After talking to some people at Halls Gap, we found out that Port Fairy was supposed to be a good place to visit. Well, we are here today and there is not much here. Good for a getaway weekend at the end of a busy work week but nothing much else here. Cute quaint town :-)
Here we are at Halls Gap. The base of the Grampians. The weather is quite fresh. I've dug out the winter clothes. Not many of those :-( In fact, can't seem to find any for E. He mustn't have packed any. Done about 6 loads of washing. Kids are off with friends they have made here.
Now we are about to go for a walk in the mountains ;-) Went up to the Pinnacle lookout. Phew! What a walk! It was an interesting walk, something new to climb over round every corner. Whole walk was 4.2km. Kids did great. D was the only one that complained but my legs were sore at the end and his are half the length of mine. He didn't complain too much though. At one point I commented on how tired my legs were and his comment was he had put that tiredness out of his brain so he wasn't tired anymore ;-)
They made friends with some other kids that had previously been around oz so they had lots to talk about.
Free camped 2km just outside Peterborough. Gone from a comfortable 24º overnight to a very cold 6º. We were okay, but the kids were a bit cold in their cheap licensed sleeping bags. D ended up in bed with us. On the big plus side, no flies;-)
Went to the stream train museum. The only place in the world that still has a turntable that works. Some of the carriages dated back to 1860's. First time the kids have seen a train with beds and dining car's.
Arrived in coober pedy yesterday. Talk about fly city :-( Didn't seem to bother the kids though, still running around outside on the play ground. Much more comfortable in regards to comfort in the Caravan though ;-)
Paid a visit to the Old Timers Mine complete with underground home from the 60's. So cool underground and no flies either. Saw the underground church and the pastors wife invited us in to have a look around her underground home. It was very big and spacious. She was originally from Port McQuarie and desperate for company ;-)
20th
Uluru
Saw the big rock about 150km out of Uluru on the horizon. Lol! What a mistake! The Rock we saw was actually Mt Connor..Ha! No one tells you anything about that rock. The amount of people that stopped to take a photo believing it was Uluru. .....lol!
21st
Early morning start to try and get a good view of Uluru and the sunrise. Now at 5.30pm, we are on our way back to the van and D is fast asleep. Lots of walking and fresh air had really wiped him out. We're all quiet too, ready for an early night ;-)
Uluru, seeing the whole of the rock against the flat bushy landscape, is magnificent. Close up, not so magnificent. Didn't walk it as it was closed. Not sure I would have if it wasn't closed but I didn't have to make that decision. Kids were disappointed they couldn't climb it, but after some discussion I discovered they were expecting a full on rock climbing session. ...lol!
Walked amongst the Olgas (or as E says ogres) instead ;-) ps. Los of flies. Bought fly nets, made such a difference in comfort ;-)
Made a rash decision (much to E's horror) to go with our original plan and visit Uluru. Then back out via Mel and Syd. E is over the traveling. He just wants to get back and see his friends. Guess this trip will make them appreciate school. .....lol!
19-Apr-2013
Went to the reptile farm today. Saw a large goanna. Got to hold a bearded Dragon and an olive tree python. So cool! The bearded Dragon looked spikey but wasn't as spikey as expected. The python was heavy. 2.5m long. About 30kg. It was soft and smooth.
Had plans of going to the didgeridoo show in town. Purchased tickets too, but due to low nos it was canceled. :-(
Guy said after 19yrs he was closing cos of what goes on in the mall - vandalism :-(
