Devils Marbles  09/05/12

We left the Barkly Homestead at 9am & arrived at the Devils Marbles at 1pm. We planned to pick up some groceries at Tennant Creek, but just decided to get fuel & kept going. We stopped just out of town at a cemetery for morning tea. We hit the road again and stopped at the Devils Marbles. It is amazing to have such a nice place so close to the Stuart Highway. Braydon loved climbing all the rocks and we had a great afternoon. In the late afternoon we saw our first Dingo. It was also very cheap at $6.60 for the night. When we pulled in to the park there was only 3 vans, but by nightfall the place was packed with about 20 vans. We travelled 286km today.

Alice Springs  10/05/12

We left the Devils Marbles at 9.30am & travelled to Alice Springs, arriving at about 2pm. We stayed at the MacDonnell Range Holiday Park (a Big 4 caravan park), which cost $37.80 a night. It was so nice to have grass on the site instead of dirt. We had heard such bad reports from fellow travellers about Alice Springs, but we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived. Braydon was so happy that there was a good play ground and 2 jumping pillows. We travelled 402km today.

11/05/12

We took it fairly easy today. Dianne caught  up on washing. In the afternoon we went to the Information Centre to find out what we could do here, & then we went grocery shopping.

In the late afternoon we went for a walk around the caravan park, & Braydon played in the playground & on the jumping pillows.

12/05/12

Today we went to a place called the Desert Park. It was designed to teach you about the desert and the plants & animals that survive in this environment. You went on a self guided walk with a commentary headset. There were some parts that you could have an aboriginal guide, but we weren’t in time for this. There was also a bird show, where the ranger had a few different species trained & he told us all about them. He would throw little pieces of meat in the air, & the birds would catch it. They have excellent vision. It was a very professionally run place.  We had Red Rooster for tea as a pre Mothers Day treat.

13/05/12

Today is Mothers Day. The caravan park put on free pancakes. They used a huge hotplate mounted on a trailer. There was an excellent atmosphere. Then we went to the markets in the mall. They were quite different, with a lot of stalls selling different ethnic foods. It all smelt very nice. We all bought some Stockmans’ hats – well, except for Aaron as they did not have one that small. We had lunch at a local tavern which had a nice, relaxed atmosphere. We then went to the local lookout called Anzac Hill, which overlooks the town. While being dedicated to all soldiers who fought for their country, it was inspired by the men of the transport corps in World War 2 who were in charge of transporting the soldiers from their outback training camps up to Darwin.

14/05/12

We had a big day today. We drove out to Hermannsburg, & then on to Palm Valley which is in the Finke Gorge National Park. We found that Hermannsburg was fairly neat for an aboriginal community compared to some others that we had seen. The track out to Palm Valley was classed as “Severe 4 Wheel Driving”. It was about 46km, & the advice was that it would be a 3hr. return journey. We had morning tea near a creek early along the track. We then had a late lunch when we reached the place. The walk in to Palm Valley was a 1hr. loop walk. It was quite nice, & reminded us a little of Lawn Hill Gorge. I suppose the main feature of the place was the fact that there were palm trees in the middle of the desert, but for us it was more the mountain scenery and 4 wheel driving that we enjoyed. The track was not that extreme, although some people turned around.

15/05/12

Today we drove out to Standley Chasm (50km from Alice Springs), & then Simpsons Gap in the West MacDonnell National Park. We were at Standley Chasm at midday which was the perfect time because the sun was overhead & shone on the red rock. It was a picturesque walk in to the chasm. We had lunch there, & then continued on to Simpsons Gap. It was a nice place as well, & Craig spotted a few rock wallabies. Braydon had his last jump on the jumping pillows.

Uluru (Ayers Rock)  16/05/12

Today was yet another big day of travelling. We left Alice Springs at 9am, & arrived at Yulara at about 3.30pm. We got fuel at Erldunda, & then carried on. We were told that there is a mountain on the way in that many people confuse as Uluru. It is called Mount Connor, & it certainly does look like what you would imagine Uluru to look like. It is huge & red. But, finally, there it was. It looked very big & impressive. We couldn’t wait to go there tomorrow & explore it. There is only one option to stay in the area, & that is at Ayers Rock Resort. It is a self contained little town with its’ own Supermarket, Bank, Post Office & more. There is accommodation to suit everyone, & we are in the camping ground section. It costs $41.41 a night. In the late afternoon we went to the look out in the park to have a look at Uluru. Today we travelled 450km.

17/05/12

Today we went for a walk around the base of Uluru. As we were driving to it, we were both looking for the spot where you climb it. We both said that it must be on the other side because it all looked too steep where we could see. As we got closer, we saw the spot where there were people climbing, & said to each other that it must look worse than it really is from way back here. Then we pulled in to the carpark with Uluru right in front of us, & Dianne said to Craig “That’s way too steep – I’m not climbing that”. The walk around the base was 10.6 km. It took us 3 hours to walk. There was a lot of interesting information along the way about the history of the Aborigines & Uluru. Uluru reaches a height of 348m, & continues several kilometers underground; its' circumference is 9.4km.    

 18/05/12

We climbed the rock

Craig got up early this morning to watch the sunrise over Uluru. The sunrise viewing platform was packed with busloads of tourists. It was a bit disappointing as it did not appear to change colours a lot; more like the sun just shining on the rock. Once back to the van we decided that we would put Braydon & Aaron in child care so we could climb the rock. It was an expensive option, but was the only way we could climb the rock together, which is what we really wanted to do.It was yet another perfect day, so we headed down to the caravan park office to book the boys in. Unfortunately when we got there, the sign said that the rock was closed for climbing due to the wind, which was strange as where we were the trees weren't even moving. They say that any more than 20km/hr winds at the top of the rock, they stop everyone climbing it. With great disappointment we thought we would wait for the next update which was at 10am, and hopefully it would reopen. Luckily at about 9.50am they opened up the rock so we were off to take the kids to the child care so we could do the climb. With all the formalities out of the way at the child care, we  nervously drove to the rock. With our knapsack packed we headed to the rock and climbed the first section up to chicken rock. There Craig proceeded to climb the first section to where the chain started, but Di thought she couldn’t go any further as her shoes kept slipping on the rock. After three failed attempts, Craig climbed back down to see if she wanted to proceed, or at least give her the car keys so she could sit comfortably while Craig attempted the climb. With a huge amount of determination Di managed to climb up to the chain as she figured that once on the chain she would feel more secure. We both climbed the chained section relatively easily although we both had lots of rest stops to catch our breath and take in the view, and really we concentrated on just keeping going. We passed lots of people that said the chain part was the worst section, but Craig was thinking about getting down as he thought that would be worse. Once at the top of the chains, we had a good break as it was flat and safe, but we then had to climb a steep chain onto a ridge that you had nothing to hold on to with a drop straight down - or so they said as you could not see from where we were. One lady said that she had a look and chickened out, and the guy in front of us climbed the chain and then just froze. He was lying face down on the rock and said he couldn't go on. He very slowly made his way down. Craig went first, and once he started the climb yelled back to Di to say that it was ok, but he had to keep moving as if he stopped he might not be able to get going again. Di followed and we tentatively and carefully climbed that section. People continued to tell us it got easy from then on, but we still found it challenging as the markers kept going up and up. There was still a couple of really scary sections that we found challenging, but finally we reached the top. Believe it or not we saw a young guy climbing in thongs. We also passed an elderly Japanese man that had done it twice in three days, as he loved it. We celebrated the climb at the top along with a few guys that brought up some beer to have (they might have needed it for courage to come down). After about 30mins, we started to make our way down from the top. At about a third of the way down the rock Craig’s sole started to separate from his shoe, but luckily enough did not cause any real problems. We made our way down to the start of the chain descent fairly easily. On the way down the chain descent, you forget how steep it is, with some parts Di sliding on her back holding onto the chains. Craig found it relatively easy getting down the chain using the rock divots for hand and foot holds. When we finally got to the bottom we celebrated with a can of coke with Di saying that was one of her biggest achievements of her life. We then went into the village and bought some lunch from the coffee shop before heading back to pick the boys up. After picking up the boys we headed back into the village to have a look around and picked up some groceries from the IGA.  

19/05/12

Today was a funny day watching Di try to walk around and lift anything, after doing the climb yesterday. She had sore arms and legs and would have to walk out the van backwards so it did not hurt too much. She also could not lift Aaron. Craig pulled up ok with slight tightness in his legs. Today was spent catching up on cleaning up the van and washing. Craig took Aaron & Braydon to watch the Didgeridoo being played in the town centre. He also talked to a family that have been on the road for 3 years with two young girls aged 7 & 9. Braydon has played with these girls a couple of times on the playground, so it was good to catch up with their parents, who also gave us some places to see on the road. The V8 Supercars was on in the afternoon, so Braydon, Aaron and Craig watched it. We all went and watched the sunset at the Ayres Rock sunset viewing spot, which was definitely worth it. It was great to see the rock change its' colours, along with heaps of other people having happy hour.

20/05/12                                      

Not a very good start to the day today. Both Aaron & Braydon vomited through the night. We had planned on going to The Olgas today, but instead spent the day washing sheets, disinfecting the caravan and playing nurse to the sick boys. Both spent most of the day in bed. Luckily for Braydon we had the satellite set up so he could watch the V8 Supercars to take his mind off being sick. Craig was not feeling 100% either, & Di was still a bit sore from the climb.