Day 26 - Halls Gap to Ferntree Gully

I woke early this morning, exited the tent, and was greeted to about 30 kangaroos in the caravan park. I wonder if they have to pay $28 a night to stay here? It was quite a pleasent morning weather wise, so i decided to climb up a nearby mountain while i was here, it had quite a good view over Lake Belfield. After I was back at the car, I basically headed towards home picking up a few caches on the way.

Distance Driven: 313.9km (7903.4km total)
Geocaches Found: 9 (9 Trad)(210Total)
Caravan Park Rating: Home Sweet Home

More stats to follow in the next couple of days

Day 25 – Hamilton to Halls Gap

Today started with Andre’s five kids attempting to be quiet and sneaking up to me on the lounge floor to see if I was awake and me just pretending to be asleep. Anyway, at 8.30, Lindi took three of the kids to school and I said goodbye to Andre and the remaining kids and was on my way.

Today was a rather short driving day. I started by finding a couple of Hamilton caches, then made my way towards Dunkeld. I went into the Visitors centre where I was told I was lucky to be getting through as the Road to halls Gap had only just re-opened 10 days earlier after the floods earlier in the year. I started heading towards Halls gap and noticed a cache at Picaninni, not far along which had great views. So, I grabbed the camera and the GPS and headed the 2.4km track. I reached the top and indeed the views were marvellous, I get  the camera out and get the message “Change Battery Pack”, no problem, spare battery is in my pocket…… No it’s not, back in the car on the front seat…. Bugger, anyway, I know there was a great view, Sat for a while and walked back to the car. I continued along the road and was going to climb Mount abrupt, but the track to the summit was still closed, so I moved onto another cache caller “Ripping Yarns #1” which turned out to be quite a difficult one. I ended up going cross country bush bashing for ~150 metres to a rock face which I had to climb to claim the prize. The view was worth it, fantastic. In the cache, I found a Harry Potter travel Bug with a Broken wand and I just accidentally broke his head off!! Soon after I got back to the car, I headed for Halls Gap, where I have booked into my very last caravan park for this Holiday. I have been hit by the tired police, so have decided to spend the rest of the afternoon resting at the campground, ready for a four or so hour drive home tomorrow.

About a dozen or so Kangaroos have just hopped into the campground and are quietly nibbling on the grass.

Distance Driven: 115.0km (7589.5km total)
Geocaches Found: 5 (5 Trad)(201 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 8.5/10 (I Have stayed here before, Nice grassed areas for tents, Clean Toilet/Shower Blocks. Nothing special)

Day 24 – Murray Bridge to Hamilton

Today was not too bad considering I had 500+ km drive to get to Hamilton. I started by heading towards Bordertown for a mid-morning snack. I also found a few caches on the way. I continued on, stopping every hour or so for a break to go for a walk or find a cache. I eventually arrived in Hamilton at ~3.30 and amazingly was still able to navigate my way to Andre’s place from memory. Had a Nice dinner with the family and now sitting in peace writing this blog.

Distance Driven: 516.5km (7474.5km total)
Geocaches Found: 11 (11 Trad)(196 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 10/10 (Can’t Beat indoors on a Friends Lounge room floor!)

Day 23 – Tanunda to Murray Bridge

Didn’t drive too far today, but I did have an adventure – in Geocaching. That’s right folks, I managed to find 30 Traditional caches. Add to that the 12 I was not able to find and that makes my biggest caching day ever. I also saw the most animals of the trip today too.

The first 6 or so involved Walks in and around Mount Crawford state park which was really quite nice and varied terrain. The remainder of them were on side roads on the way to Murray Bridge as well as a good proportion of the caches in the town itself. As a result of trying to get 30, I didn’t get back to the caravan park until just before 8PM.

As for the animals I saw, they would be fine fare at almost any dinner table. There was Sheep, Cows, Emu, Kangaroos, A Koala(Climbing a Pine tree of all things), Lamas(Or maybe they were Alpacas), A Blue tongue Lizard (I Think) and a couple of horses (To be fair, they had riders on them so probably shouldn’t be eaten!) Tomorrow I have a longish drive to Hamilton, where I will stay at Andre’s for the night. I will be either on the floor or in the tent in the back yard. Whichever way, It will be great to catch up.

Distance Driven: 185.6km (6958.0km total) 6958
Geocaches Found: 30 (30 Trad)(185 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 8/10 (Great View over the river, excellent Dining room/Kitchen, nice grass to pitch the tent.)

Day 22 – Tanunda (Barossa Valley)

Had another mighty fine day today (Although it does get a lot colder here at nights and early mornings). The tour bus was not picking me up until 10.15, so I had a leisurely morning, breakfast, made a coffee and read a book until 10am. There were six other people on the tour plus the driver John. The tour covered about 4 wineries, each of them quite different. We deliberately steered away from the big wineries as they were usually very busy and it would be difficult to get a seat at the bar. We stopped at Grant Burge first, followed by Te.Aro Estate where we had a beautiful Platter lunch. We then stopped at Domain Day and last but not least we stopped at Linfield Road Wines, in my opinion, the best of the bunch (I bought a total of 7 bottles from there). We were then all driven back to our various accommodations’.

I spent the rest of the day geocaching in Tanunda, had a very good time, especially when at the second cache, I met a group of other cachers, so we completed this one together. One of the guys is even more obsessed then me, he has kitted his car out for caching!! He has over 2500 finds.

Anyway, tonight I treated myself to a pizza and am eating and typing right now!!

Distance Driven: 0km (6772.4km total)
Geocaches Found: 4 (3 Trad, 1 multi)(155 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 8.5/10 (A bit more luxury at a price, excellent games room, kitchen as well as outdoor stuff like giant pillow, pool, playground and they even had an amphitheatre, (Forgot to mention Basketball Court in yesterdays Blog) Beautiful setting, nice grass to pitch the tent.)

Day 21 – Port Pirie to Tanunda (Barossa Valley)

My car is still behaving.

Today was not a bad day, I spent the first half kriss crossing across the Clare Valley, a beautiful leisurely drive where I didn’t really have somewhere I absolutely had to be. It was good. I then made my way back across towards the Barossa Valley via some smaller towns you would never have heard of before. I arrived in Tanunda at about 3PM, then decided I would like to do some sort of winery tour. So I went to the visitor information centre and they organised for the bus to pick me up at 10.15 in the morning. Apparently it goes for about 5 hours and includes lunch. So for $85, probably not bad value. That’s all I have to tell for today, except that I am amazed at the sheer amount of wineries here in the Barossa as well as in the Clare Valley.

I am currently sitting in the caravan park drinking beer (Probably should be wine) and chewing on some peanuts. Ahhh the life.

Distance Driven: 307.4km (6772.4km total)
Geocaches Found: 12 (12 Trad)(152 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 8.5/10 (A bit more luxury at a price, excellent games room, kitchen as well as outdoor stuff like giant pillow, pool, playground and they even had an amphitheatre, Beautiful setting, nice grass to pitch the tent.)

Day 20 – Coober Pedy to Port Pirie

Not too much to tell about today. My car is still behaving.

Some things I forgot about yesterday; Saw my first dingo just outside Alice Springs just as I was on my way out of town. Also saw some scrawny red kangaroos the day before at the Desert Park. Nearly ran over 2 lizards, one normal looking, the other had an orange head and neck and the rest of his body was a light brown.

Anyway, onto today, another long stretch of driving which seemed to be a lot easier this time then on the way up, maybe I am just used to it. It also seemed more interesting coming the other way. I stopped at Port Augusta for lunch and more of a look around, then onto Port Pirie for a rest and to work out some sort of plan for tomorrow.

Distance Driven: 649.9km (6465.0km total)
Geocaches Found: 6 (6 Trad)(140 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 6/10 (Basic, Nice setting, no frills)

Day 19 - Alice Springs to Coober Pedy

Before I start with today, there is a couple of things I forgot to mention:

·         I am an Idiot; I got sunburnt yesterday for the third time!!

·         Also, the last night at Glen Helen, I was told by the guy at the front desk that there was going to be free music, it would be popular music, mainly covers. Well, not really, don’t get me wrong, He was a good musician, He played about seven different instruments including acoustic guitar, electric guitar, Violin, mandolin, two harmonicas, some foot instrument, not really sure what it was and the spoons, yea that’s right the spoons. It started with a Paul Simon number, and then moved to Jazz and Blues music, not really my sort of music but not too bad anyway.

Now to today, I basically just drove to Coober Pedy, stopping at Marla for lunch and a few spots on the way to rest and pick up some caches. The car does seem to be behaving itself at the moment touch wood.

I am at the same Caravan park as previous, just one site along.

Distance Driven: 716.8km (5815.1km total)
Geocaches Found: 3 (3 Trad)(134 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 7.5/10 (Same as before, nice setting Its a pitty I can no longer put any of my pegs in the ground, all mangled.)

Day 18 – Glen Helen Gorge to Alice Springs

Today started at a chilli 6 degrees at ~7.50AM. Not even 10 minutes later, the sun was out and it was now 17 degrees, what a quick turnaround. Anyway, I left Glen Helen with the intention of visiting a few places on the way back to Alice. First stop was The Ocre Pits which were quite nice, but next stop was Elery Creek Big Hole, which was absolutely awesome. Next time I am back here, I must make a point of spending at least one night here. Stunning!! Next stop was the John Flynn Memorial again, as there was a cache at the top of the nearby mountain which looked like lots of fun to climb. It was almost a 2.5 Hour Return journey, but well worth the effort.

I spent the remainder of the day at the Alice Springs Desert Park which was very entertaining, eapecially the birds of Prey demo later in the afternoon. Well worth a visit if you are in the area, and a $20 entry including a free audio tour seemed quite reasonable.

Next job was to find some accommodation, I decided to stay at a different place this time, still quite nice, but just not as polished.

I headed further north to the tropic of Capricorn, just so I could say I had been there, and to find a cache of course, but when I arrived, there was a big group of Aboriginals running amuck, not sure why, so I left pretty quickly without the cache. I did find some along the road on the way back, and also stopped along the road at a cairn marked the highest point between Adelaide and Darwin. Another milestone today, I have hit the 5000Km Mark. Woo Hoo

I have decided to start heading back tomorrow, as I am still not confident my car is 100% and I would rather break down much closer to home. I intend to drive 2 long distances the next 2 days, Coober Pedy, then Either Port Augusta or Port Pirie the next night.

Distance Driven: 231.2km (5098.3km total)
Geocaches Found: 6 (4 Trad, 1 Multi, 1 Earth)(??? Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 7/10 (cheap and cheerful, I have compared it to the other Alice springs Van Park @$38 a night, this is a bargain @$16)

Day 17 - Glen Helen Gorge

Today was a good day J firstly the car started as it normally does, so gotta be happy with that. So off I went to climb the 4^th highest mountain in Northern Territory – Mount Sonder.

Mount Sonder is rated as a 16+km track, and about 8 hours. I am not sure who rated this one, as I was back at the car after 4.5 Hours including 30 minutes at the top. Anyway, well worth the effort, the views from the top were nothing short of amazing. The climb was not as difficult as I expected, the hardest, although a touch less time taken was on the way back down, very hard on ankles and knees. Anyway, I got to the top, took the obligatory photos including a couple of me at the summit cairn, went and found the cache, which was quite easy considering the description given, had a bite to eat and headed back down to the car. As I was heading back, I saw what I believe is the biggest lizard I had ever seen, it had to be 1 metre long, not sure what it was, too quick for any camera action, it just scampered over the rocks and out of sight.

On the way down, I took the small side trip to Redbank Gorge, possibly the least impressive of the gorges I have seen so far, but nice anyway.

After that, I went to see Serpentine gorge, the Road to the gorge was listed as unmade, I would not have liked to do it in a normal 2WD. Beautiful gorge, forgot camera!!!!! I decided not to go back 1.5km to get it. Anyway, it is in my memory.

Next stop was a lookout on the way back to Glen Helen, great view over the West MacDonnell Ranges. Last stop for the day was Ormiston Gorge again, to just sit on the sand in the shade and relax for half an hour before heading back to my campsite. Very nice once again.

Distance Driven: 126.8km (4867.1km total)
Geocaches Found: 2 (2 Trad)(??? Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 7.5/10 (cheap and cheerful, a pub inside the Homestead, plenty of space, very beautiful gorge nearby)

Day 16 – Alice Springs to Glen Helen Gorge

Today started with excitement, but unfortunately that soon faded which I will explain at the end.

First things first, grab some fuel, and then head along Larapinta drive, first stop, Simpsons Gap. A beautiful spot to stop for lunch or a BBQ, but it was too early for that. Then I headed straight for Glen Helen Homestead where I will stay for the next 2 nights. I did 2 side trips today, first to Ormiston Gorge and wow, how spectacular it was, I first headed into the gorge itself, then I did a 2.5km section of the Pound Walk, I was feeling a little dizzy and maybe slightly de-hydrated, so I headed back to the car with the intention of going back to camp. I started feeling a little better after a can of lemonade, so I drove past, and onto Tylers Pass Lookout which gave me a great view of Haasts Bluff as well as either Kings canyon or Maybe Finke Gorge NP. I then headed back to Glen Helen where I explored the Gorge for the afternoon.

Now to my worry, for some reason when I start my car, it seems to have trouble turning over, I am not sure what the problem is, and it only started this morning. It makes me feel very anxious, I am not really sure what to do. I talked to Dean the manager here, he really just told me not to worry, if I do break down at any of the gorges, someone will be around to help, and to just get it checked at a battery place when I get back to Alice Springs. I still have that element of concern in the back of my mind…. What if I do break down?

Anyway, I will go out to Redbank Gorge tomorrow and climb mount Sonder and see how it goes.

No Internet access for 2 days, so you won’t see this until I get back to Alice Springs. If we can’t find any problems, I may start heading back to Melbourne a couple of days early.

Not sure what happened to the day 16 stats....

Distance Driven: ??
Geocaches Found: 3 (3 Trad)(123 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 7.5/10 (cheap and cheerful, a pub inside the Homestead, plenty of space, very beautiful gorge nearby)

Day 15 - Alice Springs

First things first, last night after I had logged off they had a locat guy called Barry Skipsey (Skip) doing some "Australian" Music, mainly country music, but Atmosphere was very good and I think half the caravan park turned up to watch him play.


Well, I hate to say it (No I dont) but another great day was had today. Although it started early, pickup at the caravan park at 5AM, it was worth it. When the bus arrived with the balloon and basket on the back, the pilot got out, and closed the door, and told me all the other people on the bus had paid for 1 Hour flights, so he was going to upgrade me to the 1 Hour flight for free. I had only booked the 30 minute flight @ $265 less a $20 discount voucher I had found in a NT Brochure. The others paid $385 each. HAHA. Anyway, that was my bargain for the day. As for the flight, phenominal, awsome, spectacular, Insert other favourite good description here. It was quite different to the flight I went on in Phoenix, Arizona all those years ago, When we arrived at that one, the balloons were already 3/4 inflated. With this one, we got to see the whold procedure from setup to pack up again. Lots of fun. There were about 3 or 4 of the 16 of us who had been in a balloon before. After that, we got a light breakfast consisting of Champagne, cheese & Crackers, Fruit, Choc Brownies, many other bits and pieces. A nice finish to the morning.

By the time we got back to the van park, I guess it was ~9AM, so I decided to go out and find some caches, totally forgetting the Hendley on Todd was on, Damn It!

The first 2 Caches were very difficult, but the views were superb over the whole of Alice springs. The first was a short climb up one of the hills surrounding alice, not a bad view, but the second which involved scaling some rocks up the side of the hill was awsome, Views all around.I then headed back down via a track I was not aware of on the way up, and got back to the car in half the time. Next I went for a walk around the Botanic gardens where they happened to have a sustainability expo and market with food stalls galore, one was even selling Camel Burgers!. There was also a music stage where they had prople performing various musical acts. The first guy, DJ Somethingotother was from melbourne, and he was doing what he normally does, except using a Acoustic Guitar. Very cool.

Next I went out to the John Flynn's grave just to have a look, very nice Nat. Park, great mountain backdrop. I noticed another cache ~500m away, so I went for a walk to go and find it, this was my first to find, It had been active for a week and still not found, In melbourne if one goes unfound for 6 hours, its a miracle.

Finally last visit for the day was a cheapskates look at the old telegraph station (You could look at the buildings but couldnt actually go inside them), all the buildings in fairly good nick. The park was also very nice. The start point of the Larapinta Trail was also here (Louise: Sections 4-6 are closed due to recent fires).

I then headed to the shops to buy some food and Ice for my Trip along the West Macdonnell Ranges as far as mount Sonder. Maybe 2 Nights then back here, to go a bit further north for a couple of days.

Distance Driven: 38.2km (4467.9km total)
Geocaches Found: 6 (6 Trad(1 First To Find)(120 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 8/10 (A little on the expensive side, plenty of space, very clean and a nice mountain range nearby)

Day 14 – Kings Canyon to Alice Springs

Early start this morning, first stop to get ripped off at the petrol Bowser, @$2.09/L and  try to knock most of this distance off before lunchtime. As it turns out, I did. I stopped once after about 70km to grab a cache I missed on the way up to kings Canyon, a great spot with a canyon of its own, just 250 metres from the road. The next stop was Earldunda for morning tea and a break before the final 200km to Alice. The drive seemed to go fast, I guess because it was, as most of the freeways in NT are 130K/h speed limit.

I arrived at the Caravan park, the most expensive yet @$38 per night. I have booked for 2 Nights. Not a bad place, it must be, they seem to have amassed an extraordinary amount of awards and were very proudly displaying them on the wall. I went for a drive into town to have a look around. I have arrived in town at the right time, as the Henley on Todd is on this weekend

http://www.henleyontodd.com.au/

I have also booked a Balloon flight for tomorrow AM, so I have a 5AM start.  

Distance Driven: 496.4km (4429.7km total)
Geocaches Found: 4 (4 Trad)(114 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 8/10 (A little on the expensive side, plenty of space, very clean and a nice mountain range nearby)

Day 13 – Yulara to Kings Canyon

Today was another great day. Got up a bit late (~8AM), packed up my stuff, but not before filling up with fuel and walking to the lookout where there was a cache to find. I found that, then hit the road with the plan to stop ~75Km down the road at Curtain springs to grab a coffee and a cache, Coffee was ordinary (Instant Blend 43 maybe!!) but the cache was unique, you actually had to ask in the shop providing a password and they would hand over the box. It was something different in geocaching to me anyway.

Next was to basically head the rest of the way to Kings Canyon Resort and set up camp. Once that had been done, I went for a small canyon walk around town for half an hour, had some lunch, then drive back to the Kings Canyon turnoff where I commenced what was suggested to be a 4-5 Hour Walk. And what a walk it was, simply spectacular; I cannot find the appropriate words to describe it. I had the most fun of any walk I have done since I have been away, I highly recommend it to anyone.

I then drove back to camp and walked to the suggested best sunset viewing area, lots of people there, but very nice all the same. I also saw something I hadn’t seen before in the caravan park, no doors on the toilet blocks, but they did have animal gates to stop any unwanted animals getting in. I thought that was funny!

Oh, almost forgot, on the way to Kings Canyon, I saw several wild Horses, as well as some Camels, one of them dead on the side of the road, I wouldn’t have liked to be the car or even truck that hit that!. There were some German tourists that took particular interest in the dead animal and seemed to be taking photos!!

The plan tomorrow is to drive all the way back to Alice Springs.

Distance Driven: 484.9km (3933.3km total)
Geocaches Found: 2 (2 Trad)(110 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 8.5/10 (Once again, plenty of space, very clean and a nice canyon nearby)

Day 12 - Yulara to Kata Tjuta to Yulara

Today was not a bad day, I got up at 8, breaky, did some overdue washing and headed for Ularu to hopefully climb the rock. No such luck, apparently the winds were over 25 knots on the top which is the threshold for closing it off. Not letting that hold me back and not withstanding the $5500 fine, I climbed up anyway. (That was a joke people) I actually headed for Kata Tjuta, where I first did the shorter Walpa Gorge walk, which was simply amazing. I followed this up with some lunch at the base of Valley of the Winds walk, 7.4km of the most stunning scenery in the national park. after that, I headed back into town where I had a look at the shops and almost bought some beer or wine. I said almost, the prices were outrageous, the cheapest bottle of wine was almost $40, and the same goes for a 6 pack of beer, so I decided to go without.

Distance Driven: 150.5km (3448.4km total)
Geocaches Found: 2 (1 Trad, 1 Earth) (108 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 8.5/10 (Very nice, not too expensive and a very large rock nearby as well as large mounds poking out of the ground!!)

Day 11 - Erldunda to Yulara

Well, today was going to be the day I climbed Ularu, more on that later. I left the caravan park to get some fuel,when I arrived saw the sign "cash only", I thaught oh crap, I don't have the cash on me to pay for this, especially at $1.86 per litre. Luckily the shop opposite had a ATM to all was good, except having to pay an extra $2.50 to withdraw the cash out.

Anyway, I got over that fairly quickly and was on my way. It was only around 270km so I was there well before lunch. I saw Ularu for the first time just before 9am and Kata-Juta ~ an hour and a half later. Ok, so I arrived at the campground, great spot, beautiful day. Set up camp for 2 nights and went to the shops to grab some lunch. Soon after this, the winds started and not long after that a few sprinklings of rain arrived, it wasn't looking good for my climb up the rock this afternoon. Headed out to the rock anyway, windy as hell. Got to where the climb starts and ..... Closed due to high winds. Decided to go for a walk around the rock instead, the rain was on and off, but it was still great weather for a walk. What a stunning place, I was in awe of it's sheer size, humungous!! Anyway, I am sitting typing this, waiting for the sun to set, camera set up ready for some photos.

Distance Driven: 305.9km (3448.4km total)3448.4
Geocaches Found: 3 (2 Trad, 1 Earth) (106 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 8.5/10 (Very nice, not too expensive and a very large rock nearby!)

Day 10 - Coober Pedy to Erldunda

Today was not a great day as far as things to do, Just basically drive 500km and set up camp again! There is basically just 3 towns in between today, Cadney Homestead with a sign out front basically begging people to come in and buy some food so they dont go hungry, then there is Marla where the Oodnadatta Track Starts/Ends depending on your perspective. Just for the sake of it, I drove ~1Km down the track to try it out, I guess this part is not too rough. I then stopped at Marla for some morning Tea.

After that I headed for the Border ~150Km further on. Just before I got there, I hit the momentus 3000km mark in my travels so far.

From there, another 95Km and I had arrived at Erldunda, my stop for the night before heading west tomorrow towards Ayres Rock and The Olgas.
There is a swimming pool here, maybe its time for a swim before dinner

Distance Driven: 504.4km (3142.5km total)
Geocaches Found: 3 (3 Trad, (1 DNF)) (103 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 6/10 (Very Basic, Ground for pitching tent is just small stones, but the caravans get nice grass. It was cheap @$11)

Day 9 - Port Augusta to Coober Pedy

Until this trip, I always thaught it was "Cooper Pedy" Not sure Why!!

Anyway, the morning started bright and early as a nearby camper decided to leave at 6AM, so I figured I may as well get up too. So, I was dressed, washed last nights dishes and car packed by 7.15AM. First thing I did was have a look at the Australian Arid Lands Botanic park which was very interesting, all the different types of plant and birdlife that grow/live in the different regions of SA as well as other parts of Australia. Next was to continue along the Stuart Highway towards Coober Pedy, stopping when I felt like it. My first main stop was at Lake Hart, which apparently normally a Salt bed with some fantastic reflections today there was definately water in it, and I am definately getting closer to the centre of Australia with the temperatures rising to ~28 degrees outside. Next stop was Glendambo where I stopped for a very average Hamburger for lunch. I then basically headed straight to Coober Pedy and arrived ~3PM. I took some time to take a walk around the town, then grabbed some groceries for dinner.

Some observations about today - Why would any animal want to live anywhere along this stretch of road? There seemed to be some sort of roadkill every few kilometers. I hit my first animal today, a very small bird, I looked in my rear vision mirror and it was laying on the road, maybe just stunned? There was a basically empty field at one point with 2 emus wondering around looking for food why would they choose to be there? I was driving along and at one point all the land seemed flat, all the shrubs were very low and the sky was totally blue, not a cloud in the sky, something that really cannot be photographed, but if i didnt know otherwise, I would have thought the world was flat.

Distance Driven: 558.2km (2638.1km total)
Geocaches Found: 7 (7 Trad) (100 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 7.5/10 (Noisy, Very Nice setting tho.)

Day 8 - Wilpena to Port Augusta

When I got up this morning, I was still undecided as to weather or not I would head north and do a small section of the oodnadatta Track from Maree to the edge of Lake Eyre then back south via Olympic Dam and Wimera. A conversation with a bloke over a sink washing dishes made up my mind, He said there is a possibility it could "Really Rain" over the next couple of days which could change the track from Dry to totally wet and undrivable with my car, so play it safe.....

I first headed north to find some caches I missed 2 days ago and to drive down the Brachina Gorge Geological Trail, very interesting, so many different different types of rock along 1 road. Anyway, I found my caches then headed slightly further north to Parachilna, and to Parachilna Gorge where the Heysen Trail finishes. There was a lady there who is a friend of the trail and she was waiting for a group of 34 that were finishing the track today, apparently they have been doing it in sections over the last 6 years.

Anyway, now the rest of the day was dedicated to mostly driving back over familiar ground, from here to Port Augusta where I would stay the night. I have now driven over 2000 Km.

Distance Driven: 356.1km (2079.9km total)
Geocaches Found: 16 (3 Earth, 13 Trad) (93 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 6/10 (Noisy and Expensive, Clean Bathroom)

Day 7 - Wilpena Campground

When I woke this morning I was not sure what walk I was going to do - Easy, Medium or Hard. Right up until I reached the trailhead, I still had not decided. I arrived at the trailhead and made a quick decision to make it a hard one today, I bought a sandwich, took along some dry biscuts and a litre of water and off I went to The St Marys Peak Direct route. The sign stated 6 Hours, 14.6km return.

My first stop was up the top of an even closer peak, I think it was called Wangara hill, there didnt seem to be any track to the top, but there was a cache up the top, so I had to give it a go. Well, around 45 minutes later, I was on the top with the cache in hand, with a very nice view across one side of the range and also down to the caravan park and Wilpena Resort.

Now it was time for the real stuff, I was back down on the track, fairly easy at this point, with very gradual ups and downs, nice easy walking. well, that continued on until ~2.6km to the peak (Yes there were still markers every 200m) where the track became very rocky and rough with many steps up to half a metre high. anyway, I eventually made it up to where the track junctioned with the St Marys Peak Inside Trail which is 21.5Km Return, 9 Hours of walking I was not ready for. Here is where I was surprised with a Phone call from Mr Paul Schembri, I was mainly surprised there was coverage here. (Thanks for your concern Paul). Anyway, now onto the last stretch, ~1.4Km of windy Rocky uphill track to the summit. I finally arrived at 12.15PM, where I sat and ate my lunch and drank a good proportion of my water. I then spent the next 30-40 minutes trying to locate the solitary cache on this peak.I found it eventually and started to head back via the same track. I found the going on the way back down much easier for the most part, except that it really was prime ankle rolling territory. I got to within 4Km of the Information centre when I ran out of water and could feel the de-hydration hitting me. I pushed on, and made it back to camp at 3.25, quickly re-hydrated myself and was feeling good again. I think the rest of the day can be a take it easy kind of day.


Oh, I had forgotten an event from yesterday, When I drove back into Wilpena, there was 3 emu's standing on the road. I got within 20 metres of them, and 2 of them scampered off, but one just stood there bleeting at me, he eventually ran off after a toot of my horn. They really are a scary animal. I am now afraid of them :)

Big scarry Emus

Distance Driven: 0.00km (1723.8km total)
Geocaches Found: 2 (2 Traditional) (77 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 9/10 (Ahhh, the serenity still)

Day 6 - Dingley Dell Campsite to Wilpena Campground

Today was an early start as I didnt sleep too well and was awake anyway, so got up at 6.30 and walke to Perawurtina Cultural Heritage Site where there was supposed to be some Aboriginal signs. I could not find them!! Back to camp, had some breakfast and packed up the gear in readiness to go on a couple of walks today.

I started with the Trezona loop walk which I must say is fantastic, despite me getting lost after 5 minutes, I ended back up on the road and no track markers to be seen. I decided to just wakl along the road and soon enough I found the track marker I was after. I must say, they make their wakling tracks very well in the Flinders Ranges, with a distance marker every 200 metres. This hike started with open grassland then soon followed with some gorges. I also noticed a Hut used by the Heysen Trail Hikers, definately nothing like the ones on the alps track. Apparently there used to be an early 1900's tin shed but they tore it down and replaced it with a brick building!! Why, I do not know. anyway, the walk followed along, across some dry river beds and into some more open countryside, where there were many signs telling me how old the rocks were, anything up to 620 million years old. I then passed the intended Start point for this walk at Trezona Campground. From there, I basically followed the creek along back to the car. Upon arriving at the car, I noticed the path I should have taken to start the walk. 8.4km, not a bad start to the morning.

The rest of the day was driving to places and having a look around. I started at the old Aroona Hut and Homestead Ruins, which was along what is best described as a 4WD track. The subie seemed to cope with the road including the 2 river crossings. I then headed back to where I intended to camp for the night, Acraman Campground. Once I had set up camp realised I would rather be camping in Wilpena, so packed up again and headed all the way back, not before heading even further away to check out the largest Aboriginal artwork in the Flinders Ranges, as well as finding my cache for the day.

I had to pay to camp (Despite already having paid for another nights Bush Camping in the national park) Wilpena campsite is privately owned, so pay seperately. Price is the same anyway, and there is a shower calling me right now.

FYI, I did have fun in my simi 4WD mode today.

Distance Driven: 97.00km (1723.8km total)
Geocaches Found: 1 (1 Traditional) (75 Total)
Caravan Park Rating: 9/10 (Ahhh, the serenity)

Day 5 - Sidenote

What an awsome night it was for stars, despite camping in a place I didnt really want to be, the night time sky was quite spectacular. I have added a pic into the gallery.

Day 5 – Hawker to Wilpena (Dingley Dell Campground)

Day 5 started at 7AM where some council workers decided to dig a hole in the road just outside the front entry to the caravan park. I got up anyway to beautiful sunshine so I packed up and was on my way. I made a coffee and put it into a thermos I had purchased especially for this trip (More on this later) I left the van park just after 8AM. It was only a short drive today, so fist thing I did was to go into Hawker town to have a look at the petrol station come general store come museum come seismology centre (that’s right, there was a machine measuring seismic activity 20km from Hawker connected via radio link.) – There is a good reason I was so interested in this. Can anyone guess? Anyway, there was a massive roll of paper on the machine which apparently gets changed every 24 hours!! There was also a printout from the Boxing day tsunami in 2008, very impressive. Pictures of the machine to come.

Now it was time to head for Wilpena, not before stopping at a few cache locations on the way.  First was an impressive building that used to be the Arkaba School. It looked from a distance that it was still in use, no real sign of wear and tear. Good 1800’s workmanship I guess. Next two stops were a couple of roadside caches with beautiful views. After that, just short of Wilpena was Rawnsley Park, a “Top tourist” caravan park, it was huge, and I had read there was a nice walk and a cache. On the way in, I saw my first “In the wild” emu. The walk was excellent, a ~3km round trip, it had a bit of everything.

Next I stopped at the National park entry where I thought I was paying for two nights at Wilpena campsite, but no!! a combination of confusing instructions had me paying for any campsite EXCEPT the Wilpena site. Damn It!!! Anyway, I went for a walk out into the Pound to Wangara Lookout via the Hills Homestead. It was a beautiful walk where the true character of Wilpena Pound shone through. It is a shame when I arrived at the top lookout, it had clouded over and it has been raining on and off ever since. Thankfully only short showers.

After my walk, I headed the ~25-30Km up the road to Dingley Dell campsite where I will stay tonight. No Phone or internet here, so I have typed it into word and will paste it into the blog at my next opportunity.

Oh, and re the coffee, I totally forgot I had made it until I arrived at camp, opened it at 4.30 and it was still hot, not bad for a $6 thermos.

Distance Driven: 101.00km  (1626.8km Total)
Geocaches Found: 6 (5 Traditional, 1 Earth)
Accommodation Rating: 8/10 (Beautiful Sunset, fantastic setting, what more could you ask)

Day 4 - Port Pirie to Hawker

I decided today was going to be more of a relaxing day, but of course what I decide and what happens is not necessarily the same thing. First things first, get some more fuel and a new pair of sun glasses, as the hinge just broke off my previous five buck market pair.

I had another amazing scenery change today, as I went from flat sometimes grassy fields ans sometimes arid land to mountainous red rock, I realy feel I am heading towards the centre of Australia now.

First thing I did before the scenery change was to walk out to the end of one mile jetty in port Germain. It just seemed to go on forever. I did mu first real (all be it short) hike today when I reached Quorn, I did the now traditional caching tour of the town, then I headed ~10km out of town where I hiket up to the top of devils peak, around 2.5km, but 150m plus up!! well worth it with a 360 degree panorama of the valley. Awsome!!!!

I then headed towards Hawker, my intended stop for the night. via a few roadside caches, including one at Kanyaka which was an old homestead and also where the Ghan used to pass through. Nice spot.

Arrived at Hawker ( Thought it was a much bigger ), set up camp and off I went again to check out the walks about town. I did therr. First one called Castle Hill, a 1.5Km return trip, that was followed by a walk up police hill to find a cache. Last one was the best, it is also part of the Heysen Trail which starts in cape Jervis below Adelaide and heads north to Parachilna gorge North of Wilpena Pound. A long 1200km Multi week Hiking Trail.

Anyway, thats it for today, tomorrow will head the ~60km to Wilpena Pound National Park

Time to fill in the Census!!

Distance driven:247.5km (1525.8km total)
Geocaches found: 15 (15 traditional)(68 total)
Caravan park rating 6 out of 10 (It is hard to be critical of a place that costs $10.80 per night)

Posting Comments

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Day 3 - Renmark to Port Pirie

Today was a good day, I really tried to berak up the driving today by stopping every 5 metres :) I mean every 50Km and doing a short walk or even just getting out of the car to find a cache. the distance today seemed much shorter then it really was as a result.

I started in Renamrk where I firstly found a cache, then headed out via a coffee from maccas. My first stop was at a town called Monash where there was this massive adventure playground, ohhh it would be great to be 8 years old again. Nonetheless I went in and had a look anyway (FREE Entry) and had a go at the maze.

Next was a place called Herons Bend where there is a pub but nothing else, I went for a walk out on the flood plains, lots of birdlife around. Unfortunately due to the rain, the ground was sticking to my shoes and every step i took I grew taller with the buildup of mud. anyway, I made it back to the car, unfortunately the pub was closed on Mondays, I noticed a line on the wall about 3/4 of the way up and it was marked at the 1956 flood level!!!

I saw a Camel farm as well as an emu farm where they had cows and Emu's living together!! In The Same Field!!

Next real stop was a place called Morgan where there was a constant flow of traffic on the car ferry they had running there. I grabbed some lunch while I was there.

My next stop was a cache called "Boot Camp" which was basically a Tree with probably 100 or more Shoes tied to it as well as a rather large pile on the ground. I didnt find the cache, apparently it is in one of the shoes.

It is amazing how the landscape changes, the land on both sides was pretty much desolate unusable land, then all of a sudden, it changes to beautiful green rolling hills just at I am approaching Burra, an old tin mining town. I spent an hour or so in Burra, exploring all the old buildings as well as checking out the views over the town and the mine. I did a caching tour of Burra.

Next stop, my last for the night, Port Pirie. I arrived early enough to set up my tent and get it drying, this morning was the second morning in a row I packed up a wet tent - not fun!!

Anyway, daylight was still around, so I headed out again towards Port Flinders, Weeroona Island, not really an island, except when the ocean high tide is very very high. I found a great spot where there was a fantastic view of the setting sun. Anyway, time to grab some fuel and back to town to grab some takeaway dinner and sit on the beach to eat it.

I got the net working on the laptop again, so hopefully some pictures tonight.

Distance driven: 394.4km (1278.3km total)
Geocaches found: 20 (20 traditional)(53 total)
Caravan park rating 6 out of 10 (Cheap Though!)

Day 2 - Mildura to Renmark

Day 2 started the same way day 1 finished, I was awoken very early with many drops of rain on my tent roof.

I spent the morning exploring and caching in Mildura, including a new cache to me, a webcam cache, where a picture of me is taken via a live webcam on an old tower. I gave cal a call and he jumped on his pc and captured the image for me. I then traveled over the bridge into NSW so I could get my first cache in that state. I then headed back over the bridge, grabbed some lunch in Mildura, then headed for Renmark which is not too far away.

Another Big4 park, much nicer this time, also more expensive. Set up the tent, then the rains arrived, it poured for around 2 hours so I ended up cooking under lantern light again.

Distance driven: 182.3 (883.9km total)
Geocaches found: 18 (2 multi, 15 traditional & 1 webcam)(33 total)
Caravan park rating 7 1/2 out of 10

Photos

Unfortunately for some reason, my laptop won't connect to the Internet using my phone as an access point, like I have been able to do before, so no photos until I work it out, or get somewhere that has wifi.

Day 1 - Ferntree Gully to Mildura

Well, after just under 11 and a half hours on the road, I have finally made it to the Big4 caravan park in mildura. I really took it casually, not really thinking about the distance I needed to travel in order to make it here tonight. There was a bit of extra driving as I wanted to go via Kerang.

Started the drive just after 5.30, heading towards the zoo for my first geocache near to the Melbourne tigers home ground "The Cage". Nice easy find. Continued on, stopping at maccas at ~7am for some brecky. After that, next stop, Bendigo for a stretch. The morning was glorious, clouds cleared away to a beautiful sunny day. Found a number of geocaches along the way, although, one of the multi's was quite a bit out of the way at Boort, it finished at the airport. Anyway, after I left Kerang, the driving got a bit dull, flat Barron land for quite a bit of it. I did have a few drops of rain from a single rather large black cloud that was hovering around above. Finally crossed over the border of VIC/NSW after a fuel stop which meant I was not far away. It did get to a point at ~4pm where I just wanted to get there. Anyway, I finally did and made my way to the caravan park and set up the tent. Made a couple of calls to family to let them know I had survived the day. At about 7.30 we got some actual rain along with strong winds, didn't last long, and I was able to cook my dinner outside. And then type this under the stars of a clear night.

Distance driven: 701.6km
Geocaches found: 15 (2 Multi and 13 Traditional)
Caravan park rating: 6/10 (have to start low otherwise nowhere to go)

BOOTS!!!!

Bloody Hell, I have just turned the house upside down and cant find my hiking boots. God damn it, I will have to take my old worn out pair on holidays with me.

One day to go Yee Harrrrr!!!

A day and a half to go

OK, just a day and a half to go now, tonight will do a partial pack, everything in its box, make sure nothing is missing before I pack up the car Friday night.

Day 1 is just 6 days away

Well, lawn has been mowed, garden weeded, will do a practice pack this afternoon to make were everything fits in the car!!

Other than that, everything is ready to go.

Going Soon

Just 5 Working Days plus 2 Hours until I have finished work for a month. Getting very Excited now, Cant wait.

This weekend I must try again to do the gardening, its been good weather this week, so hopefully the grass is dry enough to mow.

Before I go

Saturday, I must have a haircut, otherwise I will probably have a bad hair day every day, and we wouldnt want that would we?

Playing around

I am currently playing around with the settings available on the blog, so you may see some wierd stuff displayed over the next week or so.

AAWT November-December 2004

This one reminded me of the last big trip I took to do the AAWT in 2004

Less then two Weeks to go until lift off.

Today, Sunday 24th July, Went shopping for some groceries to take with me for dinners and breakfasts while I am away. I also got a second water container, so I will have a total of 10 liters of water with me in the car.

I was planning to do the gardening today, but due to rain most of the day, was unable to do the main thing which was mow the lawn. Hopefully next weekend there will be one day where I will be able to mow the lawn.

I have a lunch with Caroline, Stu and Nat next Saturday, and a Birthday Lunch next Sunday for Karen, as well as a Grand opening for richard and Karen;s new garden.

This weekend...

This weekend, I will have to get my garden as much under control as possible so it can survive by itself for a month virtually unattended. Hopefully I can finish it off in one day.

The first day is fast approaching.....

Just 17 sleeps to go!! This is the first day I have really thought gee, my trip is coming up very soon, I must get myself organized, buy the stuff I need, make a list of the stuff I need and plan where I would like to be each night and finally find out from people that have been there exactly what are the best places to visit and great things to do.