FROM WINTER TO SUMMER IN A DAY!

Alice Springs

Here we come!

We arrived about 1pm & booked into the

MacDonald Rangers Caravan Park.

 Most people we had spoken to previously recommended this 

one as the best in town!

We thought we might work here for a few months instead of

heading to Darwin straight away?

As usual though we don't have a plan 

so we decided to just play it by ear & what will be will be!

Once set up

we decided to head in to town

 as we needed to stock up on the essentials~~~

Food

 Beer & Wine!

 We went into the Woolies grog shop before doing our groceries
to check out some prices.

Mark checked out the beer & for me it was over to the sav b! 

I was looking around everywhere but i couldn't see any wine????

Cask wine that is!

 I do prefer bottle wine but, as we are on the road

they don't travel as well as the box!

Anyway i asked the shop lady...Don't you sell cask wine???

She told us that it does not go on sale till 6pm!

Mmmmm???....

 They have very strict laws up here in the
Northern Territory regarding alcohol!!

 One of the them, which has only just come into force is,

 anyone who buys alcohol must present their drivers licence or some sort of other identification 

 the shop keeper then scans it & runs an immediate check on you!

 If you have been a problem person in the past

 you are refused sale!!

With our groceries now done & the wine open for business

we went in & got what we were after & proceeded over to the checkout

where we queued in the long line!!!!

Wow!....The old wine is very popular!!!

It was interesting watching on as we waited way back for our turn!

One little old lady waddled in & the security guard was

 straight on to her~~~~

Come on

 Out you go!

 Go on

Out! Out! Out!

He sternly said as he herded her out the front doors!

There are security guards every where you turn!

Which is good!!

Well that was an experience for us!!!

Back home & the temps have dropped

tonight's forecast is for a low of 6 degrees!!!

Time to pull out the doona!

You may be keeping me warm

but get off you are heavy!!!!

Next morning & boy oh boy
She is cold!!
 Today's is suppose to only reach
 18 degrees!!!

It is colder here than back home!
NOT GOOD!!!!

Oh well, we decided to brave the elements & set out to do some sight seeing!

Brochures in hand & our first stop was

 Emily's Gap in

The East MacDonald Rangers

Emily's water hole & she was cold!!!

 From there we drove over to the

 West MacDonald's to see

Simpson's Gap & Standley Chasm 

  Standley Chasm

Gregory's @ Simpson's

Husband @ Simpson's

We are becoming experts by now after seeing so many rock creations

We have it all sorted out & have them in order as they have evolved

                                                                  So we think??

 Chasm - Gap - Gorge - Canyon!

Pretty clever Hey!!!

Walk! Walk! Walk!

 Climb! Climb! Climb!

That is all we seem to be doing lately!

It is good exercise though & boy oh boy we need it!!!

We decided not to stay here in Alice 

we are going to head to Darwin as previously planned!

One reason which contributed to our decision was...
  We went in to town to get few things from Coles,
i was driving & as our car is so big & such a pain to park, i always
try pick the easiest spots!
Well i was lucky, i found one & drove straight in!
I parked it right up against this big brick wall in front of us,
with the bull bar just off it!
Anyway we got out to go into coles & as we walked away from the car
i turned & looked back to see this man standing directly in front of it?
I told Mark & he went over to the security guard & started magging to him,
whilst i kept my eyes fixed on our truck!
The security dude made it clear it was not a good idea to
leave that truck there unattended for any length of time!!!
Mark went back to to baby sit it, while i went in to coles!
He checked  out the front of the truck & noticed that the man had
done a wee on the brick wall
that is why he was standing there!

For some i suppose when......
Ya gotta go.... Ya gotta go!
Even if it is in public!!????
He probably didn't want to pay the 50 cents that everyone else had to pay for the privilege of Alice's public toilets!
  
Plus the second reason & it is an extremely important one...
It is way too cold here now and it is not even winter yet!!!
A visit to Alice Springs we feel is a
must & are glad we had the experience!

A beautiful Tree in a Dry River!

We also did a tour of 

The Road Transport Hall of Fame

I remember going with my dad in a Bedford just like this!

Off we would go to Paddy's markets to

load her up full of fruit & veges for their shop!

I can still smell those cabbages today!

                                                                               
Mark pretending!
 

Unbelievable!!

This place has every truck ever made & more!

I got my license in my Grandmothers VW

Exactly the same as this one, it was new back then in 1977!!! 

The Road Transport Hall of Fame 

we would highly recommend 

It is fantastic!!

You really need to spend a whole day here there is that much to see!!

Time now to say
Good bye to Alice Springs

~~~~~...~~~~...~~~~...~~~~...~~~~...~~~~...~~~~...~~~~...~~~~...~~~~...~~~~...~~~~~~

On the road again & as usual we are in the car @ approximately 9.30 

For some reason we can never get away any earlier than this??

Even though we both wake at about 5  & are usually up & at em about 6.30.

Oh well we just continue to potter along!

We are so synchronised now days that we both

seem to finish our business @ the same time!

 Dilly bag is packed with, fresh sandwiches, fruit, water bottles,

few cans of icy cold drinks & what ever else

 is left over from dinner the night before!

We never stop on the side of the road for lunch or morning tea!

We eat as we drive!

Today we plan on getting as close as we can to the

Daly Waters Pub which is 910 kms away

 We have read that this iconic pub (which has it's own camp grounds)

 gets very very busy & it is first in gets a spot!

We crossed over

The Tropic of Capricorn

which is directly in line with Rockhampton!

Wow, you can feel it starting to heat up now!!

Mark just piped up & said.....

That is because the heater is on!!

Once again our landscape is ever changing, the termite mounds creep back into sight we have not seen these since leaving

North Qld @ the end of  last year, & the end of the road never comes!

We are passing a lot of vaners heading south & this we find very strange!

We made a quick fuel stop off at Ti Tree...Population 50!

Plus 2 dogs, which were the most skinniest

things i have ever seen in my life!

Next stop not far up the road is

Central Mount Stuart

It is an historical reserve, this will be interesting!

As in 1860 explorer John Stuart

calculated that this point marked the

 centre of Australia!

Well stupid us drive straight past it,

 with no warning signs & plus i was a hundred miles away concentrating on this caravan that was slowly moving in front of us!

Oh well that is gone!!!

We really are hopeless!!

 You are...His majesty tells me!

He goes on to add...

You only have one thing to do & you buggar that up!!!

 I am not going to bite back @ that statement!

Right!!!

Next stop after i study the book (while i am doing nothing)

 is Wycliff Well

This area claims the title of 

UFO

Capital of Australia!

The speedo is set for 150kms away & 

Husband is in charge of that!!

Mmmmm

This will be good!

Now Sharon time to pay attention!

Meanwhile i have my long sighted glasses on so as to see what is ahead & hopefully this time not miss it???

plus i also have my short ones on so as to write & read everything!

Time to re order my contacts

Ive had enough of glasses !!!!!

Me doing nothing in

My Car Office!

Some how we both did not miss this most interesting stop!

Ooops!..... I got out of the car & i still had my 2 pairs of glasses on!!

Haha!.... They will mistake me for an alien!

Wycliffe Well

Fiction or Fact?

This is fact!

The Murder of Peter Falconio & happened just down the road

@ Barrow Creek

Yuck we just drove past there!!!!

These photos are on the wall in the

Wycliffe Roadhouse

Written below is from a newspaper article

Mr Falconio disappeared in the Australian Outback more than four years ago,
while driving from Alice Springs to Darwin. His body has not been found but
he is presumed to have been murdered. The man accused of killing him,
Bradley Murdoch, goes on trial in Darwin tomorrow.

The couple were travelling around

Australia as part of a round-the-world tour when, according to Ms Lees, a

motorist persuaded them to stop on the highway north of Alice at night.

After Mr Falconio got out to talk to him, she heard a shot. The man then

tried to abduct Ms Lees, but she escaped and hid in bushes for several hours.

The prosecution says that man is Mr Murdoch, 46, a former mechanic who at

that time was living in Broome, in Western Australia, but went on regular

cross-country trips. Mr Murdoch denies murdering Mr Falconio.

From the moment that she flagged down a lorry, sobbing and hysterical, Ms

Lees has been the object of fascination. First there was the extraordinary

tale that she told police. Then there was her cold public demeanour in the

face of her loss and her refusal to speak to the press. Some compared her to

Lindy Chamberlain, whose baby was taken by a dingo in the Outback in 1980.

Ms Chamberlain was considered unemotional too, a fact that contributed to

her being convicted of murder, although she was later cleared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Thank goodness we made it out of there alive & are now

back in the safety of the car!!!

Next stop

The Devils Marbles

We were going to stay there but have now decided to do some free camping a bit further up the road

 @

Attack Creek

Heavens Above!

Who named all these places?

Just the name & the thought of murders

sends shivers up me!!!

Do do do do!!

One of the locals out to greet us!

Girls are strong like King Kong!

 One handed Mmmm... Not bad!

So amazing how they balance there?

According to Aboriginal Dream Time

The Devils Marbles are fossilised eggs of the Rainbow Serpent!

Welll it is gettting late so it is off to set up camp for the night up the road a bit!

 

We were happy to see other campers here!!

We travelled 575 Kms today!

After our BBQ & a chat to our neighbours we locked our door & retired!

No Attacks tonight please!!!

Tomorrow the race will be on to get a spot

@

The Iconic

Daly Waters Pub!

We are excited!!!

Till then

Bye for now!

ENJOY!