Back Home !!

Yesterday we enjoyed the area we were camping in.  We had a nice fire in the afternoon and then went to the Tavern for a delicious dinner.  

Today we drove all the way back home but when we saw the city we felt different.  As soon as we got to Ferntree Gully we went straight to my nan and pop’s house to surprise them.  After I hugged and said hello to my nan and pop we left to go to my other nan and pops house to surprise them too.  It was great to surprise them then because 2 aunties, 2 uncles, 2 cousins were there as well as nanny and poppy.  We stayed there for dinner, I was so happy to to see them all again.  I also had a great surprise from my friends when I got home too.   

I had a great trip and was quite sad but also happy to come home to the cold weather of Melbourne.  The trip was the time of a lifetime and I wish that I could do it all again after I see all my friends and family.  I’m now filled with knowledge of European Settlement, Aboriginal Culture, Nature, Animals, and about our magnificent country Australia.  Thank you all for following me on this magnificent trip and I hope you enjoyed it. 

                                          The End.

Waikerie to Mildura

Yesterday we did nothing but drive to a town called Waikerie and to get there we had to go across on a ferry.  We drove onto the platform to cross the Murray River. After we floated across the river we drove through to the town which had spectacular wild flowers on the side of the roads.  We set up our 2nd last camp for the trip next to the Murray River.  We had a look around town and went down to the long lost river.  Then we went back to the caravan for the rest of the afternoon.  

Today we left Waikerie and drove all the way into our home state, Victoria!  We drove through Victoria to the place where we had officially started our trip, Mildura.  It was great to come and camp at a very familiar place next to the river.  When we got there we noticed that the river was a lot higher than normal so we had to camp in a different spot.  We spent the day collecting wood, playing on the beach in the water and later on in the afternoon we started a nice warm fire.

 

Mount Remarkable

Yesterday we spent most of the day driving.  We spotted over 31 emus on the way and we also saw something we hadn't seen for a long time, the beautiful ocean!  We had come through the centre of Australia and finally reached the bottom.  We drove down to an intersection and saw where we had turned off to go to WA 6 months ago.  

Today we started driving along the already travelled road to our stop for the night at the beautiful Mount Remarkable National Park.  We parked our caravan and went to the beautiful and peaceful creek to have a look.  Then we did a nice walk on a trail through the hillside and saw lots of kangaroos.  From the top we could see the Spencer Gulf which was pretty.  Today we slept in for the first time in a long time.  After we got prepared, we set off on a mountain hike.  It was a beautiful but strenuous walk.  Once we had climbed up the 480 metre tall mountain we looked out over the beautiful landscape and ocean.  After we climbed back down to the bottom we spent the rest of the day relaxing and playing card games.

Coober Pedy and Kade's Birthday

Yesterday we spent the whole day driving and driving until we came to a rest stop for the night.  We also had an ice-cream.  You may remember in some of my very first entries, that I wrote about us searching for a South Australian only ice-cream called a Giant Twin.  Well as we were driving we stopped at a roadhouse and finally found them, here in the N.T.  So we bought some to put in the fridge and have later.  It was a honey flavoured ice-cream coated in a thin layer of chocolate and it was delicious.  After we had bought the ice-cream we crossed over into SA for the 2nd. time.  We also watched a movie called Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.  

Today is Kade’s birthday.  We gave him his present, which has already included the helicopter ride over Uluru and the early birthday present we had given him a few weeks ago.  Then we had a short drive to Coober Pedy.  

As we approached Coober Pedy we saw thousands of large and small dirt mounds, belonging to places where miners have dug holes to find Opals.  A unique thing about Coober Pedy was that a lot of the the towns residents and shops lived underground.  The weather was so extreme that it was hard to live above ground.  In winter the temperature gets to -2 degrees, in summer it got up to 55 degrees and between those times it was very windy.  We first went to an underground opal gallery and display house to do a tour.  We walked into the side of a hill and found ourselves in a beautiful underground house.  We first watched a little clip about the discovery of Opals and then walked down into the mine where they had searched for the Opals themselves.  We walked through the first style of mine house underground and then through the modern day house.  I found learning about opal and the construction of the underground housing interesting.  

Then we drove to a Kangaroo Orphanage to have a feed of the kangaroos.  These people rescued animals and brought them here to be looked after.  We fed the 7 kangaroos which either had no mum since they were a baby or had been hurt in some way.  Then they brought out a baby 5 month old joey name Seamus that we patted.  We also softly blew into the joeys face because that was the way kangaroos greet each other and know whether they know each other or not.  When I blew into the face of the little joey it kissed me on the nose.  

Then after we said goodbye to adorable Seamus we drove to where we were going to camp for the night.  We were going to take our van to where we were staying but not sleep in it.  We were going to take our tents and go down and camp under ground.  It was weird to be setting up in the middle of the day but in darkness.  After we got over that we were going to sleep underground, we went to go and have dinner at a restaurant which was also underground to celebrate Kade’s 8th birthday.  We all had a delicious dinner and Sticky-Date Pudding for desert. 

Uluru sunrise and Kata Tjuta

Today we got up early to watch the sunrise over Uluru.  It was very pretty to see the colours change on the rock.  We went back to the caravan and on the way saw two black Dingos which are very rare, only one in 60 pups are black.  

After breakfast we drove into the National Park for the last time to visit Kata Tjuta (the Olgas).  We drove up to the tall rocks and did a walk there.  We stopped at the first lookout which was beautiful, it looked out over the valley below.  For the 2nd part of the walk we walked through some gorges and came to another lookout over a beautiful valley.  On the way back we met Jamilla, Mietta and Eve (some girls I’d met before) which was nice.  Then sadly we drove out of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park for the last time.  We then spent the rest of the day at the cold pool and got ready to leave tomorrow.

Uluru - by helicopter

Wow! What an amazing day.  We started it off with going to the theatre to watch an aboriginal play called the Eagle, Crow and Cockatoo.  I enjoyed watching the act, it was set out well and it made me understand the story.  

After that we did the most exciting thing of the day.  We went out to go on a helicopter flight over Uluru.  We got picked up by a mini bus and drove to the 6 seater helicopter called Lima.  We got told all the rules and safety things that we needed to know and then we hopped into the helicopter.  Kade hopped in the front with the pilot and mum, dad, 2 other people and I hopped in the back.  We put on our headsets and then all of a sudden we were lifting of the ground.  We kept rising till we were 2,000 ft above the ground.  The view was incredible, the land just looked like it spread on forever.  The only things we could see was Uluru, Kata Tjuta, the resort and in the distance Mt Conner.  We flew forwards till we could see Uluru properly and we could see people climbing it.  Then we started to tip sideways until we were pressed against the windows so we could get a good view.  We then slowly made our way over to the airport and landed there.  The helicopter ride was just awesome.  As we were filing into the mini bus we saw the Royal Flying Doctor Service parked there helping out 2 people.  

Then we drove back to the caravan and went to the pool.  It was a really hot day so we thought it would be a good idea to have a swim.  The only thing was, the pool was absolutely freezing.  We had a few dips but that was all it took to feel ready to go back to the caravan and make dinner.  

After dinner we did the last exciting thing for the day, we went on an Astronomy tour.  We walked out into the clearing at 7:20pm to meet Adriano our astronomer.  We first got taught about the different constellations in the sky.  The easiest ones to spot were the Southern Cross, the Teapot and Scorpio.  We then looked through the telescopes at a few different objects.  First was the nebula (gas) in the sky, then the Milky Way, then a blue and orange star and then my favourite one, Saturn.   We looked into the telescope and could see the bright white planet and its rings.  We could see the planet so clearly.  Adriano has travelled the world and said that this was the best place to see the stars, here in Central Outback Australia.  We learnt some more about the rings of Saturn until sadly the time was up and we had to go home.

Uluru Base Walk

We drove to Uluru today to do a big 12 km walk around the base of the stunning Uluru.  We didn't climb it because the local Aboriginals wish that people didnt, it is such a special sacred place.  It is good that so many people are starting to really care for what the Aboriginals think because 100% of people used to climb Uluru, now only 15% do.  As we walked we saw that there was so many different formations in the massive rock.  It took us under 3 hours to complete the walk but it was all worth it.  Then we went into the Cultural Centre.  We learnt some things about Aboriginal Culture and we watched 2 Aboriginal ladies doing some traditional dot paintings.  

We also saw my friends Eve, Jamilla and Mietta again.  Then we bought ourselves an ice-cream and came back to the caravan for a little rest.  We then drove out into the National Park after dinner to go have a look at the silhouettes of Kata Tjuta, another cool rock formation.

Uluru

This morning we left Kings Canyon and drove all the way to the famous Uluru.  On the way we saw something special that we haven't seen yet, 2 wild camels.  The 2 one humped camels were standing 5 metres into the bush from the road, we had been looking for them for ages and we finally saw them.  While we were just driving over a hill, we got to the top and saw one of the things I had been waiting for all this trip.  Uluru!  We kept driving toward it until we came to where we going to camp for the night.  We set up and had a shower which was lovely then went up to have a better look at the humungous rock.  That afternoon we drove to the Uluru lookout to see the colours change as the sun set on the rock.  It was beautiful sitting there watching Uluru and couldn't wait for tomorrow.

Kings Canyon

We sadly left the West MacDonnell Ranges today but drove across the Merenie Loop Dirt Track and came straight to another National Park at Kings Canyon.  Before we set up we did a short creek walk into the magnificent Kings Canyon.  We just missed the start of a free ranger talk, so we joined in to hear a little bit of the area.  The walls of the canyon were very steep and sheer.  After the walk we went back to the caravan to watch a little bit of a movie. 

Today we got up early so we could start our big walk around the rim top of Kings Canyon before it got hot.  We started the steep accent, stopping half way to take a picture.  Once we got to the top, we tried to look over the edge without getting too close to the fragile cliff edges. We looked down a terrifying drop and could only see the canyon floor.  We walked around amazed at the brilliant sites, from the breathtaking cliff faces to the Bungle Bungle-like domes.  We then walked around into the Garden of Eden which was very pretty.  We stood at the top of the sheerest drop and looked out over the kilometres of spectacular views.  It was sad to reach the bottom because we just wanted to see more.  Then we relaxed of the rest of the day.  The only other thing we did was go and visit some camels, we even fed half of them. 

Fathers Day / Redbank Gorge

It’s Fathers Day today.  We started the morning wishing Dad a happy Fathers Day.  We made him breakfast, a card and a picture.  Then we got ready because we had a few places to go that day.  

We first drove to Glen Helen to use the public phone,  so mum and dad could call their dads and then we drove to Redbank Gorge.  We did a nice walk along the creek bed to the end where there was a pool.  There were hundreds of Zebra Finches that swarmed around our heads and then went down to the bank to have a swim and a drink.  

Then we drove on a 4x4 track and had to stop half way to help some people who’s car had slid off the path.  Once we got to the end of the track at Roma Gorge, we had lunch and then walked out into the gorge.  There were heaps of Aboriginal Petroglyphs (rock carvings) and most of them were patterns.  We also saw 3 black-footed rock wallabies up on the ledge high above us.  Again there was hundreds of Zebra Finches here too, that swarmed around us.  

We then drove back out of the 4WD track and then to Gosse Bluff which a beautiful spot.  It was also where a 600 metre wide comet had crashed to earth 142 million years ago.  The comet had so much force that it forced rocks to push out the ground around it, forming a beautiful circle of mountains.  Then we drove back to the caravan to find 2 of the girls I met way earlier in the trip parked next to us, Jamilla and Mietta.  We played with them for the rest of the afternoon and had a new kind of icy pole with them too.  We all sat around the the fire that night. 

Quiet day on the Finke River

We had a nice quieter day today.  We stayed in bed for a while today and then had bacon and eggs for breakfast.  When we looked out onto the water we noticed a new guest, a beautiful Black Swan.  

Then we went back to Ormiston gorge to do a small walk to a lookout.  On the way we saw 2 dingos, one at the campground and one crossing the road as we were driving.  Once we climbed to the top we were rewarded with a pretty view over the gorge.  We looked down from the lookout and saw a pool beneath us and could see a few small ducks beneath us.  Then we drove to another lookout which gave us a good view of the stunning Mount Sonder.  We then spend the rest of the day back at the caravan.  We made a graph of how many of each species of birds that were in the area.

Ormiston Gorge

We had another excellent day today, we started it off with arriving at our new beautiful campsite called Finke River, 2 Mile.  We pulled up next to the river where we could see that it was home to lots of birdlife as well as a very friendly dingo.  We pulled up and the dingo acted like he was showing us our campsite.  After we hopped out of the car, he casually walked away.  

Then we drove out to Ormiston Gorge to do the big Pound walk.  We started off on this magnificent 7 km walk, climbing through the mountain ranges.  We then stopped a third of the way at the best lookout I have ever seen.  It looked out over breath taking circle of mountains, with us standing on one side.  We stayed there for a while taking in the spectacular view.  Then we walked down into the circle of cliffs and out the only exit, the gorge.  

After we walked out of there, we drove to Glen Helen Gorge and did a nice short walk to a gap that had a river running through it.  Then we went back to Ormiston Gorge to listen to ranger talk about animal tracks.  We started by identifying animals, he held up some pictures of animals and we had to say what they were. While we were listing the animals, 3 Spinifex pigeons came peaking around at our feet.  When we got to the Dingo, right on cue a dingo ran through the background (not planned).  So we got to get a good glimpse of the features the ranger was describing to us.   Then we also learn about the animals scat (poo).  We learnt about how to get a fair guess of what animal made it, by telling whats in it and whether it’s a carnivore or a herbivore.  We then had a look at 2 skulls, 3 snake skins, 1 complete gecko skin and an Echidna skin.  To finish off the talk, we identified some tracks of the animals.  We then went back to the caravan to enjoy the rest of the late afternoon, watching the bird life.