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I am sitting down to write this next, no doubt thrilling and inspiring, instalment of our 2011 tour of OZ with many, many thoughts and visions racing through my mind. Since last time my two uncoordinated fingers were madly tapping this keyboard we have covered many more miles, (one state to the next and back!) Seen some of the top ends most famous and wild attractions as well attended a wedding and had going away drinks for a family member. So to tell you all the truth knowing where to start has been my excuse for dodging this writing "gig" for the last few weeks. Now that I am here though (after a few not so subtle hints from the "Bard of Yabba Creek") I hope it has been worth the wait.
Looking back into the first couple weeks of June saw us set up in Alice Springs, awaiting the start of the Tattersall's Finke Desert Race. The MacDonnell Range Tourist Park is the local Big 4 caravan park and was our chosen base. It offered many of the things that we all come to expect from a top end park in that it had excellent facilities, very nice sites, plenty of kids areas (including the sanity saving jumping pillow!) and my favourite, free pancakes on Sunday mornings! The important things first, the pancakes are cooked by the dedicated staff on a huge purpose built hot plate trailer that is fully kitted out for pancake preparation on a massive scale! And believe me it is needed, with what looked like most of the park lined up come Sunday morning. Being a very busy time in the Alice Springs calendar the park and most of the town was booked solid and reaches bursting point on the Queen's Birthday long weekend when the Finke is held.
Our friends and fellow travellers from Queensland, Peter and Kim, were also in town for the big race, and to see their son who lives and works in the Red Centre. Having met in Coober Pedy it was good to run into them again and catch up. They also introduced us to friends of theirs, Ashley and Kathy, a local couple who have a son and two daughters just a bit older than ours. Ashley runs a local workshop and kept Pete and I occupied in his shed enjoying a tour of all his toys. It really is a boy thing!? With the Finke due to kick off we were also joined by Chris and Michelle in time for the big race after a 1300km drive from the Isa. We were all invited to a BBQ at Ashley and Kathy's house. They have worked wonders to transform their outdoor area into a very usable entertaining area combining some very historic themes. We all had a ball and the highlight was not only the friendly company but the "Camel and Date" sausages that Kylz picked up at the local butcher nearly stole the show!!? Big thanks to Ashley and Kathy for taking us in for the night, from the Lee's and Bostock's.
Now the next couple of days were taken up with the Finke race. Almost on cue the weather turned from moderate warm sunny days to damn near freezing, with morning temps of zero or below! We were all able to enjoy the pro-logue day and then the first race day saw Chris and I join Pete for an early morning, and a big day on the track watching the field charge past on their way to Finke. One of the real highlights of the morning though was Pete's homemade bacon and egg jaffles! Just the thing with a warm cuppa when it was about 2 degrees outside! Chris definitely had a new friend after those went down. The last day saw Chris and Michelle follow the silver bullet about 30km out along the track to watch the racers come into the home stretch. A morning of roaring engines and Bostock style track dogs gave everyone a taste of the Finke to remember for 2011, and firmly added it to the list of things to do again.
While in Alice we were lucky enough to be set up alongside another travelling family, who had also just left Mackay. Geoff, Angie, Braydon and Yvette were on their way to Darwin and were hoping to stay for a while and chase up work. A quick sneak peak forward to the future, we run into them again in Darwin....shhhhh! While their kids and ours amused each other we were able to share some stories about life in a caravan. They also put us onto a very popular bike ride in Alice. It runs for 35km out to Simpsons Gap, and would definitely test our endurance with the kids on the back!
So we found a day and loaded up with the bikes and plenty of water and set off. Now to say I whinged for the first km would be a lie, it was more like the first five! Holy hell it seemed hard! We made the 17km out and really enjoyed seeing the Gap with water in it this time. The girls had a good walk around and were full of beans! They should be really, after nothing more than yelling at us to speed up or slow down for the last hour! That might have been why I did not feel so bad when my bike slipped over in the gravel and left Chelsea strapped into her seat looking straight up into the clouds! Got a few cheers from the crowd for that one!!
While not everyone's cuppa tea we really enjoyed our little ride and always look for opportunities to use our bikes where we can. I really feel the little bit of effort in carting them around is more than worth it after having spoken to so many people who say they could not work out how to safely cart them, and they are in the s*** with the missus for not bringing them!
Well with Finke over and Pete and Kim having moved on and Chris and Michelle already back in the Isa, it was our turn to pack up and head on. Alice Springs does have a lot to offer as a tourist destination and we by no means got the best out of the place on this trip. We both agreed that we probably just got too relaxed and with the kids having a ball in the park and myself occupied with the Finke it really just passed us by. We are not disappointed though as it is definitely a place we will come back to.
We had reached the time in our trip that we had both been dreading and anticipating in probably equal amounts!? We were coming up onto our three week holiday from our holiday, for want of a better way to describe it? Ryan and Amanda's wedding was drawing near and we were still nearly 3000km's away. Our plan, as some of you will already know??, involved us getting to the Three Ways, watching the second state of origin (very important part regardless of the score that night as we won it in the end!) loading all essential gear into the car only and securing the van for a three week stay, then charge east towards Mackay via the Isa and Townsburg! Sounds simple when you say it fast enough!?
Well anyway back in Alice Springs we had better get going! After one of our slickest pack ups of the trip we were away fairly early? 9am is early, when you travel in a caravan! After fuelling up in Ti-Tree, the girls decided it was time for lunch and we headed for the nearest rest area. Our rest area also had a view of Central Mount Stuart, once thought to be the geographic centre of Australia. Turns out it isn't though!! Our next stop was also a bit of a strange one, Wycliffe well, famous for being home to a vast array of alien sightings and paranormal activity!? Don't know myself, but the girls loved the toy aliens everywhere and will probably remember it more for the chocolate we bought them then the UFO's.
Devils Marbles was our overnight stop and is a place we have seen before but were both just as keen to see again. Now a word of warning if you are wanting to camp at this special spot, especially in the dry season, get in EARLY!! We arrived about 4.30 and by then you could not squeeze a fart into the camping area! We headed around to the day trip area and parked up to assess our options and have a stroll around the very unique rock formations that make up the Marbles. The girls could not get enough of the place! We covered nearly all the tracks and climbed as many of the rocks as we could and had a bit of trouble convincing the girls it was time to give it away! After an hour or two and the sun dipping in the west we decided to just set up in the parking area and to hell with the no camping signs. We left no mess and obstructed no-one's view or access so in our eyes we were quite within our rights to safely camp in what is still a very public area! At least until the tree huggers get their way in Canberra altogether!!
The next day left us with only a little over 150km to reach the Three Ways. The place has a neat little park out the back that really fills up come late arvo. No doubt seeing every raggedy arse traveller and truck driver day after day must wear thin but I tell you a bit of a lift in staff morale would go a long way in that place. They have the market cornered as far as fuel and accommodation goes and they still don't seem happy? If it was really that hard I think I would look for something else to do! Packing and repacking into one car for four people enough gear to last nearly three weeks is a task in itself! Settling down that night with some rum and watching the blues roll the maroons did nothing to help either!!
As many of you will all know most of the details of the next three weeks in this saga I will leave out the boring bits. We can say that we had a very safe and enjoyable trip across which culminated in Ryan and Amanda's wedding day. The photos will show you how everyone scrubbed up, Chelsea and Charli both had a ball, and were more than happy to finally get to be Amanda's flower girls. We had been holding it over their heads for six months as a carrot for good behaviour! Congratulations naturally were delivered on the day but after returning we all do wish them both the best from out on the road. A big G'day to all our friends we did not get to see while back in Queensland- Mount Isa, Townsville and Mackay especially.
There are more tales to tell of the north but that can wait till next time. A quick shout out to my cousin Aaron and his family who in the last month or two (not sure of the date?!) have set off on a tour of Oz also. We have another good mate who also left for an extended trip this last month who gets a special mention, Kylie's sister Kristy, flew out for her tour of duty with the Australian Defence Forces in Afghanistan. Like it or not we have a lot of good men and women over there who deserve our full support and kind thoughts. So a big hug Sis from all us still in Oz, and thumbs up for all our diggers out there and elsewhere. Travel safe all.
P.S. To all my more educated peers, (Bec E, Chelle, Oracle and of course Nic R) don't forget to let me know what you all think, nicely of course. G'Day to Bec's parents as well if you are still tuned in.
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The Imbil Oracle Great blog,Travelling Canecutter.Now that your typing fingers are un-seized and your writer's block un-blocked you have no excuse not to bring us all up to date.Look forward to the next installment(s).Oracle.
Bec Hi guys - so nice to finally be able to read your blog. Mum and Dad will love reading your latest blog. Keep us updated on your journey of what we can assure you will be the most enjoyable few months of your trip. All well here with my little bump growing nicely. Take care xoxo