On the road again: September 2010

After leaving the Flinders Ranges behind us we finally came to the Murray River... This River has always been a fascination for Mick and it was one of the places that was a must see on this trip....We spent many nights camping on this amazing river and i needed to be educated about all these locks and weirs,and the best part of all was, the river was really flowing after the big flood around that area....We travelled the Murray from Morgan in South Australia where we went to visit a retired work mate of Micks (Ty Daly from Wagstaff) he lives in a beaut cottage thats about 130 years old and has settled in well and knows half the town. .... Next stop was Renmark,Mildura, Echuca, Yarrawonga,Rutherglen,and then we left the Murray at Albury-Wodonga....This drive was very scenic and we stopped at all the old paddle steamer towns and played tourist....We drove from one state to the other continuously crossing over the connecting bridges through-out the days of travel. I got rather confused at times and would be asking "Are we in N.S.W or Victoria?" . We checked out the old town of Wentworth where the Darling River joins the Murray... I think Mick got his Murray River fix as we followed it through 3 different states.......

Next on our agenda was to head back to Canberra to have a stop over once again at Cassie and Will's place at the Royal Military College at Duntroon.....Will was away on a army exercise when we first arrived so we were able to keep Cassie company....Cass also had other visitors too as Sergio and Rhondda (Micks brother and wife from Lucinda Point ) were there on there way back from Tasmania....We had a good couple of days together and shared some good pasta that Sergio cooked for us.....They were not able to stay to see Will come home but we ended up staying about 10 days and it was great to see our son-in-law as we missed him on the way through.... oh! and he does look good in uniform (ha-ha) .
We also went to Floriade in Canberra to check out all the spring flowers - what a display that is......Markets at the bus depot is a must on a Sunday morning too,plenty of deli type foods----breads,olives,cheeses,etc....
We went for a night over to Ulladulla (about a 2 hour drive from Canberra on the coast north of Batemans Bay) to see our mates that we travelled with and spent the night there, was a great catch up, lovely company and good food, also a beautiful part of Australia...The coast-line south of Sydney is awesome....beautiful......pretty....wonderful...whatever you want it to be....just love it........

You can't be in Canberra at this time of the year and be so close to the snow fields with-out going for a look...We were at the Snowy Mountions in March and was able to see The Snowy in the summer so it was a must that we go back and see what charm the Mountions could turn on for us ....We were a little late in the season but for us Queenslanders who never get a chance to see the snow we were very excited to see the white mountions..Mick and I had a great play around for the afternoon and was able to get some funny photos.....Mick even fell into a big slush hole right up to his bum and took me down with him, camera and all. I really don't think we were suppose to be in that area but you have to excuse us old Queenslanders,new to the game of snow fights...We had to make a quick change of clothes as we were both very wet and very cold....We laughed about it on the drive back to Canberra but in hindsight it really was a little scary...........

Leaving Canberra was sad,saying goodbye to our loved ones- --but we still had plenty of things to do, and places to see, so we headed off inland from Canberra to travel up the country roads.....What a beautiful drive this has been, we cannot believe how green everything is....Is it because we are used to seeing red bull-dust for 2 states? Really this is the best drive we have been on ...inland N.S.W and coastline N.S.W. south of Sydney have been the best....Locals people have been telling us they have had good rain--hence the green valleys and hills....Many happy sheep and cattle and the paddocks of golden canola flower are something else......You can understand how much we appreciate this scenery after many miles of desert country that we have been through.......You have to love this wonderful ever changing country......

Travelling from Canberra to Yass, Cowra,Wellington, Dubbo,Gilgandra,Coonamble,Walgett we have now arrived at Lightning Ridge........Lightning Ridge is the only place in the world where the exquisite black opal is mined in quanity and sold in the rough....People come from all around the world to try and find there fortunes here, and many succeed--some say the cash flow at the local bank is the largest in Australia....(I think that could be a big white lie for the tourist trade ) We have found in our travels that they has been quite a lot of tall stories told to hype the towns up....The Ridge as it is known to the locals is different to Coober Pedy as they do not live underground here, but still it looks like Little Egypt with mounds and mounds of diggings every-where..Apparently too much clay in the rock to go under-ground...Thats my little geo lesson for now. Baggy had me out doing a tour of the mines today and they leave open holes every-where....Some have just a mesh covering, me being scared of weird things like that, i made sure i did not stand too close to any hole...Think they need a safety officer.....Oh well ! we have to go to these strange places and strange towns so we can form our own opinion....
Next stop on our agenda will be Hebal on the border of N.S.W. and QLD and then onto St George. Surat and my birth place Roma.....Will check out a couple of relations there and a couple of old mates and keep moving onto North Qld .....Over and Out for this one ....     Love to All        The Baggys...       xxxxxx

Black line--- -Follow our travels -

Mick and Ty (Morgan - S.A)

Wentworth N.S.W (where the Murray and Darling Rivers meet)

Canola in flower at bottom of the Flinders Ranges S.A

Mick doing his nightly chores for the bush camp on the Murray

Ahh! The Serenity

Flood Waters around Murray River region

Paddle Steamer at Echuca

Pasta dinner with all the Basaglia's....Oscar had to be in on it too.

Perisher......

Fun times

Just before the slush hole

Wildflowers S.A

Floriade---Canberra City.

Goodbye to Cass

Duntroon Royal Military College

Our scenic drive in central N.S.W

Canola in Flower -wonderful drive

How good is this !

North and South of Dubbo N.S.W

Umm ! What to say.......?

You have to experience these things !!!!!!!

Open mine-shafts at Lightning Ridge

Landscape around Lightning Ridge

Arriving in Alice Springs we knew it was time once again to go deep into the cupboards and find the Doona's...Not at all happy about that but we have decided to grin and bear it because there will be no getting away from the cold from here on,we are taking the southern run when we leave Uluru so I guess we will be heading right into the cold weather and lots more of it...

Leaving Matranka the next stop was Tennant Creek where we stayed on a horse farm,very country, but really preferred that to the option of staying in the township....Tennant Creek is a very sad town and it seems to be in a state of bad repair with lots of buildings and shops left empty and boarded up..... Only one Foodland store in the town where you can get supplies, and Mick and I were witness to a full on brawl in the supermarket with a couple of females...Not a pretty site thats for sure but i could not help looking...Its not something you see in the city when you are out getting the grocerys,    2 females rolling around on the supermarket floor........

   We passed through Devils Marbles on the way to The Alice and according to aboriginal lore,this is the site where the rainbow serpent laid her eggs...They are pretty big eggs so will post a photo or two.                                                                                                                         .       Situated in the heart of Australias Out-back , the Red Centre has at its core the town of Alice Springs.... Alice Springs is framed by the stunning Mac Donnald ranges and is one of Australia's most   famous out-back towns....It is also the home to more indigenous art galleries per capita than anywhere else in Australia... (The galleries seem to be on every corner)   We think Alice its a pretty town with the ranges all around it.....The Desert Pea flower is out too ...(very pretty)....Will need to get some photos of that before we leave, as we missed the wild-flowers in W.A. as we were too early...   ......... Later much later....What we thought was the Desert Pea flower is not the Desert Pea but its still very pretty so i still will post the photos...

     What can i say about the wonderful Uluru.....Just love The Rock, I am sure i will bore you all with the photos but we both enjoyed our visit...The day was full on with us driving about 100kl's to Yalura and booking into the van park, next on the agenda was a quick drive to Uluru to catch the 10 am ranger talk...The ranger talk went till 11.30 am and then we started our 11kl walk around the base of the rock...Lunch was next and then a drive 45kl to The Olgars, then back to Uluru to watch the sun set over the rock...Quite amazing how the colours change...Up the next morning at dark to drive to The Rock once again to see sunrise.. Our first look at the rock was before the ranger arrived and at that stage it was closed for the climb....(too windy).....We both thought that we got out of that easy....Then as we walked with the ranger he went to a great amount of explanation about the traditional owners not wanting people to climb the rock as its a sacred site,but....people can make up there own mind....He( the ranger) also stated that 41 people have died climbing the rock and the latest as early as April this year when he was working and he had to help with the body retrieval while the mans wife watched from the car park....Now Baggy and I looked at each other and thought thank god its closed today....After our walk around the base the wind had dropped and by this time the climb was open...We sat and watched the climbers while we had lunch and before you get to the chained part of the climb you need to get down on all fours and crawl because its so steep....I kept hearing the words of the traditional owners and we decided it was all too much for us...(heart attack hill) A good time was had by all while we were there. ...


   Leaving Ulura area we had a hugh amount of miles to cover to head south to Coober Pedy, we took a couple of stop overs before we arrived...Well i think i am still in a state of shock...I never knew about how this town was set out,.. so it all came as a bit of a surprise...The Coober Pedy locals (80%) of them live underground ..Its quite amazing how it all works so we did a couple of tours to check out the area...We were told that the fresh food only comes to town on a Thursday and we would see most of the town folk on that day as they come up out of there holes that day for supplies, other days they are happy to be in the homes (dug outs) as the temperature is at a even 20 to 25 all year round....We went to a home that was dug out by 3 ladies,to a hotel, to a church, to shops, to a opal mine. I think its all very weird and i also think the towns folk are weird too... (hope i don't offend anyone by saying that)..Those who live above the ground are Greeks,Asians and Aboriginals, as they do not like to live below the ground...Lots of cultures in Coober Pedy too but they are still weird.....Grubby lot, they don't throw anything away so the yards that are above the ground look like a tip...Old machinery, mining gear and scrap metal for miles...
I am going to put up a couple of photos that we are very proud of....It may not look much to all you guys but if you knew how many times we stopped car and caravan and i would sneak back to get that magic shot only to have these beautiful wedge-tails fly off on me...They are very shy..We have a bit of a standard joke and yell to each other EAGLE ! EAGLE!.. Now i have some photos ...

Today after a few days on the road since Coober Pedy we were thrilled to see the rolling green hills of the Flinders Ranges of South Australia.......What a different site that was compared to when we were heading across..It was so dry back in late March ..   Till next time      Love to all The Baggy