A Day in the Hills

27th June 2013

After a good nights sleep we woke early and got ourselves out the door for a day of exploring the Adelaide Hills. We had a beautiful start to the day as we drove up into the hills, with the views out to the city and the coast unfolding below.

Our first stop was at Mount Lofty, where we got a panoramic view of the city on what was a cool but bright sunny day. We then hit the road again bound for Hahndorf, the oldest German Town in Australia.

The girls at Mt Lofty Lookout

We stayed off the major roads today and were very glad we did, the scenery in the hills was just beautiful. On the way to Hahndorf we stopped at Stirling where the girls stretched their legs and had a play in the local park while Rach fossicked in a couple of shops.

The girls playing at Steamroller Park - Stirling

We arrived at Hahndorf around 10.30am and spent the best part of 3 or 4 hours here, tasting cheeses, fossicking in the shops, checking out the beautiful local produce and we also enjoyed a superb lunch at the German Ale House.

Driving into Hahndorf

The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting just a few of the wineries that this area is well known for. We went to The Lane, Nepenthe and Bird in Hand wineries which were all very beautiful and had great wines. Rach and I enjoyed the afternoon of tasting and the inevitable purchasing of several wines.

Chloe & Mum enjoying lunch in Hahndorf

We drove back into Adelaide at sunset and once again the drive back through the hills was just superb with Rach & I both saying that we could spend 2 or 3 weeks just exploring everything this area alone has to offer, oh well looks like there has to be another trip made in the future.

Adelaide

26th June 2013

We spent much of the first part of the day following things up regarding the car and the break in at Coober Pedy. Firstly we drove out to Prospect, just on the other side of the CBD to have the front window replaced. While we waited we wandered around and checked out the area and found a good coffee stop along the way.

When we were walking back to get the car we said hello to an elderly Greek man who was doing some gardening in his front yard and shortly after we were on our way with a freshly cut branch full of Mandarins from one of his trees, which was really nice.

After collecting the car we drove into the city centre, found a carpark and walked around the city centre. Our first stop here was the NAB Bank where Rach was hoping to find out if her replacement bank card had arrived. No such luck I'm afraid with the teller advising that its on its way but won't be here until Friday, which gives us one more day than we had planned to see the sights of Adelaide, which is good.

We then went on to explore Rundle Mall and some of the shops, where the girls picked up a new track suit each, we also grabbed some lunch and found the Blackebys Old Sweet Shop (the oldest sweet shop in SA), where we treated ourselves to some sweet treats.

The girls, complete with new tracksuits, outside Blackebys

The afternoon was spent at the Adelaide Zoo which was excellent. The highlight was getting to see the 2 Giant Pandas, Wang Wang & Funi, which are the only Giant Pandas in the Southern Hemisphere, which the girls were pretty excited about.

Wang Wang enjoying some Bamboo

The girls at Adelaide Zoo

When we got back to Terry & Cindy's place we were once again treated to a great meal and we enjoyed another good night catching up, filling them in on the days events and planning a trip to the hills tomorrow.

Our very own Giant Pandas

Dinner with The Clarke Family

Onward & Southward

25th June 2013

We rose with the sunrise this morning and after breakfast quickly packed down the van and hit the road bound for Adelaide.

Window patched up for the drive to Adelaide

Today was a full day of driving, where we covered about 600kms driving through some varied countryside, from flat desert through to rolling green hills surrounding Adelaide. Apart from a couple of fuel stops, we stopped at Woomera, which made for an interestiing break n the journey and then for lunch at Port Augusta.

Driving into Woomera greeted by Long Tom Rocket

Woomera was established in 1947 as a joint project between the British and Australians and has been used for testing rocket and weapons capabilities, the first Australian Satellite was also launched from here in 1967. There was a large display in the town centre of missiles, planes and rockets which have been tested over the years. There was also a large mobile green canon called "George" which the girls really took a liking to.

The girls in Woomera Town Centre

Chloe in front of Blue Steel

We arrived into Adelaide around 5pm which meant we hit the city centre at peak hour, which was a but of fun with the van on board. We are staying with some friends, Terry, Cindy and their son Sam and they live only a short distance from the Adelaide CBD which should make for a great base for us to explore the city and surrounds from.

After a great meal, catching up and getting some advice on what we should not miss while we are in Adelaide, we called it a night. Again it's great to have friends who are willing to interrupt their lives & routines to allow us to stay with them on our journey and for that we are very grateful.  

Coober Pedy

24th June 2013

Tell today was the worst start to any day on the trip we have had so far. We were having breakfast when Rach needed to go outside to grab something from the car for the girls. Shortly after she came in and told me that the car had been broken into, which I couldn't believe.

I went out to find the passenger window smashed & glass everywhere. We soon realised that Rach's purse was in the car and had unfortunately been grabbed. Luckily (if you can call it that), there was no cash, just the cards that had to be cancelled and the obvious inconvenience.

Not a great way to start the day

As the morning went on, the local police attended, took details etc and as I continued to clean up the mess we had a sinking feeling in our stomachs as we realised that our new camera complete with 3 memory cards full of photos from the trip had also been stolen, not happy Jan to say the least.

The worst part about it, was that when staying in the van our routine is to grab all the electronics out of the car, however because we treated ourselves last night and changed our routine, we had missed grabbing these out of the car. We are hoping that we get lucky and the police may turn them up in the future, but we are sure not holding our breath. At least we have a heap of photos on our phones, so not all is lost.

After discovering the camera missing, we had to go into the local police station to add the details to the report before returning to patch up the window, have lunch and decide whether to stay another night in Coober Pedy or leave.

You have to be careful in more ways than one in Coober Pedy

We decided on the later, as I have to get the repairs done in Adelaide and so we packed our things and checked out a couple of site before leaving town. We first went to an Underground Church which was pretty interesting to see before going to the Old Timers Opal Mine.

Outside Underground Church

Inside Underground Church

Here we had a self guided walk through an old Opal Mine (complete with hard hat) which was just fascinating. The mine we went through had been opened in 1916 and also included original underground housing that had been hand carved out of the rock, it really was unbelievable. At least we left Coober Pedy on a better note!

Entering the Old Timers Mine

Inside the Opal Tunnels

Underground House - Coober Pedy

We made one more stop at an Opal Store the girls had visited the day before, where they purchased some gifts and a couple of souvenirs, before we hit the road and headed south toward Adelaide.

We had earmarked a bush camp a couple hundred kms away, arriving around 6.15pm. After a quick set up, we cooked dinner and settled in for what looks like a cold night ahead. We have vowed not to let the events of this morning ruin our trip, as we have some photos, we have our journals and memories and most of all we have each other and no one can take that away from us.

Desert Country - South Australia

23rd June 2013

We woke to a fantastic sunrise over desert country this morning, which was a great way to start the day, albeit pretty cold again. After breakfast, we packed down and set off for Oodnadatta, some 130kms away.

Not long after we started we saw a dingo on the plains and for once it didn't go scooting off, so we actually got a good look at him. He was actually quite curious, as while we were stopped grabbing some photo's he came right up to the van to check it out.

Dingo near Arckaringa Station - SA

We continued to drive for a little while before coming into mud flats for about 20kms, meaning that the car and van got a 4wd work out, which was fun. We also made it onto Arckaringa Station, home of the Painted Desert, which was stunning.

Settings their names in stone - Painted Desert Lookout

Painted Desert Lookout - SA

The area for most part represented wasteland, with very little growing on it and very little sign of life, unbelievably this is a cattle station. We then came across the Painted Desert which was made up of a small series of hills which had layers of white, pink, yellow, black & red which just looked amazing. As quickly as the Painted Desert appeared it disappeared again and we continued the last 80kms onto Oodnadatta.

Welcome to Oodnadatta

We drove into Oodnadatta at about 11.30am, a town of about 180 people and stopped at the famous Pink Roadhouse that this town, literally in the the middle of nowhere, is known for. We had a great lunch & purchased yet more souvenirs before taking in some sights (it was Sunday, so nothing was open, not that it would have made that much of a difference anyway to be honest) before leaving and taking the dirt road bound for Coober Pedy about 200kms away.

Lunch inside the Pink Roadhouse - Oodnadatta

The girls complete with souvenir shirts

I said before about the area of the Painted Desert looking a bit like a waste land, but it had nothing on the area that we drove through to get to Coober Pedy, there was nothing. The highest shrub we saw for most of the way was about 10cm high, with much of the area being referred to on the maps as Moon Plain, such is the outlook over the land, it was pretty awesome to see though.

Driving on the Moon Plain

We stopped at the dog fence about 20kms out of Coober Pedy, which is the fence built to stop dingoes entering the southern part of Australia, apparently. So after a quick photo, we drove into town, and found our accommodation for the night. We have decided to treat the girls to stay in an underground motel, which they are very excited about.

So after checking in, we drove back in to town, watched the sunset & moonrise at the same time over Coober Pedy, which was really cool. The girls checked out an opal shop and we grabbed some supplies before heading back to the motel for the night.

Sunset over Coober Pedy

Moon rise over Coober Pedy at the same time

In the motel, we practised 2 plays that the girls had written throughout the afternoon, which was a lot of laughs. We are hoping to be able to make these into short movies before getting home, could be interesting.

Our underground motel - Coober Pedy

And We're Bound for South Australia!

22nd June 2013

Well we took our time this morning as we had planned to catch up with Sandra at around 10am before she started work, that and the fact that it had got down to 0.1 degree overnight, meant we weren't in a rush to head away from the heater anyway, so it worked out very well.

Checking out the Emus at Erldunda with Nana San

Once we had thawed out, we spent the morning with Sandra having a coffee and chatting some more before saying our goodbyes. We went up and saw the Emus which were on the property and the girls also had their photos taken with a large echidna and frilled  neck lizard float which was pretty quirky. The girls were also treated to some gifts from Sandra which was very kind.

Told you they were quirky?

We got on the road just after 11.30am, bound for the South Australian border which was only 90kms away. When we got to the border we stopped for a photo and had planned to have lunch there, however the flies were that bad that we took the photo and had to quickly jump back in the car so we weren't carried away.

At the SA Border before the flies tried to carry us away!

So after eating lunch in the car we continued on our way. This morning we had made a slight change of plans and decided to head toward Oodnadatta and the iconic Pink Roadhouse and after a little research decided that the best way to go was through an area known as the Painted Desert and again it was a great call.

We drove on the highway seeing very little for 200kms apart from burnt our car bodies along the side of the road. I kid you not we would have seen about 15 in different spots along the Hwy. We drove until Cadney Roadhouse, where we stopped for fuel before turning onto the Painted Desert Road, enroute to Oodnadata.

Camping near Painted Desert SA

We drive for about 40kms on what was a pretty good dirt road until about 5pm when we decided to pull up for the night. We found a beautiful area with small ranges around us, set up collected some fire wood and then climbed one of the hills where we sat and watched a the sunset which was great as the colours changed on the ranges around us. After dinner we sat around the fire, reminisced about some of the highlights of our trip, had a good laugh & toasted marshmallows before turning in for the night.

Sunset in the SA Desert

The girls enjoying the fire under the moon 

Climbing "The Rock"

21st June 2013

A later start this morning, given the full on day we had yesterday, meaning that after breakfast, showers and pack down it was about 10.15am before we left the caravan park. The girls were very keen to climb "The Rock" today so we headed straight there.

The climb up Uluru, for those who haven't seen it is almost vertical for about 800m up to the top of the rock and further on from there. After about 50m, there is a chain for climbers to use to pull themselves up the face of the rock, pretty challenging stuff, but as I said, the girls were keen.

So we set off on the climb and after reaching the chain, I thought that would be as far as we'd go, but again the girls were still keen, so we pushed on. We climbed another 200 - 300 metres up, when the height became a bit too much for Mags, so as we agreed at the start, (it was one in all in)  we all edged our way back down to the base. I was so proud of the girls for even wanting to give it a go, let alone get as far as they did.

Yes it is that steep - on the way down after our climb

After a bit of consoling at the base, we walked a portion of the base walk and took in some significant aboriginal sites which included some areas of rock art, which was just fantastic to see. We then had to go back into town and grab a few things before saying goodbye to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

Walking the base of Uluru

It really was an amazing experience, for me Uluru certainly lived up to expectations and it will be a place I will return to again without a doubt!

We left Yulara around 12.30pm heading for Erldunda, which was a roadhouse / caravan park that George's (Rachel's uncle from Darwin) wife, Sandra was living and working at, so given that it was only 245kms away, we had to stop and say hello.

We arrived around 3.45pm and found Sandra still at work, so we said a quick hello before setting up camp for the night. After her shift, Sandra came down to say hello where we caught up for a little while, before Sandra had to call it a night and we organised to catch up again in the morning before she started.

The night was spent at the tavern on site, where we treated ourselves to some good pub food and settled in to get my fix of Friday Night Football. West Coast played Hawthorn and unfortunately we lost, but regardless it was a good game, especially given that it was the first game I had seen in about 4 weeks.

Almost the perfect way to finish another awesome day on our travels!

Uluru / Kata Tjuta National Park

20th June 2013

Well true to our word we woke at 5.45am today, had a quick coffee and set off for the sunrise viewing area for Uluru. The rain had stopped, but it was still cloudy, but we went anyway hoping for some sort of break in the cloud as the morning unfolded.

Once again when we got to the viewing area we were the first ones there, however that didn't last for long as more and cars and tour buses arrived. Still the viewing area was well laid out and at no stage were we surrounded by too many people, also the weather was probably still playing its part.

The sunrise came and went pretty much behind the veil of the clouds, with it teasing us every now and then as it lit up Kata-Tjuta (The Olgas) in the distance but never really hitting the rock. True to form, I wanted to give it every opportunity and so we stayed for the best part of 2 hours and I reckon I took about 50 photos, not bad for something that didn't move!

Sunrise at Uluru - apparently

Having said that, what was spectacular to watch was how throughout the morning low level cloud would move in and catch the top of the rock, at one stage engulfing the entire top ridge, before being moved away by the wind. It was very graceful to watch, albeit bloody cold once again.

Uluru

We returned to the car, had breakfast and went out to Kata-Tjuta, which was about 50kms away. While we were heading out that way, the clouds continued to break up and by the time we got to the sunrise viewing area there was more blue than grey and although still cold, the sun was a welcome heat source.

Kata Tjuta (The Olgas)

Our the next stop was at Malpa Gorge, which was a beautiful walk into one of the gorges of Kata-Tjuta. Once again the photos can not capture just how spectacular and grand this rock formation really is. As we walked through, the walls towered above us and we all felt very fortunate to be experiencing this together as a family.

Malpa Gorge

After the walk out, we replenished with some snacks, as for all we had seen this morning, it was still only 10.45am and so we made our way to the Valley of the Winds for a more challenging walk within Kata-Tjuta.

Valley of the Winds - Kata Tjuta

On this walk, there were three options of walking trails in and around the base of Kata-Tjuta. The girls were not that keen on another hike, especially after their early start, but to their credit they worked through it and we managed to complete the medium length hike, which was 5.4kms, before making our way back to the car.

       

Valley of the Winds

The hike was again, sensational. We walked in and around the base and into the heart of Kata-Tjuta. The colour and texture of the rock formations were just beautiful and along the way we spotted lots of Zebra Finches & Budgerigars flying around as well as passing by a small waterfall and spring topped up by yesterday's rain.

Valley of the Winds

After the hike, it was time for lunch. The clouds had all but disappeared by this stage and with the back drop of Kata-Tjuta, it was a great spot. After lunch, Chloe once again pulled out her violin and played another piece in front of this amazing back drop, a perfect way to end our visit.

Not a bad view

We went back to town, where we topped up supplies before going to the town square and watched a traditional aboriginal dance performance for about to an hour which was great to see. After this we went back to the camp started getting dinner ready before making a late decision to put that on hold and head back out to the rock for sunset and boy are we glad we did.

The girls having a ball at sunset

It was packed when we got there, but Rach dropped me off and then found a carpark. After a few photos, I walked up to the car to find the girls scoffing minties, sitting on the roof of the car and generally having a ball. Couple this with the colour of the rock at sunset, it almost looked as if it was glowing such was the colour change, it really was just the best way to finish an awesome day in Uluru- Kata Tjuta National Park.

Uluru at Sunset - magnificent

It's Raining on the Rock

19th June 2013

Well the forecast was certainly true to its word, with the rain starting some time through the night and basically continuing throughout the entire day, but it didn't stop our enthusiasm for going out to get our first taste of Uluru.

So after a slow start with the heater going in the van (yep its just paid for itself) to warm us up on what promised to be another cold day in the centre, we decided to venture into the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

After paying for our 3 day pass into the park, we drove to the sunrise viewing area to get our bearings for when the weather broke in the next day or two. Although it was bloody freezing and drizzling rain, it was a fantastic time to go as we were the only people there and got to enjoy our first real site of Uluru by ourselves which was a very special moment for all of us.

Our first real look at Uluru - sensational

After about an hour at the lookout, we drove to a waterhole at the base of Uluru where there was a great walk which took in some rock art, dream time stories and it also led to a small waterfall running off the side of  Uluru into a permanent spring, which was very beautiful.

Permanent Spring at Uluru

We then made our way to the cultural centre where we looked around, watched videos on the area and learnt more about the local aboriginal people. We also visited one of the art stores attached to the centre where we found some locally crafted timber pieces that the girls liked and bought.

The Girls at the base of Uluru

There were also 3 elderly aboriginal ladies sitting on the floor doing dot paintings and there was one in particular that had Maggie mesmerised, so after finding out how much it might be (even though it wasn't yet finished) we decided to buy it. We then got a chance to sit down on the floor and watch the rest of the painting being finished in front of us, it really was a great experience for Maggie.

We then had a hot lunch at the cafe before venturing back to the van  for the afternoon where we cranked up the heater again and spent the afternoon rugged up inside helping the girls with school work.

Although the weather was far from ideal, we still had a great day & with the forecast of improving weather from tomorrow we can't wait to see the rock in all its glory!