We left the sweltering heat and humidity of Kakadu and headed south for the Red Centre. No lap of this paddock would be complete unless we had seen the heart of this land - the mighty Uluru.
We journeyed down the middle of NT on the Stuart Highway. There were long days of driving in the true outback, with lengthy distances in between little remote towns that we discovered on the way. Our first stop was a night in Mataranka, famous for its beautiful thermal springs and for the novel and film “We of the Never Never”. A stay at the “Bitter Springs” campground, on the less commercial side of the springs, meant we had access to a serene and natural section that could be accessed on foot. We embraced the cooler evening and a fresh morning, by wandering down to the springs through the bush, for a soak in the mineral baths before ‘brekky’. Warm, natural, crystal clear pools with beautiful tropical palms lining the banks. A heavenly way to wake up!
We ambled back through the ‘loop track’ amongst the palms and across little bridges, only to discover a pair of nude ‘grey nomads’, enjoying the waters in all their glory. We walked on rather briskly…….
After packing up, we drove on, stopping at the famous Daly Waters Pub for a barramundi lunch. This place was hilarious. An eclectic collection of memorabilia from passing travellers adorned every wall. Bras, boxer shorts, thongs, badges, ID cards, a range of currency and more- all staple gunned to the bar, roof and walls.
It appeared they also had their own outback Aussie language….
We pulled up beside a big rig at a road house. There were ‘oohs and aaahs’ from Dan and the girls, all hanging out Walt’s windows for a closer look. These beautiful creatures, with their big brown eyes and adorable faces peering out at us from behind steel bars, tended to pull on the heartstrings.
The thought of ‘going veg’ for the rest of our lives crossed our minds….. but something happens when you pull up at the end of the day, hungry and tired and there is a marinated steak and a weber BBQ beckoning…..
That evening, we pulled into the roadhouse at Renner Springs. It was a one night hop, as we made our way to Alice. There were honking geese in a pond and an iconic old windmill, which gave this “in the middle of nowhere place” a little bit of character. We met an old 'Aussie Battler' who was living in his little Winnebago managing the campground. Following the death of his beloved wife “Lizzie”, he had been on the road for nine years. He had named his rig after her, as it was their lifelong dream to travel together, but she passed away before they lived that dream together. We listened to his story. He was a happy man loving his life, but clearly lonely. It reinforced how right our decision was to make this journey as a young family together and not to be waiting until the unknowns of retirement.
As we pulled out of the campground the next morning, Dan could hear a strange clinking noise form the wheels of the van. Shackers took off the wheels to check things out and discovered that the service we had done in Darwin was ‘dodgy’. The wheel bearing nuts were loose and once the wheels were jacked off the road, they could be easily wobbled. They were dangerously lose and we had driven at least 600KS trusting the service. As it is the outback way, an old ex-truckie/mechanic from NSW (who had stopped for a ‘cuppa’) helped us secure the wheel bearing nuts and replaced the split pins. We were so lucky to have discovered it before any disasters and to have come across that friendly, helpful man. He gave us some more tips to continue to check that the wheels were OK and we drove on feeling a bit shaken, but also rather lucky.
This one looked like a giant sweet potato, sliced in half.
And these, like slabs of soft potter’s clay.
The girls loved clambering over them all and pretending they were Aborigines eating bush tucker by their campfire. They were really excited to spot a rock wallaby hopping about.
We camped here overnight and Shackers took a stunning shot of the Marbles and the night sky.
The following morning, we walked around the tracks amongst the Marbles and the spinifex and had our first close up sighting of a wild dingo and a goanna.
More pics from Devil's Marbles
We pushed on the next morning travelling past a roadhouse famous for UFO sightings.
The next day, we made it to Alice Springs where we spent 2 days catching up with our friends, the Campbell family and enjoyed a dinner out at Hanuman – a great restaurant- Indian/Thai fusion. We had eaten at the Hanuman in Darwin and it was so good, we had to go back for seconds! We spent a little time checking out the art galleries and stocking up on provisions, before heading down to Yulara to explore Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas).
More pics from Alice Springs
On our way down, we stopped in at the Mt Ebenezer roadhouse, which had a small gallery of art works made by the Indigenous people living in the remote community of Imanpa. We bought some beautiful wooden carvings which are typical crafts of the desert region. We came across all sorts of vehicles tackling the outback. This one had more character than most, but maybe less chance of making it!
We drove and drove and drove, until we finally saw the amazing Mount Conner in the distance. A giant table-topped sandstone rock, rising out of nowhere. It does not have the celebrity status of Uluru, but is still very impressive.
Then finally, the mighty Uluru appeared, looming in the distance. We were all so excited (and going a little stir crazy in the car), so we jumped out and ran up the red sand dunes in our bare feet, to the lookout. Red sand between the toes and lots of running and squealing was great remedy for feeling stodgy.
We stayed for 3 days in the Yulara campground and had full days of adventuring.
As luck would have it, The Fucawis had timed this visit perfectly. Earlier in the year they had enormous amounts of rain and just the week before we arrived, it had poured and the days and nights were freezing. Thankfully, we had absolute sunshine, (some days a little too hot at 35C!), everything was so green and lovely and the wild flowers were blooming. The ‘Red Centre’ had been transformed and looked nothing like the desert we had envisaged.
The following morning, we did the 10.8 km ‘base walk’ around Uluru on our bikes. We were very happy to cycle this one and felt sorry for the walkers that we whizzed past, slowly toughing it out in the midday heat.
We visited the cultural centre (and enjoyed running into the Anderson family from Northbridge Public School!) It was really interesting to see and read about the ‘Sorry’ rocks- little pieces of Uluru that had been previously removed by past travellers, only to be returned with letters of apology and regret, with claims of misadventure and poor health since. Pure superstition? Coincidence? Or spiritual punishment for removing a piece of a sacred site?……nevertheless, it gets you thinking and we chose to leave all rocks put!
One day we explored different lookouts to gain views of Uluru from many different perspectives.
We were enthralled to come across a Thorny Devil and be able to get up so close without spooking him - to the point that David was convinced he was taking pictures of some kids dropped plastic toy.
Sunset drinks, a cheese plate and sunset views of Uluru, was a lovely way to finish the day.
Our day exploring Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) was spent trekking in the 35C heat, completing the 7.4km, “Valley of The Winds Walk”. It was a spectacular walk, right amongst the domes, up to beautiful lookouts and across frog filled creeks. It took some encouragement to keep the girls moving in the heat. Plenty of water was consumed and lots of stories were told to keep their minds off their hot, tired legs. Snack stops and climbing a shady gum tree helped to break up the journey.
We all had an afternoon rest, and then it was out for our desert dining experience to ‘The Sounds of Silence.’ This is a special and novel evening where you are transported by bus into the desert, with views of Uluru on one side and Kata Tjuta on the other, for a four course meal under the stars. The girls loved meeting some other kids and having lemonade ‘on tap’. Although it was a unique experience, with the exception of the barramundi and marinated kangaroo, we felt the food was not up to scratch. It was buffet style, a little touristy and overpriced. (Just in case any of you venture out this way…..) However, the views, location and the sunset were stunning and we enjoyed the star talk and the musical entertainment on the ‘didj’.
During our three days at Uluru, there was division amongst the Fucawi tribe on whether to “climb or not to climb?” Throughout history, man has always loved the challenge of climbing mountains and rocks, lured by the feat of reaching the summit. Shackers is always drawn to these adventures. He loves a triathlon, an ironman, has Kilimanjaro planned for next year and Everest on his wish list (let’s see if that one gets through the Dan net!!! NOT LIKELY)
Nowadays, at the rock, there is a strong culture of respecting the request of the traditional owners of Uluru, (the Anangu people), to NOT climb. Although it is not prohibited, there are signs everywhere appealing to tourists to respect Uluru as a sacred site and you get a real sense of guilt if you chose to do it. So, Shackers was torn between climbing Ayers Rock, but respecting Uluru. On the last day, (while the girls were still sleeping), he got up early to photograph Uluru at sunrise and drove out to to make his final decision. Luckily, it was not the influence of the other Fucawi members that had made the final veto. It had been left up to the weather gods……..
The property is owned by a beautiful couple, Ian and Lyn Conway. Ian is of Aboriginal descent and has a very close connection with the local indigenous people, having being raised by his Aboriginal grandmother in a NT community. Back in 1980, Ian and Lyn acquired 800,000 acres of crown land and at the time, the land was harsh, dry and no one was interested in making a life in this remote country. They began without a home, electricity or running water and have spent their life building up their business and raising their three children. Today, it is a working cattle station, although its main business is now in tourism and the export of wild camels that roam the property in numbers as large as one million. It was fascinating to learn that they have just had an order from the Moroccan army to supply 10,000 camels and also, that Australia has the ONLY and largest population of wild camel in the world!! It all began when the Afghans bought camel to Australia in the settlement days, to work in the desert- work too harsh and dry for horses. They became obsolete once the Ghan train line (named after the Afghans), was constructed and so were set free, beginning the wild herds.
The night we arrived, we were invited to a ‘Stockman’s night’ and we were privileged it was hosted by Ian, himself. We learned about the history of the station, saw some action films on the herding of the wild camels, heard from a true stockman who breaks in wild brumbies, witnessed him cracking a whip and heard about the inspiring and moving work that the Conway family are doing with the local impoverished Indigenous communities. Ian is fulfilling a promise he made to a wonderful Aboriginal friend before his death, to help break the cycle of hopelessness in the communities, by helping to educate the children. He and Lyn have set up the ‘Conway’s Kids’ Trust Fund, which is currently paying for the education of at least 6 children from the Ukaka community at private boarding schools in Adelaide. www.conwayskids.org.au the parents of these Aboriginal children are delighted and so grateful to Ian and Lyn for the opportunity- there is no ‘stolen generation’ feel to this arrangement. The kids come home every school holidays via chopper and retain strong links with their families. Their vision has now also extended wider to encompass all the Aboriginal children residing in the locale, “To ensure cultural Aboriginal children from remote homelands have the same educational opportunities as the children of wider Australia.” The station also provides meaningful employment to Aboriginal men in the communities as they work with Ian as stockmen. Lyn spends 80% of her time with the Aboriginal people, helping the women bathe the babies and assisting with washing of clothing, as these outstation communities have no hot running water. During our stay, we witnessed how loving and affectionate she was with the children. Their work is so inspiring, that the ABC made a documentary appearing on “Australian Story” six months ago, titled “Unfinished Business”.
The evening concluded with delicious homemade damper, honey and fresh cream around a campfire with real bush tea! It was a moving and unforgettable evening and it really enriched our outback experience.
The next day we hiked the ‘Rim Walk’ at Kings Canyon. It was hot!! And a challenging climb, but we were rewarded with amazing views ……
And a beautiful stop in ‘The Garden of Eden’, where we were entertained with excellent didj playing by a talented Italian tourist, who rivalled the skills of the indigenous!
We stayed one more night at Kings Creek station and in the morning, walked up to the lookout.
When we were leaving, we went into reception to say our farewells. Bella had a pair of sneakers she had grown out of and wanted to offer them to Lyn for a little Aboriginal girl. This little gesture bought tears to Lyn’s eyes. She told us of the difficulty she was having in clothing the children, especially because they attend funerals of their relatives on a regular basis (they are all dying so young). It really struck a chord with us, so Dan and the girls raided the van, gathering armfuls of clothes to leave behind. We intend to action more help from Sydney when we return.
We headed back to Alice along the Stuart Highway, stopping at Stuarts Well, at an old Pub known as Jim’s Place, home of ‘Dinky’ the singing Dingo. (Thanks for the tip Jan and Mark!!) What a hysterically quirky little place this was!!! Jim and his famous dingo entertained us with a unique performance. Sas and Boo sat at the piano. As soon as Sas began to play, Dinky began to howl and howl at the top of his lungs!! Apparently, Jim’s daughter had played the piano as a little girl and Dinky learnt this singing repertoire to accompany all her practice.
The West MacDonnell Ranges
We restocked our provisions in Alice Springs again (a few more pics here), before heading out to the West MacDonnell Ranges for three days. It was a truly beautiful drive with the land green, fresh and alive with fields of wildflowers.
We stopped in at the Ellery Gorge waterhole….
And, the amazing Ochre Pits, mined traditionally by the Aboriginal clans to make ochre, used in ceremonial body painting. Richly coloured rocks, reds full of iron oxide, yellows and oranges with less iron content and white, containing a chalky kaolin.
A visit to Ormiston Gorge in the oppressive heat meant we only did the walk to the waterhole. There were cries of protest from the girls and Bella delivered a classic line that she has picked up from a movie, “Mum, Dad, I’m not going any further; I’m sweating like a sinner in church!” She continues to constantly entertain us all.
We then stayed two nights at Glen Helen ‘Resort’- the NT euphemism for a dusty campground with an outback pub/restaurant and a pool you would never let your kids swim in!! It was actually in a very beautiful position right at the base of the rock face of Glen Helen gorge. We had opted for power as oppose to bush camping as we needed the air conditioning.
David took some more spectacular shots of the night sky, catching some lightening in the distance …..
And a chopper gliding through the gorge.
Whenever possible on this ‘lap of the paddock’, we have tried to venture to roads less travelled. We had been to the ‘Desert Mob’ exhibition at the Araluen Gallery in Alice Springs. A collection of exquisite Western Desert Aboriginal paintings, so vibrant, colourful and inspiring, all from remote communities in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. We were determined to purchase some samples of this art, but directly from the source. So, from Glen Helen we set out to visit 2 art centres in the remote communities of, Ikuntji at Haasts Bluff and Papunya, 50k’s further north. We required a permit to enter the Aboriginal communities, which allowed us to go directly to the art centres. It was dirt road all the way, with some heavy corrugations, but simply stunning, untouched country.
Just before we entered the community, there were warning signs about bringing alcohol beyond that point. All communities are now ‘dry’. The law is so strictly enforced that your vehicle can be impounded if alcohol is found; there are heavy fines or even jail sentences. We had forgotten about some wine and beer that we had stored in our esky in the boot. So…….not wanting to take any chances, we drove back a little down the road and off into the bush, hiding our stash behind a tree and covering the esky with branches. We felt like naughty teenagers hiding our loot! (Luckily, we did recover it after our day but it was a challenge finding it again….!)
Our Ikuntji experience was two hours viewing hundreds of ‘linens’ (now used for the finer art), with the gallery administrator, a great insight into the different styles of painting. There were very few people in the art centre that day as the community had shut down for ‘sorry business’- a period of mourning following the death of one of their members. One of their artists had recently passed away. We met an art dealer from Melbourne, who had ‘choppered’ in to buy art for his gallery. He was really interesting to talk to. We made some beautiful and unique purchases.
Next, it was on to Papunya. Papunya is the community where the Western Desert art movement was founded. In 1971, men began painting here, after being encouraged by a school teacher Geoffrey Bardon. In 1972 they established their own company, ‘Papunya Tula Artists’, which now draws most of its art from communities in WA, just across the NT border. The current art centre here is now known as ‘Papunya Tjupi’. It was amazing to see the old hanger style art studio where the original artists would have painted. We ran into the art dealer again and his belief was that this building is so significant to the history of the Western Desert Art movement, that it should be listed on the National Trust.
It is always a much richer experience when you are able to see artists in action and understand the stories they are telling through their art. We had this experience at Papunya, viewing the art room with artists at work out the back and we were able to meet one of the artists who had painted two of the pieces we purchased. Lots of artists prefer to sit and paint on the verandas with their dogs. It is amazing to see the transformation that the art undergoes, from the dirty floor of the community to the crisp white walls of the fine art galleries, with an adjusted price tag. However, buying directly from the remote communities, cuts out the white middle man and means all the money stays there.
The art centres in these communities are the hub of their society. There is little other enterprise and it is a pretty bleak eye opening experience to witness the state of the housing, abandoned cars, rubbish, poor hygiene and manky looking dogs roaming the streets. However, the art centres are a happy, thriving place. They provide meaningful employment, a sense of purpose and are way for the indigenous to keep their culture alive. It seems that they are run administratively by white man, whose wages are funded by the government. The people running the centres that we met were wonderful. Dedicated to the artists, helping to promote their work in exhibitions and helping them with the economics of running a business- a skill they simply don’t understand. The young couple at Papunya where originally from near Dee Why in Sydney and had been there for three years. Very small world indeed…..
We headed back to Glen Helen for another night, all exhausted from the big effort it takes to explore new and remote places, but feeling richer from the amazing experience.
Palm Valley/Hermannsburg
On our last day in the West Macdonell ranges, we ventured to Palm Valley in the Finke Gorge National park. This was a slow, rocky, sandy, high clearance 4WD track and there were some nail biting sections for Walt to tackle. In some sections, the dirt ‘road’ became the rocky river bed and we almost had to guess the path. We made it with no dramas except for Dan losing a few years off her life!! The girls loved the serious 4WD experience, as did Shackers.
The valley was quite spectacular, with a diverse range of ancient palms, including the rare red cabbage palm, unique to the area. It was almost reminiscent of a ‘Jurassic Park’ set. We did the Arankaia walk, 2ks up through the bush, then down amongst the lush palms along the Finke River.
On our way out, we came to the aid of a couple of lost French travellers. They had entered the National Park instead of turning off to Kings Canyon. They spoke NO ENGLISH and the only French amongst us, was Dan’s memory of year 10 French classes at school. It was a comical situation with both parties trying to express directions in different languages and pour over maps together. We eventually made ourselves understood with school girl vocab and lots of body language. They were so grateful to follow us out back to the main road, thanking us in fluent French and with vigorous handshakes!!
On our way home, we stopped in at Hermannsburg. This is another Aboriginal community, but has the remains old white washed German farmhouse style buildings from the mission days. We had great scones, jam and cream for afternoon tea.
More pics from West MacDonnell Ranges
Then it was back to Alice for one more night before heading off on our week long trek to Cairns, up through the NT and across the Queensland border, via Karumba in the Gulf of Carpentaria. It was a bit torturous initially backtracking on the same NT roads, but we stopped at some sites that we had flown past on our way down - these were the incredible statues at Aileron.
We did one night hops; staying at The Devil’s Marbles again, Camooweal and the Burke and Wills Roadhouse.
More pics of Devil's Marbles
More pics of Camooweal
More pics from Bourke & Wills Roadhouse
We drove through Normanton, another old sleepy place, famous for the biggest croc ever caught (and it was hunted down by a woman!) This guy was over 8 metres long and had such a massive girth. He looked like a dinosaur.
We then spent 2 nights in the little fishing town of Karumba in the gulf. Again, so incredibly hot! We went out one morning on a fishing charter and caught huge hauls of blue salmon. Bella caught a little reef shark and Dan caught an enormous leopard spotted ray, so heavy, the reel would not wind! We cut him free.
We caught so many fish and since we all had small freezers, we shared our bounty with some lucky beach fishermen that were on the beach when we came in.
Some kind experienced ‘filleters’ helped us clean and fillet our catch. We stocked our freezer with enough fish meals for the next 5 weeks!
Half the fun the girls had with the filleting of the fish was taking the left overs down to feed the pelicans and the sneaky wedge tailed eagles.
More pics from Karumba
We pushed on the next morning, staying in Georgetown for one night.
More pics from Georgetown
On our way there, we hit another little ‘roo’, which did some minor damage to the front underside of Tilli. It is always a horrible feeling and there were a few tears from Bella who pleaded to turn around to make sure there was no ‘joey’ in her pouch. Luckily, it was a young male and no joey in sight.
We are 'packed to the rafters' and so the idea of caring for a baby roo in the van is not appealing, but one of Bella's fantasies!!
With all the hours spent traveling during this leg of the trip, we organized viewing of some 70’s and 80’s old Aussie classics for the girls. Shows that we had enjoyed as kids. ‘Storm Boy’, ‘Crocodile Dundee’and every episode of ‘Skippy’ ever made! They absolutely loved them and it was a great way to ‘kill’ some car time. So, if a ‘Lap of The Paddock’ hasn’t turned them into authentic Aussie girls, then at least their viewing has!
The remote outback roads also allowed another childhood pleasure. Remember how fun it was to stick your head out the window with the thrill of the wind in your face watching the world flash by? Go BOO!!!
It was such a contrast as we moved through the very dry parts of Northern Queensland to the sudden lush, beautiful, rolling plains of the Atherton Tablelands and Kuranda, before hitting the coast and reaching Cairns. We were so happy and relieved to have made it and to be on the coast again.
From here, we will make our way home down the coast over about 5 weeks. This trip has been an absolute adventure. Our days have been so full and much of the past 3 months in extreme heat. We are all feeling a little exhausted and will embrace this last leg as a more restful experience, hopefully with lots of swimming enjoying this gorgeous coastline.
We are excited about Jasmine coming to meet us at Seventeen Seventy beach for 4 nights next week and also about spending some time with Dan’s sister, Julie and husband James, in Byron, on our way down. We will also meet up with David’s brother Ben and his wife Kara and their boys, at Emerald beach. Lots of fun, silliness and catching up to be had after so long away…..
We are on the homestretch……
Love to all.
Over and out,
The Fucawis!!
