West MacDonnell Ranges

Meneenie Loop, Crater, Redbank Gorge, Ormiston Gorge

Today we travelled through Aboriginal land on a terribly corrugated road – where many cars had lost tail lights due to the bumpiness. We walked through a comet crater– Gosse Bluff, saw the comet crater from a distance and met a swiss cyclist named ‘beat’ who was currently cycling throughout Australia (and had been for the last 2 years)
We then stopped into 2 amazing gorges – we weren’t expecting the beauty that we saw! Redbank Gorge was a short walk through a dry river bed so we were not expecting the waterhole at the end to be full. We were able to swim through the gorge (without any crocodiles) by ourselves and enjoy the tranquillity within the walls.
Ormiston Gorge was the next stop – another amazement! This is a permanent waterhole and is quite full at the moment due to the large amount of rain this year. We decided to camp two nights here to fully enjoy the surrounds.

Ormiston Gorge – swim and pound walk, Glen Helen Gorge swim

We headed off on the 7km pound walk around the gorge, expecting a few river crossings but not expecting our path to be cut off by a deep waterhole! Lucking out camera is waterproof so we were able to swim across the waterhole, getting shoes and clothes wet but camera safe and sound! The water is cool and clean with many fish and yabbies swimming about. We were again lucky to only come across a few people so it was a very peaceful experience!
After we hung up our wet clothes and sandshoes we headed off the Glen Helen Gorge prepared for a swim. We swam across the waterhole with our Swiss cyclist friend in order to see a rock formation called the ‘Organ Pipes’ – formation was disappointing but the swim was fantastic! As we hopped out a tour group came along and one Swiss girl saw a snake swimming in the water. Rather than scream or move away from it she picked it up by the tail and asked if it was dangerous, she picked it up and threw it a few times, laughing along!! Luckily it was only a baby and it ended up only being a legless lizard – crazy!


Serpentine Gorge, Ochre pits, Ellery Creek Big Hole, Standley Chasm, Simpsons Gap, Alice Springs

Sad to leave our campsite but the need for more adventure was on the cards so we headed off towards Alice Springs. Along the way we stopped into Serpentine Gorge – a tranquil gorge where no swimming is allowed due to some rare animals and plants being present in the area. The Ochre pits were another stop where Aboriginal people of the area used to gather their paint for different uses.
Soon after we arrive at Ellery Creek Big Hole with the intention of staying there the night but the campground was terrible and many people about (long weekend) so we swam through the gorge – about 200m long (Jamie did 3 laps – go Jamie)
We continued along the Larapinta highway, stopping in at Simpsons gap and then arrived in Alice Springs

Kings Canyon

Following the grey nomads in their large vans, we journeyed onto Kings Canyon. This gorge is amazing. We did the rim walk which involved a very steep ascent but magnificent views of the canyon and a swim in the ‘ Garden of Eden’. The place was absolutely amazing but I don’t know how they wore stilettos up here when filming Priscilla!
The night was spent in the campground in ‘Kings Canyon Resort’. We had a few beers, escaped the terrible ‘entertainment’ by the racist and old nomads ‘outback roadies’ and had some beers amongst the workers in the resort – all young, mostly foreign and drunk. We then retreated back to the tent only to find ourselves not alone but accompanied by two dingoes staking out the campground. The dingoes travelled stealthily through the campground checking out what food was lying around and then disappeared off into the distance. However, at about 2am they returned – in a bigger pack and began to howl and bark around the campground – not the best sounds to wake up to in the middle of the night especially when the howls are right next to your tent! This area is quite well known for the dingoes coming close to humans due to people leaving food out for an easy feed for them.

The painted desert & Uluru-Kata Tjuta NP

Driving through the Painted Desert.
The Painted desert is situated north of Coober Pedy and is quite similar to the ‘Breakaways’ in formation but gives off more colour and the range is longer. We spent quite a bit of time driving there, looking for fossils and enjoying the scenery before we headed off for a night in Marla.


Amazing Uluru!
We made it to the Ayers rock campground around lunch time and headed straight to Uluru after pitching the tent. The photos you have seen of Uluru do not show how huge this monolith is or how complex its walls are. We spent the afternoon walking around the northern face of the rock and in the cultural centre before watching the sunset – amazing colour changes.






Over the next two days we walked around the base of the rock (10km) and walked through Kata-Tjuta (The Olgas). Both these formations have huge cultural significance to the indigenous people who were really only effected by ‘white’ man in the 1940’s. Up until then only explorers had come through, named Ayres rock(Ernest Giles -1873) & The Olgas(Gossamer? -1872) but deemed the area to hard to get to and desolate so no one really bothered to come through until a dirt road was cleared. Up until the 80’s you could camp and drive right up to Uluru and walk over the top. Now the campground and resort are 24km away and climbing up the rock is discouraged. (35 people have died climbing the rock)


The area is beautiful and green, with small springs flowing in both areas. It is hard to imagine how big both formations are until you walk right next to them. We are also very lucky at the moment that it is not peak season so we often have had times next to Uluru or within Kata-Tjuta when all you can hear is the wind, the birds or the water. It is a very special place until the tour buses arrive!



We have also seen some local reptiles – a thorny devil (Vanessa swerved to avoid the poor creature and Jamie chased it off the road), a legless lizard, a dingo (no baby in its mouth) and many birds.

Happy underground in Coober Pedy

BROWN SNAKE VANESSA SWERVED TO MISS - ISN'T SHE NICE (IT MAKES UP FOR THE FINCH SHE DROVE INTO)




Coober Pedy was the next stop – another opal mining town (This town supplies 85% of the world’s opals) where everyone lives underground, was never cool in school but is happy underground.



We decided to camp underground this time and set up our mattresses in a camping space before we explored the town. Tourism here is either mine tours or opal shopping so we decided to have a look at the desert cave hotel, the underground Serbian orthodox church and the catholic church.



We then headed off towards the nearby rock formations called the ‘Breakaways’ this was a great find that we didn’t know existed until we were told by the underground camp accommodation. The Breakaways are rock formations dating back 80 million years and the photos don’t do them justice. Included are the moon plain and the dog formation (It is a sacred area for the local indigenous people who used the area to teach the young men the ways of the world before opal was discovered around the 1840’s.


Big John’s pizza was on the menu for dinner – coat of arms after an underground tour mine where we learnt how to use two sticks to find water or opal. Watch out, we can get rich now with the use of two copper rods….

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Lake Eyre & William Creek

Knowing that the roads were still flooded we knew we wouldn’t be able to drive to or camp near Lake Eyre so we decided that the next best thing (maybe better) was to drive to William Creek – another town (only 3 ppl pop.) set up because of the Ghan railway and now exists because of its quirkiness and the small air field. We passed through the Dingo fence along the way – fence runs through QLD to WA to prevent dingoes travelling south into sheep country.



The flight over Lake Eyre was amazing. It is in flood at the moment and the hour we spent up in the air only took us to the south western corner (that’s how big it is) but it was spectacular to see the salt pan covered in water (only about half a metre deep) with bird life living around it. The area around the lake was very green and you could see where recent creeks had flooded and flowed into the lake. Part of this flight also took us over Anna Creek cattle station – the world’s biggest cattle station (about the size of Belgium) There will be lots of happy cows wondering around these parts for the next couple of months.




That evening was spent in William Creek Hotel, drinking some South Australian coopers, XXXX beer and talking to drunken people on tours and the locals (yes all 3 were present – 2 run the pub and the other owns the planes & pub). Vanessa happened to be wearing her Balmain Waterpolo t-shirt which has a logo on the front with wings (not sure why) and a drunk woman on the mail run tour came up to her and said how it was fantastic she was doing her pilot hours up here, ‘good thing to do for you young ones’. Vanessa just smiled and said ‘yes, it’s great’. The pub owners and plane owner were great to talk to – the pub has only just been taken over by them - 5 months ago. It would be a great place to own as it has a lot of history and character (every wall and ceiling in covered in hats, business cards, identification cards and photos of people who have travelled through)

Port Augusta, Eyre Peninsula & Woomera

We took off on Sunday morning back down south to Port Augusta as most roads leading to Lake Eyre were closed due to flooding and destroyed roads.
The rain was a blessing in disguise - we were arriving in Port Augusta when a light cam on in our car that told us something was wrong with the engine - nothing major in the end but it was Lucky we were in Port augusta to get it changed!
Since the car needed fixing we spent a few days along the Eyre Peninsula while we waited for the part to arrive
During our time on the Eyre Peninsula we cruised around the bay of Port Augusta – Spencer Gulf and saw Dolphins swimming near the coal power plant – how lovely. We also cruised up to where the Yorke & Eyre peninsula’s meet.
As our car needed repair we spent two days in Arno Bay and surrounds – sleepy fishing villages. We didn’t meet Old Gregg or the man that puts shells on everything but Jamie thought he saw a rocket and the pub made lovely fish cakes.
We drove back to Port Augusta on Wednesday morning, had the car fixed and then sped off to Woomera.


We were quite surprised by this town in the middle of nowhere. The main people who live here are involved in tourism, mining or military activities. Knowing this we thought it would be a quiet place with not a lot going for it except the missile park. (This park displayed replicas of missiles that were tested in the area since the 40’s and still done today for NASA and other military operations.)
We were wrong – this place has had a lot of money pumped into it, most probably for the army officers who would stay here for lengths of time but really – the greenest oval we have seen ever (grass greener than Sydney), an Olympic size swimming pool and….A 6 LANE BOWLING ALLEY. It was a proper bowling alley though you had to get your own shoes and only one lane was working properly – but hey it was fun!

Feral Feast

Day 13 – Sat 10th April
Blinman Pools – Back to Hawker – Parachilna
We awoke knowing we were going to have to back track due to most roads in the area being flooded so rather than worrying about our waylaid plans we headed off on a walk to see the ‘Blinman pools’ water holes that are usually filled all year round but we were lucky enough to see the whole creek in flood.
We then headed back to Blinman for another steak pie and a quandong pie.
We then decided to make our way to Parachilna for the night so we could re fuel on a ‘feral plate’ at the Prarie hotel.
Many hotels exist in this area because of the Ghan railway line that used to head through quite regularly picking up passengers as well as wheat from surrounding farms. This rail line ran from the late 18’s until 1980’s?? So there fore there are many abandoned towns and buildings along the road towards Alice Springs or Adelaide. The Prarie Hotel is one of those pubs that existed to serve the passengers getting off the train for a meal or for farmers in the surrounding properties. Rather than becoming a run down pub they have done it up and offer a fine dinging restaurant.
It is a pub that everyone should try to stop at not only to watch the coal train run by from Leigh Creek but also to try the Feral Plate.



This plate consisted of Emu, Kangaroo, Camel and goats cheese. To top ot all off Quandong pie was for dessert!