To 23-Oct-06 (Port Augusta SA to Kulgera SA)

Almost there!
Hasn’t this year flown by - it’s almost over! We have seen so much of this wonderful country and met so many great people on the way. It has been great for us to spend so much time together too.


GLENDAMBO SA (Glendambo North Rest Area Free-Camp)
Population 2 (us)! Very, very quiet and the stars were truly awesome. Spencer has even discovered how to find south using the Southern Cross (and has shared this with Rhonda a number of times already). We also saw 3 huge red kangaroos in the distance via binoculars.


COOBER PEDY SA (Oasis Caravan Park)
Deja-vu really set in as we reversed the van into a site 3 along from where we stayed with the boys 17 years ago. This place is HOT even in “spring” – 40deg days! Our van site had shade cloth above and behind (17 years ago it was just above) – woohoo! It makes a big difference. We really enjoyed a town tour and saw an underground church, an opal mine and a dugout home. We also spent an awesome afternoon in The Breakaways taking in more spectacular scenery and checked out the Moon Plains where Mad Max and other movies were shot.



This is Spencer pointing to where Glenn found an opal (this pool was still being built when we were last here).










These are “blowers” which are just like giant vacuum cleaners – they suck up dirt from down in the mine and then dump it into mullock piles. These piles are everywhere around Coober Pedy. It has to be the dustiest place we’ve been to so far.

Did you know that “Coober Pedy” means “White Man’s Burrows”?





KULGERA NT (Kulgera Roadhouse Caravan Park)
Very hot here too and so we decided to go for some 240 volts to cool down a bit (the air-conditioner is our friend). It was a quiet place and very reasonable at $20. We also met another man named Spencer who was also travelling around Oz.


ALICE SPRINGS NT (McDonnell Range Caravan Park)
We met Sam & Keren and their daughters here 17 years ago (we had a delightful stay with them for a few days on their sugar cane farm at Ingham last April). This caravan park has also grown just a bit.

We visited the Old Telegraph Station (they really did it tough in those days), Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm, Ormiston Gorge and Glen Helen plus heaps more. The scenery is awesome - look out . . . that dreaded slide-show is growing bigger & bigger!!



We were delighted to find this Sturt’s Desert Pea growing beside the van park’s games room.

















Standley Chasm is one beautiful place – very difficult to photograph though.
















KINGS CANYON NT (Kings Canyon Resort Caravan Park)
This was our first visit here as a 4WD had been required 17 years ago. The road is all tar now so getting there is a breeze. This canyon is an amazing place!


This is the “Rim Walk” – truly spectacular! It’s about 6.5k and starts with a huge climb and ends with a very welcome descent. The sign suggested 3.5 hours and we thought that’s very slow for 6.5k. However, the climb, rough terrain and many, many photo & video stops meant that we went over-time. Rhonda managed the exercise with style & panache – her heel problem seems to like retirement and holidays.

There were no safety rails here – just little signs saying “Be Careful” and graphics of people falling over cliffs. The signs worked!


YULARA NT (Ayres Rock Campground)
This is one huge boulder! We had decided to respect the locals’ preference that people not to climb the Rock and had intended to keep our feet on the ground this time. As it happened, the climb was closed while we were in Yulara because of high winds (guess the rangers get tired of rescuing dumb tourists in dangerous conditions).



Here is a sunset shot. The colours change so marvelously and are a challenge to capture – we have at least 100 or so photos of the Rock at different times of the day . . . so look out!









We also visited The Olgas (Kata Tjuta = “many heads”) for the first time because a 4WD had been required on our last visit due to rain. We did the ‘Valley of the Winds’ walk to the second lookout (5.2k). We were truly amazed and felt dwarfed by these huge rocks. How amazing is God! We were also treated to a show by zebra finches and other birds meeting around a puddle of water – very special.




KULGERA NT (Kulgera Roadhouse Caravan Park)
A quick overnight stop here on our way back to Port Augusta.




With best wishes & God bless,





Spencer & Rhonda

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To 9-Oct-06 (Ceduna SA to Port Augusta SA)

THE MAP
On previous trips to WA, we have always rushed straight from Ceduna to Port Augusta so this time, we really enjoyed our first, leisurely trip around the Eyre Peninsula exploring its very beautiful and sometimes rugged scenery.

This is where we’ve been so far (we couldn’t get the map to load last update):


STREAKY BAY SA (Streaky Bay Foreshore Tourist Park)



These are “The Granites” near Streaky Bay. We had a great time in Streaky bay, enjoyed an afternoon walk along the beach & foreshore and a delish dinner in town. We also went on tourist drives along cliff-tops, saw more sheer cliffs, spectacular scenery and even a colony of sea lions at Point Labatt. Rhonda has taken some awesome photos (which, needless-to-say, will feature in our many slideshows, etc.).





ELLISTON SA (Elliston Caravan Park)
We made a quick overnight stop here and still managed to drive around the area and find some awesome scenery.



Here is one of the Sculptures on the Cliffs entitled “Everyone is a Boat Person”. Interesting!











COFFIN BAY SA (Coffin Bay Caravan Park)
We really enjoyed this little town and appreciated the friendly locals and leisurely pace of life. We really enjoyed church with a visiting lay preacher Robin who is the Onga Pump man during the week. The bay views were beautiful and we even saw the AFL grand final on a big-screen TV – we were even starting to dust off our St. John First Aid training when one very exuberant supporter came close to a heart attack when the Eagles won by one point!



We spent a day in the National Park and enjoyed driving to remote places. We even played in sand dunes and Rhonda discovered that she likes driving in sand – and that she is good at controlling the slides and handling the hills.








This is “Gallipoli” beach, a stunning sight and well worth the 30k drive, even though the last few kilometers were very rough! The movie “Gallipoli” starring Mel Gibson was filmed here 27 years ago.








PORT LINCOLN SA (Kirton Point Caravan Park)



We were lucky to score this front-row site - no danger of being built out here.

We were delighted to meet Brigitte again (we’d first met at Pemberton). We had an enjoyable meal together and then shared a day in the National Park and a fascinating tour of a seahorse farm.






WHYALLA SA (Whyalla Foreshore Caravan Park)
What a windy place – there was a very strong wind blowing as we set up the van – fortunately it stayed upright. Whyalla is the largest regional city in SA. It is also a steel town and, like Port Hedland, has a definite red “glow” all around the port area – including in the marina nearby where many valuable boats were all coated with reddish iron ore dust.



We spotted this ship on the roadside as we drove along the highway – it was in the yard of the Visitor Centre and we just had to include a photo.











PORT AUGUSTA SA (Shoreline Caravan Park)
And we thought that Port Lincoln was windy! Port Augusta is at the head of Spencer (great name that!!) Gulf and can get really windy this time of year. Again, the van survived admirably. We enjoyed Church with the local Presbyterian congregation and then came home to the van to check out the Bathurst 1000 (great race, excellent last few laps and well done Ford and Craig).


May you each enjoy life and care for each other well,


With best wishes & God bless,




Spencer & Rhonda

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