Easter trek to the Simpson Desert

It's been a long time since we have been camping so Trace and I packed up the cruiser and spent Easter this year traveling down to Mount Dare and Dalhousie Springs South Of Alice.

Mount Dare is on the Western side of the Simpson Desert and Dalhousie Springs is just a bit east into the desert. We left Alice and headed south to Santa Teresa then to Old Andado Homestead for the first stop of the trip. Old andado is the home of Molly Clark, a bush legend in this part of the world. The homestead has been left in state, as though Molly just walked away from it. All her stuff is there with not a thing touched. Fantastic!

After Old Andado we headed for Mount Dare and onto Dalhousie Springs. We had a swim and decided to go back to Mount Dare as the flies were horrific out there as it had just rained and the air was thick with baby flies.

After having a few beers at the Mount Dare roadhouse we spent the night in the old meat hanging shed and left for Fink, and aboriginal community, the next morning. From Fink we headed north back to Alice along the old Gahn Railway track. All up and awesome drive and Trace and I had a ball.

I Also had a chance to test out a new battery, charger and solar setup I have installed in the car. It worked a treat, we have enough power for just about anything in the car now.

Update Time!!!

Things are going swimmingly here in the Alice. Haven't been up to much, just a bit of work. Did a small loop out to Owen Springs the other weekend and had a good time. It's been a bit hot lately to go camping but once it cools down we will get out a bit more.

We have decided to take an overseas holiday at the end of the year to the North of Thailand, Cambodia or such. Then in June next year we are planning on going to the north of Queensland to do the cape. So there is a bit on the horizon for us.

Now for a bit of Alice culture.......the way you address anyone out here at the moment is to use the word "Bruz" as in "Hey Bruz how ya goin?". I don't like it and refuse to use it.

That's about it for now, oh BTW had some camel burgers the other night, home made, and they were delicious. We can get all types at the local butcher here. Camel, roo tails, roo pepperoni, crock meat, emu mince etc. It's cool to try all the different meats, the overwhelming thing is that they are all very lean.

Working for a while in the Alice.

Tracey and I have been working for a few weeks now and feel we might stay here for a while to see what it's like to live here for a while. 12 months should sort us out, dunno, we will play it by ear.

I am working at Alice Industrial Supplies selling anything from tools to 4wd gear. I don't mind the job but not too sure I'd make a career out of it. Still.....I am enjoying it. Trace has been working in K-Mart since we have been here and has just landed a job at the local paper, Centralian Advocate, as a sales executive. She starts on Friday and is looking forward to it. Change of pace to what she normally does.

Staying here will be a good opportunity to have a good look around as the county is awesome here and a fair bit to see. We will start to go camping when it cools down a bit as the heat at the moment is amazing. We have just gone through 3 weeks of 43-45 every day, pretty used to it now. Everyone is talking about the cool change due Friday and Saturday, 36.

That's about it for now, heaps of work out here. If your unemployed your not looking hard enough out here I reckon.

Back In The Alice

We made it into Alice Springs after 3 days of solid driving up the center of Australia via the Stuart Highway.

Tracey organised some work in K-Mart and I went for a successful job interview at AIS (Alice Industrial Supplies). I start there tomorrow, Friday, on the sales counter. They supply tools, hydraulic service, air conditioning service etc. Money isn't too good but between us we are still living like kings, and queens, and don't want for much.

We still have the prospect to be working in Broome as of March so we will see how that goes. We'll make a decision in the new year as soon as we know what is happening up in Broome.

It's hot here in the Alice, 43 degrees yesterday and the same today. The heats not too bad as it's a dry heat. We have a nice shady spot in the park but woke up yesterday to find gum tree sap all over the car!! Won't be parking there again. Most of yesterday was spent cleaning the sap off the paintwork.

That's it for now.

Let's See.......... Where Were We?

We camped at stony point for a few days to see the youngest daughter, Letitia, graduate from initial training in the Navy.




I managed to cut my foot open climbing over the van whilst washing it the day before her graduation. The gash required 3 stitches at the local clinic. So much for the new running regime!!



After seeing Letitia's graduation we left for Mildura to find some work. We got to Mildura after camping along the Murray river for a few days and registered at all the job agencies. We quickly found out that the town is dead employment wise as all the Christmas positions had been filled already and other businesses were winding up for Christmas. Mildura is a massive wine producing area and that work starts in Feb Mar. Missed the boat there as well.

So we are making our way to Alice Springs where Tracey has a job waiting and I applied for a job in an industrial supplies shop. Got a phone call back saying they were interested in me and when can I get there? So off we went.

We have just gone through Port Augusta and on the Stuart Highway heading for a camp just out side of Coober Pedy. Good to be back in the outback.

Great Ocean Road Walk

We decided to go do a section of the GOR Walk today, 10 Klm out and 10Klm back. 20 For the day.

We only did a small portion of it as it's 250 odd KLM long! The camp site we are at is right on the track and is used by walkers as a destination to rest for the day. Here are some photos of the spectacular scenery along the way.

This is the beach we are camped at. Johanna Beach.

On the way out of the camp site.

Some of the farm land around the camp.

One of the bays on the track.

A little fella we found on the way! :-)

We leave tomorrow for Ballarat. We have enjoyed our stay here very much, one of the best places yet.

The Great Ocean Road (GOR)

We made it to the Mornington Peninsula after Phillip Island and camped in a caravan park to catch up with Letitia, the youngest daughter.

After leaving the caravan park at Mornington we headed for the Great Ocean Road, something I have wanted to do for a while. We had two weeks to kill as Letitia is due to graduate then. So we didn't go too far as we had to be back in Mornington for that. So we hit the road and did the GOR. The little town of Apollo Bay was beautiful but a bit expensive.

We have had a few nights in caravan parks recently and it starts to add up!! We heard of a great free camp site on the GOR just before the highlight of the road, the twelve apostles. The camp site is right on Johanna Beach and is fantastic, lovely grassed areas about 100m from the beach.

S we have been here a week and a half waiting for the graduation and doing day trips and walks along the coastline. The coastline is fantastic here, we took a drive west along the road to the apostles and did all the walks to each of the attractions. We had an excellent day there and it was all free!!

There were plenty of tourists and school children on the same path as us, the crowds were unbelievable, you had to time it so you missed the bus load of people. Figured it out after the first site. We went and had a look at the 12 Apostles, London bridge (that fell down in 1990) and at the end of the trail, The Grotto.

Whats Left of London Bridge.

We had an excellent day along the coastline. Next is make our way North to Ballarat where we want to go to Sovereign Hill and spend the day there. It's an old gold mining town that has been preserved.