28/5  Long drive to Ormiston Gorge West Macdonald Ranges kms120 west of Alice Springs. Nice campground only 20 sites. $20 per night.  Beautiful spot. Rose got her fix of heron photos at the gorge. Ranger slide show after tea. Quite interesting info on flora, fauna and geology of area. He said ghost gums are the blond bimbos of trees, good to look at but not much good for anything.(Sorry Nicole and Lynne).
Ran into Robin Rayment, old school mate of Nicoles. Small world.

29/5  Did the "Pound " walk. 7.4 kms. Very nice walk. Rocky track. Up hill for quite a bit. Along rocky creek bed, had to wade chest deep creek, pretty chilly. Drove to Glen Helen Resort pm. Inappropriate use of the word resort. Fairly old and tired looking. Not as Rose remembered it 31 years ago. Glad we didn't camp there.Couldn't get into gorge as water too high. Had a beer for old times sake.

30/5 Back towards Alice. Tried to go into Serpentine Gorge, but very rough and water crossing put us off. Called into Stanley Chasm. $10 per head. Privately owned aboriginal land. Narrow walk up to the chasm. Surprisingly hasn't changed since last time. Booked into Caravan Park. Teeses  arrived about 5pm, drove up from Coober Pedy. Footy on telly. Good win for Pies.Planning to go to Melbourne Port Power game tomorrow. Rob not too confident.

25/5 Kata Tjuta (Olgas) 7.4km walk, took about 3.5 hrs. Quite taxing, lots of up and down, rocky trail. Rose fell into prickle bush, wish I'd had camera, luckily not toxic. Sheer walls of the "domes" make you feel a bit dizzy looking up. Pretty hot, luckily we did walk in the morning, they recommend you finish by 11am on hot days. Too weary to walk into Walpa gorge. Back to park for a well earned swim in the pool.  Had a crack at playing digeridoo. I managed to get The Voice on TV. Rose very happy. Maybe I'll get lucky.

26/5 .Overcast and drizzly. Quite a bit of rain overnight. Head out to the Rock. Look around the cultural centre. Interesting artefacts and videos. Weather clears and we decide to walk the base. A bit of water flowing down the sides. Some great spots, particularly one waterhole. Some amazing formations. 11km flat track. Took exactly 4hrs. Pretty tired by finish. Went to cultural dance exhibition in town centre, managed to avoid getting up to impersonate a kangaroo. Bit worried about van battery, doesn't seem to be holding charge. Hope wont have to replace, not cheap.

27/5 Chilly overnight. Rose put heater on. NOT WORKING!!!!  I pull it apart to try and fix. No go, fan spindle jamming. RIP heater. Decide to vege out today.  Wondered around resort. Self guided Garden tour. Rose headbutted a tree while trying to find native figs. Dinner at Outback hotel. Barrumundi and Crocodile kebabs. Croc a bit chewy. Met couple from Tasy, planning 9 mth trip. Early start tomorrow, probably head to Glen Helen, east of Alice Springs.

23/5 Had a thong blowout last night walking back to caravan park.(foot variety). Bugger my good Havaianas. Fair bit of yelling from our indigenous brothers and sisters during the night plus barking dogs made for an interrupted sleep. Off early again. All trip we have had hundreds of motorbikes coming other way. Lots towing little trailers. Discovered Ulysses Motorcycle club had AGM event in Alice Springs last week. All heading home. Cadney Park coffee & cake $6. Rose had to stop. turned out to be instant coffee -they gave you a cup and you helped yourself- and cake in a sealed plastic bag. She decided not to partake. Free camped at Mt Connor lookout. Had spot to ourselves. Amazing. Never seen so many stars in sky. Getting ready for bed, pitch black, vehicle pulled up, people pile out. Not zombies, just busload of seniors for piss stop.

24/5 Slept like a log. Awake about 6.30. Peaceful spot invaded by mini bus full of Japanese tourists photographing sunrise on Mt Conner. Zombies preferable. Stop to photograph Uluru and Kata Tjuta on way to Yulara. Decide to book 4 nights (get 1 free). No footy on TV but do get radio. Great win in the end for Pies.

21/5  Left Peterborough shopped at Port Augusta mid morning then headed into outback country. Amazing dry lakes with islands. Almost like looking out to the Whitsunday Islands except no water. Miss "scaredy pants" got adventurous and decided she wanted to get a closer look, via a pretty dodgy track. Great views but too rough to go to far. Ate our sangos and admired the view.  Free camped at Bon Bon wayside stop. About 180 kms sth Coober Pedy. Vans everywhere. Lucky to get a spot. Quiet apart from odd truck passing.


22/5 Up at crack of dawn and off to Coober Pedy. Decide to stay there the night. Opal Inn C'van park. Wandered around town. All looked pretty familiar. Lots of Opal shops. Did a bit of noodling. Unlike last time when I couldn't get Rose to stop, she lost interest pretty quickly. Too many bloody flies. They like all our different repellents. Met little man from Hong Kong been opal mining since 1979. Makes "Moon Rocks". Tried to sell us opals -"Nice Colour". Bought a $2 piece. Big spender.Visited gallery/kangaroo orphanage. Cute 6 mth old kanga. Beer at Pub beer garden. 1 pot, cops came through twice checking out locals. Pizza at Johns as we did last time here. Still good.

No 1

Mon 19/5 Got away early today. Stopped at Inglewood on Calder Hwy. Very quiet depressing town. Many shops closed down. Has about 6 secondhand/curio shops in main street. Toasted sangos at the pub for lunch. Free camped at Horshoe Bend Mildura.  Nice spot. Bottomed out the van in a hole and broke shoe on prop leg. Easy fix luckily.  Had a fish in Murray no luck per usual.

Tuesday 20/5.  Long drive mostly flat. Grape vines and wheat fields. Lunch at Renmark. Lovely spot. Have to go back and spend some time there.  Looked at free camp spot at Terowie railway yards. Rose thought it was too spooky. No other vans, derelict buildings. Worried about zombies. Ended up at Peterborough Caravan Park. Hooked up TV aerial so Rose could get her fix of the Voice. No signal -no show.

Pre northern trip

10/514  Getting ready for our next trip away. At this stage planing on heading off around 20/5/14. Repacking the van, and working out a rough schedule. Probably go via Mildura, Pt Augusta and up the Sturt Hwy.