Oodnadatta to Alice via Uluru and Kings Canyon

I am writing because Helen is always cooking when we stop. She told me to write this. It’s only 90% true. I do all sorts of other useful things that are organisational in nature, important to general wellbeing, diverse and either lifting things or driving. Helen also chooses the number of gorges we will walk up before mid morning and determines how knackered we will be by mid afternoon. She is the keeper of the cupboard too. This is the internal cavity of a spare tyre that is behind us. It carries chocolate, nuts, biscuits and loo roll. It is important to keep the cupboard keeper happy.

An interesting development has occurred that has caused us to change our plans slightly. Guest’s 4WD in Richmond persuaded me that the shock absorber attachments on the Tvan were not ideal, so I spent a lot of money having their whiz bang mod installed. Two days ago I was dropping the tyre pressures and there was my new shocker mounting bent double and next to useless. We had to drive three sides of a big square on bitumen, instead of the planned dirt adventure called Mereenie Loop, to get to Alice so the local guru could eyeball the problem. So tomorrow the Toyo gets its 100K service and Tuesday the Tvan gets its gout fixed up. Wednesday should see us on our way north to Kakadu. But I get ahead of myself.

While on problems though, little things go wrong that could become big things. We lost two UHF aerials to fatigue over the corrugations, at about $40 each, before we had even made our first radio call. Aerial 3 seems OK so far, but clearly being mounted on the bull bar’s outer end is not the right spot even though that’s where the hole for it is drilled. So you are constantly alert to mechanical noises and possible problems that need to be fixed. Dropping a digital camera is not something you should make a habit of, although ours has been back twice for repair over the past twelve months. Unfortunately it was lowered briskly to the gravel on day 2 and the photos have been getting worse ever since. We spent ages using Picasa fixes that do make a big difference to bad images but yesterday we grabbed the opportunity while in Alice to get a new one. Have you seen the new Olympus 850UW? Hearing our story of fumble handedness the salesman grabbed the obvious opening for a sale, picked out this camera from the glass display case and hurled it onto the floor. If he could have dropped it into a 3 metre deep pond he would have, or left it in the snow for that matter. It is fantastic, Scott proof, and cost a third of what I paid for the old one. Pictures on the blog from now on will be greatly improved and I am sorry (well, she who dropped it should be!) that quality has not been up to scratch so far.

Now. We left you half way along the Oodnadatta Track, alongside the Old Ghan. I think H was in the spa. We had a marvellous day 3 finishing the track, but that was where we bent the shock mounting, going into a dry floodway that was steeper than expected, a bit too fast. Towing at about 70 kph seems best for economy although 16 L/100 seems about average. 19 was the number when we had to speed to Alice so we won’t do that again!

We joined the Stuart Hwy at Marla, where fuel was about $2.12, and headed for Uluru after a night with the truckies at Kulgera. Distances are now big, with 150 kms typical for any leg, with no houses or road turn offs to break the monotony. Traffic on the Lassiter Hwy to Yulara and Kings Canyon is very busy though. Most drivers acknowledge you on the road except the women drivers, aboriginal drivers and drivers of Britz motor caravans. Newcomers give a full and enthusiastic open palm wave, whilst those who have driven over 500 kms give a rather half hearted two finger lift off the steering wheel. Then there is the half index minimalist lift usually confined to bus drivers and tradies. When you forget you feel bad, make an effort for the next one who then ignores you, and so it goes.

We approached Uluru for ages. Those who have been will I’m sure remember this. You get a preview with Mt Connor - a massive mesa 3x the size of the Rock - then The Rock shows itself, and you drive for about an hour through sand dunes that are always uphill, and obscure the objective totally until you are nearly there. Patch burning was going on as we approached, with four great columns of smoke rising still as stone into the upper air high above us. We rushed to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) for a quick gorge walk and returned as the sun was setting for the rock sunset. Rows of European youngies more interested in sex than geology, pawing each other on top of rented cars and vans, while the Japanese visitors managed more pixels in half an hour than seemed necessary. Reminded us of those sunsets we saw in Africa I suppose! The following morning we got up before the sun and drove out to see the sunrise. It was bitterly cold, but well worth it. After that we walked around the base of the rock where the still chill breeze, rising in velocity as the sun heated the air, mixed with quite hot zephyrs coming off the rock close beside us. It really was a quite special moment, beside what is nature’s most wonderful sculpture. Better close up. The Cultural Centre (Greg Burgess designed about 15 years ago) is full of very interesting material about the Anangu people of that area, bush tucker and so on.

Then you move on to King’s Canyon along with train of tourists you are beginning to get to know by name. Always this amazing geology that gets older and older as you go north from the Flinders. Kings is a small canyon really, about 6 kms around the rim walk, which we did starting before dawn again. Exquisite it is, with teetering viewing points that scare the daylights out of you when your partner edges closer and closer, and for what? Getting a bit older does affect your sense of space and balance so I had to have words with the keeper of the cupboard. Who actually did take a real pearler on a walking track in the Gammon Ranges (double roll down some rocks but only grazes and bruises) and now she’s as scared about me doing it as I was about her. So that’s OK isn’t it! The canyon has some fine side gorges with shady pools and delightful bird life. We stayed at the resort there and treated ourselves to a 6 course dinner with fine wines under the stars, with a blazing fire and two other guests – called Sounds of Firelight. Very nice and very tiddly afterwards. We found our way back to the van in the dark, and H called up the many local dingoes who all replied in full voice. Caravan parks are very quiet places at 11.30 at night, but you know H when she feels the need for a bit of ululating etc. Next morning we discovered the suspension problem, and headed for Alice.

So yesterday we left the van in the caravan park and set off along the West MacDonnell Range for some more gorge hunting. Some new chums were at Ormiston Gorge and we had drinks and a dinner with them last night before heading to Glen Helen Gorge nearby, where we stayed at abysmal accommodation in a bunkhouse at the “resort” there. This morning, we discover that both Helen and my wallets had been stripped of $350 cash while we were with our friends. We left our car open as we went back and forth getting food and grog, and left it open as we ate. Mistake. So kind of whoever to leave the wallets and other contents intact though! That robbed feeling isn’t a good one.

However it shrank into its proper perspective after a day amidst the beauty of the Ranges (eg Ormiston Gorge at right) with their spectacular cliffs and rocks of bright red, white and purple, contrasted with the bright green and oxide white of ghost gums, dark pools, the odd comet crater, sightings of brumbies, and poignant history of Hermannsburg Mission. We expect to be in Darwin by the end of May providing we survive the mosquitoes in Kakadu people say to expect.