30 July – Darwin

Now that we have been in one place for a while the girls have caught up on housework and it’s obvious that the guys are falling short in the dirty undie count on wash day. We are only trying to help out by trying to reduce the laundry effort.

We have constant battle with the green ants that seem to drop out of nowhere onto everything or run up your legs while you sit under the awning reading a book. The sandflies are another challenge inflicting itching bites but there are many remedies around that supposedly prevent the bites or alleviate their after affects. After trying several lotions we have had varying results and are still looking for the magic potion.

DW and DJ had a tour of Darwins WW2 underground oil storage facility that was built for the navy but never used.

Once again we topped the day off with a lovely dinner at another great foodie area, Cullen Bay, Darwins answer to Melbournes Docklands precinct.

29 July - Darwin

Another easy day - this time a walk around Darwin CBD and then a tour of the military museum. Here's some of the team showing they're very happy to be off on another excursion.

The day was topped off with a spectacular sunset and picnic dinner at Mindil Beach markets.

Yet again, we wonder what the poor people are doing.

28 July – Litchfield to Darwin

Another easy drive up the Stuart Highway or so we thought until we lost Gordo and Kaz. Anyway, we all ended up at the caravan park which happens to be under the flight path of Darwin airport and one of the RAAF fighter squadrons. Bugger, there does not appear to be any curfew.

We visited the Darwin museum/art gallery in the afternoon then finished the day off with an evening down at the wharf which included seafood and crocodile meals. The moonrise was spectacular, featuring a large, almost blood red orb hanging over Darwin.

Gordo got all enthusiastic about feeding chips to the huge sunfish alongside the wharf. This is probably the closest Gordo will get to a fish despite all the fishing gear he has brought with him.

27 July - Litchfield

Today we visited the main the tourist sites in Litchfield, including Wangi Falls and Florence Falls both of which are idyllic settings, each which with two waterfalls cascading into deep swimming holes.

The good news is we arrived a couple of days after these swimming holes were reopened after crocodile scares. The bad news is the David W was bitten on the back of the hand, allegedly by a crocodile. We are now learning to deal with a variety of bitey things, including ants and spiders.

The unfortunate thing is the guys now realise they getting a bit old and now need trainer bras.



Wangi Falls





Florence Falls

25 July - Elliot to Mataranka

Early morning rise (again) to watch the sunrise and bird flypast.

We had a morning tea of barra and chips at Daly Waters pub which a bit of an outback legend. Some of the amusing sights are the bra collection and the thong trees. Leave it to your imagination.



Met up with Barry and Keran at Mataranka. We swapped travel tales and then went ff for a swim down at the hot water springs. Beautiful.

Finished the evening under the stars with our Christmas in July dinner with superb pork and beef cooked by the Williams team.

26 July - Mataranka to Batchelor

Before another straightforward drive up the Stuart Highway to Batchelor we said our goodbyes to the Challengers. Morning tea saw us meet up for a coffee with Kaz’s cousin, Julie, at Katherine.

After morning tea we continued on to Batchelor where we set up in a lovely bush land setting.

24 July - Wycliffe Well to Elliot

Morning tea saw us at Tennant Creek overland telegraph station.

Drove through (as we all would) and at the end of town we turned down a road without any signage that ended at a large lake teeming with bird life. We knew about the lake from research and contacts.

We set up camp beside the lake and were entertained all afternoon by non-stop fly pasts of 100s of birds, including cormorants of various varieties, pelicans and kites. That evening we enjoyed the warm night air beside our first campfire.

23 July - Alice Springs to Wycliff Well

Today was a straight drive up the Stuart Highway and at last it’s getting warmer.

Our stop this evening was a caravan park with a people carrying miniature railway. We had a ride around the property but train was so slow, probably due to the haphazard track, that we decided to walk the return journey and we beat the train. Can't complain really; we had a ride in a train and not a kid in sight. Well some people enjoyed it.

22 July - Alice Springs

We had a quiet day in Alice shopping, car washing and preparing for the next stage of our journey.

21 July - Arltunga and Trephina Gorge

Another day trip from Alice, this time to visit the old gold mining town of Arltunga. If you think Alice was isolated in the 1880s then Arltunga was even more so. There are many relics of the gold mining town spread through the bush here and you can only wonder how they managed to get steam engines and boilers through the desert from Adelaide by camel in those times.





We loved the scenery, especially at Trephina Gorge. Another been there, done that to mark off the list.

20 July – Chambers Pillar

After 150Kms of corrugated and flooded sections of road we reached Chambers Pillar, a sandstone thing sticking out of the desert. The highlight of the trip seemed to be the medium bags of chips we purchased at Mary Vale station general store – the bags were huge and we are now chipped out for the rest of the week.

Ok, Chambers Pillar was good but, after a short visit we went back to the general store to get ice creams. The countryside was nice; decorated with regular sprinklings of green cans and burnt out cars. We can only guess a burnt out car is worth more than a broken down car and dumps of green cans are where people break down or get bogged for a time.

19 July – Alice Springs

An easy day with a couple of trips to the local tourist traps – the telegraph station and desert park. The flying bird display at the park was great.



Still cold with daily top temps only a couple of degrees higher than Melbourne and very cold nights.

18 July – Alice Springs

After a short drive to Alice we met up with David and Chris Williams. Soon after our arrival at Alice I thought Kaz was making a cake in her van but it turned out the flour had escaped from one of the overhead cupboards during the trip out of Rainbow Valley. Gordo will have to learn to drive more gently.

To make matters worse Kaz made Gordo clean all the mud off the van accumulated on the trip into Rainbow Valley. Needless to say, due to specific driving instructions from my navigator, our van remained fairly clean.

The afternoon was filled with cleaning, washing and shopping. We’ve decided to eat out at an Indian restaurant tonight and because of our lack of local knowledge Chris resorted to asking one of the local taxi drivers who appeared he would be familiar with that cuisine. Hopefully we have the right info.

17 July – Rainbow Valley

On the road again, this time towards Alice Springs then a short 22Km drive over corrugated road to a beautiful campsite at Rainbow Valley saw us get only 3 broken glasses in one of the caravan drawers. People come here to photograph the multicoloured sandstone rock formations, especially at sunset.



We had another unpowered camp tonight so no electric blankets with a freezing night.

The prohibited words list has been drafted by Kaz but there were several objections to the arbitrary inclusions of several “f” words like “fruit”. Think more consultation is required.

16 July - Kings Canyon

No Driving – well only a little bit out to Kings Canyon for the walk around the rim. Maree volunteered to mind the car while David, Gordo and Kaz did the walk. It’s spectacular and well worth the effort.



Still no guidelines on the prohibited words that incur a penalty to go into the swear box.

15 July - Mt Ebenezer HS to Kings Canyon

Only 2 hours drive today and we reached our first real tourist spot at Kings Canyon resort. I camped here beside the creek in 1984 when there was nothing except a very small camp group and very basic walking track.

Today there is a sealed road all the way, flush toilets, showers, power, WiFi Internet and most other creature comforts. So much for the “outback experience”.

We did a couple of walks this afternoon and got some great photos of Kings Canyon and Kathleen Springs.



Especially amusing were the melons that grow along the roads and paths in the area.



Kaz is still on about the swear box and has been requested to provide a list of banned words with fees to be incurred for each.

14 July - Coober Pedy to Mt Ebenezer HS

More driving. I seemed to have forgotten the vast size of this country but despite the remoteness and huge distances we have seem hundreds of vans and camper trailers under tow and dozens of motor homes. Hope someone is still working.

At the NT border we received a big welcome. See pic.



We paid a $1.77 a litre for diesel today but I guess we need to get used to it. After a long days drive we stopped at Mt Ebenezer roadhouse which was ‘find a spot out the back somewhere’ in a vast open paddock. At least we had showers and toilets which usually keeps the ladies happy.

However, Kaz is not happy with some of the language, sometimes even including hers. We suggested she provide guidelines as to what words are offensive but it seems any that starts with F is a candidate if it is used with intention.

13 July - Woomera to Coober Pedy

After an incredible thunderstorm and downpour overnight at Woomera we had a quick tour of the rocket park and then set off north. The headwind gradually picked up during the morning until both Gordo and I had enough off it by the time we reached Coober Pedy, just after lunch.

We booked into a park soon after our arrival and then went for a walk around some of the opal shops. When we returned to the park there was a big queue waiting for sites.


During the walk Maree said “It’s windy enough to blow a dog off a chain”. DJ said “you’d know what that would be like”. The meaning of all this will become apparent in later postings.

We considered a day trip from Coober Pedy to William Creek, up the Track to Oodnadatta and then back to Coober Pedy via the Painted Desert. We found out the Track is closed both north and south of William Creek due to the recent rain so that plan is a no go.

Early days on the road showed our teamwork was not great with setting up, packing up and navigating, This has resulted in a few F bombs which are gradually getting less as the teamwork develops.

12 July – Burra to Woomera

After a near freezing night at Burra we had another day on the road with a bit more head wind. We did some shopping and had lunch at Port Augusta then started the trek inland.

Not much of a day for tourist things – just more driving. We stopped at Woomera for the night and could not get a powered site because they were gone by 2:30pm. We set up at the back of the park which is like a large paddock and Easts ended up the neighbours 2 metres from them.

11 July – Red Cliffs to Burra

At least today was better than yesterday with respect to the weather. Once over the border into SA we had a few options through the Riverland to Burra. The navigator stuck to the windscreen told me one way while the navigator stuck to the passenger seat told me another.

At this point I wondered why men nearly always choose female voices for their car navigation systems. Anyway, I knew one could be switched off and the other must be obeyed. So that was an easy decision but I think we went a route less travelled.

We were having a good run when we stopped at Burra (which was our planned overnight stop) for afternoon tea. We then saw Jan Myerscough, with who we went to NZ with in 2006, walking her dog. The short story is we stopped in Burra for the night.

10 July - Melbourne to Red Cliffs

First day out and 4Ks down the road from home our van got comprehensively crapped on by a bird. I thought this would be a sign of good luck but it was just a sign of more crap to come for the day.

We had a pretty good run until we turned north on the Tulla freeway to head north. The temperature went from 14 to 9 and most of the rest of the day was 70km head winds with driving rain.

Morning tea at Malmsbury was a dismal affair with 4 of us huddled in the service alcove of the public toilets. Lunch at Wycheproof wasn’t much better but by afternoon tea at Ouyen the rain and wind had died down a bit.

Finished the day at Red Cliffs with an average of 14.7 L/100Km which is the worst ever for the Prado. A similar trip 20 years a go with a Fairlane and pop top van was about double that consumption so we can’t complain.