While packing up to leave Pt Augusta we had a visitor come and look us over.

 INTERESTING FELLOW

ALMOST TAME

Here are a few more wild flowers from the gardens at Pt Augusta.

 DAISYS

A PIECE OF ART FROM THE GARDENS

SEEING IT WAS OUR ANNIVERSARY WE HAVE TO BE IN A SHOT

RENMARK,.

We made our next camp about 5.00pm and with no fruit and or vegetables we had biscuits with vegemite and baked beans for dinner. Notices along the highway wanted all fruit and veggies to be put in a bin so we had eaten our fruit before we reached the fruit fly line and had no veggies to dump.

Not a bad nights sleep and we were up early to check emails and have breakfast before going to have a look at the town.

We can get discounted meals at the pub and at the Renmark Club due to staying at the Big Four Park. So we will try one tonight Monday..

Had a look at hiring one of the local houseboats but some celebrity has got it booked out for now so we missed out. Had a look on board though and it looks flash.

GOOD  NAME

ALL CONVENIENCES

INSPECTION LOOKED OK.

FRESH BREAKFAST DAILY

The chooks come with the boat so you get fresh eggs each morning. Would have been a change from cereal and a cuppa. But you can't have it all.

HERE'S THE BIG FELLOW

Looked at a couple of shops and got some nuts etc for back home and then went to the corner cafe for a cuppa. Scones with Jam and cream and a slice of orange poppyseed cake washed down with a latte and cuppa. Should have seen the size of the scones, half the size of a house brick........well not quite, but they were large, bigger than mine when I make them. And yummy.

A bit more walking and looking around and it was then lunch time. Back to the corner shop and this time it was only toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches with a cuppa.

With lunch out of the way it was back to camp for some sitting in the sun and reading and a little fishing.

FISHING INSPECTORS

 The local birdlife came around for a check on licences and checking the number of hooks per line. 3 or four pelicans and about 6 or so ducks of various breeds.

Very tame birds. One of the park staff spotted a pelican with some fishing line caught in his wing but he eluded being caught and flew off before I could see what bait he was using as mine was not getting anywhere.


Tomorrow is Wednesday and the day we leave here and head back to Victoria and home.   . Not sure if we will make all the way or not but will have a go at it. Depends on traffic and roads etc.

HI ALL AVID READERS.   JUST A POINT IN CASE YOU ARE NOT AWARE OF IT.

iF YOU CLICK ON THE PICTURES THEY EXPAND AND YOU CAN SEE BETTER WHATS WHAT.

First interesting sight down the highway this time was the Diggings at Coober Pedy

DIRT FROM THE OPAL MINES THAT SURROUND THE TOWN

It is law here that you cannot fill in any of the mine shafts just in case there is someone down there and they also serve as escape routes when they are connected to another shaft nearby.   Hence all the piles of excavated dirt and rock.
We had a pie/pastie for lunch and hit the road again to the night stop at Marla, a road house in the middle of nowhere.

A cold night and off next morning to Glendambo our next camp spot.

About 400kms further South we cane to Glendambo for the night.

The camp was in the grounds of a motel/roadhouse and it did for the night, nothing fancy.

Funny noises out side during the night and a strange bird was near our camp. It sneaked in for a flutter before flying off into the night. WHO?

FLUTTERING AROUND

QUEER BIRDS UP HERE

Next morning and we are off again with sandy salt bush country until we came to Lake Hart. A large salt lake with water a fair way out across the salt bed.

Might look better when the pic is blown up and the reflection across the salt is more evident.

Interesting place surrounded by sandy country and lots of wild flowers. Will insert a few to see if they come up alright.

LAKE HART 

WHO IS THAT IN THE MIDDLE?

SALT FLAKES

AN OLD CART WHEEL IN THE SALT

SOME OF THE WILD FLOWERS NEAR THE LAKE

We arrived in Pt Augusta in time to set up camp and have a shop for dinner. Decided to have Chinese that night as we were lazy and did not want to cook.

Good camp site with very good amenities.

The weather has picked up and we can pack the thermal gear away, I hope.

The lady in the office suggested we have a look at the Australian Arid Land Botanical Gardens.

The Gardens are about 5km back up the Stuart Hwy from the township.

The gardens are set on a large land site on the side of the waters at the top of Spencer Gulf and contain acres of plants from the Australian dry lands.

The gardens are a work in progress with a lovely cafe/ info centre/ convention centre/ nursery shop in the middle. As it was time for a cuppa we had a couple of drinks and some carrot cake and Banana caramel pie.

Absolutely YUMMY.

So good , we decided to go back next day for another look around and lunch.

For lunch we had pumpkin soup with mini damper and a bigger slice of Banana pie.

All of which was YUMMY, YUMMY.

The damper was about large scone size with flavoring of aussie arid land native food spices and bits.

If any readers of this blog are in Port Augusta you must try the cafe in the gardens.

The gardens are great with all sorts of native plants and many in flower at the moment. Will insert some below and hope they show up OK. After they are processed and edited they will look better.

LOOKING INLAND AT THE HEAD OF SPENCER GULF WITH RED CLIFFS

STURTS DESSET PEA

ME LOOKING IN TO THE GARDENS

 LEIGH TRYING TO SEE WHAT TIME IT WAS

THE VIEW FROM INSIDE THE CAFE
FLINDERS RANGES IN THE BACKGROUND

Have taken many pictures of plants and flowers that are too many to insert here.

Tomorrow is our last day here and we are eating out somewhere to be decided, for our anniversary.

Will ask around tomorrow for somewhere nice to eat.

Sunday we head off to Renmark after we eat all our fruit as they will take it off us as we cross the line on the map where the fruit flies stop flying. They pinched our honey before in WA and we had to go to the shop over the line on the map and but the same honey there. How the viruses that effect the bees stops in a new jar of honey before it crosses the line beats me!

Probably be in Renmark for one or two days and then home mid week.

Looking at the stats for the blog and it shows it has gone international.  There are readers in Poland, the USA as well as here in Australia.  Does not say who and where  but just the country.
Bye for now.

Our last days is Alice and we are busy.

Saturday is the big day here in Alice with their Henley On Todd.

The day starts with a parade through the center of town and most of the contestants take part.

 BOATS AND THEIR CREWS

SOME BOATS MIGHT NOT PASS A MARINE INSPECTION FOR SEAWORTHY

ALL IN CORRECT UNIFORM

 THE NAVY SHIP

PIRATES

THE VIKINGS

The crews all walked along handing out lollies to the kids as they passed by.

Then after lunch the regatta begins in the end of the Todd River, complete with surf rescue, racing eights, kayaks, double skulls, and all manner of nautical events. Capping off the day with a battle between the Pirates, the Navy and theVikings.

These three teams are in motorised ships of war and they circle each other firing cannons, throwing flour bombs while high pressure hoses drench all the crews and some spectators.

We passed one of the channel two TV camera men as we walked out and his clothes and waterproof covering around his camera were covered with smoke and dirt from being too close to the action.

 RACING EIGHTS

THEY ARE OFF, AND ROWING/RACING

THE BATTLE UNDERWAY HIGH PRESSURE HOSES FIRING

FIRING ALL CANNONS

We were only going to stay for a couple of hours but stayed till the end.
The people's choice favorite this year was the Navy, who have not won in the past 10 years or so they have been entering the event.

Next morning we were collected at the park gates by a tour bus and off we headed for a tour of the West MacDonnell Ranges. This one day tour covered, the Stanly Chasam,, the Ochre pits where the traditional owners of the land got all the ochre for their painting and cerimonies etc, Simpson Gap,Ormiston Gorge, etc

EMURUN TOURS 

 STANDLY CHASM

1. GOOD LOOKING COUPLE

 FINE LOOKING GENT

 OVER LOOKING THE FINKE RIVER

 THE OCHRE PITS.

The ochre varies in color from bright yellow too dark brown and an almost white  range, and was used for barter between tribes who used the ochre for body painting.  The beginning of the BODY SHOP range of goods,  adopted and bottled by the British company.

 ORMISTON GORGE

SIMPSON GAP

THAT WOMAN AGAIN

The tour dropped us back at camp about 5.30 tired after a very interesting day in the outback.

This camp in Alice Springs has an entertainment program with something on every night for the patrons at the camp.

The first thing we attended was a local photographer who has a light show of about 300 of his pictures displayed on a big screen as he sings a wide range of ballards and songs from home and many well known songs from mostly aussie singers.

Next was a session by the didgeridoo man we saw a few weeks ago at his light and sound show. Tonight he explained about how to play the didgeridoo and get the breathing working and displayed a wide variety of instruments.

The last night was line dancing. We started but the first try got the writer totally confused and I then watched the remainder of the dancing from the sidelines. We did arrive late and after the other dozen or so people had been instructed in the steps for the first dance.

Another thing we had to contend with was a caravan in the camp that every night was selling rather large hot pancakes with fresh strawberries, cream and ice cream splashed with either home made strawberry sauce or maple syrup. These are washed down with a variety of hot drinks and coffees. The couple that run the business are from South Australia and they come to Alice for the peak travel season each year and operate from the camp ground.. Twice we had to force ourselves to have a treat to reduce the water we would have wasted by washing the dishes if we had cooked our own dinner.

Monday and we are off South heading for home. First night and we have made it to Marlo about half way to Coober Pedy. Tomorrow we are off to Coober Pedy and then planning a couple of days in Port Augusta dreading the expected cold weather.

On the road again and we are heading home.

Having filled the food box and last minute goodies we left Broome.

We had an overnight stop at Larrawa Station again and made Kununurra the next day.

Had two nights here to do some washing and get some more food.

On night one, just after nightfall a loud annoying noise began and continued for hours.

It started like someone pumping a lilo up but went too long. As it went a long time it was decided that it had to be mechanical and maybe from the swimming pool plant.

We complained to the park management who did not know what it could be.

The noise started again at 4.30 the next morning for a while.

Come night two and the noise started again so torches in hand we went looking for the cause.

On the other side of the road in the park from where we were camped was a medium sized Boab tree. Sitting about 6 metres off the ground was a Tawny Frogmouth and he was the noise maker.

After that realisation we were quite happy for him to continue and thought it was funny, but reported it to the office and were told they often find him in different spots in the park.

After Kununurra we headed for Katherine. Due to the 90 minute time difference after crossing the state border we arrived after the park office had closed but the two girls working there opened up for us and we camped there for the night.

A rather large campsite all grassed and treed and a good spot to camp.

Next morning we had a late start which got even later after we saw a sign pointing to some hot springs just beside the Katherine river.

Two km later and with hot and tired feet, we arrived and as it looked so good we decided to return with our bathers for a swim. This time we did not walk but drove around the area to find a short cut at the top of the springs.

KNOW THAT BALD HEAD ANYWHERE

THERE IS THAT WOMAN AGAIN

The water is crystal clear and reported to be about 34 deg warm.

A nice place to relax and enjoy the warm surroundings..

After our swin we went into the Katherine township to have a bite to eat and refill the food box.

Safeways must be happy as there were maybe 50 American Marines buying food in the shop. Cooked chickens were the most popular. I guess they are from the detatchment training at the nearby Tindal air base just outside of town. There is also a multi country defense exercise in the area according to the local paper we got for a read.'

All stocked up and we headed down the road to the CutterCutter caves. The caves get mentioned in the local travel info so we went in for a look. Having got our ticket we had to wait for 30 min for the tour to begin.

Time's up and off we went with about 10 or so other travellers.

About 700 metre walk and down we go into the cave. Hand rails and steel matting to walk on and the interior is quite impressive.

STALIGMITES AND STALIGTITES

ROCK OUTSIDE CAVES IS ACTUALLY SANDSTONE BURNT BLACK BY BUSHFIRES

After the tour and we are off to Mataranka and more hot springs for the next morning's exploring before heading further South. We arrived about 5.00pm so it was just time to set up and check out the facilities before dinner gets underway.

Mataranka.

Is an old town from back in the cattle driving days and now looks to tourism for income.

TERMITE NEST BESIDE OUR CAMP

GIANT TERMITE NEST

The ants out of the big nest must be huge and great builders. There was a rumor of some dogs and cats disappearing every full moon and being taken by the ants. I am not sure but will keep the story going.

FEEDING BARRAMUNDI IN POND

First thing was an early breakfast so we could pack and go up the road to watch live barramundi fish feeding. The campground up the road has a large lake mostly covered with water lillies. At the start time of 9.30 a chap came over and got into the lake which was about knee deep where he stood. He explained what was to happen and called for volunteers to get into the water to feed the fish. Which several bystanders did. Standing in the water and dangling small fish about as big as a large sardine soon produced a large splash and the small fish was gone. This happened with a handful of small fish. We were led to believe that sometimes the fish jump out of the water to get the bait but I have my doubts. We could not determine what was grabbing the bait and will have to watch the pictures taken at the time to see if any fish can actually be seen. After the fish feeding it was back down to the camp where we had spent the night to hire some plastic noodles. The ones kids use at the beach for floatation devices.

A short drive of about 300 metres and we come to the car park at “Bitter Springs”. A short walk in bathers and towels and we come to a creek running between palms and grasses. The creek is about 5 to 6 metres wide and reportedly up to 4 metres deep in places. The water is crystal clear and you can see the gravel on the bottom. Down the steps we go and into 32 deg water. Here is where the noodles come into action. The idea is you run the noodles under your arms or where they fit, relax and you then float in the hot water down through the trees and grasses about 200 metres down stream where there is a ladder for you to climb out. The idea is you put your thongs over the ends of the noodles and you then have them to walk back to the start point to do it all over. If you have the time.

As we heard of another hot spring just down the road we had the one turn and then off to the next pool. This turned out to just be a concrete pool that had the hot water flowing through it at a great rate of 30.5 million litres per day. What a waste of a resource. This looked a bit grotty compared to the otthers we had seen so we gave it a miss and hit the road.   Outside this thermal pool is a replica of the old station house made for the film 'WE OF THE NEVER NEVER"

OLD STATION HOUSE

INSIDE FURNITURE AND FITTINGS

THAT WOMAN IN PERIOD DRESS

Leaving Mataranka we head down the highway towards Alice Springs.   About half way there, just before you reach the township of Elliot you come to the turn off to the “Longreach Waterhole.” This waterhole is actually part of the Lake Woods complex and I am not sure of the name implications.

7 Kms of bumpy dirt road later and you come to what looks exactly like the river Murray in Victoria. A water course about 2 to 3 hundred metres wide with shady trees, BBQ, tables and chairs etc and a dirt road that follows the bank of the water. Looking up and down the water course it appears to be maybe 4 kms long with a turn at both ends. A short drive to the right and we select a camp site and wait for what we were told was a mass of birds that come in at dawn to feed.

We camped about 6 metres from the waters edge , put the billy on and had a cuppa.

Next morning we were up bright and early waiting for the show to start.

Just before 8.00am flights of cormorants and pelicans began flying past and landing up the far end from where we were waiting.

THEY CAME

THEY GATHERED

THEY WAITED

THEY STRETCHED BANK TO BANK 

THE WHISTLE WENT AND THEY BEGAN FEEDING

WHERE ARE THEIR MANNERS

Flight after flight came and went and the water at the end was getting covered in birds. Thinking we were about to miss the show we walked up to the end and soon the head pelican must have blown a whistle as the birds in the water came together and started feeding together. They moved away from where we were and we thought we had come on a bad day but after a short while more and more birds came and it was bank to bank pelicans and cormorants dipping and diving and feeding as they swam down to where we were and all the way back past where we were camped and way into the distance, and amazing sight. At a guess I think there were about 500 plus pelicans and maybe up to a thousand cormorants covering the water course and feeding. About every 2 to 3 hundred metres or so the cormorants would fly off to patches on the banks and in the trees cover the bank like a black carpet. They seem to dry off then back to the water with the pelicans..

With the warm weather and watching the antics of the bird life we decided to stay another day.

SUNSET AT LONGREACH WATERHOLE

THE FULL MOON OVER THE WATERWAY

The second day we were up early again to witness the same feeding frenzy again, not once, but another frenzy late in the afternoon..

Just as well we have digital cameras as they worked overtime with still shots and videos.

Some will be listed below and others will have to wait and their size may be too large for the blog.

The next day we started packing up the camp early so we could watch the spectacle again before leaving the waterhole.

Talking to the locals in the garage where we refuelled, this has been happening for years and only gets about by word of mouth with the campers.

Leaving Elliot we head down the road to Alice Springs. It's a bit quicker coming down as its all down hill on the maps.

Down the road a ways we stayed a night at Wycliffe Well camp ground.

This place we looked at on the way North but did not stay.

Wycliffe Well is the centre for UFO sightings in the red centre.

THAT WOMAN AND HER FRIENDS

Arriving late we were offered a two for the price of one meal so that was the end of cooking dinner that night. While waiting for a chicken in pajamas and some barramundi a young girl came in and brought a small kangaroo with her. The mother had been shot and the youngster was being hand reared by the owner of the roadhouse/campground.

GUESS WHO WANTED TO TAKE HIM HOME?

Waitress had to take Joey away so we could have dinner but promised to bring him back after.

BOTTLE FEEDING JOEY

Stopped at a roadhouse named Tee Tree for a toasted sandwich for lunch and a stickybeak at two police vans with people locked in the back Further back up the highway at Barrow Creek there were two police vans and we had four other police vehicles pass us as we had driven down.

Some one must have been naughty or had thumbed a ride in the back of the van back to Alice Springs for the big regatta here this weekend. “Henly on Todd.”

Arrived at Alice, caught up with the washing and then some shopping.
First night was freezing with a wind off the ice.

Second night and out came the thermal underwear and a lovely warm night was the result.

It's Henly on Todd River tomorrow and Sunday we are off on a tour of the West Mc Donnell Ranges