Chambers Pillar

Trace and I headed to Chambers Pillar on Sunday. The pillar is 150 k SE of Alice on the western fringes of the Simpson Desert. This place is beautiful and the little reserve that is at the base of the pillar is an excellent camp site. We plan to leave the Alice tomorrow and try to get the van in there for a couple of days, this will be a bit of a challenge as there is a little range to climb at the end of the track to get into the reserve. The remainder of the track is a mix of good dirt road and red sand road, too easy with the van there, just the range to climb at the end!!! We'll see how it goes I guess.




The rock at the base of the pillar is full of carvings of explorers, and vandals, that have passed through the area. The pillar was used as a navigation marker for explorers traveling from Adelaide to Alice and was named by a Scottish explorer by the name of John MacDouall in honor of his friend and financial supporter James Chambers. Excellent place to visit and a blowout to see that these carvings have been there for 120 years or more.




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Location:Head St,Braitling,Australia

Simpsons Gap Alice Springs

Click Picture for lager version.

First of all, I am using a new blogg app on the iPad to write this and the pictures are able to be clicked to see it in full resolution.

We are still in the Alice as the car needs to be seen to by Toyota. The dry bearing noise was not fixed during the service and after 3 times returning the car to the dealership, they have it for the next few days to pull the hubs apart to try to resolve the issue. We will be here until Thursday or Friday. I am using the time to do some preventative maintenance on the van and enjoying the good weather that has finally arrived. Beautiful day today with the sun out, good chance to dry things out a bit too.

Before we handed over the car to Toyota we went out to Simpsons Gap and had a look around. The gap in in the West MacDonnell Ranges and is a short drive from Alice. It's a lovely area and is quite peaceful the day we went and had a look, I'm sure that would change in tourist season. The gap cuts it's way through the range and is a vivid colour red with a small river running through.

Location:Anatye,Australia

The Alice

We arrived in Alice Springs at lunch time and booked into the Wintersun Caravan park for a couple of days. We went to the lookout and had a bit of a drive around the town to orientate ourselves. I noticed a bit of a dry bearing squeal in the cruiser when we were cruising and decided to go to Toyota to see to it. The car needed a service so was booked in on Saturday.

We plan to go to Chambers Pillar, about 160 k south of the Alice an have a look at Simpsons Gap. That one is for young Jessica Semmler. ;-). We also want to have a look around the McDonnell ranges as well. Will update then.

Location:Rigby Rd,Winston,Australia

Gem Tree

We drove down the Stuart Highway south from the Devils Marbles and ended up in Ti-Tree. The weather was terrible with rain all the way and the roads flooded every 20 Kay or so. We decided to spend a couple of nights in Ti-Tree to wait out the weather. Two days later and a glimmer of sunshine greeted us in the morning and we decided to go. As we were packing up and preparing to leave the clouds rolled in and started to rain again, push on we thought. We stopped in at Barrow Creek Road House then at Aileron another road house alongside the Stuart. Aileron had these massive aboriginal sculptures in the town including one on top of the hill that frames the road house.

We travelled 125 Kays down the road to the Gem Tree turn off. This is where we would have come out if we were able to take the Plenty Highway from Boulia to here but, the road was impassable due to the rain. Gem Tree is at the end of the Plenty traveling west, it's a sealed section of road that ends here and the rest of the Plenty is dirt.

Gem Tree is cool......we arrived with the whole place to ourselves as the tourist season has not yet started. We went for a walk on a track around the property prepared by the owners for about 4 Kay and saw the sights. There are heaps of those little black ants on the track and if you stopped your feet would be black in 10 seconds. Good walk all the same. We finished the walk with a dip at the causeway just outside Gem Tree as the river was flowing quite well due to the rains. Excellent way to end a walk!! The weather here has been good with sunshine and a few clouds, as I write this the clouds are building up to have another rain. It's good to feel sunshine on our skins after the rain out here!!

Onto Alice Springs next, it's just 80 kay down the road from Gem Tree turn off.

The Devils Marbles

We traveled 100 Kays south of Tennant Creek to the Devils Marbles. It's an awesome spot along the Stuart Highway to stop and camp for a while. The camp site is a conservation reserve and costs $3.30 each per night. We decided to stay a couple of nights to relax and have a look around the marbles. The place reminds me of Girraween National Park in Queensland as the surrounds are granite and the "marbles" are made of granite.

There are a couple of walking trails to do and a hundred photos to take as the landscape is extraordinary. The rain has decided to stop for a while and blue sky came out for most the morning. Something we have not seen for a while.

There is a dingo in the camp area that Tracey and I have named "Dan". He just lazes around the camp site all day and when a vehicle turns up he gets to his feet so the occupants can take a photo, he's a real paparazzi hound. :-). Truth be known I think too many people feed him and he expects it. As I write this he is under the shade of a table and as a car left he come out, posed then adopted the position under the table again! Follow this link to see Dan and the Marbles.

Tennant Creek

We arrived at the end of the Barkley Highway after doing another two dozen water crossings to turn left to Alice Springs. The first town to appear on our horizon was Tennant Creek and the place to stop for fuel. The Barkley Homstead was charging $1.97 for diesel. Glad we waited for Tennant Creek it was only $1.62!! The cruiser and our mobile home on the tow bar, all 3.5 tones of it, is managing 19 - 20 liters per hundred kilometers.

Tennant Creek is a main drag with standard country services along it. The amount of indigenous people on the street was incredible, not a white fulla to be found!! The rain has been pretty persistent with no let up so far, so much for the dry center. There is heaps of water about on the road, all the creeks that you are used to seeing dry when you travel are bursting at the banks and onto the road. It's so green out here at the moment.

On to the Devils Marbles to camp for a while. :-) I like that bit!

Out of the Isa and on the road.

We left mount Isa yesterday morning and currently heading west to the Stuart Highway on the Barkley Highway. From there we will turn south toward Tennant Creek the Alice. the picture above is of the mines smelter stack in our rear vision mirror. :-)

There has been a fair bit of rain in the center of Australia and the last two days have been no different. The trip thus far has been wet and fairly cool, just below 30, on the road and there is a fair bit of water lying around (follow the hyperlink for a YouTube video of a section of the Barkley Highway).

We have done about 400 Klm in the last two days and are currently writing this from the Barkley Roadhouse as it's the only place with 3G for a while. on to a freecamp 50 Klm up the road and then onto The Three Ways. Tennant Creek is not far from there and the first attraction we will see is The Devils Marbles near Tennant Creek.

Will update soon........cya!!