ6LWFPnZlF-g5PEKvOnEtcuUlNM72o4LVuEQ1RR15rALJHt5ENzcsSABbqhh_r_i-MC1oGU_-IZRLhb26RkOk-q02yxIuFaKP68r8CMk1jk0VyW_jmjcF3fQq1Atf49GxTKGIvjBQ1qF/s320/channel_Dbeach.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374156876621365170" /></a> <br />The tide was well out when the empty-handed fishermen returned and after a bit more of a wander we headed to camp for lunch and a drink. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdv0vupTzpwmFwixcULdF6aL9V7o6mLShj9q_kpRvs8d3d_wbdLVYml4zbopkyf3ju0fh0HhbL5Ys7rUBDkaTcPvusr8vAZUhpz-q1ABnvVjdtOm5OXi7uhZEGjuj5Scy2Ti-Y4r_CDpi/s1600-h/channel_camp.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdv0vupTzpwmFwixcULdF6aL9V7o6mLShj9q_kpRvs8d3d_wbdLVYml4zbopkyf3ju0fh0HhbL5Ys7rUBDkaTcPvusr8vAZUhpz-q1ABnvVjdtOm5OXi7uhZEGjuj5Scy2Ti-Y4r_CDpi/s320/channel_camp.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374156856155016930" /></a>And we watched the water disappear into the distance and leave the boat stranded high and dry. I had wanted to go for a putt around and see the coast a bit but it got to the point where even beached out where the water was when they got back it was less than half the distance to carry the boat back to the truck then it would be to carry the boat back to the water. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8lWZ4fCuyeN9ykCy_4rRQ9csmmcvUZTiwntziTeHvtpalyICaKg9l0xDXxxX7Zw-EmvKNe7lMN7iV-jyiyNEQlbFZ3YAe2TsltenhJBU7MPSkHeK7zZFXXlscgkd-QNovO12oZp6IfK0/s1600-h/channel_boat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8lWZ4fCuyeN9ykCy_4rRQ9csmmcvUZTiwntziTeHvtpalyICaKg9l0xDXxxX7Zw-EmvKNe7lMN7iV-jyiyNEQlbFZ3YAe2TsltenhJBU7MPSkHeK7zZFXXlscgkd-QNovO12oZp6IfK0/s320/channel_boat.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374159987278644450" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTM3RHkgpPB1N9DpGZSdxRkbHa5mtFnwkNwt22kmnhfOSMxxnZNDg6qNBCmhYDP6axRZRXpOGCs6jesKoQfgbgh3vtPgN1wmj3U2boO8Wo6i-KsXzTCM4s_svXZq5XSJdCxPqveXruMJWs/s1600-h/channel_tide.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTM3RHkgpPB1N9DpGZSdxRkbHa5mtFnwkNwt22kmnhfOSMxxnZNDg6qNBCmhYDP6axRZRXpOGCs6jesKoQfgbgh3vtPgN1wmj3U2boO8Wo6i-KsXzTCM4s_svXZq5XSJdCxPqveXruMJWs/s320/channel_tide.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374179312285060930" /></a><br /><br />The kids played in the sand with their sandcastle tools, we wandered out to take a photo of the boat! Jordy became a mud-monster and chased me around throwing mud (charming). Dad went for a wander and found us a coconut. Yum! The kids cracked open a big clam shell mussel thing. Yuk! Then Jordy kicked a ball around and we had another walk around the rocks. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgORNX3Jbu8vTFTuY2wNd_IoRwLjWHcDi7MDsZEoTdJtFfopsDphgu0qtMvo4KSCgFf9qryu06lKQ-Y6YHz5YGTKBfIr7EPBvy-u0CPVdcaqhzm6LUSCSyAplOWO2wm5Z7CQydsVSHTDaeL/s1600-h/channel_coconut.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgORNX3Jbu8vTFTuY2wNd_IoRwLjWHcDi7MDsZEoTdJtFfopsDphgu0qtMvo4KSCgFf9qryu06lKQ-Y6YHz5YGTKBfIr7EPBvy-u0CPVdcaqhzm6LUSCSyAplOWO2wm5Z7CQydsVSHTDaeL/s320/channel_coconut.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374160001621750722" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Sg6k9YQumfuw2Z_tbrJHVwO0xM7pOcTZWsZr9nF_aD_iDFZywvMMIv_pXdXWxB50N1AFik8mmktjbWZYJh922fzJuiajLtmbWC7KMBxQsnQMe31r2IJi48GoMnNVtQpWMXYy_kjhGNW2/s1600-h/channel_mussel.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Sg6k9YQumfuw2Z_tbrJHVwO0xM7pOcTZWsZr9nF_aD_iDFZywvMMIv_pXdXWxB50N1AFik8mmktjbWZYJh922fzJuiajLtmbWC7KMBxQsnQMe31r2IJi48GoMnNVtQpWMXYy_kjhGNW2/s320/channel_mussel.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374179281589651010" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtnEF17TWjjRsPkGF1Xvn9ab4VbyCgh_C6rSavCK3UOSTJlqFeREy42s_kk6dYydLdjeVhMpGNZCHLCU9dOfQ6Ysb3xGJuor4TGjwjj3jHvo8RUkJOZHfmL2SZapY7f4yrmEZwGGYXQCk/s1600-h/channel_boyscastle.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtnEF17TWjjRsPkGF1Xvn9ab4VbyCgh_C6rSavCK3UOSTJlqFeREy42s_kk6dYydLdjeVhMpGNZCHLCU9dOfQ6Ysb3xGJuor4TGjwjj3jHvo8RUkJOZHfmL2SZapY7f4yrmEZwGGYXQCk/s320/channel_boyscastle.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374159996342154290" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaYVQn2Ki4cciVsvINWUIP2v03ElRqZXnHwkisXsNCu5bskPHOoXSobw1XPAbe9k-ZKgyQOl_uBvVnID1uzTuGs2RF_ImmK2edWYlm5FWybb-lclkP9Hr4RnfCxgJwQHkzsq32swIId0UG/s1600-h/channel_Jmud2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaYVQn2Ki4cciVsvINWUIP2v03ElRqZXnHwkisXsNCu5bskPHOoXSobw1XPAbe9k-ZKgyQOl_uBvVnID1uzTuGs2RF_ImmK2edWYlm5FWybb-lclkP9Hr4RnfCxgJwQHkzsq32swIId0UG/s320/channel_Jmud2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374177356139533538" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOvrVve-WMxrTnxeMismkU7-rR_ikq6qPyimvJYbaFarBbv9rMY-YNeigMQfhYEcdX-sIwak2uwwLzRRQ7Rl1fZnZQ-AASXGRTP_Ed5GgQX4dp05YVJEHVjbbwgisupuV79mdD2ikVBWXG/s1600-h/channel_Jmud1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOvrVve-WMxrTnxeMismkU7-rR_ikq6qPyimvJYbaFarBbv9rMY-YNeigMQfhYEcdX-sIwak2uwwLzRRQ7Rl1fZnZQ-AASXGRTP_Ed5GgQX4dp05YVJEHVjbbwgisupuV79mdD2ikVBWXG/s320/channel_Jmud1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374177347067728546" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSfCHF1iYQYXd3ynM6xCg60RAIsZ3VJ2hUk9_jUET8HLY2njtQAD5cFoEGu9D_LeciL_nbKg_WEbPGJ2OL3lsbbZpR3ZtgkqVQpk7EoFw9wVxO5tRO9OicLbAElSqq6DuyCXYcjIFNbR9n/s1600-h/channel_Jball.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSfCHF1iYQYXd3ynM6xCg60RAIsZ3VJ2hUk9_jUET8HLY2njtQAD5cFoEGu9D_LeciL_nbKg_WEbPGJ2OL3lsbbZpR3ZtgkqVQpk7EoFw9wVxO5tRO9OicLbAElSqq6DuyCXYcjIFNbR9n/s320/channel_Jball.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374177335506391378" /></a><br />The local women were out bringing in their crabs traps… not sure if they got anything. I ran into one of the blokes we know from the café as he was checking a line that was set up in a tree and he told us they get some nice mud crabs around the place. He pointed out the old black fellas fish trap where they catch some good sized fish when the season is right (they use the big ring of rocks to trap the fish in when the tide goes out). <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhssK0rulRrqoCzi6BslxPpzI5yyBgb3NTKP8ah1-laAwR3cC0_sLTa9jggGobJY9OUAf6o9CrYACRsyTKm-MlMfkwGSCuJbEbWzGs_S2HMlZygBEE9aWLcQA4Uuon0ScdOQIs2OMvrSy_J/s1600-h/channel_fishing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhssK0rulRrqoCzi6BslxPpzI5yyBgb3NTKP8ah1-laAwR3cC0_sLTa9jggGobJY9OUAf6o9CrYACRsyTKm-MlMfkwGSCuJbEbWzGs_S2HMlZygBEE9aWLcQA4Uuon0ScdOQIs2OMvrSy_J/s320/channel_fishing.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374176482571060914" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXF_yV184XljH8zR0aWwTeE0l5TU6HlgRTs31ffSOEaDEA3FUHiUaxbONdRs0IJYb9TYoBsEaH9aYfNgK6wlVJUcXsAWMCOs6tnphO_hdPsMlvUd7GTP8ZOGN4iuLlZK2q9oG0euJBUrDQ/s1600-h/channel_fishtrap.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXF_yV184XljH8zR0aWwTeE0l5TU6HlgRTs31ffSOEaDEA3FUHiUaxbONdRs0IJYb9TYoBsEaH9aYfNgK6wlVJUcXsAWMCOs6tnphO_hdPsMlvUd7GTP8ZOGN4iuLlZK2q9oG0euJBUrDQ/s320/channel_fishtrap.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374176490309338898" /></a><br /> <br />While we hung around for a chat Jordy went for a swim in one of the rock pools. I had a hard time getting him out! Then it was time to pack up and head home. The kids were asleep within minutes! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcyKn2uMoETUf9yITkNVnTCtP6rgt1yStl687MVLTYUpUqMLynlcpVlNkNmoRkCeQQmbklESnkb8qwpX1zofBvxtRkc-I71b80gZgwGrsUqTgDHWJ-uEc-lbguXGDjEkwAi8L7EIB2kTB/s1600-h/channel_Jrockpool.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcyKn2uMoETUf9yITkNVnTCtP6rgt1yStl687MVLTYUpUqMLynlcpVlNkNmoRkCeQQmbklESnkb8qwpX1zofBvxtRkc-I71b80gZgwGrsUqTgDHWJ-uEc-lbguXGDjEkwAi8L7EIB2kTB/s320/channel_Jrockpool.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374179287888084818" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-rxcoidERm2kTn8AJvyvFGaRhxYDUfruvYV2YRUnH9vtFXSWOO1pL4uOkCQvj4Wy5j4iI0plmIQrXAaVn9qrEMDp8L6gHsV8xRvf4w1mDN3xNdljmuqE3NPnsHckuFky8X3Sat2rr87FQ/s1600-h/channel_Jrockpool2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 176px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-rxcoidERm2kTn8AJvyvFGaRhxYDUfruvYV2YRUnH9vtFXSWOO1pL4uOkCQvj4Wy5j4iI0plmIQrXAaVn9qrEMDp8L6gHsV8xRvf4w1mDN3xNdljmuqE3NPnsHckuFky8X3Sat2rr87FQ/s320/channel_Jrockpool2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374179294176840818" /></a><br />On the way home we drove past a goanna up on its hind legs just checking out its surrounds. Was cool to see. Tim stopped so I could run back to try to get a photo but he sat down and trudged off into the bush as I got closer so you can’t see the incredible yellow stripes on his back that we saw from behind… but this is him from a distance! LOL! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs3i1Sp_fvkF9Jp2jO7B-SbbXbQQOJ5AK5VOKDTS-b-A8LDo1oQVCJu2iPi7BAI7vJ-CHWFZiAX_pyGdYaLQFFVCck0yKZRJ7H6jEm7oK4_XtBD3sWXeP8CzUCOZO-5lAhdUst2GKp6taw/s1600-h/channel_goanna.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs3i1Sp_fvkF9Jp2jO7B-SbbXbQQOJ5AK5VOKDTS-b-A8LDo1oQVCJu2iPi7BAI7vJ-CHWFZiAX_pyGdYaLQFFVCck0yKZRJ7H6jEm7oK4_XtBD3sWXeP8CzUCOZO-5lAhdUst2GKp6taw/s320/channel_goanna.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374176501171622674" /></a><br /><br />We also saw a wedge-tail eagle with its young baby eagle. The baby was not small at all! But had a very different sounding call. Neither of us had ever seen two wedge-tails together before and I am not sure when they start to get territorial with their young??? So that was rather special to see. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwFR3BsZhaqbSPhyphenhyphenu4YbwlIkTnIiacFDneEhCKrs5h8MDn4eMnxhyphenhyphenVJ1Uu9lYrtiaqHtiwqM9qPdOrGeVUThZruZe5z_AYY65-tsDyIocBbmr8gpUimMwzTfvAIu7osEKPsI07o4BQ461t/s1600-h/channel_eagle2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 203px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwFR3BsZhaqbSPhyphenhyphenu4YbwlIkTnIiacFDneEhCKrs5h8MDn4eMnxhyphenhyphenVJ1Uu9lYrtiaqHtiwqM9qPdOrGeVUThZruZe5z_AYY65-tsDyIocBbmr8gpUimMwzTfvAIu7osEKPsI07o4BQ461t/s320/channel_eagle2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374176476530793794" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4y9v7hzD92c7NzmbxINHxHWPlaNjemJJGchhvs2QjBvMfF7Eg8X0elAE_688pWFoSfWzDWM63QR16L3bcTY-J-wbFPJFagWuYM0P3IBSO_X_gONM_LEu5JuRXv9BYvei9iX2p2aJQdFO/s1600-h/channel_eagle1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4y9v7hzD92c7NzmbxINHxHWPlaNjemJJGchhvs2QjBvMfF7Eg8X0elAE_688pWFoSfWzDWM63QR16L3bcTY-J-wbFPJFagWuYM0P3IBSO_X_gONM_LEu5JuRXv9BYvei9iX2p2aJQdFO/s320/channel_eagle1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374176471391054626" /></a><br /><br />It was a great day out. I think Mum and Dad intend to return and camp out there when they are back in the NT next year if they come this way… and Tim is keen to get back when the fishing is good! Apparently the women have bought in 25 barra a day when the season is right just from standing on the rocks out there! Maybe they could pass Tim a line and let him reel it in JMichellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-23217498371480445252009-08-21T20:32:00.000+10:002009-08-25T20:34:22.854+10:00week 25- the countdown begins!Just counting down the days until we leave now! We made a countdown calendar for Jordy to cross the days off. I booked our tickets on the Ghan and have started looking at things to do and places to go once we head south.<br /><br />I don’t think I have taken a single photo this week. Sorry. The kids both have colds (thanks to some yucky east coast bug spread around up here by Nardia I reckon!) so any photos would just involve lots of snotty noses. Been lucky with no winter colds though, a benefit of not really having winter I suppose. <br /><br />It’s really warming up again up here with some steamy days that the locals are all complaining about saying it’s going to be an early “build-up” this year (what they call the month before the wet season where all the days are muggy and stinking hot) so looks like we will be leaving just in time.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-2973930036773071972009-08-21T20:24:00.000+10:002009-08-25T20:26:16.323+10:00week 24- nothing to see here!Well, I don’t think anything interesting happened at all this week- holiday wise, anyway. I found a house to buy! But apart from that we had some busy days at the café and did not much else.Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408819606263515621.post-53508233571496139512009-08-14T20:30:00.000+10:002009-08-25T20:35:41.030+10:00week 23- a visitor!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1T6uUhPwS4lQnf0CMVmsQqVc2XwvsKy8PV4lqNZWmCrzi5Ag5fy6h1FArNTg_Qu9t_fsULgERRwV9iPUFpZ83gGGI2EbREUozIgJr7K5AZ67fdpoRFJvZO58EDv1ZkpoRvrQjBcdjnaV/s1600-h/leanyer_lala.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372363966326902690" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 182px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1T6uUhPwS4lQnf0CMVmsQqVc2XwvsKy8PV4lqNZWmCrzi5Ag5fy6h1FArNTg_Qu9t_fsULgERRwV9iPUFpZ83gGGI2EbREUozIgJr7K5AZ67fdpoRFJvZO58EDv1ZkpoRvrQjBcdjnaV/s200/leanyer_lala.jpg" border="0" /></a>Nardia flew in from Sydney this week for a visit so the boys were both really excited. I took them in to Darwin when Mum and Dad went in to pick her up from the airport as a surprise. I would have liked for Jordy to be able to go to the airport and watch her come in but it was a midnight flight and so not worth the tears and overtiredness that would have resulted.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWHW3oOeTNH9u_AyqUddOztP3iWV7jpTvKiCspeR17SY5xlpyeb63NrBF_BN-eW7ZmnZQ3VCBG84OPcuSwhEFXOSl8GNGp-IPrwi_NxEcpObjeoC6wElZcbGPPnG12EsGnFqJw9cQMUGgA/s1600-h/leanyer_redD.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372363976984912482" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 164px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWHW3oOeTNH9u_AyqUddOztP3iWV7jpTvKiCspeR17SY5xlpyeb63NrBF_BN-eW7ZmnZQ3VCBG84OPcuSwhEFXOSl8GNGp-IPrwi_NxEcpObjeoC6wElZcbGPPnG12EsGnFqJw9cQMUGgA/s200/leanyer_redD.jpg" border="0" /></a>We showed her the sights around the main part of town and then went out to the Leanyer water park, which is a water play park with slides and all sorts of great areas for the kids. It’s pretty incredible really, even more so because it is totally free to play! Jordy was slow to warm up to the idea. I think the massive bucket of water that tips all over everything might have scared him initially cos he was rather wary of the smaller cones and buckets that sprayed and sprinkled and emptied about the place. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhccm9zKo16aAi8fAezgYxKJSdZn8M5NznP8-J5MCB-0x3Nl3jXNZbNdiEBucaHnu83NkthRqoT7kWMkDIymmCZI82EsbFqrbMTenfmzMjauVZpg59uhyphenhyphenVvBLDi0q9qso0UPWg44yPoJaOR/s1600-h/leanyer_green.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372363986107681234" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 145px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhccm9zKo16aAi8fAezgYxKJSdZn8M5NznP8-J5MCB-0x3Nl3jXNZbNdiEBucaHnu83NkthRqoT7kWMkDIymmCZI82EsbFqrbMTenfmzMjauVZpg59uhyphenhyphenVvBLDi0q9qso0UPWg44yPoJaOR/s200/leanyer_green.jpg" border="0" /></a>But after about an hour of the baby slide and squirting people with the big water canons he must have gotten over it cos then he wanted to go on all the slides again and again and again and again! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ2AFxglEeXifsBjDpScDR4giMUgbgpEjj-Buap2UXzTuYBWu-ah9ihk_Qwe57yqfbf6ezVGfHr3F1EpvFwFf7sFyGLnwtYbfJ8s9Nnu-fv7gOYA8uCSsSym4GadFKOuYi_6AyqXguk2Hm/s1600-h/leanyer_watergun.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372365362949230178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ2AFxglEeXifsBjDpScDR4giMUgbgpEjj-Buap2UXzTuYBWu-ah9ihk_Qwe57yqfbf6ezVGfHr3F1EpvFwFf7sFyGLnwtYbfJ8s9Nnu-fv7gOYA8uCSsSym4GadFKOuYi_6AyqXguk2Hm/s320/leanyer_watergun.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOUgpdT_JdD5Yn4CpE1uh6ASQhLC2YlPzH5jXLOuZJwh5sqJ8eLYb5YU3F1u-LZj-dTlSdPs6KO84uXuMO_i3W9ydM7tSGgUPBFl0isb0UYL_DbUZDm7YjG2qDNq7SGAvg1iNZRrnZtnw/s1600-h/leanyer_pink.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372365351613163490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 246px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOUgpdT_JdD5Yn4CpE1uh6ASQhLC2YlPzH5jXLOuZJwh5sqJ8eLYb5YU3F1u-LZj-dTlSdPs6KO84uXuMO_i3W9ydM7tSGgUPBFl0isb0UYL_DbUZDm7YjG2qDNq7SGAvg1iNZRrnZtnw/s320/leanyer_pink.jpg" border="0" /> </a><br /><br />Darcy, ever the daredevil, was right in there and happy to run all around the place.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihrprQpYwY-PWOwTzgaNgP4LUPJb-vzp5MmfjHCkOq2odRiU0IYEeBaLmmuka4t_T51Pogl9BjY_gxWdAdve3-mBUhwWwZZyYyHfqSKA3eoP6AH_TS8Dts9LHX8ysbnJoWJLUtcOaN9lXJ/s1600-h/leanyer_Dcups.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372365342314033922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihrprQpYwY-PWOwTzgaNgP4LUPJb-vzp5MmfjHCkOq2odRiU0IYEeBaLmmuka4t_T51Pogl9BjY_gxWdAdve3-mBUhwWwZZyYyHfqSKA3eoP6AH_TS8Dts9LHX8ysbnJoWJLUtcOaN9lXJ/s320/leanyer_Dcups.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />There were three big slides for the grown ups. I had a go on the slowest one first, and then I had a go on the speedier narrow tube… .and then Nardia and I decided to go together on the red one that you ride tandem in a big tube. We were at the top and the attendant asked if we’d been on it before- we said no- she mentioned that it was dark inside. Fair enough. But no, seriously! It was dark inside. Totally black! We could not see a thing and we are belting down the slide flying from side to side and up the edge and around the corners and we had no idea what was coming up next. It was hilarious fun. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZcDEhzh9NUyfSGaUpnNHW9ADX6amuGiiH8qnFrJ4rebgI9HaLRodPP0B6Cy2Q5y-brTgYGqBIAnuyehiMxp0owwubzvwYh4hC8MqqMZoOfNhhKACNYw-_aPVHvCmNbdiwYOFk5NhnZCh/s1600-h/leanyer_red.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372365353701036738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZcDEhzh9NUyfSGaUpnNHW9ADX6amuGiiH8qnFrJ4rebgI9HaLRodPP0B6Cy2Q5y-brTgYGqBIAnuyehiMxp0owwubzvwYh4hC8MqqMZoOfNhhKACNYw-_aPVHvCmNbdiwYOFk5NhnZCh/s320/leanyer_red.jpg" border="0" /> </a><br /><br />Then back out to Litchfield Café. Nardia spent the next few days playing with the kids for the mornings and then each afternoon we headed out to Wangi or Walkers or somewhere else around the place. We finally got down to Blythe Homestead, an old cottage from the early mining days, to have a look around. It was interesting to read the old stories in the family album they had there and look around at the old cattle yards etc. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWkopF-oO_bg5-HR0CAltTUBT9ZAcT70zmdmUCVr5Ciy9mebdlIF42pozIHUrSYb5jYSgW1fILILfGPyk0t1HLvALyEFg0Ir_MMpr_lsLpUAC5foR2-7QvRCWOxNKP9v5gZ2TOL1MAAqha/s1600-h/blythe_water.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372367660447297874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 190px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWkopF-oO_bg5-HR0CAltTUBT9ZAcT70zmdmUCVr5Ciy9mebdlIF42pozIHUrSYb5jYSgW1fILILfGPyk0t1HLvALyEFg0Ir_MMpr_lsLpUAC5foR2-7QvRCWOxNKP9v5gZ2TOL1MAAqha/s320/blythe_water.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH2TY96Fo1nAi6BRQnCdgRcAblCQkdJ2K0swCz3yAHIgfSgN-yBRVnvr8Yv3kVyTUhX8GUt9nVsgQ3E0VaIAayC7IIu0xBtQp7j4BlzumMmKF6W8Kk-YhQbrnwXbH6lMZxTcdmCVCQnIBp/s1600-h/blythe_house.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372367650696531458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 187px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH2TY96Fo1nAi6BRQnCdgRcAblCQkdJ2K0swCz3yAHIgfSgN-yBRVnvr8Yv3kVyTUhX8GUt9nVsgQ3E0VaIAayC7IIu0xBtQp7j4BlzumMmKF6W8Kk-YhQbrnwXbH6lMZxTcdmCVCQnIBp/s320/blythe_house.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOH0Yh8_IM482ztl83NbRIniBYkncG7s_CBLsEpodotgx2R3eo4DSsIDqg0BEWv3A3H1ZCfdvFIN8jZYhYbCAFN5cJw6_kF1iOsw8XIbDca7_zkEyShBfb0c5pw4LQxC6HMi86-LMtFCVE/s1600-h/blythe_homestead.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372367637640997986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOH0Yh8_IM482ztl83NbRIniBYkncG7s_CBLsEpodotgx2R3eo4DSsIDqg0BEWv3A3H1ZCfdvFIN8jZYhYbCAFN5cJw6_kF1iOsw8XIbDca7_zkEyShBfb0c5pw4LQxC6HMi86-LMtFCVE/s320/blythe_homestead.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />We have been talking about having a BBQ dinner down at Wangi falls one day but had never gotten around to it. Well we finally did! We all headed out after work and took a big feed and some beers and sat around and enjoyed the afternoon…. Until the bloody sprinklers came on! Right on dinner time as we are finishing our meal and the massive big pop-up jet sprinklers pointed right over the table and BBQ area start up. So we had to run around like crazy people packing up the food and towels and bits while the kids thought it was great fun to spin the nozzles around and wet all the gear. Hhmmmm.<br /><br />We took the day off again to take Nardia back to Darwin. Mum and Dad had been out to the wharf at Darwin before for a meal but I hadn’t. Lovely view and a great way to spend an afternoon. But for some bizarre reason with all the great local seafood available just about every single restaurant there sold imported barramundi! What’s with that?<br /><br />We decided to head a little early to the airport so that Jordy could watch the aeroplanes. We ended up going through security and heading upstairs to watch them take off, which Darcy enjoyed as well.<br /><br />Bit sad all round the next morning when both the boys woke up and wanted to head into Lala’s tent. But not long now until we head off from here and see a bit more of the country before heading to see her in Sydney and then back to see the rest of the family at home.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPqp55U2DEHBlonMsW2RnXZhbSIc45ZLOcSK1SZeCLygq1vjoTvUWFMpZsQY8iSJt0Tj4sFOLN4dTxilbt1xQ_N5nFPyRJxz04wt1Y0omV6aBH_AFdkfndJWiLkD5ge2wra7ikCCSPWUtd/s1600-h/D_bubbles.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372367634569985970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPqp55U2DEHBlonMsW2RnXZhbSIc45ZLOcSK1SZeCLygq1vjoTvUWFMpZsQY8iSJt0Tj4sFOLN4dTxilbt1xQ_N5nFPyRJxz04wt1Y0omV6aBH_AFdkfndJWiLkD5ge2wra7ikCCSPWUtd/s320/D_bubbles.jpg" border="0" /></a>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00042984982428488326noreply@blogger.com0