Kakadu - Kununurra

Lachlan – We went to Twin Falls. We could not swim because there were crocs but I found one of their teeth. Then we went through a river to go to Jim Jim Falls. We had to walk through a monsoon forest full of butterflies. At the plunge pool we saw big fish. I caught a small fish with my bear hands. On the way to Darwin we went to an aboriginal rock art site. We saw the sunset over the flood plain. The night we got to Darwin we went to we went to the Mindel market. We went to an oil pipeline and a beach that there was lots of coral and shells. The beach looked like it was moving because there were so many hermit crabs. We went to the state museum and an airplane museum. We visited and bought a painting from a gallery. Then we went to wangi fall and dived. I saw lots of fish. The next day we went along the Renelds track. We went to the lost city. It was a rock formation that looked like city ruins. We went to Blyth homestead. It was a very small house and at the back was a tin mine. I got some tin. Then we went to sandy creek falls and had a swim. The others saw a snake. Then we went to surprise creek. We jumped off the ledge into the water. We saw our first wild cow and pig (the pig was dead). At Katherine we went on a croc-spotting thing. I spotted lots of crocs. We saw catfish and snapper turtles. We got 1m close to a croc. At Kununarra we went to a Christian radio place. Today we are flying over the bungle bungles and lake argile.

(Photo: Thylacine Rock Art at Ubirr Rock, )

Campbell – we went to the Mindl market. I had garlic prawns for tea. We went to the aviation museum. It had lots of planes. The main one was a B-52 G model bommer. We went to a beach that had lots of hermit crabs. I held some. My brother and sister went to the movies. I had a swim. We went to litchfeild and went to lots of water falls. we went through lots of river crossings. The water falls was very nice. We went to Katherine. We went on a crocodile cruise. We saw at least 5 or 10 crocodiles. We are now at Kununurra. We went out for tea.

Pippa – We went to Twin Falls and swam at Jim Jim Falls. We were staying at Jabiru in Kakadu lodge with Caravan Park. We went t Darwin the next day we went to the Mindel market. We got tea there. I got my hair cut at Cassurina I also saw a movie there. It was Prince Caspian. We went to a museum. We saw sweet heat a 5.1 m croc! We went for lots of swims in the pool and got free cordials. Then we headed of to Wangi Falls in Litchfield National Park we stayed there for a couple of nights. Then we went out throw the Reynolds and stop at some swimming spots. We stayed at Katherine at Springvale Homestead and went on a croc cruise that night it included witch was a BBQ. Now we are in Kununurra.

(Photo: Smoke from burning off at sunset, Ubirr Rock, Kakadu)

Rhys – bit long since our last post, it is a new experience to not be regularly in mobile phone range. In Kakadu we 4WD into Twin falls and Jim Jim falls they were both good but I preferred the river crossing on the way in that was about 600mm deep without driving on top of the Salt was crocs. Its good motivation to not get stuck part way across! There are so many waterfalls and gorges to visit. Gunlom is still my overall fav, good to look at, walk and swim. These two was worth a visit as they are quite tall. Lachlan and I cased fish at Jim Jim, he caught one about 120mm long! Visited Ubirr rocks the aboriginal art was interesting and so much of it. The sunset over the wetlands was a good experience. Traveled to Darwin, so much to do around town, went tot the markets (they are full of new age stuff but the food is good). More sunsets at meal time @ Mindal Market and Stokes Hill Wharf, recommend both. Kids enjoyed feeding the fish on the Wharf, big hungry fish. Visited the Aviation museum which had a B-52 bomber, what a big beast, would not like to be on the receiving end of one of these war machines. Darwin harbor is twice the size of Sydney harbor, but not a picturesque as you can’t see the other side! Went shell hunting at east Point Arm, the beach was alive with hermit crabs, could not bring myself to evicting the crabs though they were in very nice shells. Bought a painting of the Bungle Bungles at a nice galley in Darwin. Camped beside a couple of blokes (Mick & Hoges) that had rode up to Darwin from Melbourne on large touring bikes also met a couple from Holland, Derek and Irene, was great sitting around chatting and joking together. The Dutch couples had sold their house and are traveling around the world. The place they had enjoyed the most so far was Mongolia and Tibet. Its interesting as most Aussie big travel experiences are to the US or Europe, maybe we should visit our neighborhood in Asia. From Darwin traveled to Litchfield where we preceded to swim at any waterfall that did not have saltwater crocs. Found a good campsite at Wangi Falls, glad we arrive early, as the place is full by 10:30! At wangi the swimming was good plenty of fish, rocks to jump off, warm pools and nice scenery. Camped beside a couple from Bayside Melbourne (Luke & Kay), we live in a parallel universe to them, doing similar things to them and have common values, were a good experience. Just outside Litchfield on the western side we found a cafe for Kathy to have a nice coffee at. From Litchfield we traveled south on the Reynolds Track to Katherine, Kathy was not sure of this at the time as we had reports that the river crossings were many and deep (and crocodile infested). After visiting all the sites on the way through, like the water falls, historic homestead, beautiful scenery, etc she had quite enjoyed it. The best parts were that we did not fill up the camper trailer with water, did not get stuck in a river crossing and that there were not so many people as access was more difficult. Stayed in Katherine and went for a crocodile cruise and dinner at night then off to Kununarra. Passed over some huge rivers, makes the yarra look like a small creek.

(Photo: River Crossing, Jim Jim Falls, Kakadu)

Kathy – Sorry it’s been so long since we last put anything on the Blog – a combination of lack of Internet coverage and too many things to do and people to see.

After Kakadu we went back to civilization and got the last site at an overpriced caravan park in Darwin (it is amazing how many people are traveling up here at the moment). We really enjoyed Darwin. The markets were great – lots of yummy Asian food and interesting entertainment. We met some lovely people – hi Irene and Derek (from Holland) and Mick and Hogan (from Melbourne). We had some great evenings sitting and chatting with them. We did the usual tourist things – visited the museums, collected shells on the beach etc, etc.

From Darwin we went to Litchfield National Park. We stayed at Wangi Falls, which was a very nice waterhole. We think Campbell has found his inner Digemon. At the fall we couldn’t find Campbell. We discovered him up behind some rocks eating green ants! They taste very sour like the beginning of warhead lollies (I know, I got Pippa to kill one for me so I could try it).

There were lots of interesting sights to see at Litchfield including the magnetic termite mounds which the termites orientate north/south to protect them from the sun. On the second day there we met Luke and Kay from Cheltenham. We had lots in common, church life, family life, kids stuffing around instead of helping pack up etc, etc!

We went out of Litchfield via an Fwd track, which included numerous river crossings. Rhys was wrapped but I was very skeptical to begin with because they were deepish and I had visions of out stuff floating around in the trailer. It all ended fine. Rhys got his excitement and the trailer stayed dry. There were some interesting places along the track. The highlight was probably Surprise Creek Falls, which had the best rock pools we’ve seen yet.

(Photo: Magnetic Termite Mound, Litchfield National Park)

From Litchfield we spent a night at Katherine in the grounds of the historic Springvale Homestead. From there we went on a night cruise of the Katherine River, which was very interesting. We saw lots of freshwater crocodiles and Northern Snapping Turtles which can bite your finger off if you get too close to their mouths.

We are now in Kununarra. I expected it to be flat, dry and boring around here. Instead it is nestled amongst by rugged rocky outcrops and is surrounded by water. There are lots of amazing boab trees. The kids discovered if you drop the boab nuts them they explode on impact. Needless to say many boab nuts are now in small pieces! The weather is about 28C during the day and about 15C at night. Very pleasant.

Well, it really is a small world. We went to Kununarra Baptist Church yesterday which was a great experience. This time of year they get a lot of visitors passing through and their congregation of 30 can swell to up to 120 people! We were introduced to another Victorian couple. It turned out that they live in The Basin, their surname is Dobson and they used to own an apple orchard – which we used to buy apples from! What’s more, for all you CHBC people, they go to Kilsyth South Baptist and Graeme and Isabelle Neilson’s caravan is stored on their property. Whatsmore, in the afternoon we went on a tour of HCJB Radio’s facilities. We were shown a DVD about HCJB, which included footage of the Kickbush’s and Vicky Rottinger. Wow!

Today we are going on a flight over Lake Argyle and the Bungle Bungles which I am really looking forward to. We have extended our stay at Kununurra another couple of days so we can chill out a bit before we head off to the Bungle Bungles and then over the Gibb River road to Broome.

(Photo: Wangi Falls, Litchfield National Park)

Blog 14-7-2008

Katherine / Gunlom Falls / Jabiru

Pippa – We went to a cruise on the Katherine River. After that we went for a swim with blown up the tires and raft. The next day we packed up and headed off to Gunlom Falls. We swam in the bottom pool. It was about 30 to 34’C out of the water. The next day we went to the top of the water Falls. We did the same the next day. We went for a Cane Toad hunting that afternoon and night we caught over 150.We went to Jabiru and went for a swim. We were setting up in about 33’C. We went to the Bar for tea. After that we went to a slide show.

Lachlan – we went on a cruse down 2 gorges on the Katherine River. When we got on the boat bats sat above in the tree us and squawked. We saw 3 crocodiles. After that we went swimming. When we got to Gunlom falls we swam at the big pool the next day we swam in the top rock pools. The next day we did the same and we saw millions of rocket frog. That afternoon and night we went for a cane toad hunt pip whused of. We caught over 200. Now we are in Jabiru.

Campbell –We went to cruse on the Katherine River at Katherine Gorge.

Kathy – After having left our fantastic bush camp we headed off for Kakadu. Lachlan was surprised that Kakadu was not greener. He expected it to be more tropical and more like rainforest. Campbell, by contrast, expected more shops and cafes. He’s also hanging out for takeaway. For all his talk of wanting to be the outback king when he grows up in his fully optioned 4X4 we think he is actually a true urbanite more at home sipping his latte in Chapel Street! We even have to drag him out of souvenir shops. Our first stop was Gunlom Falls. The campsite was not a patch on where we had been staying so it seemed a bit of a let down until we went to the pool at the bottom of the falls. It is absolutely beautiful. The green/blue water contrasts with the black rocks of the cliffs and the waterfall is trickling down the rocks in the middle. The pool is surrounded by lush vegetation and lovely creamy sand. It really was like something straight out of a tourism brochure. Yes, those places really do exist! On the second day we were there the kids joined a couple of the older boys on a cane toad cull. I won’t go into the details but there are at a lot less toads in Gunlom at least for a little while.

The next day we climbed a steep hill in over 30’C heat to rock pools. Well, the climb was very much worth it. The rock pools were truly magnificent. God really did an amazing job with the landscaping of these pools – with the best eternity edge pool I’ve ever seen! The pools looked as though they were perched in the sky. They appeared to be carved into the rocks in a series of mini pools. It was what I would imagine open air pools on a cliff top on some Mediterranean island. The pools were a beautiful light blue with little waterfalls flowing from one to the other and were staggered up the hill. We spent hours there the second day we were there and liked it so much we stayed an extra day and did the same on the next.

We were surprised last night by a shower of rain at 4.30 am and got up to secure everything in case the rain set in to find most of the camp doing the same. Fortunately the shower soon passed. We were up early and had our quickest set up yet (by the end of the trip we think we will have worked out the best place for things and the best packing method!). We arrived in Jabiru about 11.30 am to the closest thing to civilization we have seen for days. Although it was interesting to get in touch with our feral side this last week it is also great to be able to wash the mounting pile of dirty clothes and not permanently smell like campfire.

Rhys – in the end we had to leave our bush camp near Katherine gorge, it was a sad time for all. From our bush camp we set off for Gunlom falls, magnificent, the best falls I’ve been to so far in Australia. Falls are probably 30-40 metres (maybe bigger) coming off the escarpment into a large pool at the bottom, which is a pleasant place to swim. I’m still nervous about some of the swimming spots up here, lots of signs about crocodiles. Parks NT does not guarantee or recommend swimming in any of the water holes but they do check the water holes everyday for croc’s. When you get to the waters edge and see 20 or so people swimming, it gives you confidence in statistics / probability that compared with being the only one swimming i.e. 1:1 chance, your chances of being eaten alive by a killing machine are now 1:20, which is very comforting!

The water holes at the top provided a serene setting to drift around in the water and sample different pools, small water falls, small gorges to swim up and cane toads to hunt. The variety of bird life up here is most interesting, also seems to be every bug and critter known to man all of which just want to have a bite or chew on you to see what a southerner tastes like. After our one night at Gunlom turned into three days the moved onto Jabiru in the Centre of Kakadu National Park to restock repair things and visit clients. Along the way we saw our first GIANT Cathedral Termite mounds huge structures for little bugs.

The weather in Jabiru is 34’C an about 60% humidity and this is the cooler time of the year! Last night went to a talk on aboriginal rock painting put on by Parks NT they regularly do different talks like this up here they a fascinating and FREE both of which appeal to me, as everything else seems to cost. Hoping to plan some visits to rock art sites and some more waterfalls around visits to customers over the next few days then off to Darwin.

Mataranka - Katherine & Beyond

Blog 10-7-2008

Pippa – We woke up early and packed up and went to Mc Donald’s for breaky. I got two hash browns, one egg and bacon muffin and one Blue berry juice. Then we hit the road. We are trying to get Katherine but we know we won’t get there. In the end we got to Materranka we traveled for 10 hours all up in that trip. We went to a show that night. Before that we went to the hot springs. We went to the hot springs the next day and played with some kids that we meet at Alice Springs. We traveled to Katherine and bush camped. We went shopping the next day. Today we are going on a cruse.

Lachlan- We woke-up and headed to Katherine. On the GPS it said 1176km to next turn of! Dad and mum swapped turns driving. One would drive and the other would sit in the back and watch a DVD. We went passed the Devils Marbles. It isn’t very spectacular. To be honest they look like any other rocks. So we took a few pictures and kept going. You could see it got a lot greener and the termite mounds got bigger. We pulled up that night at materanka , we went to a concert. An old man got up and sang and danced.. After we set up we had a swim. We saw turtles and archerfish. The next day we went fishing but caught nothing. The rest of the day we swam in the spring. On the way to Katherine we went into some caves. The place we are staying know is a dried up pond down a dirt track outside of Katherine. We are going on a cruse in Katherine gorge.

Rhys – Mataranka was a nice place so we stayed an extra night. Went fishing with the kids in the Roper river and caught 6 snags a few others got away, they weren’t much good as they took our hook and sinker each time. Hot springs where hard to take, floating around in a warm pool in a tropical forest, its tough. From there to about 30km from Katherine staying in a bush camp that were where advised about, heaven is already on earth. Beautiful rich colours in the trees, interesting birdlife, bight stars, F-18 jets overhead good company, what more can you want! Not to keen on camping near the river, I’m a bit scared of those saltys that live there. Last night we (well the kids and I) played indigenous people and continued the burning off process that all the locals enjoy, the recent arrivals also enjoyed it.

We packed up to leave yesterday as 4 fuses blew in the trailer, fortunately was able to work our what was causing it, once fixed we resetup our camp. Kathy is so impressed with this place she does not want to leave, serious, she is loving it. I’m still in shock with this, I have not had a shower since I don’t now when, the kids have been wearing charcoal face paint, combined with some food left overs, there is no latte machine within a thousand miles, and she continues to enjoy, I’m most impressed. It must be said though that the portaloo is a hit with the girls, not so much with the boys, as they just go for a prowl with the trowel!

Today we are going for a cruse through the Katherine Gorge, then a walk, and a swim, hope its not to hot as most days have been about 28’C.

Campbell – we went to Cutta Cutta caves you can see where the WW11 soldiers shot the stalactites. We went to Mataranka and swam in the hot springs. It was lots of fun. I made some friends. We are at Katherine. We are staying in the bush. I really like it. There are lots of nice trees.

Kathy – Well, it doesn’t get much better than this. Here I am an Nitmiluk National Park at Katherine Gorge writing my blog entry on a picnic table shaded by a large paper bark tree and lilypilly. We went on a cruise of the river. It was very beautiful, particularly the Canyon. While Rhys and the kids went swimming in the Gorge I read a book and watched a wallaby and her joey feeding only metres away – magical.

After Mataranka we made the short trip to Katherine via the Cutta Cutta caves which are quite interesting but certainly not worth the $50 odd dollars it cost to enter them. The termite mounds are getting bigger and more numerous now along the road. By the way, what to you call a collection of termite mounds? You’ve heard of a flock of geese what about a cemetery of termite mounds? (That was Campbell’s description and it is very apt because enmass they do look like lots of headstones).

On the advice of a friend’s sister who lives in the area we found this fantastic bush camp just out of Nitmiluk National Park. The site we found (after some pretty serious four wheel driving) is like paradise. It is, in fact, a dried up lagoon but it is flat, surrounded by beautiful trees and you have the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere, even though only kms down the road are numerous tourists, park rangers etc. Perfect. I’m not sure if I really appreciate Rhys’ take on my liking for the place – even though he thinks he is paying me a compliment by his comments – but I really do enjoy the bush camping far more than going to the outback to spend every night cheek to jowl with hundreds of other campers. The problem is that there are very few opportunities to do bush camping because it is not encouraged after the usual few idiots gave all campers a bad name and now no one wants people camping anywhere other than caravan parks.

We are now off to Kakadu and we’re hoping to find another more remote campsite to base ourselves for three or four days. We’re hoping then to stay in a motel in Jabaru for a couple of days while Rhys does some work at Ranger Mine.

Sorry no pics this time as we dont have a good internet connection.

Alice Springs to Mataranka

Blog 6-7-2008

Rhys – spent a few more days in Alice. Met my mum’s first cousin Helen, and her daughter (Isabella) and son in law (Mick). Had lunch with Helen and went out to the desert park, great place lots if interesting birds and animals. See the photo of the whistling kite in action. So many Australian marsupials that are near extinction! Next day went to the Show and saw all the animals, was a good country show. The Chinese massage blokes ripped me off; they said something to me in Pidgin English, and next thing I was paying some exorbitant fee for some things they had stuck to my back.

In one day we drove from Alice to Matarranka 1080km in 10 hours, helps when you can sit on more than 100km/h. limit is 130km/h, we sat on mostly 115km/h to save a bit of fuel, all the grey nomads on 80km/h, get sick of passing them. Watched about 3 docos (thanks Cheryl) in the car with the kids while Kathy drove to 4 hours or so. Paid $1.99/l for fuel in Tennant Creek. Elliot on the highway is a quality place, Kathy was impressed, and we did not get robbed or stabbed so it was good.

Met some guys that rode motorbikes across the Simpson Desert, mmm, would be nice to do.

Stayed at the thermal spring in Mataranka, water only 34’C, was a chilly 28’c out of the water, weather here is a bit chilly (sorry Victoria). Had a local family playing a bit of music at night good touch. Planned for 1 night ended up staying 2 nice place but too many smokers around.

Tomorrow off to somewhere around Katherine via one of Australia’s most active airbases, hope to see some F/A-18’s in action. Want to stay around there for 4-5 nights if we can find some free accommodation site. From there off to Kakadu??

Car is getting between 13 – 15.2 ltrs/100km. Bit better than the Patrol without a camper trailer!

Kathy – From Finke River we went back to Alice Springs for what was going to be two nights but we ended up staying three. It’s great to have the flexibility to do that. We met Beryl’s cousin Helen went to Alice Springs on a tour 38 years ago and shortly after moved up there from Werribee and has been there ever since! It was great to meet her. We had lunch with her and then stopped in to see her fantastic mosaics. She puts me to shame, she is very talented. We then went on to the Alice Springs Desert Park which is a bit like Healesville Sanctuary but with equal emphasis on flora as fauna. It was very interesting. The birds of prey display was particularly spectacular.

The next day we went to the Alice Springs show which when we set off we found was within walking distance of our caravan park! Apart from the usual collection of side shows and rides (most of which came from Victoria!) it was a good country show with chooks, cows, prize scones and kid’s art work on display. The kids managed to procure an amazing collection of freebies which we now have to drag around Australia. Rhys got a cheap massage but without realizing it got as many extras as his Triton and he still won’t admit how much it cost him. The lasting momento is the hairless patches on his back from the “special” plasters on his back infused with Tiger Balm because his back was “so stiff”. See the photo for the results (sorryabout the rotation I'll change it later).

We did a marathon trip on Saturday from Alice Springs to Mataranka – 10 hours. I even did about 4 hours driving and passed numerous grey ghosts going 80 ks in a 140 k zone. Mataranka is near Elsey Homestead when Jeannie Gunn lived for 18 months and inspired her classic novel, We of the Never Never. The film of the book was filmed here and the replica homestead is here. There are beautiful warm springs here within walking distance of our camper.

Today we are off to Katherine for a few days and then on to Kakadu.

Uluru and Back to Alice

Rhys – We celebrated Kathy’s birthday with much pomp and fanfare, one complete day in the car traveling. She was very impressed with the quality of the drive! To make up for it we arrived just in time to see the sunset over Ayres Rock / Uluru. After sunset went out for a nice meal at the Gecko Café in Yulara. Camped in the campground at Yulara Resort for two nights.

Ayres Rock v Uluru? Some bloke Ayre was the whitefella it was “named” after. Uluru is the name of the Blackfella that was living at the rock, you be the judge of what you think the name should be. Around the Rock both are used! I’m confused.

The rock apparently goes for 6000 metres underground! The bit sticking out the top is only 385 metres.

We did a “cultural” walk around the rock it was interesting seeing the different weathered sections, gullies and nooks and crannies. After this walk we headed back to the car to leave, as access to climb the rock had not been allowed for several weeks. As we where leaving the gate to access the rock opened and Lachlan and I promptly went through the gate and headed off up the rock. All the people ahead of us turned back. We were the fist to the top for the day and had the place to our selves for 45min. or so. The top has many “canyons”, pools, gullies ect My guess is the “flat “ area on top of the rock would be 100 acres (40 hectares) or so. Quite a steep climb, not for the faint hearted! 47 people have died on the rock trying to climb it, may more have suffered heart attacks after doing so. Guide advised that they think it will be closed for climbing on within 10 years! Fantastic experience.

Would be absolutely awesome to see the rock when it is raining with all the water pouring off. Enough of the rock…

Next day off to the Olgas. I am told on good advice this is where Shriek is now hiding, not sure if I believe this. Olgas are good, I guess was not feeling so well so I didn’t walk far around them.

About that not feeling so well thing. As most of you are aware I have “Chronic Fatigue” and Kathy / Lachlan have very similar symptoms. We are hoping to learn a bit more about what is causing this in us, two theories we had, have now been dispelled, one our water supply at home, the other was some toxins in our house or something like that. We are both still feeling the same, however we are getting plenty of rest and go to bed not long after sunset, the getting up well after fist light.

After Ayres Rock / Uluru / Olga’s headed off to Kings Canyon 300kms away. Nice place more Dingo’s at night howling, very comforting for me (with 3 kids). After Kings Canyon off to Glen Helen where we camped in the Finke River. Fantastic sights and bright stars at night. During the day we visited Gorges / Canyons etc. Most people walk into the “tourist” area, a 300m walk. We discovered if you go further the sights are better and there are no other people. Played a game of 40-40 (hide n seek) in Ormiston George great experience. More dingo’s howling at night within 10 feet of where we were sleeping, mmm not sure of this.

Some of the colours in the rocks are fantastic, unfortunately the photos don’t capture how rich and vivid the colours are.

I’d better finish now or I might not leave space for the others.

Kathy – Sorry it’s been so long since our last blog – too much to see, too little Internet access! We’ve managed to pack a lot in since our last posting. We decided not to allow a broken back windscreen to defeat us and after Rhys ingeniously crafted a temporary windscreen we set off for Uluru on 27 June – my birthday. We went via the Henbury meteorite craters and then along a very 4x4 road to Uluru. We managed to check into the camp ground, set up camp and race to Uluru just in time for the sunset viewing. What a lovely birthday present.

The next day we got up super early and saw Uluru at sunrise. It is amazing how quickly the sun races down the rock. We then went on a tour of the rock by one of the rangers at which we learned about one of the aboriginal legends of the rock. At one stage the ranger asked if anyone knew what a particular cave painting was (it was of a spear), Campbell enthusiastically put up his hand and said, “I know, it is a jabbawoggie” (Rhys’ term for aboriginal spears). The ranger tactfully declared that she hadn’t heard that term before. Later that day I had to intervene when Campbell was asking some poor unsuspecting Japanese tourists in the Cultural Centre which implement was the jabbawoggie. Thanks Rhys! Straight after the walk Rhys and Lachlan got to climb Uluru and after that we went to the Olgas which I just love. They have such beautiful curvy, voluptuous shapes.

On the 29th we went to Kings Canyon. We shouted ourselves to a night of luxury at the Kings Canyon Resort – ensuites, no setting up and four walls and a roof – beautiful! Before we got to the luxury part we did a walk of the Canyon. The walk was meant to take four hours but because we started fairly late in the day we decided we better hotfoot it and managed to get around in 2 hours! The Canyon was quite spectacular. Here's a shot of Campbell being the "king of the mountain - or canyon at least!) There were amazing and varied rock formations, trees growing out of rock and an oasis known as the Garden of Eden. It was quite a walk but well worth it. We went back to the resort for a beautiful warm shower and then had a buffet dinner. The kids thought it was fantastic. The highlight was probably the smoked kangaroo and watching Campbell tuck into over a dozen prawns. Campbell declared the meal better than the Cuckoo (so it should have been for what it cost us).

After Kings Canyon it was back to reality and we bounced along red dusty roads to Glen Helen Gorge. Mick and Sue you’ll be pleased to know we found the 2 Mile camp on the banks of the Finke River. This is a beautiful campsite with 4x4 only access. We camped virtually on the riverbed. We looked out onto a scene of sand, river pebbles, reeds and lots of ghost gums in the background. The sort of thing you pay lots of money to recreate in your own backyard and here it was for free for everyone to appreciate (we’ll send you some shots Age. I think God did a pretty good job of this job – you’d love the rockwork and tree placement!). We spent the two nights there. The night sky was absolutely fantastic. Did you know that the Southern Cross is actually in the middle of the Milky Way and surrounded by millions of stars? You’d never know looking at it in the Melbourne sky. While we camped on the Finke River we toured the area a bit – Glen Helen Gorge, the Ochre Pits and Ormiston Gorge. We’ve found that most people only seem to go to the main viewing area of most of these attractions and when you go in that little bit further it can often feel like you are the only ones there. At Ormiston Gorge we continued down the Gorge for about one km. Apart from two or three others we saw no one else for well over one hour. The kids climbed the sides of the Gorge (yeah!) and played 40 40 with Rhys – they could well be the only kids to have ever played 40 40 there! I got some amazing photos of rocks – you’d be very impressed Dad. The kids commented how much you would like them.

We are now in Alice Springs for today and tomorrow and then on Friday we head off for Katherine. Rhys hopes to make it in one day but realistically we’ll take two. We hope to spend about 4 or 5 days there before heading up to Kakadu for about a week.

Lachlan – We went to Uluru at sun set and sun rise. It looked amazing. When we went to the gate to climb Uluru it was closed so we went on a tour around a bit of Uluru. We saw our first aboriginal rock art they had 3 caves that we saw. All of them were not very well decorated but one was highly decorated. Then when we came back the climb on Uluru was open! Dad and me were the only people in the family to climb it. It feels like mud with little rocks sticking it together. It was very steep and you got a good view from the top. It was hard on the down because it was slippery and I got lots of blisters. That day we also went to the Olgas they look like big domes. We went to lots of permanent waterholes with big gorges around them. We camped in the middle of nowhere and all night we could here camels grunting and dingoes howling. In the morning you could see dingo footprints in the sand. Today our back windscreen is getting fixed.

Pippa – Went to Ayers Rock and saw the sunset. We went back and went out for tea because it was Mum's birthday. Next day I climbed Uluru and went to the cultural centre. After that we went to the Olgas. We went to Kings Canyon and got a room there. We also went on a walk that was 6 and a half. We went to a Buffet for tea that night. We went to Finke River and Bush Camped. That night we went into Glen Helen to see a Guy play on a Guitar it was cool he also played the spoons. Now we are back in Alice Springs.

Campbell – we went to Uluru it was fascinating. I climbed it. We went to Kings Canyon. We climbed the rocks. It was fun. There were many fascinating places. There were places that looked like blinds. The dinner was very nice. We went to Finke River. We made this food that wasn’t to eat. We made it from salt muck and bulrushes and leaves. We went to Glen Helen Gorge and I met Craig and Alexander from Darwin. I had lots of fun playing with them. They liked doing things that I liked doing. We played in the Gorge in the rocks. It was fun. We went to Ormiston Gorge. We went to a rangers show that told us what type of animals were around and if there weren’t any around what animals had been there by looking at their footprints. Today we went back to Alice Springs to get the back windscreen fitted and I bought a little hot wheels Hummer.