Day 29 - Home

Today we said our goodbyes to Peter & Mandy and headed off early to go home to see and squish our Amber.

We have mixed emotions about heading home, a great part of us wants to keep going & I think if Amber was with us we probably could. But as they say, all good things must come to an end and we need to start saving for the next adventure.

So after over 8,000km of driving we have seen such a small part of the country. You really don't realise how big Australia is until you start getting out and seeing it. We are firm believers in seeing what's in our own backyard before we make the big step of overseas travel.

There is nothing we would have changed and certainly no places we visited that we didn't enjoy immensely or wouldn't go back to. Doing this trip with My Swag helped us get to places we probably would not have done on our own, places like Palm Springs and Ruby Gap, harder 4x4 roads which when in a group makes them so much easier & safer if something goes wrong.

The people we have met have been fantastic, some we now call friends and will definantly keep in touch with and the Victorians, Linda & Family & Jacko & Family, we will camp with again and probably just catch up for dinner & drinks. Everyone from ten My Swag community contributed in some way to making this a great experience.

Highlight of the trip for me was Kings Canyon - just Wow & how it made me get out of my comfort zone, I am quite a shy person so this trip has done me wonders & it's showed me I can do just about anything. Matts highlight is also Kings Canyon walking around it was quite an accomplishment & he loved the 4 wheel driving. Chloe's highlight is well everything....she has declared it the best trip ever!

Goodbye from us for now we are off to clean & wash red dirt from every crack & cranny of the car, trailer, clothes & ourselves.......

The Heales

Day 28 - Off to Gol Gol

Today we  had a nice leisurely pack up & started heading for Gol Gol which is on the NSW side of the Murray River where my cousin Peter & his family live.

Before leaving it was decided we would drive the scenic way down to the border via the Minindi Lake & following the Darling River all the way down. Minindi lake is part of the Kinchega National Park. The lake does not have any water in it and it looks like this may have been the case for many many years. The Darling River has a little water in in at this point. Matt & Jacko needed one more dirt road fix before we head off on the bitumen down to Melbourne.

The drive was along vast spaces of nothing but we did see a lot of Emus & Goats. We found out later that night from Peters wife Mandy that the goats are not owned by anyone in particular and the farmers just look after them if they stay on their land. The River starts to get a lot of water in it and when it meets the Murray we see a lot of water. It's nice to see a river with flowing water, it feels like forever since we've seen water where it should be. The territory is very dry.

Finally arriving in Wentworth we said our goodbyes to the Jackson family. It will be strange not travelling with these guys, we have had a lot of fun with them, but they are heading to Mildura to stay and we are off to Gol Gol.

My cousins family moved up here a couple of years ago and we thought it was time we stayed for a visit, the offer from Mandy to stay in a house with a heater definately made the offer very sweet. We had a good catch up over a couple of drinks & homemade pizza. Chloe had a good catch up with there kids Grace, Harry & Ben. We only see the cousins once a year at Christmas so it was a nice visit.

Tomorrow we finally make the last 600km drive home. 

Day 27 - Silverton & Broken Hill

This morning we said goodbye to Linda & Tayla, they have been travelling with us since day 1 & have been fantastic travel buddies. It will be odd waking tomorrow without seeing them but they have decided to get home a couple of days earlier than us. Sadly I didn't get to see them before they left as I was sound asleep enjoying a nice sleep in for once in four weeks.

When I did wake up Dad had just started making pancakes. They were just the shake and bakes, not homemade like Granny and I make but they were still good. So we ate some pancakes with a few birds eyeing us off for them and then got ready to drive into Broken Hill.

I had reception in Broken Hill so of course I went on my phone and checked Facebook and Instagram. We went to an information centre which was also a Gloria Jeans so we all got a hot chocolate and then went to look in the info part. The parents got some pamphlets while us kids looked at the souvinirs. I ended up buying a amethyst bracelet meaning peace. It matches my amethyst necklace of the 'Tree of Life'. 

After the information centre we drove up to the living sculptures but when we got there it was too expensive to go in so we turned around and drove to the Pro Hart Museum. That was really interesting and the lady at the desk gave us a quiz to do which was fun, until I realised you didn't get a prize at the end. :( But I loved the paintings anyway. They were really cool and we got a booklet that told us about his life and how he got the name 'Pro'. Which actually is short for Professor. We also saw his painting of a dragonfly on carpet. I was so confused when I first saw it, I was like "is that carpet??!" Yep it was definantly carpet.

After the Pro Hart Museum we drove back out to Silverton to look at some of the stuff there. We stopped out the front of the pub and took a photo of it. We were going there for dinner later on but we took a couple pics anyway and then went to look in the souvinir shop next door. There were some weird things in that shop, it was quite funny. Dad brought a sticker there to add to his collection.

We then drove up the road a little bit To the Mad Max 2 Museum. Mum, Dad, Jacko, Darcy and I all went in. Tracy, Indi and Rah stayed in the car. I didn't (well still don't) know anything about Mad Max, let alone Mad Max 2! So I had no idea what the actuall museum was about but it was pretty cool. All the costumes and cars and the pics from when they were making the movie. 

After that we walked back to the car and Indi and Rah came running to the cars saying that they just patted the donkeys and were taking selfies with the donkeys. Haha! I admit the donkeys were pretty cute and considering me and Rah have been quoting Shrek like this whole holiday, it's pretty funny. 

The Jacko's then drove back to camp while we drove the John Dynon Museum. It wasn't really a museum it was more of a shop. John Dynon himself was sitting at the counter talking to us while we looked at all his paintings. They were really nice and there were a few that I really liked but sadly couldn't buy.

After the John Dynon thing we drove around Silverton. It's actually a pretty big town and they film lots of movies here. Some of the souvineres say 'Silverton, Australia's Hollywood'. I started getting a bit hungry by now and I think Mum was too so we drove back to camp and Mum made us some really yummy toasties. When I had finished eating my toastie I went on the playground with Darcy, Indi and Rah before we went for a walk down to look at all the animals the campground had. They have a massive space full of goats, sheep, peacocks, ducks, chickens and all different types of birds. 

We spent at least an hour or more there trying to make Jack the cockatoo dance. Then we walked back to the tents to get ready to go to the pub. When we got to the pub it was pretty busy but we were put out side with heaters and away from the wind. It was really nice out there and peaceful. We ordered our food and drinks and just talking and laughing. 

Dad at one point came out and said that he wanted to do this challenge they have. The owner of the pub came out and started asking Mum these weird questions about Americans, rattle snakes and Australia. Then he gave Mum an envelope which had 'rattle snake eggs' in it, Mum opened the thing and something came jumping out of it. She screamed and when she jumped she almost landed in Tracey's lap! It was so funny!! Sadly nobody thought of video taping it. :( haha oh well. After we ate we all went inside and started reading some of the funny signs and cartoons they have there. We just walked around the bar reading them to each other if we found a really funny one. 

Dad then told the owner that he was ready to do the challenge. He ended up talking Jacko into doing the challenge too. Let's just say that, that was the funniest thing I have ever seen!! I think us girls died of laughter. Man, that was just, haha!  To know what the challenge is you will have to go to the Silverton Hotel & do it.

So after that we drove back to camp and started fire. We all sat around the fire for a while and laughing most if the time. We heard a donkey, don't ask me how or where it was because I have no idea. We then all started slowly going to bed and have a good nights rest before we drive to Gol Gol tomorrow. 

Photos will be uploaded later

Today's blog was by Chloe. :)

Day 26 - Broken Hill & a little sunshine

This morning we awoke to no rain but some very wet tents. With the prospect of where we were heading having no rain we were quite keen to get moving.

Driving towards Broken Hill with no rain gave us a good chance to see what the country side around us was like. I said it looked like a Hobbits Village, so green with the most beautiful rolling hills. The greenest land we had seen for the previous 3 weeks.

Once we left the green fields we started to drive along flat boring landscape. We sighted some Emus & a couple of Wedge Tailed Eagles and lots and lots of goats. Having decided to avoid staying at the city camping grounds we drove straight through to Silverton and are staying at the camp ground called Penrose Park & strange mixture of camping sites and day spots but again we have space and can have open fires. We are loving the flexibility & space you can get by staying at these little out of the way camp spots. 

Tomorrow we are off to explore Silverton & Broken Hill.

Today's blog was written by Di

Day 25 - Off to Spear Creek

With another wet day ahead of us we headed off to our next stopover Spear Creek.

We at currently still travelling with the Jacko's & Linda & Tayla so we met up at the Coober Pedy sign bright & early and headed off. The advantage of staying in a motel for a couple of days is we can shower & take our time leaving as we don't have the whole pack up of the camper to do.

The drive to Spear Creek was an uneventful one with nothing to see. Mostly due to the rain. We have not seen rain or clouds for 3 weeks so we can't complain about having some on our way home. It's getting us back into Melbourne weather.

Spear Creek is a sheep station about 20km outside of Port Augusta. This sheep station is on over 20,000 acres and the little camp ground sits along the creek on the property. We had heard not much positive about staying in Port Augusta itself so found this alternative via the SA Farm Stays website. Beautiful, quiet camp which allowed us to have fires. It rained for the first couple of hours of being there but once the rain stopped the fire cranked up and it was lovely. We even had a little flushing toilet in a tin shed which had a resident Scorpian & Red Back Spider, but they kept to themselves.

Slowly heading home, tomorrow it's off to the Broken Hil region for a couple of days of sightseeing.

Today's blog was written by Di

Day 24 - Coober Pedy

Let me start this blog entry by saying I thought everything in Coober Pedy was underground.......silly me it's not.

However there is a lot under ground and it's definately part of the tourism appeal.

We are staying at the The Lookout Cave under ground motel, after sleeping in the camper with most nights being below 0 degrees the constant 25degrees in our underground room is feeling a little warm, sleeping last night was cosy & felt almost too warm, sad really. But it's a really nice motel & the family running it are lovely. So this morning started with a nice private hot shower and toast, toast is a luxury when camping and I had not eaten any for the past couple of weeks, delicious.

After ambling out slowly we met up with Linda & Tayla and decided to go to a working mine for a tour. Toms Mine. We were greeted by the owner Jimmy, a very funny man and then taken on our tour. Very interesting. We got to go underground and see how they mine opal. Jimmy had a funny sense of humour and didn't hold back telling us what would kill us underground and gave the kids a crash course in making bombs. Chloe even got to take a ride up the swing lift to get out of the mine. Coober Pedy supplies 95% off the worlds opals. Opal is worth $30,000 per troy ounce. But because Australia cannot keep up with the worlds demands they can pretty much charge whatever they want. Opal is beautiful but not my personal favourite gem so Matts wallet was safe.

We found a bakery for lunch with the best jam donuts. After lunch we went to have a look at the Serbian Orthodox Church which is underground. It has some beautiful religious carvings cut out of the rock face.

After lunch Matt, Chloe & I headed off to the Breakaways, these are a group of hill & rock features sitting on their own and given the name because they look like they have broken away from the Stuart Ranges. They are an interesting landscape, almost like sand and all different colours. Most also have an aboriginal story about them being dogs & emus.

Tonight we got together with the others at their caravan park for a BBQ and a couple of drinks. Tomorrow we are heading off to stay at a sheep station out past Port Augusta.

Day 23 - Goodbye My Swag, Hello Coober Pedy

Today we said goodbye to our fellow My Swaggers. Darren, Karen & little Rueben off to WA, John, Caitie & boys, Tobias, Karen & kids, Danny, Melissa & boys off to SA & Steve, Sharon & kids back to NSW. Steve & Nadia are continuing their travels. We will continue our travels with Linda & Tayla & Jacko, Tracy & kids all the way back home to Melbourne which will be good to keep the holiday going. We have had the most amazing time with the My Swag group. Seen & done incredible things & had many laughs along the way. Looking forward to seeing everyone again in 2016 in the Flinders Ranges!

Officially today is the first day for the return trip home, it was a big drive approx 830 kms to Coober Pedy. We are staying in an underground motel here for a couple of nights so it will be good to have a couple of warm nights before getting back into the camper. So far Coober Pedy is nothing that I expected, I think I read too many books, the book world very rarely matches the reality.

Sorry no photos today, just a lot of driving & no sightseeing as we passed back through most places we had already been. Tomorrow our adventure begins around the opal mines and I'm sure we will have more photos then. 

Early night for us, catching up with the gossip back home & having a nice long chat to Amber who we are missing a lot. We have a TV in our room & we haven't turned it on, I know shocking.

Today's very small blog was written by Di :)

Day 22 - fossicking & bananas In pyjamas

Today I was looking forward to a sleep in but I couldn't do that as Mum woke me up early to get ready for the fossicking tour. So I got ready in the freezing cold and we made our down to reception with a few other MySwagers to get our sives, buckets, collecting tin and water. 

We followed our guide Cory to the little place that is kinda hidden because it's off the highway. Cory showed us what to do and we set to work. There were already some holes so I got the pick axe and started getting some dirt. Mum and I started off with dry seives but then Dad was complaining he couldn't see with the sun so Mum did the wet seives and Dad and I did dry but then I wanted a go at the wet and in my first lot I found 3 garnets! So for the rest of the day I did the wet seive. I had a lot of fun using the pick axe and the seives and getting dirty of course. I was stained red by the end of the day. 

We had been there for about 3-4 hours before we decided to head back. I counted all the garnets we found and we found 23 of them. That's not including the ones we found at Ruby Gap. When we finally got back to Gem Tree Dad put all the fossicking tools away while Mum and I went in to see Cory and get our garnets looked at. We ended up having 1:4carats, 3:3.24carats and quite a few 3carats. The rest were put in a bag for 'show and tell'. 

When we got back to the tent I ate some lunch and then got into Mums bed and read for about an hour before I fell asleep for at least 2 hours and then woke up amd read again. When I finally got out of bed I didn't feel too good. I had a headache and was ready to go home. But I couldn't. I've done pretty good though, that's the first time in 3 weeks I said it. Mum got me panadol and got me drink a bottle of water before we headed off to Kate's Camp Kitchen.

 We had the whole MySwag group there and we hung up 2 of the MySwag flags. For dinner we were having a campoven roast. Everyone got a tour of Kate's kitchen and how it was made and how they cater for everyone. Then we got our food and enjoyed an amazing roast! When everyone at finished dinner Kate came ans explained what the movie we were about to watch was about. It's about her family and the history of the N.T and her whole family. We then watched a short movie that her kids made for school. It was really interesting. When everyone started to head off us and the Jacko's and a few other people stayed to finish our drinks. But then B1 and B2 came out (bananas in pyjamas). It was so funny! Indi, Rah and I were standing at the hearing warming up a bit when one the guys that works there came and started talking to us. He was really nice and funny and we kept laughing at his hiccups because he had, had them all day. He had only been at Gem Tree for 2 days. Then B1 and B2 came over so us 3 girls had a photo with them then B1 said that they were off to get some rum. He came back with his can and took off the banana head. It was Cory and B2 was Aaron, Kate's husband. So Cory, this other guy, us 3 girls and the parents were all sitting/standing around the fire and heater talking. I recon we could have talked all night if the parents didn't say we had to go.

As we were walking off we said bye to the 2 boys and Kate and than drove back to the camp where the others had got a fire going. We stayed around the fire for a bit and then Catie, John's wife said that John had brought this book on how to play the digeredoo and by the end of the trip he would be able to play it. Well seeing as this was the end of the actuall MySwag trip we made him try to play it. He had only read 2 pages and knew only how to hold it. It was quite funny. After that I went off to read my book in Mums bed again. 

Tomorrow we say goodbye to everyone and we are heading for Coober Pedy. Jacko and family and Linda and Tayla are also travelling with us home as we live pretty close by.

Today's blog was done by Chloe 

Day 21 - Gem Tree & the Pademelon Bowling Champion

Today we said goodbye to our last Queenslanders. Dave, Vee, Jamilla & Chris. They are off to join the other Queenslanders & do the drive over the Simpson Desert.

We headed off in convoy to Arltunga Historical Reserve. This is officially Central Australia's first town born out of the Gold Rush. We had a little drive around and checked out some of the old ruins and old cemeteries. Chloe & I are fascinated with old cemeteries, something we have inherited from my Mum. After a little look around it was time to head off to Gem Tree, it was decided we would all make our own way  to there as we all wanted to spend different amounts of time at Arltunga. To get from Arltunga to Gem Tree we had to drive on the Binns Track, quite a famous track for these parts of the woods. A rough road driving through different cattle stations. Whilst on this trip it has become quite a joke about how cows are attracted to our car and sure enough around a corner and there waiting for us was 6 cows. We slowed and waited for them to pass before we could continue. Further along the track the most magnificent Big Red Kangaroo came hopping across the road and off into the distance. I don't think I will ever get sick of seeing the wild life out here.

Linda was a couple of kilometres in front of us and radioing back anything we needed to watch out for. Over the radio came a message pulling over for a road train, and another, and another and another. 4 road trains on a very slow dirt track, they are huge! Fully loaded with cattle. We pulled over and watched them come around the corner to pass us and then get engulfed in their red dirt, what's a bit more red dust in the nooks & crannies. But quite a site to see.

Finally arrived at Gem Tree and caught back up with Dan, Mel & Family & Steve & Nadia who had been off getting repairs or having some R & R from the bumpy dirty tracks.

We had booked into baked potato night along with a couple of the other families, so headed down to the billabong for some delicious baked spuds followed by a game of pademelon bowling. Pademelons are a fruit which are good for nothing, they grow all over the sides of the road in the Northern Territory & are too seedy to eat. The object of this game was to select a pademelon write your name on the fruit and bowl it similar to lawn bowls to earn points. It came down to a drawn game after the second round between Matt & Steven. Game was getting serious, I was so bad at this game that I won't mention where my melons ended up haha. Anyway back to the final round. Matt bowled his pademelon and it somehow came back around and stopped closest to the pin. Matt was the winner of Pademelon Bowling! He won a free night in a powered site but we are hoping to get this prize changed for something else as we can't stay longer & not sure when we will get back here.

At the baked potato night we met a young German Backpacker who is spending 9 months riding his bike around Australia. He left Tasmasnia in March & has made it up here! Crazy but he would see a lot of this big big country.

Early night for tomorrow we are off to so some real fossicking for Garnets. This is something I have been looking forward to the most. My Dad got his love if fossicking up here & I'm hoping to find something I can take back for him to cut & polish for me.

Today's log was written by Di.

Day 20 - Day trip to Ruby Gap

Last night was by far the coldest night we have experienced. We are having beautiful 20 -26 degree days and chilly nights but last night was freezing a freezing -3. So freezing that our water pipes froze over. When we checked in the guy running the place said make sure you have your showers in the afternoon because he wasn't coming to unfreeze the pipes in the morning and he wasn't kidding. Icicles hanging from the taps. Thank god for warm days to thaw us out.

I had heard a lot about Ruby Gap and was very keen to check it out. Ruby Gap was named this due to back in 1887 an explorer came through and thought he had found Rubys but it turned out they were just Garnets and little Garnets are everywhere. There were 3 other cars who decided to come along for the adventure. The drive into Ruby Gap said 66km and some parts along a 4WD track only. It took us 2 1/2 hrs to get there! Very very rough track but a lot of fun. Some parts I am almost closing my eyes but all cars did it easily. Linda came with us and ran ahead on foot at some points to make sure it was okay for the cars. Long long drive but so worth it, we collected lots of little garnets and could have spent hours down there but we had a long long drive back. A beautiful tranquil place. Just perfect.

On arriving back at camp we were then informed about another track going out to Trephina Gorge. Trephina Gorge itself is beautiful but the reason the guys wanted to go was the water holes we had to drive through to get in there. The first water hole was the largest. Jacko was in the front and slowed down to have a look. Matt radioed to see which way he was headed through the water, with the reply being no guts no glory he took off through the middle of the water hole. We followed closely behind then Darren & John. With that out the way they were looking for more. Darren had been out earlier & informed them we had two more water holes to drive through, but smaller ones. Little Rueben who is almost two said that the little water holes were boring. But off we went. I get a bit nervy driving through water but these little one were not too bad. Making it to the Gorge its self we stopped for a quick look at some Aboriginal Petroglyphs. Linda is a photographer so heading back to camp we dropped her off at the waterholes and she took photos of the guys driving through and loving every minute of it. The car came out a little reedy and the number plate a little bent but it was fun.

After an exhausting day, it was a quieter night around the fire and early to bed. We were off again in the morning for our last stop Gem Tree on what has been an incredible couple of weeks.

Today's blog was written by Di

Day 19 - off to Ross River

Today it was decided that we would leave when we were ready & not in convoy as the trip to Ross River was not too far only 181km and we all needed to stop via Alice Springs to restock food, repair tyres & do some washing.

This morning we said goodbye to 3 couples from Qld (Brian & Val, John & Adele, Stu & Jean) who were having a couple of days R & R in Alice before going home via the Simpson Desert. 3 lovely couples who we got to know quite well & were always very helpful with little tips and advice about 4WD driving & camper tips. So after our farewells we headed into Alice Springs.

Alice Springs is an interesting place & has a lot of interesting characters. After having a very civilised lunch of sausage rolls we headed to the toilets where we had to pay 50cents to use. They were definately clean and secure with two burly security guards on the door but we don't have this in Victoria and it caused some amusement for us. We had to wait until 2pm for the bottle shops to open. Alcohol can only be bought between 2-7pm in Alice Springs so the Thristy Camel bottle shop had a queue of My Swaggers waiting to restock so we could get to Ross River.

We stayed at Ross River Resort, resort is probably a bit of a stretch but the camp ground is set in some beautiful surroundings and the toilets are clean which was more than we had for fine past couple of days. Ross River is part of the East McDonnell Ranges.

A nice lazy afternoon was to be had, which we were all needing.

Last night was the camp oven cook off. Everyone provided something which they cooked via a camp oven in the hot coals or a webber. Feast began with Greek Marinated lamb strips with fresh bread, then chops & mash, chicken korma then roast lamb with beautiful roast veggies. Dessert was by far the best, home made Nutella donuts & apple crumple! Delicious.

Late night around a roaring fire perfect end to another great day.

Today's blog was written by Di

Day 18 - off to Owen Springs

This morning we all got together for a group photo. This will be the last time we are all together. Over the next couple of days we are seeing some heading off back home via the Simpson Dessert, others are taking days in other area before coming back at Gemtree.

Today's drive was not a difficult one but my goodness I am over corregated roads! Sometimes I feel like my brain might shake out of my head. We drove through some beautiful little valleys through some magnificent ghost gums all under the beautiful red rocks of the outback. Our original drive was to be much harder but after chatting to some guys at camp this morning John made the decision that his trailer would not fit up the Finke 4WD Track & he was going a different way but those who wanted to continue the original route were more than welcome, a few of the more experienced drivers without trailers decided to continue this way, the rest followed John. I was a little thankful for that, apparently the road we were heading for was quite a tricky road & we have already had trailer issues.

Along the way we went to see some of the original buildings belonging to the families who ran the cattle out here back in the 1800's. 

Then it was off to find a camp spot at Redbank Waterhole. Bush camping at its finest. We found a beautiful spot in the middle of a dried up creek which we could all fit on. Set up complete the adults set about having drinks & nibbles while the kids began collecting their own firewood and started quite an impressive fire for themselves. A couple of hours after we arrived the group arrived who did the harder track and I'm so glad we didn't do it they looked exhausted and said it would have been difficult with 8 other trailers along that track.

It's really hard for me to put into words a lot of what we have seen & done, and I know there has been lots I have missed out telling you. Our adventures continue tomorrow up to Ross River.

Today's blog written by Di

Day 17 - 4x4 Driving to Palm Valley

This morning we all awoke with the intention of all leaving together at quite a respectable time of 8.45 to head towards Palm Valley. Before leaving Kings Canyon, Sue came over for a chat and to wish us all safe travels and mentioned that the camp ground at Palm Valley can fill really quickly and is not very large. As we have 13 cars travelling in our convoy we thought it best to get moving but moving in such a large group is not always easy & this time we split into a few groups.

We began travelling in what was now called the rainbow group with Dave (King Billy) & family leading the way along th Meereenie Loop. We were soon caught up to by a few more cars and decided to move on directly & not stop and look at a Gosse Bluff which is a meteorite crater & get to Palm Valley early for lunch, lucky we did. The camp ground was already quite full & we all squeezed into where we could.

Lunch was provided by Darren (Darre253) & Karen, when they were camped at Yulara they were put opposite one of the large school groups and when the school left they gave them 40 wraps, a lot of cheeses slices & sliced beef so we made them into beef & cheese wraps and enjoyed them at our new camp site.

After lunch those who wanted went for a drive into Palm Valley. Palm Valley is located within the Finke Gorge National Park. The scenery is amazing, lots of beautiful red rocks & it's quite green. The track itself is a bumpy one & defiantly for 4x4 vehicles only. You drive along one of the oldest rivers in the world. Matt is loving this part of the journey, I on the other hand prefer sometimes to close my eyes. But our car made it easily. The walk once you get there is well worth it, we did the short 2km walk which took us up over the canyon then down into the Valley of Palms. This is the only place in the world where these types of palms, the Red Cabbage Palm are grown, quite special. 

During the drive in we heard the group behind us mention that Dan's (Danadelaide) car has broken a shocker on the front wheel. Not drive able. Again lucky we are in a group, John (JCOJ) & Darren (Darren253) helped get him driving back to camp where they then had to ring for a tow truck (yes they found one who came out to the middle of nowhere) to come and get them back to Alice Springs for repairs.

We have been having amazing weather. Today was actually quite hot about 27degrees, hot enough for all the kids to change into their shorts & t-shirts, the nights however have been very cold. Tonight we all headed over to Steven (StevenB)  & Sharons camp where a nice fire was burning. The kids are loving being out here, tonight the game was spotlight tiggy, which kids off all ages enjoyed.

Chloe & I headed back to our camper to find out dingoes had been hanging around. We have seen quite a lot of dingoes on our travels. So have to make sure all rubbish has been put away of a night.

Tomorrow we head to Owen Springs via the Finke Gorge 4WD route.

Day 16 - A big Day

Today when Mum woke me up I actually wanted to sleep all day, but I couldn't because we were going to walk the rim of Kings Canyon. So I got up and ate my very yummy bacon and eggs and then got ready. I think my legs went a bit numb because I was wearing shorts but that didn't last for long as when we got there we met up with Dave and his family, Jacko, Kiara and Darcy and Brian and Val.

The walk up was pretty hard as they weren't really steps they were big rocks we had to step onto (if that makes sense). Kiara, Darcy, Chris and I were in the front and every now and then we had to stop and wait for everyone else. When we finally got to the top everyone was relieved so we stood around and had a bit of a brake before starting the actual rim walk. The rim walk is 6km, so half of what we did the other day. It should be pretty easy and when it flattened out it was pretty easy. 

The view was amazing! It's not what you expect. I was expecting just plain rock, nothing around but there is bushes and trees and it's actually quite green. It's still really plain though but even when you look down it's like a rain forest down at the bottom. So we walked around half the rim going to a lookout which you had to cross a bridge. Then we started going down so I though we were making our way back to the car park, but nope! We just went down into the canyon which they called 'The Garden Of Eden'. It was really pretty and not a black, neverending hole that I thought it was. It had trees, bushes, flowers and a river running through it. 

After the garden we walked back up to the top of the canyon and walked the rest of the rim. When we were about 2km from the end there was a gate We had to go through because it marked the end of the small track. On the way down it was a bit slippery as it was very steep. I almost fell over a few million times but never actually fell. When we got to the bottom we refilled drink bottles and sat down before making our way to the car.

After Kings Canyon we drove to the resort to get petrol and our Mareenie Loop pass. When we had finished getting petrol and our pass we drove down the road abit to check out the helicopters. Mum and I ended up going in one for 10 minutes but that's all we needed to see Kings Canyon and some of the places around it. Dad didn't want to go so we stayed on the ground and filmed our take off and I think landing too. The view was amazing! We got to see where we walked that morning and it didn't look as big from up in the air than when we walked around it. I was so happy after that, it was just awesome!

When we got back to camp Mum and I went to look in the gift shop and see if the camels were doing rides today because yesterday the girl told us that all the camels were all pregnant. All of them! So we walked down to have a look and they were doing rides but I didn't want to because I was happy with the helicopter ride. :) on our way back mum was going to bye me a ice-cream but we saw Tracy and the kids so we stayed with them for a bit and then Mum brought me a white magnum ice-cream. It was so YUMMY!! 

That night we all sat around the fire again and us kids went and played a couple games and talked. Tomorrow we are heading to Palm Vally which is the only place where this certain type of Palm tree is found.

Today's blog is done by Chloe

Day 15 - Heading to Kings Canyon

Today is Matts Birthday!

We woke bright an early and made the decision to head off on our own for the relatively short drive to Kings Creek Station. Matt wanted to stop a couple of times to check the trailer & we needed to restock our alcohol supplies before heading remote again.

Clifton Springs was a short 100km up the road so we pulled in there to buy some alcohol, after remortgaging our house to buy a slab of VB we were on our way.

Arriving at Kings Creek Station around lunch time to be greeted by station manager Sue who is not only a fellow My Swagger but also an avid sailer and greeted Matt like an old friend. We were shown to our camp site, a lovely tree covered site where we will all be camping relatively close together. Dave (King Billy) and family arrived shortly after us with a loud rendition of Happy Birthday to Matt from their car as they were being shown to their site.

 After setting up and having some lunch a group of us decided to head to Kathleen Springs to do a nice short walk. After the previous couple of days with some climbing Uluru and others walking around it or Kata Tjuta we all needed a leisurely stroll. We discovered the most beautiful waterhole where we all stopped to take some photos and a group photo was needed as well. It was at this watering hole that Dave presented Matt with a lovely bunch of native flowers, which I am sure was intended for his wife Vee, but made for a very funny afternoon. Matt then slipped the flowers to Vees daughter Jamila to make sure her Mum received them. When we got back to camp, Matt was presented with a present from our fellow travellers, Linda, Kristin & Tayla, a piece of wood which Matt apparently admired as being a piece of wood which would be quite useful back in Kulgera! Linda collected the wood and wrote a little note on it for Matt to keep.

 was what is called a group dinner, everyone brought a sauce which could be eaten with rice. There was all sorts of varieties, Chili con carne, Beef Strogonoff, Lemon Chicken & lots of different curries. Delicious! And lots to go around. Linda made a special dessert for Matts birthday Golden Syrup Dumplings which were absolutely amazing, made in the camp oven over hot coals. Lots of drinks & laughs were had by the adults around a roaring fire while the kids had their own little cinema set up by Tobias (Shrek) & Karen, great idea for the middle of no where.

Tomorrow those brave enough & without little kids are off to do the Rim Walk at Kings Canyon. Something I have been looking forward to but I hear it is quite a difficult walk, we will see.

Today's blog was written by Di.

Day 18 - off to Owen Springs

This morning we all got together for a group photo. This will be the last time we are all together. Over the next couple of days we are seeing some heading off back home via the Simpson Dessert, others are taking days in other area before coming back at Gemtree.

Today's drive was not a difficult one but my goodness I am over corregated roads! Sometimes I feel like my brain might shake out of my head. We drove through some beautiful little valleys through some magnificent ghost gums all under the beautiful red rocks of the outback. Our original drive was to be much harder but after chatting to some guys at camp this morning John made the decision that his trailer would not fit up the Finke River Rd & he was going a different way but those who wanted to continue the original route were more than welcome, a few of the more experienced drivers without trailers decided to continue this way, the rest followed John. I was a little thankful for that, apparently the road we were heading for was quite a tricky road & we have already had trailer issues.

Along the way we went to see some of the original buildings belonging to the families who ran the cattle out here back in the 1800's. Then is was off to find a camp spot at Redbank Waterhole. Bush camping at its finest. We found a beautiful spot in the middle of a dried up creek which we could all fit on. Set up complete the adults set about having drinks & nibbles while the kids began collecting their own firewood and started quite an impressive fire for themselves. A couple of hours after we arrived the group arrived who did the harder track and I'm so glad we didn't do it they looked exhausted and said it would have been difficult with 8 other trailers along that track.

It's really hard for me to put into words a lot of what we have seen & done, and I know there has been lots I have missed out telling you. Our adventures continue tomorrow up to Ross River.

Today's blog written by Di

Day 17 - 4x4 Driving to Palm Valley

This morning we all awoke with the intention of all leaving together at quite a respectable time of 8.45 to head towards Palm Valley. Before leaving Kings Canyon, Sue came over for a chat and to wish us all safe travels and mentioned that the camp ground at Palm Valley can fill really quickly and is not very large. As we have 13 cars travelling in our convoy we thought it best to get moving but moving in such a large group is not always easy & this time we split into a few groups.

We began travelling in what was now called the rainbow group with Dave (King Billy) & family leading the way along th Meereenie Loop. We were soon caught up to by a few more cars and decided to move on directly & not stop and look at a Gosse Bluff which is a meteorite crater & get to Palm Valley early for lunch, lucky we did. The camp ground was already quite full & we all squeezed into where we could.

Lunch was provided by Darren (Darre253) & Karen, when they were camped at Yulara they were put opposite one of the large school groups and when the school left they gave them 40 wraps, a lot of cheeses slices & sliced beef so we made them into beef & cheese wraps and enjoyed them at our new camp site.

After lunch those who wanted went for a drive into Palm Valley. Palm Valley is located within the Finke Gorge National Park. The scenery is amazing, lots of beautiful red rocks & it's quite green. The track itself is a bumpy one & defiantly for 4x4 vehicles only. You drive along one of the oldest rivers in the world. Matt is loving this part of the journey, I on the other hand prefer sometimes to close my eyes. But our car made it easily. The walk once you get there is well worth it, we did the short 2km walk which took us up over the canyon then down into the Valley of Palms. This is the only place in the world where these types of palms, the Red Cabbage Palm are grown, quite special. 

During the drive in we heard the group behind us mention that Dan's (Danadelaide) car has broken a shocker on the front wheel. Not drive able. Again lucky we are in a group, John (JCOJ) & Darren (Darren253) helped get him driving back to camp where they then had to ring for a tow truck (yes they found one who came out to the middle of nowhere) to come and get them back to Alice Springs for repairs.

We have been having amazing weather. Today was actually quite hot about 27degrees, hot enough for all the kids to change into their shorts & t-shirts, the nights however have been very cold. Tonight we all headed over to Steven (StevenB)  & Sharons camp where a nice fire was burning. The kids are loving being out here, tonight the game was spotlight tiggy, which kids off all ages enjoyed.

Chloe & I headed back to our camper to find out dingoes had been hanging around. We have seen quite a lot of dingoes on our travels. So have to make sure all rubbish has been put away of a night.

Tomorrow we head to Owen Springs via the Finke Gorge 4WD route.

Day 16 - A big Day

Today when Mum woke me up I actually wanted to sleep all day, but I couldn't because we were going to walk the rim of Kings Canyon. So I got up and ate my very yummy bacon and eggs and then got ready. I think my legs went a bit numb because I was wearing shorts but that didn't last for long as when we got there we met up with Dave and his family, Jacko, Kiara and Darcy and Brian and Val.

The walk up was pretty hard as they weren't really steps they were big rocks we had to step onto (if that makes sense). Kiara, Darcy, Chris and I were in the front and every now and then we had to stop and wait for everyone else. When we finally got to the top everyone was relieved so we stood around and had a bit of a brake before starting the actual rim walk. The rim walk is 6km, so half of what we did the other day. It should be pretty easy and when it flattened out it was pretty easy. 

The view was amazing! It's not what you expect. I was expecting just plain rock, nothing around but there is bushes and trees and it's actually quite green. It's still really plain though but even when you look down it's like a rain forest down at the bottom. So we walked around half the rim going to a lookout which you had to cross a bridge. Then we started going down so I though we were making our way back to the car park, but nope! We just went down into the canyon which they called 'The Garden Of Eden'. It was really pretty and not a black, neverending hole that I thought it was. It had trees, bushes, flowers and a river running through it. 

After the garden we walked back up to the top of the canyon and walked the rest of the rim. When we were about 2km from the end there was a gate We had to go through because it marked the end of the small track. On the way down it was a bit slippery as it was very steep. I almost fell over a few million times but never actually fell. When we got to the bottom we refilled drink bottles and sat down before making our way to the car.

After Kings Canyon we drove to the resort to get petrol and our Mareenie Loop pass. When we had finished getting petrol and our pass we drove down the road abit to check out the helicopters. Mum and I ended up going in one for 10 minutes but that's all we needed to see Kings Canyon and some of the places around it. Dad didn't want to go so we stayed on the ground and filmed our take off and I think landing too. The view was amazing! We got to see where we walked that morning and it didn't look as big from up in the air than when we walked around it. I was so happy after that, it was just awesome!

When we got back to camp Mum and I went to look in the gift shop and see if the camels were doing rides today because yesterday the girl told us that all the camels were all pregnant. All of them! So we walked down to have a look and they were doing rides but I didn't want to because I was happy with the helicopter ride. :) on our way back mum was going to bye me a ice-cream but we saw Tracy and the kids so we stayed with them for a bit and then Mum brought me a white magnum ice-cream. It was so YUMMY!! 

That night we all sat around the fire again and us kids went and played a couple games and talked. Tomorrow we are heading to Palm Vally which is the only place where this certain type of Palm tree is found.

Sorry still no photos mums working on it

Today's blog is done by Chloe

Day 15 - Heading to Kings Canyon

Today is Matts Birthday!

We woke bright an early and made the decision to head off on our own for the relatively short drive to Kings Creek Station. Matt wanted to stop a couple of times to check the trailer & we needed to restock our alcohol supplies before heading remote again.

Clifton Springs was a short 100km up the road so we pulled in there to buy some alcohol, after remortgaging our house to buy a slab of VB we were on our way.

Arriving at Kings Creek Station around lunch time to be greeted by station manager Sue who is not only a fellow My Swagger but also an avid sailer and greeted Matt like an old friend. We were shown to our camp site, a lovely tree covered site where we will all be camping relatively close together. Dave (King Billy) and family arrived shortly after us with a loud rendition of Happy Birthday to Matt from their car as they were being shown to their site. After setting up and having some lunch a group of us decided to head to Kathleen Springs to do a nice short walk. After the previous couple of days with some climbing Uluru and others walking around it or Kata Tjuta we all needed a leisurely stroll. We discovered the most beautiful waterhole where we all stopped to take some photos and a group photo was needed as well. It was at this watering hole that Dave presented Matt with a lovely bunch of native flowers, which I am sure was intended for his wife Vee, but made for a very funny afternoon. Matt then slipped the flowers to Vees daughter Jamila to make sure her Mum received them. When we got back to camp, Matt was presented with a present from our fellow travellers, Linda, Kristin & Tayla, a piece of wood which Matt apparently admired as being a piece of wood which would be quite useful back in Kulgera! Linda collected the wood and wrote a little note on it for Matt to keep.

Tonight was what is called a group dinner, everyone brought a sauce which could be eaten with rice. There was all sorts of varieties, Chili con carne, Beef Strogonoff, Lemon Chicken & lots of different curries. Delicious! And lots to go around. Linda made a special dessert for Matts birthday Golden Syrup Dumplings which were absolutely amazing, made in the camp oven over hot coals. Lots of drinks & laughs were had by the adults around a roaring fire while the kids had their own little cinema set up by Tobias (Shrek) & Karen, great idea for the middle of no where.

Tomorrow those brave enough & without little kids are off to do the Rim Walk at Kings Canyon. Something I have been looking forward to but I hear it is quite a difficult walk, we will see.

Photos will be uploaded at a later date, having trouble with photos and the blog.

Today's blog was written by Di.

Day 14- a massive walk

Today when I woke up I got into Mum and Dads bed and styed there for at least an hour or so before I came out and had breakfast, which was 2 vegemite weatbix. We then got ready for the day and seeing as we were going to walk around the base of Uluru I put shorts on with a jumper and t-shirt. That was a crazy idea because it was so cold this morning! We packed lunch and snacks and a couple of water bottles before we started driving to the Cultral Centre.

At the Cultral Centre we walked through this place that told us some old stories and showed us some of the weapons they use. It was really interesting. We walked out into the shop area and looked through all these aboriginal paintings. They were so pretty and Mum wanted to buy one but we didn't end up getting one. We looked through all the souvenirs and looked at the cafés before we walked back to the car. When we were almost at the car there was a dingo walking around it looked like it was watching us. I got a quick good photo of him and then we got in the car and tried not to run over him.

We then made our way to Uluru. When your up close and personal with it, it is massive! I knew it was big but not that big and I knew it even more after we finished the walk. Yup, we did the base walk. It wasn't easy and short it was kinda easy and 12km. Haha no big deal! The walk was fascinating, looking at all the aboriginal art and where their homes were. Along the way there were also some stories they told and we were aloud to take photos of the rock except where it said you couldn't because it was a sacred site. The sacred sites most of them you couldn't even go near because there was things in there that nobody can know. I read on one of the signs that the only way you can know what's in those sacred sites is if you have an aboriginal ancestor with you. Along the way there are different stops you can do to look at stuff like their caves in which the families lived, the elders cave, a waterhole and some paintings. At one stage I was looking at the rock and it had different caves and shadows. I thought that you know it's a giant rock I've seen a lot of caves and shadows, but then we came to a sign facing those caves and shadows and they look like parts of different stories. Like there was the woma snake, and something turning into a man. It was really cool. 

When we finished it turnes out we walked 12km in 3 hours. That's pretty good seeing as they say 3and a half - 4 hours to do it. When we got back to the car we sat and watched people walk up the rock. We watched a couple people struggle and I called one man spider-man because he started going sideways instead of towards the chain. We ate lunch in the car and just sat for a bit before we drove over to The Olgas.

At The Olgas we drove into the car park for one of the shortest walks but when we got there we couldn't be bothered. So we drove out and drove into the car park for Vally Of the Winds which is mostly longer but can just do a look out, and again we couldn't be bothered. We saw Tracy though and got out and talked with her for a bit. Jacko and the kids had just gone too the look out so we didn't see them. The Olgas are pretty impressive but they are not what I thought. I thought they were big pillars not big wavy rocks. Oh well.

So we drove back to camp and sat around for a bit until John and Brian came over and strated talking to Dad while mum was boiling water for dinner. John (the group leader) came over soon after and said that we are having after dinner drinks at 7:00pm and also told us what time we're leaving tomorrow. So we ate dinner and then went up for after dinner drinks. All the adults where standing around talking while Tayla, Indi, Kiara, Darcy and I were playing some fighting game. It was me and Rah on the other 3 but then I saw Chris and said that he was automatically on our team so then it was 3 on 3. Darcy can be dangerous and our only weapon was pop top bottles.

Later on Mum, Dad and I went back to our tent and got ready for bed. I had on my thermal top (thank you granny!), pyjama top, jumper, socks, bed socks and pyjama pants. I was very warm. :) Tomorrow we head off to Kings Creek Station and it's also Dads Birthday!

Today's blog was done by Chloe

*interesting fact: The Olgas are nearly 200m taller than Uluru* 

Day 13 - A day in Yulara

This morning we packed up bright and early so Matt could head off to the mechanics. Chloe and I stayed behind on an empty camp site with our chairs and some snacks, the problem with towing your home is when it breaks and needs repairs you are suddenly homeless. Linda & Kristen came to our resue mid morning and provided us with a nice hot drink and some morning tea, a Tim Tam, I have not eaten a Tim Tam in two weeks and it tasted amazing!

Matt headed into the mechanics and the parts had arrived, but due to there being a public holiday here tomorrow they were unable to push us to the front of their queue. But my very clever husband with the aid of the mechanics tools and workshop has fixed the u-Bolt. Yay! We are all set again to continue on our wonderful adventure. We have had a couple of very stressful days & have been so touched by the support and encouraging words from our fellow My Swaggers. Thank you.

                    Left - Broken part     Middle - Part which got us out of trouble    Right - New U-Bolt

So today we didn't do much, seems a shame when you are in such a magnificent environment, but we needed to set our camp back up and have a relax. It was wonderful to have some down time.  We ventured into the little village to do some shopping & watched some aboriginal women do some dot paintings.

Tomorrow we are off to walk around the base of Uluru, Chloe has decided she doesn't want to climb it and would prefer to walk around. I'm happy with this decision, not sure I would have made the top anyway haha.

Today's Blog has been written by Di.

Day 12 - Off to Yulara

This morning started as a slow uneventful morning, after waving goodbye to out fellow travellers we took our trailer around to the mechanic at Kulgera, who happened to be the bar man the night before, to see if he could fix our trailer.....but no. Unfortunately he did not have the correct parts we needed. Matt got onto the phone to the mechanic at Yulara, he had some parts but was able to order the others in and would be in by 8.30 tomorrow morning. So after assurances from the mechanic at Kulgera that our little fix would last the drive out to Yulara we headed off again.

The drive was a pretty easy one all on bitumen and we were trying to drive at a nice steady pace so as not to upset the wheel on the trailer.

We stopped for a quick look at Mt Connor, from a distance you can see why people mistake it for Uluru, but as you get closer it is a lot different.

Finally we arrived at the Ayers Rock Resort Camping Ground, a huge camping ground with what felt like hundreds of people checking in (I do slightly exaggerate) and it did take quite a while to be given our site. A nice shady unpowered site, we are camping with another 3 My Swag couples, unfortunately for Chloe all of the kids are camping in the powered section a little while away from us....never mind it's only for a few days.

So we set up for the night and headed off to sunset at Uluru....WOW what an amazing site. It would have to be one of the most magnificent things I have ever seen. We set up out chairs with some drinks and nibbles with camera in tripod close at hand to start clicking away. I will have to cull some photos at some point.

Returning to camp for Nachos Wednesday as Chloe is now calling it.

Off for an earlish night, camper needs to be packed up again in the morning to take it to the mechanic, hopefully he has our parts......

Today's blog was written by Di

Day 11 - Journey to the centre of Australia which nearly ended in disaster

This morning we woke up to the best view we have had so far, the Pillar was right behind us and if you think sunset is impressive you should see it under the sunrise. Another chilly morning helped by a still smouldering fire from the night before it was time to pack up and head off another convoy drive to Kulgera. On our drive out of Chambers Pillar we had to drive back up the track we came in on, that has certainly wet Matts appetite for more off roading. 

Today's drive was probably our most exhausting, driving along the Old Ghan Line again brought the dangers of railway spikes and today it got its first casualty, John & Caitie got a flat tire. It's an intense drive keeping a constant eye out for these spikes, there are hundreds of them scattered all over the road. John did give us the option of turning around just outside of Maryvale to go an easier way but we made the decision to continue with the group and make our way to Lamberts Centre of Australia. The geographical middle of Australia as determined by the Royal Geographical Society of Australisia in 1988.

We drove through Finke which is a remote little Aboriginal community to refuel and head off. At this point we split into two groups those refuelling and those not. Matt and I ended up making the drive into the centre point solo listening to the others on the radio to make sure we were heading in the right direction with all the different tracks and turns it became quite confusing. But we made it! Had a look at the monument went to the disgusting toilets but the bushes are not much for a girl to use and rejoined the group on the way out and my god am I glad we caught up.........

As we were driving out Matt started to notice the trailer making some odd noises and not driving quite right with some of the roads and tracks we had been on I thought he was just being overly cautious, so we radioed Tobias & Karen behind us to advise we were stopping for a look. Matt took his time coming back to the car and after speaking with Tobias came back jumped on the radio and told John our Ubolt was broken, for those who don't know what a u Bolt does it holds the trailer suspension onto the axle, a few voices came back saying that's not good mate..... Matt looked at me and said holiday may be over here Di. Shit.

The best part about travelling with a group was how quickly people came to our aid, a few calls came over  the radio saying they had pulled over and checked to see if they had the part we needed with no luck, but thanks to those who pulled over and checked anyway. But luckily for us we still had three cars behind us and our great travelling mate Linda turned back to assit. 

With the little group now pulled over with our trailer looking very sorry for itself it was time to brain storm, Matt discussed leaving the trailer where we were in the middle of nowhere and coming back for it. But with Jacko & Matt putting their minds together they worked out a solution if it would fit, a U Bolt from the tool box on the front of the trailer. Danny came over & with tools and jacks from Tobias and Linda they managed to get us a fix which would get us into Kulgera for a mechanic to fix properly.

This situation could have been much worse and thank goodness we are travelling with people so we were not on own in the middle of nowhere. We finally made it into Kulgera after nightfall and set up camp then straight to the bar for a well earned drink and a roadhouse meal, to see many happy faces to see we had made it. We were all exhausted.

A huge thank you to those who stopped and helped Dan & Melissa (Danadelaide), Tobias & Karen (Shrek), Jacko & Tracy (Jacko) ,Linda & Kristin(Lindamc)  & all the kids. Even if it was just to give us moral support we would not have been able to carry on with out all your help, I am a useless mechanic and yes David (my father in law) I did have a few tears. It's been a rough few weeks leading into this trip and we finally made it and then this happened, I was a little overwhelmed.

But hey tomorrow is another day & we will wait behind the others to fix the trailer in the morning & meet up with everyone at Yulara. It's all part of the adventure!

Day 10 - start of the My Swag trip

This morning we said goodbye once again to flushing toilets & hot showers and headed off in convoy - 11 vehicles in total with 23 adults & 15 kids (2 more vehicles with another 4 adults & 1 child were to meet us there)- to Chambers Pillar along the Old Ghan Railway. Travelling in such a large convoy is not something we have done before and to see us all lined up waiting to head off was quite a site. The reason we have chosen this particular trip is John & Catie our group leaders are quite experienced around this area and have been a wealth of information leading into this trip & the information booklet they have provided us all with is very impressive.

Along the way we stopped in to have a look at some Aboriginal carvings the Ewaninga Rock Carvings most of these carvings are still sacred and too dangerous to reveal to people who have not been initiated into Aboriginal law, so I can't actually tell you what they say but they were fascinating anyway.

We were then off to Chambers Pillar, driving along the Old Ghan Line was quite dangerous due to the old railway spikes which still litter the road but with good eyes and lots of help from each other we managed to get down to Maryvale for lunch just before starting the journey into Chambers Pillar.

The road into Chambers Pillar was a good test of the 4WD car & trailer, kilometres of the rocky terrain which was not for the faint hearted, after what seemed to go on forever we finally sighted what we were all coming to see and that is Chambers Pillar, wow. It was amazing, we all set up camp between Chambers Pillar & Castle Rock and as the sun was setting some of us set out for a walk to the spot where you can see the light changing on the Pillar very very beautiful. Chloe set off with Kiara, Darcy, Oliver & Tayla to climb to the top of the Pillar.

When the sun was set it was time to sit around the beautiful camp fire, we collected all the wood on our way in and ended up with quite a lot so the fire burned into the night and we all had a few drinks and got to know our fellow travellers, a great bunch of people from all over Australia.