Our rig on Belvedere Estate in Michelago

Hi there, and thanks for you interest in our travels.

We are touring Australia in a Toyota Surf 4x4 and towing our 16' Golf pop-top caravan. The Surf is not as big as some of the other 4x4s but it is light on fuel, which is very important as the price of diesel rises. The worst we have paid is $1.83 per litre but we have heard of people paying well over $2.00, and almost $3:00 in some really remote locations.

I have taken a lot longer to get this blog going than I expected and I have decided to publish it in sections travelled, rather than as weekly updates as I had initially intended. This first section covers our trip from Sydney to Darwin. Other sections will come as I get organised enough to write them (holidays are hard work you know). The photos I have selected are only a sample of what I have taken but there are lots of them and they will take a while to load, so you might as well just start reading and look at the photos when they have downloaded. If there is something of interest to you I probably have six different views of it and can show them if anyone is interested.

Anyway, you have waited long enough for this so I’ll let you get on with it.

Preparation
Preparation had been underway for some time but really hit top gear when I took leave from work on March 17th 2006. The caravan was fitted with extra draws, solar power, 12 volt lighting, a pair of 12 volt 65 amp hour batteries, plus a few other bits & pieces. There were also some unexpected items including a new water tank, two new wheel hubs and wheel bearings. While all this was going on we were also preparing the house and clearing space for the three (20 something) girls who were moving in to look after the house while we are on tour. The house preparation included a bit of gardening which created another problem. I (Gary) had a dramatic allergic reaction to some plants I was clearing from a drain and my left forearm and hand became so swollen that I had to have my wedding ring cut off at Mona Vale hospital. It wasn’t pretty.

Gary's crook hand

Preparation was supposed to take two weeks but we didn’t actually get away until April 12th. And that’s were the story starts.

The Journey
Week 1 – Lisarow to Bairnsdale – April 12th to April 16th
Things started to get exciting from our first day out. We had not long left Lisarow (where we had been visiting my parents) and were driving down the Hume Highway at around 90km/hr when we heard a loud BANG behind us. I looked in the mirror and saw that the tourist bus behind was flashing its headlights (indicating that we had a problem) so I pulled over to check things out. The only thing I could think of was that maybe the jerry can of fuel I carry on the back of the caravan might have somehow fallen off and I was imagining the havoc that 20 litres of spilt diesel fuel would cause. Luckily the Jerry Can was still in place, but we had lost the tread from one of the caravan tyres. No problem, we had a spare so I jacked up the van and replaced the wheel. Unfortunately, the spare was much too flat to drive on so I dragged out the small air compressor we carry and used it to pump up the tyre while we had a quiet lunch in the van.

Losing a tread like that for the first time is a little unnerving so we decided that we should replace both the van tyres and pulled into the next big town (Mittagong) to have new tyres fitted. An hour’s delay and $200 got us back on the road and it was soon time to fill up with fuel. I won’t go into the details, but after another two hours delay and paying $200 to have the fuel tank drained to remove the petrol I had put in the diesel tank (42 litres of Optimax) we were again on the road. The rest of the journey to Michelago was uneventful.

Michelago is a tiny town halfway between Canberra and Cooma. We were going there to visit Brigitte’s Cousin Michael and his wife Klawdia.

Michael & Klawdia on Belvedere Estate

After a pleasant stay on Belvedere Estate (Michael & Klawdia’s property) we headed further south via the Monaro Highway to Cooma and on to Lakes Entrance and Bairnsdale in Victoria.

Looking south towards Cooma from Belvedere Estate

We arrived in Bairnsdale (near lakes Entrance) without incident but had neglected to book ahead so there were no powered caravan sites available. Fortunately we had plenty of power in our batteries and water in our tank. Bairnsdale was cold, windy, and wet but we also had plenty of LPG gas (2 x 9 kg bottles) and used the stove to keep ourselves warm.

Lakes Entrance

The East Gippsland area is a popular holiday destination for Melbournians and Lakes Entrance is called the Riviera of Victoria (I can’t see why). They seem to love it though and it was pleasant enough for us to poke around for a couple of days before heading further south.

Wild Koala on Raymond Island (Near Lakes Entrance)

Wind blown beach on 'The Prom'

Sand Sculptures at Portsea

Melbourne CBD from the Realto Tower

Floral Clock in Melbourne

Week 3 – Melbourne to Port Campbell – April 24th to April 30th
We were still in Melbourne at the start of the week but moved on to Ballarat for an obligatory visit to the Eureka Centre and Sovereign Hill (great light show).

Sovereign Hill theme park

The Ottway fly walk

Car over the edge

The Twelve Apostles

The view from the chopper

In one of the caravan parks along the way we met up with a young German guy who was push biking from Geelong to Warrnambool on his own (he was obviously mad). Everything was going well until he had a puncture about 12km short of the park. He had no pump and decided to continue on and fix the puncture when he got to the park. This of course was the wrong thing to do and he ruined the tube getting to Port Campbell. There were no bike shops in Port Campbell so he was stuck. Luckily the caravan park manager had a couple of old bikes that he was about to toss out and was happy to give a tube to the young fella and get him out of trouble.
As we continued along the Great Ocean Road we spent quite some time stopping at all the good vantage points and taking lots of photos. After leaving the G.O.R. at Port Fairy we headed to Robe in South Australia where we were to meet up again with Muz and his family who were holidaying there.

'The Obilisk' at Robe

Failed tyre

The tyre had not deflated and as we were only 15km out of Millicent we unhitched the caravan and I slowly drove back to town with the flap, flap, flap to keep me company while Brigitte guarded the van. The tyres on the car were almost due for replacement anyway so I decided to get all of them at once. Two hours later and with a large hole in my wallet we were back on the road with even more fancy pants super duper Goodyear Wranglers with a Kevlar belt and reinforced sidewalls. “These babies won’t let you down” said the sales guy, and of course I believed him.
We ended the week in Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills and it was still raining and cold.


Week 5 – Mt Barker to Port Augusta – May 8th to May 14th
We covered a bit of ground this week and travelled through some very different countryside. From the slopes of Mt Barker we made our way via the gently rolling hills of the Barossa Valley to the flat coastal plains around Adelaide and on to Port Augusta. Needless to say we had some German Beers and sauerkraut in Hahndorf and tasted a few wines in the vineyards around Tanunda.

Hahndorf

Barossa Valley vineyard (Chateau Tanunda)

Chateau Yaldara

Cultural festival in Adelaide

Quite a tank full

From Port Augusta we headed for Woomera via the two-lane Stuart Highway. This road is the only option for highway travel and traffic is remarkably light. It is not uncommon to drive for 15 or 20 minutes and not pass a vehicle in either direction. The usual vehicles are caravans/campervans, road trains, or the occassional small piece of farm machinery.

A big tractor

A roadside rest area north of Port Augusta

Now this is a truck

Another Road train

It is quite an interesting experience being passed by one for the first time (or the second, or the third). I give them all the room they like.
The area north of Port Augusta is quite dry and salt lakes abound. This one, Lake Hart, was one used as an air force practice range, and as the sign suggests, still has unexploded ordinance below the surface.

Brigitte ignoring the warning sign on Lake Hart

Sunset over Pimba (near Woomera)

Further up the road we arrived in Woomera which was established in the early 1950s as a joint British and Australian rocket range and saw hundreds of missile tests and related research. The town was restricted and a permit was required to go there before 1985 but access is now open. We visited the Space Park with its array of rockets, aircraft, target drones, & bombs. All real mind you. There is also an excellent little museum in town which tells the history of the rocket range and the tests undertaken there (including the current Japanese SCRAM Jet tests) as well as some excellent displays on early satellites, even the first Australian satellite from 1967.

Woomera Rocket Park

Canberra Bomber (Woomera Rocket Park)

We also drove out to the DIMEA detention centre with its razor wire and high fences. What a lovely and welcoming place that looked to be for our “new chums”.

Welcome to Australia

We continued on and visited the township of Roxby Downs which exists as a service town for the nearby Olympic Dam mine that produces over 5,000 tons of uranium ore each year with copper, gold, & silver also being mined.

Andamooka opal field

We also visited the Andamooka opal fields and did a bit of ‘noodling’ (looking for opal chips on the old workings) as practice for our visit to Coober Pedy, a few hundred kilometres up the road.

Coober Pedy is a dry & dusty place that produces most of the world’s gem opal. We found a few tiny chips around the old diggings but nothing worth anything. We took one of the tourist tours in Coober Pedy and saw some stunning scenery (the Breakaways), the 5,600km long dingo fence, some working opal mines, museums, underground houses, and lots of dust.

Opal in mine wall

Coober Pedy golf course

Part of the Dog Fence

The Breakaways (part of 'Priscilla' was filmed here)

Leftovers from Mad Max - Beyond Thunderdome

Coober Pedy opal fields

The town has a bit of an alcohol problem in some sections of the community and the bottle shop is not allowed to sell wine casks before 3pm.
We left Coober Pedy and continued on to the Erldunda Road house just over the border and into the Northern Territory. We saw many of these things in trees along the road and they appear to be nest for something. Does anyone know what they are?

Does anyone know what these are?

Week 7 – Erldunda to Ayers Rock – May 22nd to May 28th.
There were loads of Wedge Tailed Eagles on the road to Erldunda and this is one of them.

Wedgie at lunch

Erldunda is a roadhouse at the junction of the Lasseter Highway, which takes you to Uluru (Ayers Rock), and the Stuart Highway which took us on to Alice Springs where we met up with our friends Mike & Julie in the MacDonnell Ranges caravan park. They had been there for a few days already which saved us the trouble of ‘sussing-out’ the various van parks in town.

Gary (cooking pancakes) with Mike & Julie

Mike & Julie had to move on the next day (Tuesday) so we only had a short time with them but it was fun and laughter as usual.

Brigitte with Elisabeth and family

We also ran into Elizabeth & Jock in the park (Elizabeth teaches at Glenaeon) and we had a BBQ dinner with them as well.
We spent another couple of days exploring the town and visited the small but interesting reptile park where I got acquainted with Gavin, their Black Headed Python.

Gary with Gavin

We also visited the Heritage Precinct which is a collection of small museums and displays that covers the local natural history of the area, early outback aviation as well as aboriginal cultural displays, and one of the Flying Doctor’s first aircraft. We even paid our respects to Albert Namitajira, Lasseter, and the last of the Afghan Cameleers (who pioneered transportation in Central Australia before the coming of the railways) in the adjoining cemetery. We also joined a ‘Star Talk’ by a local astronomer which covered the visible zodiac star signs and views of Saturn, Jupiter, and a Globular Cluster through their 11” reflector telescope. On Friday we put the van into storage in the caravan park and headed back down the road to Yulara. On the way we visited the Henbury meteorite craters.

The road to Henbury Craters

Feral camel near Henbury

My brother Lyndon and his partner Cathy flew into Yulara and joined us on Saturday. We had a great time and got to see both Uluru and the Olgas at sunset and sunrise.

Lyndon & Cathy being welcomed by Brigitte

Lyndon, Cathy, Brigitte, & Gary at sunrise

Sounds of Silence Dinner

The last of Australia's mega fauna

Week 8 – Ayers Rock to Alice Springs – May 29th to June 4th.
We were supposed to be spending this week working our way back to Alice Springs on a camping tour with Lyndon & Cathy. Unfortunately my back was playing up quite badly. I had been to the Flying Doctor (last Saturday) for some pain killers but they were not doing the job and Brigitte, Lyndon, & Cathy decided that we should just drive straight back to Alice Springs and do day tours from there. I didn’t argue.

Mount Conner

Wednesday dawned bright and clear (as usual up here) and we set off for a day’s sightseeing. Stanley Chasm, Simpson’s Gap, Flynn’s Grave, the Old Telegraph Station, and some stunning scenery. I used Lyndon’s high-tech hiking sticks and had no trouble walking.

Simpson's Gap

BBQ dinner

In the evening we went to an open air camp fire concert given by a local bush entertainer. It was cold but the show was enjoyable. We ended the evening roasting marshmallows over the campfire.
Unfortunately I think I must have over exerted myself on Wednesday because I had to spend most of Thursday on my back in bed. I couldn’t even stay on my feet long enough to shower & shave. So I just showered & went back to bed. Brigitte, Lyndon, & Cathy spent the day at the Desert Park which was apparently quite stunning and they had an enjoyable afternoon.

Emu at the Desert Park

We decided that Friday should be an easy day so as to not stress my back too much. We started late and stayed close to town visiting the School of the Air, the Flying Doctor, the Ghan Museum, and ANZAC Hill (again) for sunset.

School of the Air internet studio

Flying Doctor radio control room

The Old Ghan dining car

Alice Springs gets busy at this time of year and because we had come back early from Uluru they had to juggle things a bit to get us in. When we got back from Yulara we were put on a site but would have to move on Saturday to make room for a coach load of 50 bavkpackers. After relocating the van on saturday morning we drove to Chambers Pillar, an imposing rock formation, 150 km south east of Alice Springs.

Chamber's Pillar

Black Footed Rock Wallaby - Ormiston Gorge

The West Macdonnell Ranges

Week 9 – Alice Springs to Wycliffe Well – June 5th to June 11th

I got up early on Monday and worked my way through the list of repairers to find someone who could look at the car in a hurry. The annual Fink River Desert Race was on the next weekend and everyone was working on someone’s car (or bike) for the race.

Fink River Racer (2 litre, twin turbo, 300 horsepower)

On the fourth try I found a workshop that could do the job so I left the car there while we took Lyndon & Cathy to the airport (in the rental car) for their flight home. When we entered the airport I was ‘selected’ for a random security check and ushered into a room for and explosives check. The security guy took swabs from my shoes, shoulders, pockets, and hands. The test showed negative and I was allowed to go. While the test was being carried out I asked the security man how sensitive the equipment was. He said that it was so sensitive that they had had a positive response from a backpacker who had been in a Coober Pedy opal mine. The machine found the residue from the explosive used in the mine which was still detectable two weeks later.
Anyone who has seen the Surf knows that the back end is a bit low (soft springs) and as we were heading into rougher terrain I (well Brigitte) decided it was time to have that fixed as well, so I asked the repair guy to have a look while he had the car. When we picked the car up after the wheel bearing was replaced (the springs would come up from Adelaide and that it would take until Wednesday) the original noise was still there and I had to drive the repair guy around so that he could hear it. “It’s not the wheel bearing” he said and asked us to leave the car overnight so he could check it out. Next morning he advised that the inner axle was almost dry and he had had to remove & grease it. Problem solved. The springs arrived on Wednesday afternoon and I took the car back to have them fitted. The new springs lifted the rear by about 40mm and made quite a difference to the appearance and ride. We left Alice Springs on Thursday and drove to a little place called Gem Tree, 70km along the Plenty Highway, north east of Alice Springs.

Brigitte at Gem Tree

The caravan park there has a mining lease and they take guests (for a fee) out to dig for Garnets. They supply all the equipment required, show you how to do it, and grade the stones that you find. We found quite a few and several of them were quite nice and suitable for cutting (sorry, I forgot to take photos). We stayed at Gem Tree for two nights. The park is set in bushland and we were able to have big roaring campfires on both nights. One night we had BBQ steaks, roast potatoes, and had marshmallows for dessert. Gee life is tough.

On Saturday we left Gem Tree and headed for Wycliffe Well, the UFO capital of Australia. They reckon that there are more documented sightings of UFOs here than anywhere else in Australia, but we didn’t see any. We did however run into a few people we didn’t expect to see.

The Phantom

The caravan park was a pleasant enough place so we decided to stay two nights and slept soundly knowing that we were well protected. We ended our ninth week in the middle of nowhere waiting for ET to say hello, but he never did.

Week 10 – Wycliffe Well to Katherine – June 12th to June 18th.
We left Wycliffe Well on the Queen’s Birthday Holiday (Monday), heading for Tennant Creek. Brigitte had to do most of the preparation as I had had a relapse of my dodgy back and was not able too do much. I think Brigitte was getting a bit frustrated with this but she soldiered on.

The Devil's Marbles (near Tennant Creek)

We arrived in Tennant Creek, unhitched the van and went straight to the hospital to try and get some relief from my back pain. It was pretty quiet and I was able to see a doctor after an hour or so. This time my pain was diagnosed as a muscle spasm and I was given some exercises to do and a prescription for Panadine Forte. The exercises didn’t seem to help much but I continued to do them. Tennant Creek is not a pretty town and does not seem to have much going for it. Maybe it was because it was a public holiday and I wasn’t feeling well. We probably didn’t stay there long enough to give it a chance. It was Brigitte’s birthday while we were in Tennant Creek (Tuesday the 13th) and we had a very nice dinner at Anna’s restaurant in the Blue Stone Motel. I had chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto and Brigitte had rack of lamb. Both meals were delicious. When we left Tennant Creek, Brigitte remarked that there was a scraping noise coming from one of the caravan wheels. I reckoned that it was just the electric brake rubbing and was nothing to worry about. However, by the time we got to Elliot (about 300km) to refuel, the near side caravan wheel was making horrible noises and was quite hot. I asked the servo guy to direct me to the nearest workshop. Luckily there was someone 100m away and he was able to have a look almost straight away. The mechanic removed the wheel and found that the inner wheel bearing had collapsed and had almost disintegrated. He reckoned that the wheel would have fallen off before we had gone another 50km. He even had to use an oxy torch to cut the remnants of the old bearing off before he could replace it.

Failed bearing

Anyway, it was fixed and we were on our way within 90 minutes, so I can’t complain too much about his $90/hr labour charge. We arrived at Daly Waters fairly late and there were no powered sites left, but that’s not really a problem, so we booked in for the night. The Daly Waters pub is a great place and puts on a terrific Barra & Beef meal.

Gary at the Daly Waters Pub

They also provide entertainment and the local bushie played guitar and sang risqué songs till it was time to go to bed. We left Daly Waters around 10:00am after a quick (soft) drink at the bar and a stop at the old Daly Waters airfield (Australia’s first international airport) before heading off to Mataranka.

The old QANTAS hanger at Daly Waters

Flame Tree at Daly Waters

These signs you take notice of

We are now getting into crocodile territory and have to take notice of any warning signs. Luckily there are no salties here and the freshies are not a problem, or so they say. Mataranka (like so many outback towns) does appear have a problem with booze.

Litter in Mataranka

We were there on dole/pension day and there were a lot of indigenous people (male & female) sitting around in the dust drinking VB or cask wine, many of them were drunk and wandering about yelling at each other. They were harmless enough but it was a bit confronting and I couldn’t help thinking that they were like lost children caught between two cultures with no one to show them the way.

Barra fishing

One of the local attractions in Mataranka is the Barramundi feeding. You can have a go yourself but I didn’t fancy stepping into a dam full of murky water with those bloody big fish in there. And they are big. As part of the show the guy catches one and holds it above his head. He reckons it’s easy but the things weigh 10-15kg and are struggling to get away. I was happy to watch. After Mataranka we moved on the Katherine and visited the magnificent Katherine Gorge. It was big, impressive, and full of fresh water crocodiles.

Kathrine Gorge

Freshie in Kathrine Gorge

Week 11 – Katherine to Darwin – June 19th to June 25th.
Katherine is the third largest town in the Northern Territory and fuel prices came back to a more reasonable level at around $1.45 per litre. The worst we have had to pay so far was $1.82 at Barrow Creek, so $1.45 seemed cheap. There was also a good selection of supermarkets and we were able to stock up on decent fruit & veggies. We didn’t stay long and moved on to Litchfield National Park to view the local attractions of Wangi Falls, Tolmer Falls, the BIG white ant hills, and the magnetic white ant hills that are aligned almost perfectly north-south so as to minimise the heat build-up during the day.

Termite mound (Non magnetic)

We also saw this cute little snake and I took a few photos, only to find out later that it is deadly and very dangerous.

Snake in Litchfield Park

Luckily it was more interested in frogs than me. Just near Litchfield N.P. in a town called Bachelor (close to the Rum Jungle uranium mine) we came across this model castle.

Model Castle

It was built by a local man who emigrated from Europe years ago and is a replica of a castle in his homeland. We moved on to Darwin towards the end of the week and visited a crocodile farm to see some really big Saltwater Crocs at the Crocodylus Park.

Brigitte with a one-year-old Saltie

The handlers actually do the “crocodile hunter” thing and get into the breeding pens and tease the crocodiles out of the water. They keep them under control by tapping their snout with a pole which usually stops them, but the big (500kg) bugger in this photo just kept coming and the handler had to beat a hasty retreat. Maybe it was just show but the guy moved pretty quickly.

A freshie jumping for his lunch

We also went to a great aviation museum which has a selection of aircraft such as a Huey helicopter gunship, a mirage fighter, a full-on B52 bomber, various aircraft, and lots of WWII memorabilia.

Helicopter gun ship

Wreckage of WWII Japanes Zero shot down over Darwin

Brigitte feeding fish

We ended the week with a lovely sunset dinner cruise on Darwin harbour.

Bewdiful.

So, I hope you have enjoyed the story so far. I will get more on line soon.

Cheerio

¶ 12:05 pm 0 comments