Walkingtotheend

Thursday 5th August

Arrived in West Australia today. We stayed at free camp last night only 5 ks from border. Nothing special but did the job . No issues with border patrol except we had to throw our potatoes. We had eaten all our other fruit and veg before but for some reason thought potatoes were allowed. They are not. Anyway we crossed the border at about 730 am NT time which meant were in WA at 6 .15 am. So we were in line to check in at Lake Argyle camp resort at 7 am. Waited until 11am to get our powered site allocated. Good management. We are staying here for 5 nights. Set up the pod fully with the 270degree annex and rear tent. No need for our shower or port loo as fantastic toilet and shower block only 20 metres from site. Should be great few days. Have added a few pictures from yesterday and early morning today on way to and at free camp.

Tuesday 3rd August

Spent full day near Katherine. Had much better sleep last night due to lower temperature. Woke up under a doona for a change. Cath and I left Pooki with Roz and Roger and went on a Katherine Gorge boat tour. A fantastic experience was had although we nearly melted. No crocs to be seen. See some pictures below. Late this afternoon we looked after Roz and Rogers dogs, Annie and Rosie whilst they went on the same tour.

We are back on road to the west tomorrow. Into WA on Thursday after getting our approvals last night

August 2.

Left Darwin this morning and headed south to Katherine (280 ks). We had booked 2 nights at Manbulloo homestead about 10 ks west of township. Applied for entry into West Australia through Kununurra this coming Thursday and were approved. Nice spot here with some great shade.

Apologies for such late posts. We have been out of range a lot and had some internet issues in several camp grounds.

We are currently in Caravan Park south of Darwin (40 ks). Have been here for nearly a full week and are off south to Katherine tomorrow followed by moving west to WA through Kununurra and Lake Argyle middle of next week.

We have not had a day under 34 this last week. Nights are only dropping to 21 so can be hard to sleep.

Visited Darwin yesterday, July 31 and visited the museum and foreshore. Was able to watch the Australian hockey team win on a large public screen. Explored the inner city by car ( about 36 degrees) . Back to camp to cool off in the swimming pool

We had a great day a few days back visiting Berry thermal springs and later Florence falls which were fantastic ( and much cooler).

Attached are a range of photos covering many of the locations and sights we have seen. I will put some references under the photo captions.

Thursday 15th July

Almost 2 weeks on the road already. 10 more to go we hope subject to Covid issues.

Pod has had a rest for 3 days at Alice Springs camping ground. Powered site almost $60 per day. Still worth it after 9 days free camping since leaving home. Fantastic showers. Have been to Uluru and Olgas during our visit to the red centre. Aiming for Kings Canyon tomorrow with 2 more free camp nights at Salt Creek Rest Area, Luritja Rd, Petermann whilst we check out Kings Canyon. Then another free night at Desert Oaks Rest Area on Stuart Highway before moving on to a caravan site in Alice Springs

Wednesday 14th July

Spent morning in camp babysitting our friends dogs whilst they went to see sunrise at Uluru. Unfortunately rain and grey clouds spoilt the sunrise but they were able to fit in the 10 k walking circuit around the rock whilst taking in the importance of the rock to our indigenous people as well as seeing close up its brilliant natural environment.

Later in afternoon the weather improved and Cath and I made another Uluru trip and checked out a section including water pools, rock paintings, brilliant rock formations and some beautiful trees.

Back to camp around 430 for wine o’clock and dinner of pumpkin soup (the last of the frozen dinners brought from home). Into bed by 8pm. Early nights are becoming the norm.

Tuesday 13th July

Spent the night in the camp overflow. I was able to take a good sunrise picture this morning before we moved to our reserved camp spots in the powered camping areas. We were set up by late morning and were charging batteries, filling water tanks and trying to shake off so much of the red sand / dust that had got into everything.

We went into the small Yuluru village to top up our food and drink from the local IGA. There is a Shell servo which we will use to top up when we leave Friday. Back to camp for the afternoon and then we went off to check out the sunset over Uluru at 530pm. What a fantastic experience.

Had a great dinner back at camp and were in bed by 9pm.

Tuesday 12th July

Left what I think was our most picturesque camp – Agnes Creek Rest Area this morning. We arrived at the border an hour or so later and was stopped by police to inspect our passes ( all ok). Onwards northward to the famous Eridunda Road house. After queuing for fuel ( $2.02 per litre) we took the Lassester highway to the left or West. Our aim was to camp around 150 k before Uluru but as we were making good time we made the call to keep going and arrived at the Alice Springs camp ground a day earlier than planned. We then had to wait about 2 hours to register to stay in the overflow area until our official sites were available tomorrow. We were able to see Uluru from a distance today but tomorrow will provide us time for a close up.

Sunday 11th July

Left Coober Pedy around 9 am and header north again on the Stuart Highway. A 320 k trip to Agnes Creek Rest Area. Another free camp which was fantastic. Spread over several hectares of undulating red soil with winding tracks linking dozens of great spots to stay. Nothing much happened on the drive as there was little to see along the way apart from amazing outback landscapes. Tomorrow we aim to get to NT so we have completed the necessary applications on our phones back at Cobber Pidy. All approved.

Saturday 10th July

A full day at Coober Pedy today. Visited many of the attractions including Old Timers Mine, several churches and the main museum . First stop was the view from The Big Winch. Unfortunately the weather was fine but very windy. We were covered in dust and when we got back to camp around 4 pm we were filthy and our drying washing was dry but covered with dust.

We managed a good wash and a pizza for tea and then went to the local drive in theatre. I think is the first time we went to a drive in for decades. Pooki loved it and slept on back seat very comfortably.

Pooki now getting into swing of this way of life and is very happy to get into the pod each night and hang around camp in the daytime.