Taking a breather from travel.

Monday 26th May.

A very layback day today. More thermal pool activity, lunch, reading, a short nap, happy hour then watched TV. Boring ? Not at all. Try it sometime.

Mataranka Homestead Resort (still)

Sunday 25th May.

No need to get up early today as we have caught up with our house keeping and other chores yesterday. We caught up with the recorded AFL games that were played Friday night and Saturday,

Then off for more therapy in the pool. A fair number of day visitors blow in and out of the pool through out the day so the scenery is constantly changing. Temperature today was around 33 degrees with clear blue skies as it has been most days.

This thermal pool was initially dug out in the river by army personnel during the Second World War when they were stationed in the area in the event of a Japanese invasion. There are remnants of army camps and hospitals all throughout the Northern Territory.

It was built by army engineers using heavy duty materials for the officers use, so it has survived the years with little sign of deterioration. The metal lining the side walls is about 3/8" thick, corrugated similar to roadside armourguard. It must be driven about six foot into the river bed, topped with natural rocks from the area. The current flow is constant but not excessive, with one end deeper than the other then flowing on over a man made waterfall. A really lovely setting. In the past they had problems with fruit bat colonies settling into the tall palms overnight and creating all sorts of problems. That has now been eliminated by the installation of 75 foot metal pylons with heavy duty sprinklers attached to the top. Apparently during the bat season which generally goes from Mid June to October they simply turn all sprinklers on full blast which creates a tropical rain forest complete with misty rain which the bats dislike and therefore move on.

Mataranka Homestead Resort.

Saturday 24th May.

After settling in yesterday, connecting to 240 volts and fresh water to the motorhome we made our way down to the thermal pool. Just a short walk of 2 minutes along a new raised metal platform, through the hundreds of tall palms and pandanus plants to the crystal clear, warm pool.

Entry and exit to the pool was made quite easy for Gail as there are three sets of steps and hand railings. After an hour in the pool it was time to throw on shorts and singlet and make our way to Happy Hour at the park. There is a huge outdoor bar, separate stage for entertainment and a nice outside bistro. During the tourist season there is some form of entertainment every night. It is just so lovely to sit in the balmy breeze, sipping a drink and generally just taking in the relaxed atmosphere.

This morning we did two loads of washing in the park's machines and hung it out to dry which didn't take long at all in the 30 degree warmth. We washed just about everything, doona covers, sheets, pillow slips, tea towels and towels etc. Then back to the pool for another session of warm water before lunch.The warm water is doing wonders for Gail's back and she is no longer walking with the aid of her walking stick, so as we have plenty of time up our sleeve we have decided to stay until next Friday, making this a seven day stay.

Most people seem to be here for just the one night or in some cases two nights then move on.

We are situated on a very large site which is screened on one side by tall greenery which makes a nice backdrop when we sit outside for a cuppa or whatever.

We initially paid for three nights and received a 10% discount! but then when we paid the extra for the next four nights we only had to pay for three as they gave us the seven day rate which is equal to six days. This was on top of the earlier 10% discount, so we were quite pleased.

Being Saturday night we went to the outdoor restaurant (read Bistro) for dinner and a nice bottle of wine. The music tonight was a female singer who changed costume after every second number.

Not what you expect in a remote area. She drank rum and coke constantly between brackets and as the night progressed she became almost listen able.

Daly Waters and Mataranka.

Friday 23rd May.

On the road by 8:30am today, first stop after 80kms to refuel at Dunmarra where we received a 10cent discount per litre off the regular diesel price of $1.95, simply by having a seniors card.

Next stop was at the Daly Waters HiWay Inn, a typical "roadhouse" that is the norm in remote locations. This stop was simply to check out this relatively new facility as we had not been there before. We gave the historic Daly Waters Pub a miss this time as we have been there several times before.

From Daly Waters it is about 220 kms to Mataranka and the warm thermal pools where we intend to stay for a number of days and soak up the great warm water of the thermal pools. This should do wonders for Gail's back.

Arrived at Mataranka around 3pm, a short visit to the supermarket before driving the 7km out to the Homestead Tourist Park where one lot of the thermal pools are located. We have booked in to a powered site here for three nights initially and will decide on Monday whether we have had enough to move on to Katherine.  A slightly bigger travel day today - 303km.

Newcastle Waters

Thursday 22nd May.

The dozens of overnight campers at Banka Banka departed on mass well before we were ready to roll. From being quite crowded overnight the camp ground area was deserted except for the Hunters and one other. Maybe our late night around a roaring campfire had something to do with us sleeping in a bit. We had a great night out under a magnificent sky bursting with stars, listening to some guy playing a ukelele and dragging up two old birds who were three sheets to the wind to sing with him. It was hilarious, but made a quite different night.

Our onward thrust north saw us stopping about 1:30pm at Newcastle Waters rest area. The reason for t»he early stop was to ensure that we gained a spot to park as the further north we travel the less frequent are the rest areas, consequently it is a case of get in early or miss out.

How lucky we were, we had no sooner rolled to a stop in a nice flat area when other overnighters started to arrive, all scrambling for the best spots. This rest area has several fireplaces, toilets and a number of covered picnic tables. Around 5pm when I went for a walk to the toilets I counted 17 other caravans, motorhomes or tents in situ. We were joined by a lady travelling with her rottwheeler dog. We sat and chatted with her for hours, she simply wanted someone to talk to other than Elke her dog. An interesting lady from Castlemaine in Victoria whose husband did not like travelling and was quite happy to stay at home while she roamed the country alone for months on end. Another relatively light travel day for us, covering only 176km.

Banka Banka

Wednesday 21st May.

We are in no particular hurry so after a lazy morning at The Pebbles we returned back into Tennant Creek to empty our "black water" at a dump point, but more particularly to purchase two fly nets to place over our hat and protect our face from the irritating flies that we are now encountering.

The dump point is located at the showgrounds which you would imagine would be pretty much deserted except for show time and the very rare special event. Well as we approached the showgrounds we were hard pressed to find room on the road to drive. there were literally hundreds of barefooted aboriginals walking towards the showgrounds. Upon entry we encountered even more, both male and female. We later enquired in town and were informed that they were assembling for their own version of an election - to elect a new tribal elder.

Another interesting thing we observed while in Tennant Creek was the different school zones. The speed limits and times that we are accustomed to seeing back home and in fact in most places we have visited over the years are quite different here in Tennant Creek. The 40km per hour school zones apply from 7am to 5pm. Strange indeed, considering that they have a real truancy problem with the indigenous kids.

From Tennant Creek it is only 20km to "Three Ways", the "T" junction of the Barkly Hwy. from the east and the Stuart Highway. As Tennant Creek did not appeal to stop for a morning coffee we made Three Ways our midday coffee stop, then pressed on another 80km to "Banka Banka" where we have booked in for a night. Those of you who have followed our earlier blogs in Central Australia may recall that Banka Banka was one of the large number of "stations" that Sidney Kidman, the Cattle King purchased in order to be able to move his very large herds of cattle from Adelaide to Darwin without the need to encroach on other properties. His holdings literally extended over 3,000 continuous kilometres. This is a literal Garden of Eden as the camping ground is lovely green grass with an abundant supply of water. A very popular spot for an overnight or longer.

A relatively short day of travel today, only 126km today.

Moonshine, UFO's and Marbles.

Tuesday 20th May.

Continuing north on the Stuart Highway our mid morning stop today was at a Mango Farm. Yes, mango's and grapes growing out here in the arid stretches of Central Australia. Not only do

they make their own mango ice cream, which we simply had to try but also a large range of mango based products. Mango chutney, jam, syrups, sauces, spreads, wine, fortified wines and the real temptation; Mango Moonshine which we also bought to drink or pour on vanilla ice cream as a dessert.

Dragging ourselves away from this desert oasis we continued on to Barrow Creek which to be quite frank is a dump. Asside from the historical Telegraph Station which was very interesting the rest of Barrow Creek only served to remind us of "Wolf Creek". Gail took a turn at driving from here to our next stop 100km on, gave me a nice break.

Moving on to Wycliffe Wells our next break from driving. Famous as the so called capital of UFO's this roadhouse boasts the most UFO memorabilia for sale of any other outlet in Australia. Well I guess when you live and work in the middle of absolutely nowhere you need to have a gimmick of some sort to extract a living from the passing tourists.

However, having said this, they did it remarkably well and provided a welcome stop from this endlessly straight and flat road.

Next stop after lunch was the Devils Marbles (or Karlu Karlu as it is now known), located about 100 kms south of Tennant Creek and 390 km north of Alice Springs

Although we have been here previously the marvel of these gigantic rounded granite boulders, many of which are precariously balanced on top of one another, never ceases to amaze.

Scattered heaps of these "marbles" occurs across the wide, shallow valley that makes up the Devils Marbles Reserve.

Geologically, the marbles were formed from an upsurge of molten rock that cooled and became solid beneath a layer of sandstone. The solidifying granite caused vertical and horizontal fractures creating rectangular blocks. Over time water infiltrated the cracks breaking down the sandstone, and then the granite. As a result, rounded granite boulders perched on top of each other have been revealed.

Moving along once again after the compulsory photo session we paused in Tennant Creek where we found we once again had phone coverage. This gave us the opportunity to catch up on phone calls and emails etc. Refuelled with diesel @ 173.9 cents/litre (which is quite reasonable considering the remote location), topped up an LPG cylinder then pressed on to a location known as "The Pebbles" about 16km further north, then 6km off to the west on a dirt road.

A lovely location for our overnight stop, amongst The Pebbles which turned out to be a mini Devils Marbles. Surprisingly we still had mobile phone coverage in this location which gave me the chance to catch up and publish more of this blog. Traveled 360 km today.

Bye - Bye Alice

Monday 19th May.

Well our time at the AGM has ended. This morning we completed packing up and were able to have the luxury of washing all the dust and dirt off the motorhome.

Topped up all our water containers with town water in preparation for our freedom camping on the way to Darwinr. It is 1,500 km's from Alice Springs to Darwin and as we are in no particular hurry we envisage quite a few free stops prior to reaching this destination.

After departing the show-grounds around 10:00am our final stops in "The Alice" were to fill up with diesel, last minute shopping at Coles or Woolies and a visit to the post office to buy our "Hot Passes" for the 3 day V8 Supercars in Darwin on June 20-22. These 3 day passes are the most economical way of admittance to this event.

Surprisingly a number of service stations in Alice Springs had run out of diesel but on our arrival at the third one we visited the tanker was currently there filling up the storage tanks.

We travelled north on the Stuart Hwy for an hour or so then stopped for a lunch break at one of the rest areas. We have decided to slow down our rate of travel as we have quite a bit of time up our sleeves before we plan to arrive in Darwin. Consequently after our lunch break we only traveled a further 35 km's before settling into the next rest area known as Prowse Gap. There were already

three other travellers there for the night. This earlier than normal stop gave us the opportunity to sit in the sun and do some reading. The sunset was absolutely magnificent, followed by a mild evening and night. Distance traveled today 150km.

Sunday 18th.

Sunday 18th May.

At 9:00am we strolled across to the church service which was conducted under the trees adjacent to the oval at the showgrounds. A local minister conducted the service which was very casual.

During the service two galahs (of the feathered variety) settled on a branch of a gum tree immediately above the minister and sat there for about 3-4 minutes before moving on. It was as if they were listening to what was transpiring and decided not of interest to them. The backdrop to this setting was the magnificent McDonnell Ranges which were glowing shades of red and orange in the early morning sun.

As today is officially the closing day for the AGM there was a lot of packing up going on both with the food outlets and traders as well as the majority of attendees. The 16 person delegation from my own branch Manning Valley were among those departing this morning. They had all traveled on their bikes, most of them towing trailers with inbuilt tents.

There was a BBQ lunch put on for all the volunteers as a way of thanking them all for their invaluable assistance in staging and running this event. Of the 2,500 attendees about 500 gave some of their time as volunteers apart from those from the local branch in Alice Springs.

Gail and I had worked four shifts prior to and during the week of the event which was very fulfilling and enjoyable. All volunteers received a specially made metal badge identical to the badge given to all attendees with the addition of the word Volunteer across the bottom?

During the afternoon I fitted new mudflaps to the motorhome which are truck type and much larger than the originals, one of which I had lost.

It was our turn to provide nibbles for our newfound group of friends at our happy hour drinks. Hot sausage rolls and party pies went down well and were most welcomed by all.

Grand Parade & AGM

                                                      

Saturday 17th May.

Up very early this morning as the assembly for the grand parade commences at 7:00am on the oval prior to a 9:00am start. I was not sure at this stage if I had been successful in my request to the Manning Valley mob for a lift as pillion passenger for the 7km parade around Alice Springs and through the main shopping centre precinct of Todd Mall. However I was offered a ride by two of our members which was great. The assembly point for the estimated 1500 bikes and trikes was extremely well controlled and organised with all participants lining up in two rows in preparation for moving off under the leadership of two police highway cars. These two vehicles led the parade and were ably supported by other police manning the many intersections to allow a smooth and continuous flow of the huge procession. The locals turned out in their thousands along the entire route of the parade to cheer and wave to all bikes. Being a pillion passenger I was able to take quite a number of photos during our travel. There were a very large number of indigenous people amongst the crowds and of particular interest was the small coloured children who could hardly contain their excitement. They jumped up and down excitedly as though they were standing on an ants nest.

The parade ended at the convention centre where the formalities were carried out and an hour or so later the actual AGM took place in a large auditorium where a record number of 709 attended.

For the first time ever in the 30 year history of the Ulysses Club, females were elected by the voting membership to fill both the roll of President and Vice President.

Current membership cards have to be shown to enter the auditorium and receive voting papers.

I discovered about an hour before the doors opened for the meeting that I had left my membership card back at the motorhome. One of the Manning Valley guys offered me the use of his BMW to ride back to the showgrounds to collect it and return in time before the doors were closed at the appointed start time. As the identity number on the bike did not match my wrist band number I was unable to ride the bike into the showgrounds so I had to leave it at the entry gate and make my way on foot back to the motorhome. Fortunately I made it back in time, but one thing is for sure; I will cop a fine back at the next branch meeting I attend. Maybe by September they will have forgotten.

Gail and I returned to the Casino where we had a nice dinner and a few drinks, then caught a taxi back to the showgrounds. A very pleasant day today.

Beach Party night

Friday 16th May.

Today we caught the bus at the main gate into town, had a good look around, did a small amount of shopping, lunch in the food hall of the large centrally located shopping mall, then caught a return bus to near the convention centre and WALKED across the Todd River again.

Tonight the re was the traditional Friday night dinner, however this year it took a totally different format. The venue was an open air concert adjacent to the food vendors where everyone purchased their own dinner, sat at one of the many tables with friends having a drink or two or three while enjoying the music from the band and dancing. We declined to dance for obvious reasons but still had a wow of a time. The theme for the night was a Beach Party, based on the fact that Alice Springs is the closest town in Australia to ALL THE BEACHES AROUN D THE COUNTRY.

many of the attendees dressed in all manner of beach attire to add to the flavour of the night.

Lazy day

Thursday 15th May.

Another beautiful day with clear blue skies so we went for a nice long walk. The TENS thingy that we bought for Gail's back is working out extremely well. She wears it for 3 to 4 hours during the day and it appears to be giving her quite a boost in her recovery. She is walking at near normal pace without the walking stick and little discomfort. Even when it is removed she still finds the pain is eased for a few hours.

Most of the day today we spent chatting and relaxing.

.

Open Day.

Wednesday 14th May.

Today was the final shift of volunteer work that Gail and I are doing. Gail was on the volunteer desk, issuing volunteer vests, water bottles and generally directing volunteers to their assigned posts.

I did a stint as security on the main gate as part of a six person team which involved checking all outgoing bikes and riders to ensure the numbered identification wrist band matched the corresponding numbered sticker placed on the bike.

We both knocked off at 12:30pm, had lunch then went for a walk and caught up with members from our Manning Valley branch who are all camped in tents not far from where we are located.

This afternoon was an Open Day at the showgrounds AGM site to allow members of the public to enter the general traders area, a display area of motor cycles, but not in the camping areas. Additional security personnel ensured that there was no unauthorised entry.

Around 5:30pm we wandered across to the general meeting area to listen to the entertainment, have a drink with a number of our friends and buy our dinner from one of the many onsite food vendors. A good couple of hours was had by all.

Work & Play Day.

Tuesday 13th May.

As we were due to start a 4 hour shift on the Check-in desk at the convention centre at 11:15, we left "home" around 9:00am to catch a bus outside the main entry gate. The plan was to take this bus to the CBD bus interchange, change to a second bus which would drop us both at the convention centre door. However we struck a very obliging bus driver who advised that he could drop us at a particular stop then we would have a short 400 metre walk ACROSS the Todd River to our final destination. The Todd River at this point was about 100 metres wide, a sandy bottom with not a drop of water as is the case most of the time. Consequently we arrived for our shift a good hour early so we went into Lassiter's Casino next door for a coffee.

Check-in was relatively quiet as some 1500 Ulyssians had passed through check-in on opening day yesterday. Gail was reassigned as an usher to direct people to the next available check-in desk and I was also reassigned to the outside car park to direct the often weary riders into the building to be met by Gail and another lady. During our shift from 11:15am to 2:45pm approximately 100 passed through which was a complete contrast to the day before. This was a good assignment as we both got to welcome and talk to all those who came in during our shift.

When we knocked off we again walked ACROSS the river, to the bus stop where we caught the bus into town, a distance of only 3km. Our first stop was the Alice Springs post office to collect an envelope contains our mail from Halliday Shores. Then over a coffee we sorted through this mail as well as preparing a parcel to post to our Great Granddaughter, Kelsey. Gail had just finished knitting a mohair cardigan for her.

Returned to the showgrounds on a bus, then happy hour with our newfound neighbours.

AGM Activities (contd)

Monday 12th May.

Well the hordes of thundering bikes started to roll into the showgrounds from around 7:15am this morning. A sea of tents quickly sprang up within the designated camping area.

The onsite takeaway foods outlets, merchandise and general motorbike related bits and pieces stalls also are now in full swing to cater to the needs of some 2,400 bikers.

IGA have setup a very well stocked supermarket within one of the pavilions, selling everything from tooth paste to camping gear and the obligatory cases of beer, wine and spirits, which cannot be purchased until after 2:00pm. This is a Northern Territory law.

The mood of all attendees is generally exceptional as we all have one thing in common. The love of riding and enjoying time with friends with a common interest. Consequently there are rarely problems. With the exception of Harley Davidson, the motorcycle traders are yet to arrive with demo bikes and gear for sale.

AGM Activities

Sunday 11th May.

This morning there is an induction and training session scheduled for all the volunteers who will be working at the registration desks. Gail & I received a lift to the Convention Centre for this session at 11:30am. All attendees who have previously applied and paid to attend the AGM have been issued with a plastic magnetic strip card. Prior to entering the AGM site at the showgrounds they must present this card at the registration desk. The card is then swiped and the attached computer indicates exact details paid for and whether this person is camping onsite and if so what colour security wrist band to issue. An attached label printer then prints the attendees registered number which is attached to the wrist band. Depending on what bikes and/or vehicles are entitled to enter the showgrounds additional labels are printed and attached to stickers which must be attached to the bike and or vehicle. Ulysses members entering or leaving the showgrounds must show matching numbers on their wrist and bike to the security personnel on the main gate to gain access or exit the venue. This is to ensure that no person can exit with a bike, bike trailer or vehicle other than their own.

After completion of this training session we went into the adjoining Casino where we had a light lunch before returning to do our 4 hour shift. Gail and I worked as a team of two to check in RV owners who were permitted to enter on Sunday, whereas all bike riders do not gain admittance until Monday morning when the registration desks open at 7:00am.

After completing this shift at 6:00pm we caught a taxi back to the showgrounds and the comfort of our motorhome.

We have another 4 hour shift on Tuesday afternoon as attendees will still be arriving in Alice Springs throughout the week.

Cooking & Washing day.

Saturday 10th May.

While Gail did some cooking of meals to be frozen for later, I did another 3 hours of volunteer work off site at the Alice Springs Convention Centre which is the registration point when attendees arrive in town and prior to moving into the camping area at the main AGM site which is the show grounds.

Our next door neighbours gave me a lift in their car as they were also working at the same place. The two major venues are only about 3km apart.

Gail and I will be working tomorrow afternoon and again on Tuesday afternoon, checking in all arrivals and issuing them with numbered security wrist bands and vehicle stickers to gain access to the campsite area. There is 24 hour security at the entrance to ensure no unauthorised people, bikes or vehicles enter or leave without being identified as the rightful owners.

We caught up with hand washing which dried quite quickly on our mini "Hills Hoist" in the warm sunshine Another pleasant happy hour rounded out the day.

Ulysses AGM - Settling In.

Friday 9th May.

Today was a good opportunity to completely clean up and sort out everything in the motorhome cupboards. We have found that food items and cooking utensils are best stored in separate cupboards and compartments. The end result of this massive rearrangement means we now have far more space and things are easier to find. We managed to avoid any additional volunteer work today. Shortly after lunch we were advised that we could now move into the RV area where we could connect to power and have town water available. Each RV site is 9 x 6 metres which is quite adequate, but because of the large number of RV's attending and being placed in this area there is not much space between caravans, Motorhomes etc. Tow vehicles for caravans must however be moved out into a separate secure area from Sunday morning. This will certainly free up a bit of open space around us. There is a brick amenities block only 50 metres away providing hot and cold showers, toilets etc so will will make use of their hot showers whenever possible rather than use our own while here. There is also a dump point adjacent to these amenities.

Now that we are setup in our permanent position we have the opportunity to meet our neighbours on all adjacent sites, so happy hour was a very interesting and informative time as we got to know a little about each other over a drink or two.

Volunteering - A Good Move

Thursday 8th May.

Upon our return into Alice Springs we first of all did a big food shop at Coles as well as having a good look all around the CBD area. There is now a very modern shopping complex right in the centre of town with all the well know department stores and food outlets. Also a visit to the bank to sort out our finances. All of this shopping etc is necessary as once we setup the motorhome onsite at the AGM site we are not permitted to move it until Sunday week when the AGM activities end.

This is to ensure that the 2,000 plus motorcycles which begin to arrive next Monday morning are able to move in without having some RV drivers creating havoc on the roads as they attempt to reverse etc into there allocated area.

We arrived at the AGM site around 1:30pm and after setting up in a temporary area and having lunch we both reported to the volunteer desk . Gail and I were sent to the Ulysses merchandise pavilion where we assisted with unpacking and placing on shelving a large variety of Ulysses branded clothing and miscellaneous paraphernalia. It was easy work but kept Gail on her feet a bit too long so I went and found a chair and she did the sorting etc while sitting down.

After a couple of hours the work was completed so we knocked off for the day.

The reason we had to set up in a temporary position was that the water and power is still being laid and connected in the RV area. This work should be completed by Friday afternoon.

Alice Springs arrival.

Wednesday 7th May.

We are now getting quite close, relatively speaking to our destination of Alice Springs, only about 

360km to go. We have actually got ahead of our planned schedule so have decided that on arrival in Alice Springs we will go out to the west McDonnell Ranges to visit and possibly stay overnight at one of the gorges. Consequently we visited the closest one to The Alice which is Standley Chasm.

No overnight camping permitted so we settled for a roadside rest area about 18km west.

Upon arrival in the Alice area we sent an email to the volunteers co-ordination for the AGM to see if we could offer any additional pre week volunteer service. By doing this we are permitted to enter the AGM site early. So, Gail and I are permitted to setup onsite tomorrow in return for a few extra hours of volunteer work. We had already been fostered for a couple of 4 hour shifts during the actual week of the event so this move was a very clever one on our part we thought.

A big day of travel today after our excursion to Standley Chasm. 445 km in all.

Opal Capital Of The World.

Tuesday 6th May.

Opal Capital Of The World - Coober Pedy, is in fact a very interesting location with a lot to interest those passing through this very isolated community.

Coober Pedy is situated in the Outback of South Australia, 846 km north of Adelaide and 685 km south of Alice Springs on the Stuart Highway.

Access by vehicle prior to 1987 was a long horrendous trip along the old dirt road. Today, the highway is one of the best in Australia (as previously commented upon) and the journey north and south of the town has become both comfortable and interesting. When venturing off the highway, roads are unsealed and often impassable after rain. The annual rainfall however in this area is minimal, at around 175mm (5 inches) per annum. For travellers, a coin operated water dispenser is available in the centre of town, at a cost of 20 cents for each 30 litres.

Since 1985, a modern water desalination plant using a reverse osmosis process has been operated by the local council. Raw water is pumped from 60 metres deep artesian bores located some 23 km into town where it is processed.

Very little plant life exists in town due to the region's low rainfall, high cost of water, the sandstone and lack of topsoil.

Millions of years ago the ocean covered the Coober Pedy region. After the sea water receded, there were climatic changes that caused the lowering of the underground water tables. Silica solutions were carried down to deposit in cavities, faults and fractures in the ground and now millions of years later, these silica solutions have formed into opal.

The town is surrounded by a moon like landscape dotted with shafts and mullock heaps from opal mining activities, with opal workings extending for nearly 40 km around the town.

Today's population is around 3,500. Coober Pedy is recognised as the largest producer of opal in the world. Together with Andamooka (20km from Roxby Downs) , 85% in quantity of the world's opal is produced.

The early miners introduced the idea of living underground in dugouts to escape the heat of the summer and winter's cool desert nights. No matter how harsh the climate, the underground rooms maintain a comfortable, even temperature ranging from 23 to 25 degrees C day and night throughout the year. Today there are many facilities for travellers underground such as a Hotel/Motel, a Church, Art Gallery and some shops such as a book shop and opal dealers etc. 50% of the population live underground now.

Most dugout homes are excavated into hillsides rather than dug from shafts. Some mansion style homes spread up to 450 square metres underground.

On previous visits to Coober Pedy, Gail and I have visited a number of these fascinating homes, shops and the Revival Fellowship Underground Church.

Moving on from Coober Pedy the landscape varies from sparse ground cover to small saltbush plateaus. We stopped for a lunch break at the very small locality of Marla, then pushed on to a nice rest area back from the highway known as Marryat River (no sign of any water in the river though), which is some 40 km south of the Northern Territory / South Australian border.

Today we covered an easy 354 km's.

Coober Pedy

Monday 5th May.

Today we moved on a further 320 km's to Coober Pedy. The road conditions along the Stuart Hwy are first class. Although there are a fair number of massive road trains who are all travelling at least 20 km's an hour faster than us, there are no problems or concerns with them passing.

Something we have noted is the lack of wild life even though the landscape has apparently had a recent watering as patches of new green grass seem to be popping up along the way.

The terrain is quite varied along this most isolated road, patches of wide open (no fences) spaces with barely a tree over the entire area as far as the eye can see. Then for no apparent reason everything changes to dense scrubland with stunted saltbush covering the entire area.

Hills simply do not exist during our travel over the last three days or so. I am able to leave the Iveco in 6th gear and we cruise along quite comfortably at 85-90 km/h. This speed certainly helps the economy of diesel usage as since leaving home a fortnight ago and covering 3,000 km in that time we had averaged 12.9 litres per 100 km. Not bad for a mobile block of flats !

Today has been quite overcast but no sign of any rain. We arrived in Coober Pedy around 2:00pm, drove along the Main Street (are there any others ?) then booked into the Opal Inn Caravan Park in the centre of town. YES, we have actually checked into a caravan park with 240v power etc.

I think Gail has earned a meal out, so we will take ourselves off to a nice Chinese restaurant as they seem to be the main eatery places here.

Nothing much seems to have changed since we were here in Central Australia with Colin about 22+ years ago. The mullock heaps look even bigger and more widespread. The streets are still straight out of a John Wayne movie of the 50's and the indigenous population seems to represent about 95% of the total.

Olympic Dam

Sunday 4^th May.

The nights are still quite cold, around 8 degrees when we wake up, with top temp today of 18 degrees. From our overnight stop we proceeded a further 140 km to the locality of Pimba where we turned off the Stuart Hwy and drove the 90 odd kilometres to Roxby Downs and the BHP / Billiton Olympic Dam mine site via Woomera Rocket Range.

Contrary to popular belief the Olympic Dam is NOT a dam but the name given to the world’s largest Uranium mine, the third largest Gold deposit and the fifth largest Copper deposit. They also mine silver.

Is it any wonder that the guard on the security gate would not allow us in the motorhome to go and see “The Olympic Dam”. The mine operation was named after a nearby livestock watering dam located on the Roxby Downs Pastoral lease. Olympic Dam has over 1,700 employees and over 1,850 Full time contract employees. Olympic Dam is the largest underground mine in Australia. Approx 270 kms of existing tunnelling underground, added at an annual rate of approx 24km or 65 metres per day.

This area was of particular interest to us as we had personally met and spent time in the past with Len Beadell who surveyed the site for the Woomera rocket range and surrounding areas. The town of Roxby Downs was built in 1988 to support the operation and has a population of 4,500.

After returning to the Stuart Hwy we travelled a further 35 kms to a beautiful rest area overlooking Lake Hart. This is a very popular overnight spot for travellers; we counted at least 20 others spread over a large flat area.

Grand total kms covered today around 370 including the 200 km diversion to Roxby Downs.

Wind Farm, Mount Bryan. South Australia.

Wind Turbine Blade - Hallletts Hill #2 Wind Farm, Mount Bryan SA.

Onwards to Stuart Highway.

Saturday 3rd May.

Today was a bigger day of travel, covering some 423 km's.

From Moorook we travelled via Barmera, Morgan, to Burra where there was an annual antique fair in full swing. There were lots of stalls to inspect and heaps of lovely food outlets so we had lunch there before refuelling and pressing on. The traffic on the secondary roads we are using is very light which aids in covering big distances at a constant speed.

About 10 km's north of Burra we stopped at the small settlement of Mount Bryan where they have a

very large wind turbine farm on an adjacent hill. Aside from the 34 turbines at this location they have an impressive static display featuring one blade from a turbine and a number of interpretive notice boards. This installation was installed by AGL, so we had added interest as our son Rodney is an AGL employee.

The wind farm is the $166 million Halletts Hill No.2, one of four wind turbine clusters operated by AGL in the mid north of South Australia. Halletts Hill wind farm produces enough energy to power 40,000 homes. The centre of rotation of the blades is 80 metres above ground and the blades are 44 metres long. This means that the tip of the blade at its highest point is 124 metres above ground level.

After this very informative break from our travels we proceeded on via Peterborough to Port Augusta, then a further 35 or so kilometres further north on the Stuart Hwy. to our chosen overnight rest spot. On arrival there were already another four or five travellers set up for the night.

A big day of travel.

Friday 2nd May.

After breakfast in the motorhome we spent some more time with Lyndel, Peter, Shirley & Keith who had dropped back into see us off. We departed Naracoorte around 10:30am, travelling via Bordertown, Pinnaroo, Loxton to Moorook where we will spend tonight. It rained on and off throughout last night and a fair bit of today. A big day of travel, covering approximately 360km.

We have just calculated  that we have about 1600km to Alice Springs and eight days to cover that distance. Therefore we only have to average 200km per day which will allow us a rest day on the way to "The Alice".

Rupanyup to Naracoorte

Thursday 1st May.

Moved on this morning, passing through Horsham, then on to Edenhope near the Victorian / South Australian border. Naracoorte is located about 40km across the border in SA.

We arrived and were met by Shirley & Keith on the outskirts of Naracoorte around 12:15pm.

From here they guided us to the property of their daughter Lyndel and son-in-law Peter.

They have a 40 acre property right in town where there is ample space for us to park the motorhome while we spend the day and evening with Shirley and Keith. We had lunch and dinner with them, then drove back to the motorhome where we slept for the night.

It was really great catching up and spending time with them.

Bendigo CBD, then onto Rupanyup.

Wednesday 30th April.

Awoke to a lovely clear blue sky this morning, a contrast from yesterday. After breakfast we dropped the motorhome back to the auto electricians then walked about 2km into the CBD of Bendigo while they were working on it. After looking all around the city centre we then walked a further 1/2 km or so to the Bendigo Marketplace which is their regional shopping centre.

The amount of history that is in Bendigo is quite amazing as we discovered while on this walk.

The beautiful old stately homes close to the city centre which have been kept in or restored to pristine condition are really magnificent. After a quick bite to eat for lunch we made our way back to

The auto electricians and picked up the Winnebago.

Departed Bendigo about 1:30pm bound for Horsham via St Arnaud and Rupanyup.

We then stopped to boil the kettle for afternoon tea beside a lovely little country church where they had four very large water tanks with a note to help yourself to reasonable amounts. The external toilet block was also open for public usage and were spotlessly clean. We debated about staying here overnight as it was such a lovely bush setting, but as it was only just after 3:00 we felt we should continue on a bit longer. 

Our CMCA GPS data base indicated a rest area at Rupanyup which sounded very good with all facilities available so this was to be our overnight stop.

On arrival at the Rupanyup Memorial park we were pleased to find this facility outstanding.

Modern amenities block, power and water hook-up available (for only $10 per night) with security overnight lighting. The caretaker who lives adjacent to the park made a visit to collect the fee and explain a bit about the town and the local museum etc. So tonight we have every electrical appliance including hot water service, in use in lieu of using our gas. Phones, iPads etc are all now fully charged.

After dinner I made a phone call to my cousin in Naracoorte to advise that we would arrive there sometime mid-afternoon tomorrow.