Author: drewandgab

28^th August

We have had 5 days exploring the beautiful West MacDonnell ranges. So much stunning scenery – rocky ranges, gorges, gaps and waterholes.

So many photos…this will be a long post!!

 

The moment you head west out of Alice Springs you are met with views of the MacDonell ranges for miles in the distance.

 

Our first stop was Simpson’s Gap – huge walls frame a pretty waterhole.

 

Further on, Ellery Big Hole was, for me, the prettiest waterhole in the area..

 

 

We spent our first night atop this lookout, near Ellery, with fabulous views in every direction. The twilight was beautiful and the stars amazing!!

 

 

 

The following morning, we did a 3km walk at Ellery – a great close-up view of the geology of the area.

 

We then headed to Ormiston Gorge to spend the night.

 

Nearby is Glen Helen Gorge, which has beautiful red walls.

 

 

We did a drive out to Redbank Gorge in the afternoon. It was the wrong time of day for photos in the gorge, but beautiful surrounding scenery. It was a nice walk along the dry riverbank that lead to a tall gorge that would be really pretty with more water. On the way back we got lucky and spotted 2 rock wallabies.

 

 

 

 

 

We had sunset at Mt Sonder Lookout and spotted this great free-camp on the Finke River, which would become our base for the next 3 nights.

 

The following day we did a stunning 6km walk around the valleys surrounding Ormiston Gorge, called the Pound Walk. It started off quite barren until he rose over the first saddle. The clouds made for interesting colours.

 

Then down into the ‘pound’

Across the plains

And finished by walking through the gorge

 

Our last day, we visited Serpent Gorge. The Gorge itself was nothing special, due to the lack of water, but we walked up to a lookout point with great views for miles.

 

 

We also went to the Ochre Pits – which is one of the largest and most accessible places to collect Ochre in Australia. The colours were beautiful!. Ochre is an important part of the Aboriginal culture and is used for body decoration, painting and medical purposes.

 

The West MacDonnell’s have been stunning!! But so dry at the moment! The waterholes are very low. And also there has been no rain since fires came through earlier in the year. It has left much of the landscape completely desolate. I would to come back again after a good wet season. But we have loved our days on the banks of the Finke River, and would have stayed longer if there weren’t so many flies!!

 

23rd August

Alice Springs was a bit of a surprise for me. I didn’t realise that it sits literally in the middle of the MacDonnell Ranges. You get a great perspective looking over the town from up on Anzac Hill – with the Gap in the middle, and the East and West MacDonnell Ranges stretching out in each direction.

 

On top of that, it is only 10 or 15km drive out to the beautiful Emily and Jessie Gaps.

 

Even our caravan park was pretty, with real grass (a rarity out here!!) and views of the MacDonnell Ranges all around us. Lots of birdlife too.

 

We also celebrated Matty’s 10^th birthday!! He was happy to go to the skatepark and to have a waterslide & jumping pillow at the Caravan Park. He got to have McDonalds and all the luxuries of a real supermarket – such as ice cream and mudcake! And of course a bit of Internet to play Fortnite with his mates back home. So he was a happy birthday boy!

 

We ended up spending 4 days here, having a bit of a catch up – on washing, shopping, phone and Internet reception – and waiting out the cold weather. We have had a cold snap this past 4 days. It has been freezing!!! We went from highs of 34 a few days ago, to having tops of 17 – and even ice on the top of the car a couple of mornings. We were very happy that the cold weather coincided with one of the rare occasions we have power, so we jumped inside the van early most nights and pumped up the air-con.

 

P.S – Here are some pics from our drive between Devil’s Marbles and Alice Springs…

We stopped to fill up fuel at Barrow Creek. They had a old Telegraph station and a cute little pub I’d have loved to stop and have a beer at.

Further along, we stopped for lunch at Alleron, with these huge brass statues.

 

 

19th August

What a great place!!

Balancing rocks..

 

Split Rocks…

 

Beautiful landscape…

 

And the colours get better as the sun gets lower..

 

Dusk was incredible…

 

A great little campground – camped under the boulders and surrounded by the ranges.

 

And a cool backdrop for the boy’s third “In the Van” song…

 

18th August

Yesterday, we crossed into the Northern Territory.

 

We’ve been following the Barkly Highway since Cloncurry, and last night we camped at a free roadside, about 50km before the junction with the Stuart Highway.

Apart from lots of flies, it was a great little spot. We had a nice fire and sunset.

 

 

And being out in the middle of nowhere, the stars were amazing – and the Milky Way was so bright!

So it seemed appropriate that the boys did ‘Under the Milky Way’, by the Church for their “In the Van” Challenge.

17th August

Earlier on in the trip the boys started up up a YouTube Channel, with the intention of using it to share their music with family and friends, while we are on the road. Their Channel is called Cam&Matt Music.

 

Today they launched their challenge, called “Cam&Matt – in the Van”.

 

They are going to try and film as many different songs in as many different locations as they can, during the few months, as we travel around.

It’s going to be casual and uncut, and hoping to have some great backdrops.

They should have a great video journal of their trip by the end.

Here’s their first song..

 

And this is the link to the playlist if you want to check it out… I’m guessing this link will update each time they add a new song. But you can also click on the ‘list’ icon in the top righthand corner to see all their songs so far.

 

17th August

We’ve spent the past few nights camped at Camooweal Billabong,just before the QLD/NT border – and also got to spend a couple of nights with friends from home.

 

The boys had a great time learning to fly their drone, and despite a few crashes, actually got a couple of good shots.

 

It’s very dry at the moment, but still plenty of birdlife

 

And the colours were lovely, especially at sunset.

 

Love these silhouettes of our car and van

 

We also got to see the full moon rising over the lagoon, which was pretty special.

 

 

Yesterday, we took a drive out to the ‘caves’. They are actually sinkholes, made as the water over the years has dissolved the soluble dolomite rock beneath the upper limestone layer, creating a system of caves below the surface.  Yet another piece of evidence of the harsh forces of nature.

 

We’ve had a lovely few days here – would love to come back one day when there is more water in the Billabong.

 

 

 

 

14th August

Had a lovely night at this free camp at Corella Dam, just west of Cloncurry.

 

We arrived around lunchtime and just spent some time lapping up the sunshine and warm weather, after the cold snap we had in Longreach.

Later in the afternoon, we got the bikes off the van and went for an explore over to Clem Walter Park. The road was a great BMX track for the boys and the views along the way were lovely and there’s also a beautiful river over there.

 

We also had great sunset colours on the surrounding rocky hills, a beautiful moon rise and our best fire of the trip so far.

Today on our way heading west, we stopped in at Mt Isa to stock up on groceries and fill the tanks with water. We were blown away by the fact that the mine is literally right in the middle of the town…

 

 

13th August

Last night we camped at ‘Crocodile Dundee’s’ Walkabout Creek Hotel. We hadn’t really planned to come here, but it was a great little stop.

 

Yesterday, when we left Longreach, we weren’t even sure which way we were headed. We hadn’t decided whether we were going to head to Alice Springs via the Simpson Desert, along the Plenty Highway or take the main route via Mt Isa, along the Barkly & Stuart H’ways. But after chatting to a few people in Winton yesterday morning, we were advised that the Plenty Highway was in bad condition and very corrugated, so we opted to keep driving along the Barkly Highway and ended up here…

The sunset was nice, with lots of old cars and farming machinery around, making it good for photography.

 

We popped into the pub later for a few schooners and some hot chips. It was cool – full of Crocodile Dundee memorabilia and a nice atmosphere.

 

McKinlay, where the pub is, seemed to mark a change in the scenery. Approaching McKinlay from the East was all flat, dry, grassland. And heading west, toward Mt Isa, the scenery become rocky and rugged, with big rocky outcrops, not dissimilar to those in the Kimberley.

12th August

We had a great day in Longreach yesterday exploring the Qantas Museum and the Stockman’s Hall of Fame.

They were both good, but the Qantas Museum was definitely a favourite! So interesting! They had great videos and displays. And lots of interactive stuff, including a flight simulator, and being able to climb into and explore some of the original aircraft.

 

For me, the best part of the Stockman’s Hall of Fame was the gallery devoted to the Flying Doctors. And I thought the Aboriginal gallery was really informative and certainly thought provoking.

 

You can tell you are in the Outback when there is no grass anywhere in the Caravan Parks 🙂 But still pretty in its own way – and beautiful Brolgas just strolling through camp. We’ve had a cold snap while we’ve been here and the nights have been freezing!!

 

10th August

Last night we stopped in Emerald, on our way to Longreach, and we literally camped under the railway bridge.

It was a great little free camp, at the Botanical Gardens, right in the middle of town.

It was a good chance to stock up on groceries and phone reception for a night.

We also met up with a lovely family travelling in the opposite direction. We enjoyed a few drinks with the parent, while the kids played board games

 

The scenery was dry, flat grassland. Heading into Emerald was mainly cattle country and from Emerald to Longreach we followed the railway line.