BIG 4 Alice Springs IS THE BEST!!! written and photographed (except for 1) by Gracie

 

 

 

 

 

Shady camp sites.........

 

 

 

......Fun playground.......

 

 

 

....awesome jumping pillow (remember to take your shoes off)........

 

 

 

 

.....cool games room........

 

 

..........great go-karts!

 

 

.......you can even hire bikes......

 

 

.......and after your bike ride, cool off in the pool.....

 

 

 

WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR STAY!

 

The Red Centre

We have now been in and around Alice Springs for over one week and have thoroughly enjoyed discovering all that this amazing area has to offer....truly the Red Centre. The brilliant reds of the rocks in stark contrast to the amazingly white trunks of the ghost gums.......made even more vivid in the brilliantly clear sunlight that this part of Australia is renowned for.

Click on the link below to share in some of the wonderful sights
the Alice region has to offer.
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YAHTZEE

We have had so much fun playing our favourite game Yahtzee (...at least 3 times a day.)
The winner of each game gets to wear the coveted green band...and bragging rights until the next game.
Needless to say Gracie, with her  logical game plan and uncanny knack of rolling yahtzees is often the wearer of the band of honour.

I'm (Rob) not doing too well either on the scrabble board...down two games and on the table tennis table by one. Could be a long six months for me!!!!!!

Kings Canyon - by Gracie

We arrived at Kings Canyon in the afternoon and after setting up camp went on a short walk along Kings Creek. We are saving the big Rim Walk for tomorrow.

The  Kings Creek Walk was great; lots of rock hopping which I love and we saw beautiful trees and bushes.  Mum, Rob and I took it in turns to read the information boards along the way that talked about the birds and different plants along the creek bed.  We got to the end of the board walk and the information there told us that we couldn't walk any further because it was a sacred place for the aboriginal people and they still hold important ceremonies there. We closed our eyes to listen for sounds and heard birds and wind in the trees; it was a really peaceful and beautiful place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next morning we packed up camp and then set off on the Rim Walk.  The information said it would take 3-4 hours but we did it easily in 2 1/2 hours - we're fast walkers even though Mum takes lots of photos!  The first part of the walk is a really steep climb and it was really really windy.  Sometimes we felt like we might get blown over! 

 

We ate our apples in the Garden of Eden, a really beautiful place. 

 

This photo sort of shows how windy it was!

 

 

 

 

The beautiful Garden of Eden

 

 

 

 

 

We made it!

 

 

 

Uluru and Kata Tjuta....

Rob and I have both visited Uluru before and it feels a bit like being reunited with an old friend.  What a privilege it is to be in this place.  It's Gracie's first time and she's pretty impressed, although by the end of our 10.6 km ride around the base of the Rock she was understandably feeling more exhausted than impressed! 

After refreshments at the Cultural Centre café we spent a couple of hours reading and viewing the fascinating history of the region.

We rose early to see the sunrise this morning and this afternoon will do the Valley of the Winds walk at Kata Tjuta.

                                         Rob and Gracie walking across the
          salt crust of Lake Hart on our way to Coober Pedy

 

 

The spectacular Breakaways near Coober Pedy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first NT sunset - at a bush camp about 180 km from Uluru

 

 

 

Riding around the base of Uluru - Owen enjoyed it too!

 

 

 

 

...although found the flies rather tiresome!

 

 

 

Stopped for a relax and some refreshment along the ride; apples, cheese and biscuits and Lisa's delicious lollies!

 

 

 

 

Uluru - we love you!!!

 

 

 

 

Coober Pedy

Click on the link to view our two days in fascinating Coober Pedy

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The adventure continues...

Arrived in Coober Pedy Monday evening after a few eventful days on the road.

Roald Dahl audio books are keeping us well entertained as we travel the miles and it was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory enjoyably read by James Bolam from Renmark to Port Augusta.

Stopped at Burra for lunch, lots of history there, immediately visible by the beautiful old sandstone buildings.  Rob and Gracie sampled the local pies and rated them among some of the best.

Stopped for an ice-cream in Peterborough, hard to find incidentally.  According to one café employee, they only stock them in the summer! There was a café in the old picture theatre that was a real step back in time to the 60's & 70's!

We reached Port Augusta early evening and opted for a camping park which Gracie loved!  Playground got a big thumbs up as did some new friends she made during our two days there.  The plan was to spend only one night before heading off but a little setback delayed our departure.

After setting up camp we rode our bikes into to town for a take away pizza along the water front.  We planned to ride again next morning before heading off but unfortunately woke to find our bikes had been "borrowed" overnight.  Hence the second night spent in Port Augusta trying to retrieve them.

With the help of the local sherrif and CCTV footage at the camping park, by end of day the two adult bikes (somewhat worse for wear) were returned.  Unfortunately Gracie's (the really cool one!) wasn't.  Never mind, Big W have pretty cool bikes too!  Clever Rob spent some time this morning assembling the new bike and we had a great ride around Coober Pedy before lunch.  The temperature reached 36 here today so only Rob ventured out again on the bike after lunch to check out the local footy ground  where grass has replaced gravel since he last played on it with a few boys!  It was quite impressive I believe - Gracie and I took his word for it!

We're heading north again tomorrow towards that big rock but will fill you in on our great time spent in and around Coober Pedy next post.

Setting up bush camp on the Murray at Renmark

 

Over the Border

Have arrived in South Australia after two days on the road. Lunch at Echuca then drove through Swan Hill before bush camping on river at Wood Wood. Great spot for our first night in the Hawk…lots of firewood…beautiful view of the Murray……and sausages for tea

A lunch stop at Mildura and minor adjustment to van and now heading to Renmark for night.

Can’t get over the number of caravans that are for sale on side of road.

 

 

Welcome to our Blog

Hi everyone
Hope you enjoy reading our posts and viewing our pictures as we work...discover...and explore our way through the Territory. Inspired by one of Gracie's favourite series Audrey of the Outback we have named our blog Gracie of the Outback.