The map below has an onscreen zoom function. It is supposed to show our current location (we are VK2DQC-15) and sometimes it even works (although it may take a few moments to display). Position your cursor anywhere over the map, then click on the "+" & "-" symbols on the left to zoom and un-zoom.
Try the satellite view as well.
Function Key F11 will expand to full screen for better viewing
Day 6, 15th May, The drive to Alice included both boredom and mischief. At one fuel stop we listened to a barrage of complaints from another grey nomad because diesel was expensive (it was! - almost $2 per litre). Frankly, if I had to live in the middle of a desert, I'd want to make a lot of money too. A little further along the road, I used the CB radio to tell our complaining friend that he drives like a grandmother. The ensuing verbal battle filled a good half hour with sarcasm and laughter for us.
While our radio was getting a good work out, we passed through several vastly changing landscapes. Here is one of them (below).
Some of the rivers in Australia are dry for years on end. This one (below left - yes, thats a river bed) is the Finke River and it is still dry (at this point anyway). When we went through Kulgera, we passed within 138 klms of the "centre of gravity for Australia". Because you don't know where Kulgera is ... you don't know whether I made up this little story about the centre of gravity .. do you?.
What do our rest areas look like? Here's the last one we stopped at in South Australia (below right).
We arrived in Alice Springs after lunch today (Sunday) after driving 336 klms. I had one hell of a job getting the caravan into the allocated site - and crumpled the corner of my bumper in the process. Fortunately, it was a sunny warm day and so I kept the bad language to a minimum.
After spending half an hour discussing my "turbo stepper motor" on the phone with Toyota dealers in Alice and Port Augusta, we concluded that we may not leave Alice Springs for a week or even more. The "fault code" revealed by the Toyota dealer's diagnosis may, or may not, be a turbo stepper motor problem and a "flow chart" is needed to decide what caused the problem. The Toyota dealer cannot do another diagnosis for a week. Then we may have to order parts and wait for them to arrive. Then we may have to wait for the dealer to fit them. This is all TOYOTA BULLSHIT! - yes I'm angry - and I don't think Toyota care as long as they have got you by the short and curly's.
Total 2775 klms, punctures zero, pedestrians zero, bent bumpers one, breakdowns one.
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Day [too hard!], Tuesday 17th May, It's even too cold to go outside and feed the birds. Lunch today was supposed to be at "Scotty's bar and Grill" (recommended by somebody) but it looks like they have moved. So we had lunch at the Memorial Club and they served enough food for 4 people. Connie and I managed to eat it all, plus lemon curd tart and carrot cake.
We needed a good walk and decided to walk up the the lookout in the centre of town (left). Fortunately, the temperature had climbed enough for walking. The main part of Alice Springs sits in a huge basin surrounded by the Macdonnell Ranges - and LOTS of open space.
This second hand shop (right) shows great imagination with a 20 foot high model of a hand - or two. It deserves a visit.
Last night I got caught up in a one way car park in the middle of town, and tried to reverse out - in the dark - with tinted windows - and - yep, scratched the rear bumber #@%*. The Landcruiser ain't "new" any more.
Total 2775 klms, punctures zero, pedestrians zero, bent bumpers two, breakdowns one.
Saturday 21st May, It's Connie's birthday today and so we are going to have lunch somewhere in town. I was told by somebody from the local radio club that they were putting up some more antennas later today and invited me along to supervise (I am sure they meant "to help"). As I wandered across to the clubs rooms, I came across the aircraft museum and it was obvious that Alice Springs is very closely associated with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (left).
There are loads of photographic gems around Alice Springs and one of the closest is Simpsons Gap (right). In the early morning and late afternoon you will spot rock wallabies running about here - (I didn't ... so imagine it!)
Millions of tons of red rock have fallen from above and I couldn't help looking up at every second step.
Another one of those dry river beds. The dry sand almost looks like water at a quick glance.
Here's another one of those "photographic gems". It's a pity I'm not a photographer.
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Sunday 22nd May, There are plenty of sights around Alice Springs, some as close as 20 klms. Examples are Emily Gap and Jessie Gap (left). Of course Uluru (Ayer's Rock) is popular but it's well over 400 klms each way to go and see it.
24th May, we are moving again. Toyota could find nothing wrong with the engine or the computer in the car and I'm relieved that it was "my imagination" ... ? ... ? The speed limit on the open road in NT is mostly 130 klms/hour so I was able to drive at a more respectable speed. When you look at the distances here, it is just as well. (left)
Between Alice Springs and Devils Marbles there are a number of roadhouses and rest areas and we intended stopping at one of them. When we finally found one we liked, this big black fella (right) came out from nowhere, and we decided to move on. He live at the "Aileron Road House" where the diesel fuel was $2.07 per litre.
Be careful what you do with liquor in N.T. because there are numerous restricted areas.
The "Devils Marbles" .... what a great place to spend a day. It is in the middle of nowhere. Last time we stopped here several years ago, there were three overnighters, but today there are thirty six. The massive boulders are stacked up and some precariously balanced on top of each other. This photo (right ) is the rest area taken from the highest outcrop of rocks.
This is one of the highest points on all the boulders and Connie took this photo of a good looking guy who was flirting with her while she was up there.
From Alice Springs to Devils Marbles was 410 klms.
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