Kings Canyon/Alice Springs

Hi All!

Talk about commitment, I am currently sitting outside in 1 deg to write this post and my hands are almost too cold to type!

Unfortunately I am unable to upload photos again, poor reception but will try again on Monday from an internet cafe in Alice. Tomorrow we head bush again into the West MacDonnell Ranges for a couple of nights. There was a moment today where I thought we might stay put and do some day trips (trying to save another round of setup/packup!) but the sterility of this caravan park, for all its niceities, is motivating me to dig deep. That and the jump castle which seemed like a fab idea until it became apparent that either Shane or I had to sit and supervise the kids the whole time! Trying to convince the kids that hanging out with us and doing some schoolwork (minimal has been done thus far) and their journals just didn't quite work. And so the negotiations began (ie bribes etc).

Our time at Kings Canyon was sensational. We camped at Kings Creek Station which is about 40 km from the canyon and neighbouring resort. It is a working station and had a great rustic campground. Charlie has been busting to rise a camel and here he was able to realise his dream. Would have loved to post the photo of him on his camel, bursting with pride and excitement :) We had big a big communal campfire at nights and our camp oven was christened with some dubious damper but I have great plans for the next batch.
We did the rim walk on one of the days and we are in agreeance that this walk was the most spectacular to date, stunning views and wonderful rock formations. Again this was a more challenging hike for the kids but we have a great bribe going.... if they complete the walk then they get an ice-cream of choice (ie not within the usual $2 limit).

I have had a bit of a disaster with this post and seem to have lost most of it! Am too cold to rewrite it tonight so will have to fill you in on rest next time! Bye for now. Em

Kings Canyon

Hi All!

Talk about commitment,I am currently sitting outside in

Uluru

Hi again! This is Tess writing - finally!

Things are starting to chill out now and we have spent the last two days here at Uluru. Uluru is awesome! We took a walk on the Mala track around the base of Uluru. When I looked up I was scared it would fall on me - it is enormous!!!!!! We also checked out the Cultural Centre which was really interesting but unfortunately Harrison didn't think so and we couldn't stay as long as we would have liked to. Mum bought us a book today so we can read more about the aboriginal history and stories of Uluru. She is going to give us a comprehension activity for our school work from the book.

Last night Mum, Charlie, harry and I (Dad had a Nana nap)drove to the sunset viewing area to watch to colours change. During the day it was a dusty orange then it faded to bright red and then aubergine (a deep purple) and then dark brown. It was fascinating to see the effect of the sun. Tonight Dad and the boys (for a second time) are going out to see it again. This morning Dad set the alarm for 6.00am (!!) and we drove to the sunrise lookout. At first it was cloudy and you couldn't see the sun rising and then it started to rain. Lots of people left and Mum and I wanted to as well but Dad wouldn't leave. Luckily we stayed becuase it started to clear up and it looked like a huge ring of fire was encircling Uluru.

This morning we went on a 7.4km hike through Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). The walk was called the Valley of the Winds and they didn't name it for nothing! It was rated a difficult walk but after Mt Oulsen Bagge, it was like a walk in the park!

Tomorrow we are heading to Kings Canyon. Will keep you posted ASAP.

Tess :)

Oodnadatta Track

Hi! Sorry you've got me again. We seem to be so busy during the days and Tess is sound asleep as I type. If there is time in the morning before we leave, i'll get her to write a few words.

The photo on your right is of the kids with Lili, Evie and Orlo on the Blinman Pools walk in the Flinders Ranges. I thought it was pretty cute :) Middle photo is at Coward Springs and the left photo is of our trailer set up without the annex (kitchen is pulled out at the back) - for you Jane x

Since our last post we have travelled to Leigh Creek via Port Augusta (big backtrack involved) where we picked up our new wheel and open roof rack. Now we look like real outback travellers, complete with firewood strapped to the roof racks for campfires at night (thanks Sara and David for the tip!). Leigh Creek was quite a surprise really. All the houses are exactly the same (cream weatherboard transportables) and the streets are all identical with lovely gum trees and native plants - quite a contrast to the bleak countryside surroundings. I was quite sad to miss one of my old students from Adelaide who is now the Vice Principal at the Leigh Creek Area School, she chose a terrible time to go to Canada!

From Leigh Creek we headed north to Maree and then west on the Oodnadatta Track. The roads here were actually better than in the Flinders and we have had no more tyre troubles (Murphy's Law in action there!). Last night was spent at a gorgeous little oasis Coward Springs. We enjoyed a refreshing dip in the natural spas when we arrived before setting up for the night. We didn't put the annex up for the first time, mostly because it was an overnight stay and we couldn't be bothered but also because for the first time the weather was warm enough to hang outside around the campfire for dinner. After the kids went to bed, Shane and I watched a dingo hovering only metres from our tent. Needless to say we were glad that the kids (particularly Tess who had shown grave concern) didn't see the big dog and were fastidiously clean in our pack up of the dinner and kitchen!

Today we drove through William Creek (dropped in to the Pub) and on to Coober Pedy (which I have referred to as Cooper Pedy for ever before being corrected by my daughter over dinner!). The Old Timers Mine was a great delight to both the kids and Shane and I this afternoon. Only 20 years ago when they were extending the museum to include a lower entry point, they came upon an opal vein worth $50,000! They have left a couple of veins within the mine for visitors to see - I wonder how many have tried their luck at excavation whilst doing the self guided tour over the years? I imagine that the closed circuit TV would discourage many.

Tomorrow we head north to Kulgera (?) which is about half way to Uluru. Sunday we'll arrive at Uluru for a couple of days before heading on the Kings Canyon and the West Macdonald Ranges.

Kids still having a ball. Harry is in a perpetual state of excitement. I think most of it has to do with having his beloved Dad about 24/7. Harry will tell Shane how much he loves him at least a dozen times a day! Tess and Charlie seem to have slipped into the travelling zone nicely. They are particularly happy when out bushwalking and exploring, lots more of that to come! Life around the campsite is pretty cruisy. We have a bit of a jobs roster going and they are becoming more useful (particularly Tess) when breaking camp or setting up. It feels as though we have been on the road for weeks, but it has been only 11 days! How wonderful to think that we still have 8 weeks to go :)

Hope you are all well. Em x

Hi All! I'm writing this at the Wilpena Pound Resort Bar, unfortunately the connection is not allowing me to upload photos so sorry about the absence of pics! We have had a rather eventful few days which has resulted in a spending an unscheduled extended stay here at Wilpena. The highlight has been that our dear friends Rose, Evie, Lili, Orlo and Saxon have also decided to stay on with us - we have had enormous amounts of fun exploring the Flinders Ranges with them. Our adventures started last friday as we departed Broken hill for Wirrealpa Station at the north west corner of the Flinders (about half an hour W of Blinman for those who are familiar). We made the decision to take 230km of dirt back roads from Yunta to get there, saving ourselves what we thought would be lots of time! Unfortunately there began our downfall. We ended up blowing a tyre about a million miles from nowhere and driving 60km on average dirt road at dusk with average spare tyre on car, no more spares to cover distinct possibility of another flat and kangaroos everywhere! Fortunatley we arrived at the station safely and spent a fabulous couple of days exploring. However our tyre woes continued. There are no spare tyres for our car in the whole state and our decision to get a spare wheel also meant that we had to extend our stay in SA whilst we waited for tyres and wheel. After much deliberation we decided to travel in convoy south to Wlipena Pound, Rose was ready to take us all should we get another flat on the dirt roads. Our arrival was safe and Rose and kids checked into the Wilpena Resort whilst we set up our trailer in a powered site (the $15 heater we purchased the day before we left has been gold!). We've done three fantastic walks culminating in a walk to the top of Mount Oulsen Bagge today which in on the edge of the pound. This was rated a very difficult walk - we ascended over 400m in only 2.3km and it is not recommended for young children. However we were not deterred - the thought of visiting Wilpena Pound without seeing it was too much! The kids were amazing, great little walkers and not a single complaint or whinge (probably too buggered!). If they are feeling anything like I am tonight, then I reckon there will be some sore bods tomorrow. Anyway I was hoping to post a photo from the top, will have to try next time.
A few of you have asked about sleeping in the trailer. We have all settled in surprisingly well. We're wearing thermals and pjs to bed and kids are really comfy on their thermarests. The last two mornings we have all slept in til nearly 9am - true Fuller/Montague style (have been having late nights with Harrison kids watching DVDs in resort room whilst parents drinking at bar!).
Tomorrow we are picking up our spare tyre and an open roof rack to store it on. Then we head north to Leigh Creek before starting up the Oodnadatta track.
Must go, am almost out of time. Sorry about spelling mistakes, no time to edit! Em x

We finally left on our adventure at 9.20am Monday! Our first stop was the Blue Mountains where we saw the three sisters and a really steep cable car which freaked me out a bit. We had the yummiest bacon and roll for lunch. Charlie said it tasted so good he dreamt about it! Our next stop was Orange where we got a tour of our friend Ross's farm in the back of his ute - it was freezing cold! We went to the top of a hill which was 3000ft high, the next day it snowed on that hill! We didn't arrive in Dubbo until late and it was pouring with rain so out first night was spent in a motel. Day 2 was a boring 10 hour drive to Broken Hill, not much to see on the way. Again, we arrived late so this time we spent the night in a cabin - so much for our campertrailer trip! The next morning we drove to Silverton and found a cool campsite at Penrose Park. It has lots of different animals, talking birds, goats, parrots and peacoks. It also had heaps of cool swings. Charlie and I both got about a thousand bindis in our bike tyres so Dad had to buy new tyres. At 5.00pm we went for a beer (pink lemonade for us) at the Silverton pub. then we drove up to watch the sunset at Mad Max's lookout. The next day Dad tookk us down an old Silver mine. We got to wear hard hats with head torches on them and go down deep underground. There was a 7 foot Danish man and the ceiling was really low, even harry had to duck sometimes. We went doen 100ft and I was scared the roof was going to collapse on us. The man told us that boys as young as 8 went to work in the mine for 12 hours a day. By the time they were 13, most had bad lung disease and died! That night we made a campfire and toasted marshmallows, they were very yummy! Today we are driving to the Flinders to camp with some of our friends from Adelaide. Bye!

Day 1

We left at 9:20 and our first stop was the Blue Mountains. WE saw the three sisters and a cable car you could go down

The Weekend Before

Two days to go and an awful lot to do! No pics yet, but we are getting very excited:) The weather map is showing a super cold snap to move through NSW mid next week with lots of rain, could be a wet and chilly start! Stay tuned for Tess's updates as we continue our adventure.