Thread: NT/SA trip report June 2007

From Stuart Hwy...jpg Ant hill...jpg P1010344.jpg P1010392.jpg P1020553.jpg


Left Melbourne on Friday 1st June, 2 Humans, 4 dogs, Defender with trailer in tow. Cold and overcast (what's new)
The trip from Melb to Alice was 4 days, ( travelling with dogs slows you down). without stopping to see the sights ( Coober Pedy etc as this trip was to see the East & West MacDonell ranges and folllow the Old Ghan train line back to Pt Augusta. You can't see and do everything in 4 weeks.
Camped on the banks of the Murray 'just outside Mildura, S34°07.253' E142°00.125' OK for an overnight stop. Nothing special to report.

Mildura to bush camp Stuart Hwy approx 90 k's north of Port Augusta
S31°46.366' E137°17.564' Via Broken Hil. Orroroo, Wilmington. There is a Toy Museum at Wilmington with heaps of Landies of various ages out front and out the back. Didn't have time to call in but might be an interesting place to see. Very flat with the exception of Horrocks crossing near Pt Augusta

Bush Camp to Bush Camp approx 120k north of Marla ( No GPS Ooops)..Stuart Hwy all the way, Thru Coober Pedy, Marla etc. Amazing country side Gibber plains. Island Lagoon just south of Pimba on west side of hwy, very dry. Thumbnail 1. Really strange Anthills Huge mounds with dead leaves covering the mounds with tracks covered by the same leaves]. (Thumbnail 2).
Left the dogs and trailer at Alice Springs and headed east.
The East Mac ranges IMHO are far nicer than the west and hardly any body out there. Ruby gap and Glen Annie Gorge are magnificient approx 150k's east of Alice. Drove up the Hale river and camped on its banks. Thumb#3.
Ruby Gap and Glen Annie gorge are beautiful> we Drove up the beginning of Glen Annie and walked thru the gorge. There is a sign recommeding vehicles don't travel beyond a certain spot. People had driven thru but I wouldn't recommend it. Very diff crunching. Soaring red cliffs. See my thread NT/SA outback photos. Photo# 3,4 & 5.
From here we travelled back towards Alice via N'Dhala which has aboriginal rock carvings (thumb 4) and Trephina Gorge. NT/SA photos #6 & #7. Here you can walk around the rim of the gorge and come back via the river bed. A flock of buggies were flying around and tacking it in turns to get a drink, amazing to watch.
From here it was Simpsons gap, which is just outside of Alice. Beautiful spot, but heaps of tourists.

Into the west ( the more commercial side of Alice ). Very pretty. Places like Ormiston gorge, Ellery Creek big hole, Ochre pits, Serpentine gorge, Glen Helen gorge. If you camp at Ormiston gorge you can't light a fire, Tour groups can but tourists can't. We camped at Serpentine Chalet ruins, there is about 5 or 6 bush camping spots in there with fire places and it's free.

At Glen Helen there was a music festival with heaps of people camping so we took photos are buggred off. NT/SA photo#9
Next was Palm Valley an amazing place the palms a unique to this valley. The drive in from the hwy is corrogated but not too bad, The last 4k's into the valley is slow going, not hard but a bit of wheel placement necessary, DON'T tow your trailer in. There is a info shelter and tiolet block on the way between the campground and the valley, leave your trailer there.The camp ground was pretty full. The fire pits are communal with bollards are the campground, makes it a bit harder for camper trailers.
The walk thru the valley is great and you can either return via th esame way or walk around the rim. NT/SA photos #10, 11 12. From Palm Valley you must turn around and head back to Hermansburg to continue.
From Palm Valley it was to Kings Canyon via Boggy Hole. The drive to and from boggy hole was along sections of the Finke river and Ellery Creek.. Sections of soft river sand and rocky river beds. Had to snatch a Nissan Patrol Ute that was stuck in the soft sand. Unfortunately my other half forgot to start the video camera. There was Pelicans and ducks at Boggy hole NT/SA photo#13. There is good camping at Boggy hole, but we travelled on about 10k's and camped in the dry sand of the Finke river.
Travelled on to KIngs Canyon. Ernest Giles rd is very corrogated but saw off road caravans and camper trailers out there.Set up at Kings Creek Station. Approx 40k's from the Canyon. Each camp spot has its own fire pit but you have to supply your own wood. Not a hassel plenty of it around. Kings canyon rim walk is breathtaking NT/SA photos#14,15,16,17,18. The walk is approx 6k's with the hardest climb at the beginning. It takes 3-4 hours. What i Liked was the fact that the views are not spoilt by signs and barriers. They warn you of the dangers of going to close to the edge but leave your safety in your own hands.
Off to Ayers Rock and the Olgas.
Approx 10k's outside of Yulara on the left hand side of the road there are a few tracks that lead into the bush You could set up there if you didn't want to pay $28.00/night 2 adults for an unpowered sight, but it would mean having to pack everything up in the morning to do the sunrise thing. GPS as follows
S25°13.465' E131°04.321'
S25°13.386' E131°03.116'
S25°13.270' E131°02.696'
The only place to camp is at Yulara, You can have a fire but only in cut down 44 gallon drums provided at $20.00 deposit ( refunded ) bring your own wood.
The pass to get into the rock and the Olgas is $25.00/person, valid for 3 days. But remember to remove your fire wood fromm your roof before trying to get in. I had to turn around and drive back to camp to unload.
The whole area is very commercial almost like a themepark. But the sunrises/sunsets are spectacular. Sitting on the roof drinking Gin and Tonic watching the sun go down. The Rock was closed,too windy, but the 9km walk around is quite interesting. The Cultural Centre is also worth a visit, plenty of info to read, and videos etc. There is also a koisk and souveniershop. Free gas BBQ's.
The Valley of the Winds walk at the Olgas is great. approx 8k's but a bit of up and down over loose rocks and walking along a dry creek bed. The sunset photos of the Olgas are taken on site but the sunrise is from a vantage spot appox 25-30k's before you get to the Olgas. NT/SA photos #19,20,21.24, Must have got them out of order!!!!!
Rainbow valley approx 70k's south of Alice down the Stuart Hwy and 20k's along a flat but corrogated road. The area has dry mudflats that shimmer like there is water in it. Great sunsets as can be seen on NT/SA photo #22 &23. The rock is very fragile. The NT rangers give talks on Friday nights about the area. From approx May to September. This is for all the bigger national parks, Palm Valley, Kings Canyon, Rainbow valley, Chambers pillar, Probably up north too.
Camping area is not very big, maybe 7 - 8 spaces, Gas BBQ at 1 location and fire pits at all the spots. Very cold at night, A bottle of water froze solid on the table over night.
Back into Alice to restock ( Scotch / Gin ) bit of food. Collect the dogs and trailer and down The old Ghan to Chambers Pillar.NT/SA photos #25,26 is Castle rock also at Chambers pillar.
Chambers Pillar is approx 150k's from Alice The road from Maryvale Homestead to the pillar is a bit rough and is the start of sand dunes. Aerial with flag recommended and UHF channel10. Again not hard going, just shakes you up a bit. The pillar can be seen as you top a rise approx 10k's
away. Great sunsets and sunrises. In fact the whole of the Territory has great sunsets/sunrises. We sent 2 nights here because it drizzled overnight and most of the next day
You have to back track to 14k's the other side of Maryvale to continue down the Old Ghan, The week before we went down the Alice to Finke desert race was on. The road is horrific, worst corrogations I ahve ever driven on and no good speed to travel on them. You get shaken to bits at 10kph and at 60kph, so grit your teeth, tie everything down and hang on. If you are contemplating this section of the trip soon, I would contact the NT Government and find out if and when they will grade the road.
Next stop was Mt Dare. We arrived late (In the dark) as we got away late from Chambers pillar and the road conditions, also having to stop the remove the passenger mirror as the corrogation undid the bolts. and tighten the bolts on the rear drivers door handle.
Had a beer at the MT Dare pub and set up camp.
Next morning we headed into Dalhousie springs. No dogs allowed but we didn't let them out of the car, and didn't travel all this way not to have a dip in the Dalhousie hot pool.
The road from Mt Dare to Dalhousie and Dalhousie to Hamilton Homestead back onto the Old Ghan Heritage trail Is OK. Again corrogated but not hard.You drive across the Gibber plains, It feels like you are on the moon. There is cattle out there. They must have trained them to eat rocks because that's all that's out there.
The Old Ghan Heritage trail joins the Oodnadatta track approx 60k's north of Oodnadatta.
All along the Oodnadatta track are signs erected by the Pink Roadhouse. Stop and read them, they are a wealth of info about the area.
We camped at Fogarty's mudflats S27°01.592' E135°14.610' behind some sand dunes NT/SA photo#27.
Oodnadatta has a population of about 200 people. The railway museum it a great place to find out about the history of the area. We were lucky enough to have the Curator show us through and explain some of the exhibits. It is in the old Station masters house. He is the Aboriginal Community Liaison officer for the area.
It was a stormy looking day and I ask him if he thought it was going to rain. His answer was " Don't know haven't seen the news on TV this morning".
From Oodnadatta we turned towards Coober Pedy and the Arckaringa Homestead the home of the Painted desert. NT/SA photo #28/29.
Don't miss this if you can help it. Very hard to get a sunset photo as itt all happens too quickly. There is a lookout approx 10k's from the homestead and campground. Unreal landscape.
There are 2 dogs at the homestead. They look like Rotty X's, Charlie ( male ) and Jack ( Female ) super friendly just wanted too play. We had 6 dogs at our camp site that night. One of them even went to sleep on our seat overnight.
Back to the Oodnadatta track, which by the way is a great road, Wide. very few corrogations. The Algebuckina bridge NT/SA photo #30, which spans the Neale River is an amazing sight. It is made up of 19...... 30.9 meter spans. There are still a lot of the old Metal bridges. all the way along the track as well as ruins of the old rail sidings, some you can't get to because they are on properties with DO not ENTER signs on the gate.
Next stop was William Creek Hotel. Great Pub, got there for lunch and decided to set up camp at the campground. NT/SA photo#31 is a sunset just before a small storm at William Ck. ( I think I felt about a dozen drops of rain.) Then back to the pub for dinner and few more drinks.
Headed out to Lake Eyre Nth. 60 or so k's to the east of the track. Again corrogations and this time a bit of bulldust, ruts and dry creek crossings. NT/SA photo #32. White as far as the eye can see. Photos don't do it justice, but the dogs liked it.
From here back to the track and south, more rail ruins in various states of decay. Coward Springs is a siding that is being reconditioned by a couple ( can't remember their name)It has a very nice camp ground with fireplaces, wood provided, hot showers at $4.00/per head. We didn't stay there as I wanted to Camp at Curdimurka siding. It is a rail siding that has been partially renovated. The rooms have doors and windows and open fire places. We swepted out one of the rooms and set up camp. I sat back later that night thinking how hard it must have been when the rail line was still in operation and what the station master would have thought.
NT/SA photo#33.
This just about brings us to the end of the trip. We spent 2 days at Farina, approx 60 k's north of Leigh Creek. It is what is left of a complete town, all in ruins now. It was abandoned back in the 1960's. Very interesting walking around the ruins. Great campground behind the ruins $3.50/head and a rail sleeper each day to burn.

From here we did a day trip to Parachilna and Blinman just skirting the Flinders Ranges and realised that this would be another trip.
We then travelled back into the bitumen world and bush camped about 15 k's on the Pt Augusta side of Quorn S32°26.768' E137°58.663'. We pitched the tent on grass for the first time in weeks. it was so good to see green again.

The trip was now almost over, only about 1100k's and we would be home.
From Port Augusta we retraced our steps to Broken hill, Mildura and home, as the weather was crappy between Adelaide and Melbourne

Didn't see any garnets. The colour of the water was an amazing jade/emerald blue Didn't mean the tip notes to end up like War & Peace, but just started typing.

Mal