tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29786121076985348242023-11-17T01:24:40.499+10:00COOLOOLA COVES - BOB AND MARIONTravelogue relating to Caravan Trips AustraliaBob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-29924032159153654332012-09-07T10:32:00.002+10:002012-09-07T10:32:35.544+10:00TRIP TO CAPE YORK 2012
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</v:imagedata></span></v:shape></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">CARAVAN TRAVELS WITH BOB &
MARION [COOLOOLA COVES].</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">How
We Got to “The Tip” – Cape York, Queensland, Australia</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Preparations:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Planning
ahead was an essential process, including rail and cargo vessel bookings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had been told about the opportunity to visit
Cap York by way of travelling on a working cargo vessel; and a quick search on
the internet revealed a company named Sea Swift provided a passenger service
from Cairns to Seisia on the cargo vessel “M.V. Trinity Bay”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a look at the Weather Bureau’s rainfall
data and discovered August was the driest month of the year in that part of the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Knowing that August would be cool
temperature wise helped us make the decision to book a private “en suite” cabin
for the 5 night trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trip included
a visit to Horn Island and Thursday Island where side tours were
available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At Seisia there was a 4x4
tour available to the very top of Cape York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our deposit paid, it was time to decide how best to get to Cairns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had several options including driving
ourselves, flying, bussing or enjoying a leisurely trip by rail on “The
Sunlander” passenger train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We opted for
the latter and made our bookings for a 1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> class sleeper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These arrangements would give us a one day
stay in Cairns on the “up” journey; and a two day stay in Cairns on the “return”
journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We purposely gave ourselves a
couple of days in Cairns because the travel information for the “M.V. Trinity
Bay” stated the return date to Cairns could not be guaranteed; arrival could be
delayed by the weather or loading and unloading requirements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next on the list was booking accommodation in
Cairns for both legs of the journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
choose an apartment at The Tropic Towers Apartments, Sheridan Street, Cairns;
which was 5km from the Cairns CBD and on the bus route that would take us into
the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having sorted out the travel
logistics, we then had to decide what luggage we could carry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We eventually decided to carry two small bags
each, as well as the all important camera slung around my neck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All was in readiness and now it was just a
matter of waiting for the big day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As
it turned out we were able to drive to Brisbane and attend our Grandson Chris’
18<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> birthday party on board “The Queenslander” where we enjoyed a
cruise on the Brisbane River on the night of the 18 August 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lights of the bridges and buildings in
the CBD were a kaleidoscope of colours and made a perfect backdrop for a great
party night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Trip Begins:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">21-8-2012 (Tuesday)</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Having
left our car at our daughter’s house we boarded “The Sunlander” at Roma Street
Railway Station in Brisbane at 1.15pm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earlier,
whilst waiting for the boarding announcement on the platform I noticed a man
board the train without permission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
did not take long for the conductor to order him off and back onto the
platform; this “gentleman” had a few choice words to say and I hoped he would
not be seated near us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 1.25pm the
train slowly pulled out from the station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our journey had begun!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Sunlander – Roma Street Station, Brisbane.</span></span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Unfortunately
the “gentleman” I referred to earlier, continued to cause trouble on the train
and we had only travelled to Caboolture just outside Brisbane, when the train
stopped for half and hour whilst the unruly passenger was handed over to
police.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I later spoke to the conductor
who told me the man had been drinking and had become quite aggressive, having
to be physically restrained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m glad he
didn’t bother us!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Later
that afternoon we went to the dining car to have our evening meal where low and
behold I saw a fellow resident of Tin Can Bay who was travelling with his wife
and another couple from Tin Can Bay also.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To our amusement it turned out Jack, Irene, Bill and Roz were also
taking passage on the “M.V. Trinity Bay” with us!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A small world indeed!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Being
a little unwell from a “bug” I picked up in Brisbane, I had no trouble sleeping
that night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “rock and roll” and “track
noise” soon became part of the background and lulled me off to sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marion slept well also, but woke up every
time the train stopped whilst I slept on.</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong> Our 1st Class Sleeper - 2 bunks.</strong></span></div>
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Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-16477869890100727912012-05-01T09:09:00.004+10:002012-05-01T09:09:52.828+10:00APRIL 2012<div style="text-align: justify;">
This month saw us travel to Brisbane once again for Jake's 6th Birthday and Chris' ANZAC day march.</div>
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The ANZAC day service conducted after the march was very well done with school army cadets taking the role of honour guard and two small "pre-schoolers" laying a wreath; it brought a lump to one's throat to see these little ones march up, lay the wreath and step back and salute. They would have been 4yrs old.</div>
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I have posted some photos hereunder:</div>
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Jake's 6th Birthday - ANZAC day 2012.</div>
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Chris and the ANZAC day march at Wynnum, Queensland, Australia. Hundreds of similar marches and services were conducted throughout Australia on this day.</div>
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The cross has the head gear of the Royal Australian Navy (Senior Service), Army (note the emu feathers, indicating the Light Horse), and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).</div>
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LEST WE FORGET</div>
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ooOoo</div>
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</div>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-46318288354932367172011-12-13T13:58:00.000+10:002011-12-13T13:58:06.311+10:00Update 13 December 2011<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />Well the year is almost over and our caravan trips are but memories to be cherished for the future. The year 2012 will see a change to our travel plans; we will be making trips to Sydney with Jake and Joel (two of our grandchildren), Cape York and surrounding Islands by boat and a trip to the opal field town of Lightning Ridge. We are also hoping to get in one more trip south but that has to be planned for.</div>
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Cape York is the Northernmost Point of the Australian Continent (yes our Island Home is a Continent!).</div>
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Well that's it for now. We wish all our readers a happy and holy Christmas.</div>
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ooOoo</div>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-82665141600474734822011-09-15T06:55:00.003+10:002011-09-15T07:19:21.112+10:00DARLINGTON BEACH HOLIDAY SEPTEMBER 2011: NO.2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhopnlkbo9vvqiZAn3c0HRyP5HBMubiebWa7zNF_SiVMOOiVYtoJtGM-ABCXWnD8CGj4ndNw1C6BWtEzBJSfHMYT70lsGKya9M-roFX2AHn4KQzALtcYigz3Vm_72FYwqeQE0fh3F9eRG4/s1600/Jake%2526Luke_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhopnlkbo9vvqiZAn3c0HRyP5HBMubiebWa7zNF_SiVMOOiVYtoJtGM-ABCXWnD8CGj4ndNw1C6BWtEzBJSfHMYT70lsGKya9M-roFX2AHn4KQzALtcYigz3Vm_72FYwqeQE0fh3F9eRG4/s320/Jake%2526Luke_001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: yellow;">Jake and Luke Williamson our grand children. September 2011.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;">We have been having fun on the beach and in the park. Jake went for a ride with Helen on a pedal go cart yesterday. The camp is all set up and fine tuned now. Today we are going to put up the pergola over the picnic table the park staff brought to our site for us. The ducks fascinate Luke and the Rainbow Lorrikets dive bomb us when flying through the camp! We are enjoying the quiet life.</span></div>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-16921536067110096252011-09-12T10:07:00.000+10:002011-09-12T10:07:04.337+10:00DARLINGTON BEACH HOLIDAY SEPTEMBER 2011<div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Saturday 10 September 2011:</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After a short 5 hour dive from Brisbane we arrived at the Darlington Beach Resort Caravan Park on Saturday. We plan staying here for the annual family reunion week, which commences on 17 Sep 2011. We spent a few hours setting up and then assisted our daughter Helen in setting up her camper trailer also. We have two of the grand children, Jake and Luke, with us and will have them for this week before their parents, Cathie and Beau, arrive on the 17th. Once settled in we relaxed and took in the scenery and the wild life which abounds in this park. We have wild ducks, kangaroos and parrots visiting us looking for a hand out. Whilst we give the birds some free seeds or bread, we don't feed the kangaroos as they can become quite aggressive and are capable of inflicting serious damage upon humans with the claws on their back legs. The rule is leave them alone and they will leave you alone. Helen had one enter her camp and begin to nudge her quite aggressively, begging for food; however, Helen sent it on its way and it has not come back. Not so long ago a man was killed by a large red kangaroo out west when it attached him and ripped him open with its hind legs; these male kangaroos can stand up to 8 feet tall when they stand upright! Having said that, we are visited by a mob of Eastern Grey Kangaoos. These are much smaller than their red cousins and are not aggressive if you leave them alone. They will let you approach and take photos but they have a "personal space" they won't let humans into; they will just hop away and start feeding on the grass again.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV9TDmxHi1XswrsDOxbUuGG2wYmIkuSlIDISYrCnEoeHnQh9qeRNn2rY7H4Bsh9z6hZA4MXl5MBlnPw7nV5UGu2eZLP46m292uuvYacc_U7-Ti5Adl3Bhw3YebhyphenhyphenlaIctm_sOU5zjodP0/s1600/Caravan_MLC_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV9TDmxHi1XswrsDOxbUuGG2wYmIkuSlIDISYrCnEoeHnQh9qeRNn2rY7H4Bsh9z6hZA4MXl5MBlnPw7nV5UGu2eZLP46m292uuvYacc_U7-Ti5Adl3Bhw3YebhyphenhyphenlaIctm_sOU5zjodP0/s320/Caravan_MLC_01.jpg" width="320" /></a> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Marion and our Caravan</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefsZUg_8p5ucmnRpX1l63J46-VBT9SwwBOzINGYxlgZtAuQGSDBnKRwstu6rbYT2HVHNOJfGCBsY2Aqg2epaxx-7bvSzS5G9qy4vgLqn1SVoRr4l1CHmMI19D_mFXhnQLo5Df3p5UITk/s1600/CampTrailer_HC_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefsZUg_8p5ucmnRpX1l63J46-VBT9SwwBOzINGYxlgZtAuQGSDBnKRwstu6rbYT2HVHNOJfGCBsY2Aqg2epaxx-7bvSzS5G9qy4vgLqn1SVoRr4l1CHmMI19D_mFXhnQLo5Df3p5UITk/s320/CampTrailer_HC_01.jpg" width="320" /></a> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Helen's Camp</span></div><div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sunday 11 September 2011:</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We drove to Woolgoolga about 7km south of our caravan park and after attending mass, did a quick bit of shopping. After driving back to the camp, we took some photos of Marion feeding the Rainbow Lorrikets at the caravan. These lovely birds are with us constantly whether we feed them or not.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyB9RSte5BfaUL3uQZMTUR5A4oThaiuyNCkrhiPpQGivn_rg1N2SNFRkcNzKfJOzofwci1Qiefk3FiQ6DIPiJ4JjYbXRuxlH6a-YGM8tZte-hCQP8STR2dvr-ZtH4Ms_fiS3TxH6S_bo4/s1600/MLC_Lorris_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyB9RSte5BfaUL3uQZMTUR5A4oThaiuyNCkrhiPpQGivn_rg1N2SNFRkcNzKfJOzofwci1Qiefk3FiQ6DIPiJ4JjYbXRuxlH6a-YGM8tZte-hCQP8STR2dvr-ZtH4Ms_fiS3TxH6S_bo4/s320/MLC_Lorris_01.jpg" width="320" /></a> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Marion and the Rainbow Lorrikets</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whilst we were enjoying the birds we were treated to a vist from a pair of Wood Ducks with their family of ducklings. They appeared quite unafraid, although wild, and let us feed them some bread.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzfaekJ_iWp_crox4e4Nlm-MBLBOpvzptXoToo8adhoVp5m9atW00JfecilWZw3zQeupnLS0R0u8SJ81YWx2k32dhiewYtIoReRDQ4BiyVxwuog894mM2bwRgfF9GN2UW4SiGgq62Zu4/s1600/Duck+Family_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzfaekJ_iWp_crox4e4Nlm-MBLBOpvzptXoToo8adhoVp5m9atW00JfecilWZw3zQeupnLS0R0u8SJ81YWx2k32dhiewYtIoReRDQ4BiyVxwuog894mM2bwRgfF9GN2UW4SiGgq62Zu4/s320/Duck+Family_01.jpg" width="320" /></a> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Wood Ducks and ducklings</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Later that day I decided to stalk some of the Eastern Grey Kangaroos feeding about the park. They would not let me get too close; however after a patient wait I noticed they let me approach a little closer. I took some good photographs of mother and joey and some general shots of the mob.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9QELxL_ZcbmnherKknrlr6aOxbTQ1fZiov6rVXSQPTF79U-bSUV90d7bTOtn9ZCMGT1q7jHaGSo4Tk9xcFEtkpx2m3neDswuk5RkwMlRQ7-7xX25a5mJk8dF44ec2YSmiq16HKdNL9s/s1600/Roo+%2526+Joey_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9QELxL_ZcbmnherKknrlr6aOxbTQ1fZiov6rVXSQPTF79U-bSUV90d7bTOtn9ZCMGT1q7jHaGSo4Tk9xcFEtkpx2m3neDswuk5RkwMlRQ7-7xX25a5mJk8dF44ec2YSmiq16HKdNL9s/s320/Roo+%2526+Joey_01.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> Eastern Grey and Joey</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was time to do some "fine tuning" around the camp and we finally settled back and relaxed for the rest of the day.</span></div>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-60919509498615202432011-09-03T10:34:00.000+10:002011-09-03T10:34:47.881+10:00Update from Bob and MarionHi all,<br />
This post is just to let you know we are still around. We haven't been on any trips recently so have not posted. The main reason I have posted now is to let you know about a book our very good friends, Martha and Russ Wheelock, in Texas, USA, have recently published and placed on Amazon. It is called The Voyage of Islita and I can guarantee it is a good read; having read it myself. I won't waffle on as there are several comments about the book already posted on Amazon. If you are interested in reading about a couple's adventures whilst sailing around the world in a little yacht, this is a good read. Enjoy! The Amazon site to view the book and details is: <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Voyage-of-Islita-ebook/dp/B0051WQME0" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.amazon.com/The-Voyage-of-Islita-ebook/dp/B0051WQME0</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkf-TZ3Efr1ZUzROTJrdbP_9kl7k7gYUA7kK4TQLbGjAiDwTkNUEkzgaHk4MFGY2yOsx8ptCKW26S7wApSiOfK9eFAsEUZgp4a0D7cRdv7Tin6QptSUJQPcnXE13qPSrwJYuYSZFoUmfw/s1600/Russ+and+Kiki+July+8%252C+2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkf-TZ3Efr1ZUzROTJrdbP_9kl7k7gYUA7kK4TQLbGjAiDwTkNUEkzgaHk4MFGY2yOsx8ptCKW26S7wApSiOfK9eFAsEUZgp4a0D7cRdv7Tin6QptSUJQPcnXE13qPSrwJYuYSZFoUmfw/s320/Russ+and+Kiki+July+8%252C+2011.jpg" width="320" /></a> Russ and Martha Wheelock</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's about it for now. We are planning a trip to South Australia early next year so hope to post some interesting info then.</div>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-20511597805689987172011-07-24T11:46:00.000+10:002011-07-24T11:46:36.611+10:002011 Caravan Trip to Cairns & Townsville - Nth Queensland<span style="font-size: small;"> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0arFOUSuWRCmjOFE004369f2V2Z_OGEWyojf3S6D2Br64ah1G67mJ4bIIe47adgeWR4zIz2ovFZ2jG01F4MxNf1uAg3TyBqA03Xp2HY2bsBUhZ7Myk2_CAypa3t3s6uE6WmG98NhuoGs/s1600/Sunrise+Leaving+Kings+Canyon_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0arFOUSuWRCmjOFE004369f2V2Z_OGEWyojf3S6D2Br64ah1G67mJ4bIIe47adgeWR4zIz2ovFZ2jG01F4MxNf1uAg3TyBqA03Xp2HY2bsBUhZ7Myk2_CAypa3t3s6uE6WmG98NhuoGs/s200/Sunrise+Leaving+Kings+Canyon_001.jpg" width="200" /></a></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span lang=""></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><div align="RIGHT"></div></span><div align="RIGHT"></div></span><div align="RIGHT"><span style="font-family: Rockwell Condensed;"><span lang="EN-AU">CARAVAN TRAVELS WITH BOB & MARION [COOLOOLA COVES].</span></span></div><span style="font-family: Rockwell Condensed;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><div align="JUSTIFY">As promised in my last post to this blog, I have finally put pen to paper with a report on the trip to Cairns and Townsville with three of our grand children, Chris16yrs; Becky 11yrs and Jake 5yrs. This particular trip was somewhat of an experiment, for we had never before taken three of the children away with us; and accommodating them in the caravan annexe was to be an experiment. Fortunately it all turned out well and we had a great trip. It was interesting to see how various caravan parks treated the extra persons in terms of the accommodation costs. Christopher was invariably classed as an "adult"; Rebecca was always a "child" and Jake was sometimes a "child" and sometimes a "baby -free". The majority of caravan parks simply treated all children as extra "persons" and charged the same extra amount for each of the children respectively. Interestingly, Christopher was treated as a "child" at some tourist attractions.</div><br />
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<div align="JUSTIFY">Prior to our departure the children were all delivered to our home and excitement permeated the house as we tried to settle them down for bed the night before we were due to depart. On Saturday 25 June 2011, we awoke at 4.00am for a very early start as we had quite a long way to go before pulling up for the night. We arrived at Mackay in North Queensland just on 3.46pm; and after booking in to our ensuite site, we set about putting the annexe up for the children's sleeping quarters. All went well with the process and whilst Chris assembled the camping stretchers with their "blow up" mattresses, Becky and Jake assisted with the erection of the annexe. Jake undertook the task of winding down the four stabilizers under each corner of the caravan and once again did a great job. He was experienced at this task, having undertaken it on previous trips with us. Onlookers were quite amazed to see a 5 year old boy winding down the stabilizers as if it were a common occurrence. Becky learnt how to hammer in tent pegs and became proficient at this task very quickly. In less than an hour the "camp" was set up and we were all comfortable. The children had learnt the importance of team work and this augured well for the rest of the trip. We let the children off the leash for a while and they went exploring among the local birdlife, including Ibis and Whistler Ducks that abound in the park. There was no playground in the park, which was a surprise as we had believed there was one. There was a pool but it was by now too cold for swimming and consequently that option was ruled out with no objections from the children. We decided to reward our helpers with pizzas for the evening meal, so we all piled into the car and after a visit to the petrol station for fuel we found our way to the pizzeria where we purchased some delicious pizzas which were consumed quick smart! It was soon time for bed as we had another early start in the morning. Three tired children and two tired adults were soon dreaming sweet dreams. We had travelled 787km from Cooloola Cove [home] to Mackay in one day.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Y68SLHMsr_xADZa2yStRcSGY15bvgNjPSePNCIKNDH-UOoHlj_AHCSbzLEcSidIAjiwl9CpA9EjD6w0Tlzw6wcTBM7RC0f8b1T9PTDV93q43UewgaC14SxxezGiQPfMJdb-iE1BiWkY/s1600/whistler+ducks+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Y68SLHMsr_xADZa2yStRcSGY15bvgNjPSePNCIKNDH-UOoHlj_AHCSbzLEcSidIAjiwl9CpA9EjD6w0Tlzw6wcTBM7RC0f8b1T9PTDV93q43UewgaC14SxxezGiQPfMJdb-iE1BiWkY/s320/whistler+ducks+small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="JUSTIFY"><br />
</div></span><div align="JUSTIFY"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span></i></div><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><div align="CENTER">Whistler Ducks at Andergrove Caravan Park, Mackay, Queensland.</div></span></span></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><div align="JUSTIFY">Sunday 26 June. We were out of bed at 5.00am and to our dismay it had begun to rain! Fortunately the rain eased off for a short time allowing us to pull down the annexe and stow it in the van. It did not matter that it was still wet as we knew it would be going up again that same afternoon. We laid out another small plastic sheet on the floor of the van and stowed the annexe walls on this to prevent water dripping all over the van floor. By 5.45am we were on our way. The rain stayed with us for a couple of hours as we travelled north, however it was not heavy rain and did not cause us any problems. We arrived at Townsville, some 384km north of Mackay, at 10.45am and utilised the relatively new extension to the motorway to bypass the heart of the city and emerge on the northern outskirts in 15 minutes. Stopping at Bluewater picnic grounds for lunch brought back some childhood memories, as I used to go there for picnics with friends many years ago. After lunch we departed feeling refreshed as the children had taken the opportunity to have a good play in the excellent playground provided at Bluewater.</div><br />
<div align="JUSTIFY">Having passed through Ingham at 12.37pm we arrived at Cardwell at 1.22pm. Fortunately the rain held off for a while whilst we set up the "camp" (as Jake liked to call it). The township and the caravan park bore the "scars" of the recent cyclone named Yasi and it was sad to see the buildings that had been destroyed, as well as the trees in the surrounding bushland which had all be stripped of their leafs by the strong winds. The caravan park managers told me the town was still in recovery mode but things were slowly getting back to normal. We went for a drive to find the Information Centre where, in the past, an excellent display of local marine environments including coral reefs and mangrove fish nurseries had been available free of charge. I particularly wanted the children to see this display as an educational experience; however, to our dismay the building had been all but destroyed by the cyclone and could not be accessed. As we drove around we saw once familiar places lying in ruins. It really brought a lump to one's throat to think about what the residents must have gone through in Cardwell and other small towns along the coast.</div></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span lang=""></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3DMczpsaUOETatzBQyI-E1QK6kot8lm0IJ5M8GmIc_8LPaVT4kNd4jrHtvHHSIth0bfWACvCGZubuz5eYSH3p_R5wBdOGPtVkq8cuzqwB0hh75xp1oL1mwwdd3YZWrj22AYDUI15TD8/s1600/Yasi_houses+destroyed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3DMczpsaUOETatzBQyI-E1QK6kot8lm0IJ5M8GmIc_8LPaVT4kNd4jrHtvHHSIth0bfWACvCGZubuz5eYSH3p_R5wBdOGPtVkq8cuzqwB0hh75xp1oL1mwwdd3YZWrj22AYDUI15TD8/s320/Yasi_houses+destroyed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="JUSTIFY"><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><div align="CENTER">Cardwell N.Q. June 2011: A house still in ruins 6mths after Yasi.</div></span></span></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><div align="JUSTIFY">Some facts relating to Cyclone Yasi:</div></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Coastal Crossing Details<br />
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Crossing time:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"> <br />
<br />
12 am - 1am EST, 3 Feb 2011 <br />
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<b>Crossing location:</b> <br />
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Near Mission Beach, 138km S of Cairns <br />
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<b>Category when crossing the coast:</b> <br />
<br />
5 <br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Extreme Values During Cyclone Event (estimated)<br />
<br />
Maximum Category:</b> <br />
<br />
5 <br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Maximum sustained wind speed:</b> <br />
<br />
205 km/hr (estimated) <br />
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<b>Maximum wind gust:</b> <br />
<br />
285 km/hr (estimated) <br />
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<b>Lowest central pressure:</b> <br />
<br />
929 hPa<br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><div align="JUSTIFY">The largest rainfall totals were near and to the south of the cyclone and were generally in the order of 200-300mm in the 24 hours to 9am Thursday. These rainfall totals were experienced in the area between Cairns and Ayr, causing some flooding. The highest totals were; South Mission Beach 471mm, Hawkins Creek 464mm, Zattas 407mm, Bulgun Creek 373mm along the Tully and Herbert River catchments.</div></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><div align="JUSTIFY">{Source: Queensland Bureau of Meteorology}</div></span><div align="JUSTIFY"></div></span></i><span style="font-family: Arial;">Of note was the 5 metre tidal storm surge experienced at Cardwell, which caused extensive damage to vessels moored in the Hinchinbrook Marina on the outskirts of the town. The photo hereunder is taken from the Brisbane Times website:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span lang=""></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjsbLg7qomyj6VCM8NJYiMWmTh4-1kl3MH5LvfewraIv1lO43aV87PhYvtRlYicB_7PPV3q2T4DZOWsLXUlnVITIORNiqenYxAhl5fd3-yEw7y5nMQzfM-BGJIyusw9U8cDObPCufQk3E/s1600/Yasi_Hinchinbrook+Marina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjsbLg7qomyj6VCM8NJYiMWmTh4-1kl3MH5LvfewraIv1lO43aV87PhYvtRlYicB_7PPV3q2T4DZOWsLXUlnVITIORNiqenYxAhl5fd3-yEw7y5nMQzfM-BGJIyusw9U8cDObPCufQk3E/s320/Yasi_Hinchinbrook+Marina.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN-AU">We were quite subdued by the time we got back to the caravan park and to make matters worse we discovered Jake was running a high temperature. He was not well at all and there were no medical centres available in Cardwell. I took him to the local Ambulance Station where fortunately the ambulance bearer was on the ball and confirmed that Jake indeed was running a high temperature. He spoke by telephone to a medical advisor in Ingham and on the doctor's advice administered some medicine to help bring Jake's temperature down. Jake is so irrepressible he did not complain at all but it was obvious to us that he was not well. Back at the caravan park we made a contingency plan to drive to the Ingham Hospital some 52km south of Cardwell should Jake's temperature not abate. Fortunately the medicine worked and he spent a quiet, restful night. He was a lot brighter in the morning with no signs of the temperature we had been so worried about. A blessing indeed!</span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <br />
<div align="JUSTIFY">By now the rain seemed to have set in and we were resigned to the fact that the weather bureau forecasts were correct in predicting on going showers for the rest of the week. At least there were some periods where the rain stopped for a while and let us go about without getting wet.</div><br />
<div align="JUSTIFY">On Monday 27 June 2011 we arrived at the Coconut Holiday Resort Caravan Park, Cairns just after 10.00am and were soon "set up" and enjoying a well earned rest. Jake was feeling a lot better; however, we confined him to the annexe, watching DVDs and resting, for the remainder of the day. We had planned a rather busy schedule over the forthcoming week and hoped the rain would not dampen our enthusiasim too much. The following day we spent some time going for a drive around the city of Cairns and allowing the children to enjoy the facilities at the caravan park. The caravan park boasted several swimming pools, jumping pillows and playgrounds, giving the children lots of choices to occupy themselves if they wished. Christopher proved invaluable as a supervisor and we were confident we could leave the children in his charge, within the confines of the caravan park.</div></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span lang=""><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9S7HhR727yTsN_OomanXxQP-XtHT-yZbf7-Il20x8XuOCSxZlMsvZpDqUBn1FFpd5oOopJ_7cDCitdpOTEFcNUvAQE60RPmjAFxtwgg2JP4dZlD0U94GsveMB5GrO10Q0BKKrEsKtkg/s1600/IMG_8539+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9S7HhR727yTsN_OomanXxQP-XtHT-yZbf7-Il20x8XuOCSxZlMsvZpDqUBn1FFpd5oOopJ_7cDCitdpOTEFcNUvAQE60RPmjAFxtwgg2JP4dZlD0U94GsveMB5GrO10Q0BKKrEsKtkg/s1600/IMG_8539+-+Copy.JPG" /></a></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rlOiOTDeKbxZCeOcUmRsGfJr5BzEESIOf1KqRlIZw-35kwBB3xDdlfg4UPojuhm_P0Po1GcXIGuyhDaMMrmkA76ocpQP2qLD_5k8x4jAoYa4oGYCHBQipvj-UisdCV8Ox2VXBD2UBv8/s1600/IMG_8541+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rlOiOTDeKbxZCeOcUmRsGfJr5BzEESIOf1KqRlIZw-35kwBB3xDdlfg4UPojuhm_P0Po1GcXIGuyhDaMMrmkA76ocpQP2qLD_5k8x4jAoYa4oGYCHBQipvj-UisdCV8Ox2VXBD2UBv8/s1600/IMG_8541+-+Copy.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxD4ZFgD79VKpJRFh5O-M1kPzej-cQjojBjbdMHeG-fja_O-CjWktpTwUUd3JbWH2hh7OagHzKX33-xc6_iZukHxEI9I7C6ML5EUITNhYnbJ_N33VCg1X290nLKT996T4BBtcGsl26_o/s1600/IMG_8538+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxD4ZFgD79VKpJRFh5O-M1kPzej-cQjojBjbdMHeG-fja_O-CjWktpTwUUd3JbWH2hh7OagHzKX33-xc6_iZukHxEI9I7C6ML5EUITNhYnbJ_N33VCg1X290nLKT996T4BBtcGsl26_o/s1600/IMG_8538+-+Copy.JPG" /></a></div><div align="JUSTIFY"></div></span></span>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-47446000549385062402011-06-22T10:04:00.000+10:002011-06-22T10:04:08.090+10:00Two Weeks With Some of the Grandchildren<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGnirWXDf6Zt7-SNxGrclbIOJ8LmuGv980bcwI34qwbZCeonRjGe57Pd8GCxeLig_ccqTIuA0ia52rhWp8n0-p7XuihJe0uPonmSJqeeo1q3br07wFc8kyG5S_8epxjW2PeaDX3eXFDY/s1600/Sunrise+Leaving+Kings+Canyon_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="132" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGnirWXDf6Zt7-SNxGrclbIOJ8LmuGv980bcwI34qwbZCeonRjGe57Pd8GCxeLig_ccqTIuA0ia52rhWp8n0-p7XuihJe0uPonmSJqeeo1q3br07wFc8kyG5S_8epxjW2PeaDX3eXFDY/s200/Sunrise+Leaving+Kings+Canyon_001.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">CARAVAN TRAVELS WITH BOB & MARION [COOLOOLA COVES].</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our next trip commences on 25 June 2011. We are taking 3 of our grand children with us for the school holidays: Christopher, Rebecca and Jake. We will be spending 1 week in Cairns and 1 week in Townsville. The children are really looking forward to this trip, as are we. Watch this space for photos and reports.</div>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-32763657833657055982011-06-05T14:06:00.000+10:002011-06-05T14:06:54.183+10:00WEEK 7<h3 class="post-title entry-title"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGnirWXDf6Zt7-SNxGrclbIOJ8LmuGv980bcwI34qwbZCeonRjGe57Pd8GCxeLig_ccqTIuA0ia52rhWp8n0-p7XuihJe0uPonmSJqeeo1q3br07wFc8kyG5S_8epxjW2PeaDX3eXFDY/s1600/Sunrise+Leaving+Kings+Canyon_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="132" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGnirWXDf6Zt7-SNxGrclbIOJ8LmuGv980bcwI34qwbZCeonRjGe57Pd8GCxeLig_ccqTIuA0ia52rhWp8n0-p7XuihJe0uPonmSJqeeo1q3br07wFc8kyG5S_8epxjW2PeaDX3eXFDY/s200/Sunrise+Leaving+Kings+Canyon_001.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></h3><div class="post-body entry-content"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">CARAVAN TRAVELS AUSTRALIA WITH BOB & MARION CASSIDY</span></span></div><div class="post-body entry-content"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
<span></span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Week 7:</span></span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sunday 10 April 2011:</span></span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Departing Soudan Dip Rest Area at <strong>06.35am</strong> we settled down to a cruising speed of about 90kph and passed through Avon Downs at <strong>07.20am.</strong> After crossing the border into Queensland we changed our clocks to Queensland Time and arrived at Camooweal 16 minutes later, at <strong>08.36am [EST].</strong> Our next major stop was Mount Isa at <strong>11.10am</strong> where we fuelled up before departing at <strong>11.21am</strong>. We planned on staying overnight at Cloncurry and after an uneventful trip, we arrived at the Gilbert Park Caravan Park at <strong>01.05pm</strong>. We had stayed at this caravan park several times in the past and found the staff to be friendly and helpful. The park facilities were kept clean and the site we had was a large driver through site with power. The resident green tree frogs in the showers were still in evidence and a sign in the showers asked patrons to not be afraid of "Gilbert" the Tree Frog. It was great to see these frogs surviving in the desert climate.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZTxdVJ_nlPYBOM3087zinOjevDEa69Xw0VcBg-0IN_hzAwNDhlTIklZEoxEIPK2WxhpJwQ_jU-kaWpYBjfHjdAlO5sEB7u84r33mkqrG0x8pS-MsWCycoa0TrwsCucuBZpgQ5LoIkPPc/s1600/Tree+Frog+Georgetown_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZTxdVJ_nlPYBOM3087zinOjevDEa69Xw0VcBg-0IN_hzAwNDhlTIklZEoxEIPK2WxhpJwQ_jU-kaWpYBjfHjdAlO5sEB7u84r33mkqrG0x8pS-MsWCycoa0TrwsCucuBZpgQ5LoIkPPc/s400/Tree+Frog+Georgetown_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Gilbert" the Green Tree Frog.</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Monday 11 April 2011:</span></strong></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>06.42am</strong> we departed Cloncurry leaving the Barkly Highway behind and travelling east along the Flinders Highway for a short 18km east of town where the intersecton of the Flinders Highway met with the Landsborough Highway, where we turned right and headed for McKinlay. It was <strong>07.56am</strong> when we passed through sleepy McKinlay where the famous Walkabout Hotel (Crocodile Dundee) is located. At <strong>08.51am</strong> we arrived at Kynuna and kept going towards Winton. As we drove through Winton we observed one service station had diesel fuel for sale at a very low price (compared to where we had been); and we stopped to fill up the tanks. As we were doing so, the manager came out and changed the prices to a higher price per litre; we were lucky to have filled up before the price went up! Fifteen minutes later we were on our way again. As we continued on our way a large road train roared past in a cloud of dust and several large stones pelted our windscreen. We ended up with three (3) "stars" where the stones had made cracks in the windscreen, fortunately the glass did not shatter. We pulled up at the Crawford Rest Area to inspect the damage; and I decided it was safe to continue on, after we placed small dust protectors over the "stars" to keep them clean for an attempt at repair later on. I contacted the RACQ (Royal Automobile Club of Queensland) and ascertained that my insurance did not cover broken windscreens as this was an extra cost on the insurance policy, which was not worth it in my view and it was almost as much as a new windscreen anyway. At <strong>01.40om</strong> we arrived at Longreach and I called into a repair garage where I ascertained it was not worth replacing the windscreen unless the cracks in the "stars" began to enlongate. So far they had not done so. I decided to leave it all the fate and continue on.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">(Eventually we arrived home; and to this day I am still driving around with the "stars" intact on the windscreen.) Leaving Longreach we drove the 106km to Barcaldine, arriving at <strong>03.05pm</strong>. We pulled into the showgrounds where we knew we could camp for the night with power and hot showers. After setting up we relaxed with some fellow travellers and chatted about our travel experiences.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><strong>Tuesday 12 April 2011:</strong></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><strong>06.35am</strong> we were on the road again heading further east towards the coast. This wold be our last night on the road and we were beginning to look forward to getting home again. We had 565km to go and arrived at Duringa at <strong>12.40pm</strong> where we set up and I started up the generator for our power supply. A free hot shower was located at this large rest area and I took advantage of the facility before settling down to relax for the rest of the day. We had stayed here in the past also; and I have included a photo taken on our fishing trip north to Karumba in 2007.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI09J25u9vIAtw8CPLZSXE-dkhKj1HhPFzBsU6So-6hmfsMQ0WA_Tn9K-VrHRvORtLAweC2-6Wslf5i35P-D3oP_OTsBhVwfxQvxQ5ijByWZx0PSkisUL6MD1K4g81ZEZ88JyUq4ysvd4/s1600/Duaringa+Free+Site_copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI09J25u9vIAtw8CPLZSXE-dkhKj1HhPFzBsU6So-6hmfsMQ0WA_Tn9K-VrHRvORtLAweC2-6Wslf5i35P-D3oP_OTsBhVwfxQvxQ5ijByWZx0PSkisUL6MD1K4g81ZEZ88JyUq4ysvd4/s400/Duaringa+Free+Site_copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>August 2007 - Camped at Duringa en route to Karumba on a Fishing Trip.</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"></span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wednesday 13 April 2011:</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><strong>06.12am</strong> we were off to another early start and eager to get home. We arrived at Rockhampton at <strong>07.55am</strong> and experienced the "Rocky" peak hour traffic travelling into town from the outer suburbs. From Rockhampton we travelled on the Bruce Highway, passing through Mt. Larcom, Benaraby, Miriam Vale, Granite Creek, Gin Gin, Childers and Maryborough; before turning off the Bruce Highway just after <strong>1.30pm</strong>. We fuelled up again at Maryborough and were soon on the Cooloola Coast Road, which took us the 72km to home, arriving at <strong>03.54pm</strong>. Our trip was done! We had travelled 9084km and consumed 2125ltrs of diesel fuel; at an average cost of $1.53/ltr. Fuel consumption had averaged 23.4lt/100km.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"></span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">THE END</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR A NEXT TRIP!</span></strong></div>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-67597523145687994852011-06-04T12:35:00.003+10:002011-06-06T07:09:05.902+10:00WEEK 6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGnirWXDf6Zt7-SNxGrclbIOJ8LmuGv980bcwI34qwbZCeonRjGe57Pd8GCxeLig_ccqTIuA0ia52rhWp8n0-p7XuihJe0uPonmSJqeeo1q3br07wFc8kyG5S_8epxjW2PeaDX3eXFDY/s1600/Sunrise+Leaving+Kings+Canyon_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="132" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGnirWXDf6Zt7-SNxGrclbIOJ8LmuGv980bcwI34qwbZCeonRjGe57Pd8GCxeLig_ccqTIuA0ia52rhWp8n0-p7XuihJe0uPonmSJqeeo1q3br07wFc8kyG5S_8epxjW2PeaDX3eXFDY/s200/Sunrise+Leaving+Kings+Canyon_001.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">CARAVAN TRAVELS AUSTRALIA WITH BOB & MARION CASSIDY</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Week 6:</span></strong></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Sunday 3 April 2011:</span></b><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Today was our “big walk” day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We intended walking the 2.5km track along Kings Creek in the bottom of Kings Canyon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a big breakfast of bacon and eggs, we set out in our vehicle and drove to the car park at the entrance to Kings Canyon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We took plenty of drinking water and wore our fly-net hats to keep the bush flies off our faces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The walk itself was mostly paved and an easy “gradient” which did not take too much out of either of us physically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately the desert wind had come up and the local birdlife was in short supply; the birds must have been sheltering in the thick bushes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we started out on the walk itself we came upon a sign at the entrance to the path, showing the distances and times for the walks in and around the canyon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some “wag” had made up a Ferro-concrete bush hat and bolted it to the sign; typical outback humour!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7vmXXSvBIfIWgOz5ZR-DkJ33Adsj2uKmF3FVnjurFsjwkEtsq27hdoZdaqvPOB8esDgNqTysKvNOF_-mxW0aLemrlj5lMDO1yNNhhcFS6MfW4AvXNZqCvCjbGoWdQhYUnWHnYZjbACfc/s1600/Kings+Creek+Walk_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7vmXXSvBIfIWgOz5ZR-DkJ33Adsj2uKmF3FVnjurFsjwkEtsq27hdoZdaqvPOB8esDgNqTysKvNOF_-mxW0aLemrlj5lMDO1yNNhhcFS6MfW4AvXNZqCvCjbGoWdQhYUnWHnYZjbACfc/s320/Kings+Creek+Walk_001.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The sign, with hat attached, at the entrance to Kings Canyon walks.</span><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">We had previously been warned about the five hundred steep climbing steps at the beginning of the 6km walk around the rim of the canyon; and Marion’s arthritis problems made this particular climb out of the question for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few minutes later we saw the track leading straight up a steep hill-climb to the rim of the canyon; and our decision not to attempt this climb was validated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simply put, Marion could not have made the climb.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis33TowaW-JP3qANodrvhXtZkpVKJMCf7NGy0ROXBbNanva4fk9JYXeA9dJpDANVUvfyoVeZ8frkPLYU2zpDnWsz15iQEASWZpQNhelpXh2fkJodet3tXpJRLqpH1fXONxonGBylPqxnc/s1600/Kings+Creek+Walk_002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis33TowaW-JP3qANodrvhXtZkpVKJMCf7NGy0ROXBbNanva4fk9JYXeA9dJpDANVUvfyoVeZ8frkPLYU2zpDnWsz15iQEASWZpQNhelpXh2fkJodet3tXpJRLqpH1fXONxonGBylPqxnc/s320/Kings+Creek+Walk_002.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><em>The five hundred steps leading to the top of Kings Canyon – not a proposition for the unfit or elderly.</em></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">As it turned out the walk into the canyon was a great way to view the canyon walls from the bottom of the cliffs which towered over head as one walked deeper into the canyon itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were happy to have seen the view from this perspective alone!</span></div><div align="left" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9hye9y0jNyVKKqMA_WL5PyWCBIHt5eceCGF88z_OV0jKlMq8q7NOSsuHIHrpn-XF2TjIDWX3TZvbK9NRu7e2BJ5p6ORz_IlL1NXVouoVWQYs1gFguNivxsIt5cO9VIn9ANuWGBuE2XRg/s1600/Kings+Creek+Walk_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9hye9y0jNyVKKqMA_WL5PyWCBIHt5eceCGF88z_OV0jKlMq8q7NOSsuHIHrpn-XF2TjIDWX3TZvbK9NRu7e2BJ5p6ORz_IlL1NXVouoVWQYs1gFguNivxsIt5cO9VIn9ANuWGBuE2XRg/s320/Kings+Creek+Walk_003.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><em>Kings Canyon from Kings Creek Walk – note the tree at the top centre, giving some idea of the height of these walls.</em></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyHk7BtRUq2IGXtaPPyEQfINPQ1iNqejECKIf9thRVAr4uEL2tkN4l7zsffQr29S3NgVTtm56yDODQDhWzRoeUKEVDWQqIQlkA8JQVZsBPmuH1dNr1E9pwuq6uxM0emRIN54debIoyfY/s1600/Kings+Creek+Walk_005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyHk7BtRUq2IGXtaPPyEQfINPQ1iNqejECKIf9thRVAr4uEL2tkN4l7zsffQr29S3NgVTtm56yDODQDhWzRoeUKEVDWQqIQlkA8JQVZsBPmuH1dNr1E9pwuq6uxM0emRIN54debIoyfY/s320/Kings+Creek+Walk_005.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Albert Namatjira Country</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhqS9SJulrDjXB3iEXRYzMkdG5sl6vLF0SswvqMCHvbwRAoM4kNzLYGOS-zPjetRWvBPmzsZQK-ErPjlQt04aJRctXO25WkGp3nJzptvMl3gEwH8C87fIR1dBowvaBvlmPgrnlkoXmhAA/s1600/Kings+Creek+Walk_004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhqS9SJulrDjXB3iEXRYzMkdG5sl6vLF0SswvqMCHvbwRAoM4kNzLYGOS-zPjetRWvBPmzsZQK-ErPjlQt04aJRctXO25WkGp3nJzptvMl3gEwH8C87fIR1dBowvaBvlmPgrnlkoXmhAA/s320/Kings+Creek+Walk_004.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The sheer cliff walls of Kings Canyon.</span></em></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The walk took us right to the end of the canyon and we took time to sit and enjoy the view and the quiet of the bush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Far above we could see the occasional walker who had taken the walk around the rim of the canyon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were very small indeed!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We took our time walking back to the car park and we were rewarded by some of the birds who came out of hiding to give us the once over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A spinifex pigeon eyed us suspiciously for a few moments and then, having decided we were not a threat, nestled down on the sand at the edge of the track and allowed us to approach with touching distance, before it quietly stood up and walked sedately back into the bush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few yards further on some zebra finches alighted on branches beside the track and gave us the once over before flying down on to the grass and casually feeding without a care for us at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We enjoyed this experience very much and it took us some time to stroll back to the car park, where we treated ourselves to a can of soft drink each, before taking the short drive back to the caravan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got back in time for a late lunch and rested up for the afternoon, reading and relaxing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the setting sun began its descent, I set up the camera and focused on the Gorge Gill range in the distance to watch the changing colours as the sun crept down behind the gum trees behind us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was soon joined by some other tourists and we chatted away whilst the sunset show went on.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-rRggD8YebChwwuvILExcqLZDVkpQDO4S8fNsfS3_GSsEB6ND-FRj4mzeKzT9Nek2bEqh6XzBCqcCyHutQQCKM2BUtaqEf4Esuymyn82Fh3wN9Y5EGeFXasbasitaB1yInotSMM5cQI/s1600/Kings+Creek+Walk_006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="266" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-rRggD8YebChwwuvILExcqLZDVkpQDO4S8fNsfS3_GSsEB6ND-FRj4mzeKzT9Nek2bEqh6XzBCqcCyHutQQCKM2BUtaqEf4Esuymyn82Fh3wN9Y5EGeFXasbasitaB1yInotSMM5cQI/s400/Kings+Creek+Walk_006.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">From this to this:</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The desert sun painting the landscape:</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRN8n6bPV30bH2Rc57xaOH-gw9f9oZ4hr0-RJ0HmeNQ_PeGHrhGArx0sQu-GAVLIiaAV_2bK3GqAZmKh9EDt9pRles551ge68gzHXyhzE-f0WYe30PEeyK6DciikcsbgPrjjc990FUTog/s1600/Kings+Creek+Walk_007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="266" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRN8n6bPV30bH2Rc57xaOH-gw9f9oZ4hr0-RJ0HmeNQ_PeGHrhGArx0sQu-GAVLIiaAV_2bK3GqAZmKh9EDt9pRles551ge68gzHXyhzE-f0WYe30PEeyK6DciikcsbgPrjjc990FUTog/s400/Kings+Creek+Walk_007.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Sunset on the George Gill Range, Kings Canyon, N.T. – Apr 2011.</span></span></i><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Marion joined me as the final purple colours deepened and the sun disappeared below the horizon; we sat in our folding chairs taking in the scene and myself enjoying a cold glass of chardonnay to end a great day in the bush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was almost a shame to retire to the caravan for the evening meal and a well earned early night.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Monday 4 April 2011:</span></b><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Today is our last day at Kings Canyon and we have done all we planned to do, although there is a short walk to do around the resort itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have been told to take this walk in the afternoon as the changing colours on the mountains are more spectacular at that time of day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were only too pleased to take up the morning relaxing and reading; and I also put in some work on our travel blog on the laptop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine my surprise when I caught some movement at the caravan door in my peripheral vision and looked out to see a dingo casually sauntering past our front step!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I alerted Marion who was lying on the bed and as she drew back the curtain to look yet another dingo showed itself at the door!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I reached for the camera and made a beeline for the door but by the time I got outside the dingos had run off into the bush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did get one photograph, but it is very hard to see one dingo amongst the trees in the photo and I have not used it here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were the first dingos we had seen here although there were plenty of warnings about the resort. </span><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The ablutions blocks are all fitted with wire gates at each entrance and signs warn patrons to close the gates behind them when they entered in order to keep the wildlife out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dingos which visited our van did not make a sound and showed no aggression at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I have witnessed this behaviour during the hours of darkness, I have never seen it in daylight before; quite an experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The galahs (parrots) in the trees above our van put on a show of annoyance and kept screeching until the dingos had gone away; obviously the birds did not like them at all. </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUlBWxsgaipmxr0MB7_-RBVSf_hFxJ62yrHOzTHAE6gDyc2Umw7IQDR0jMs9ymh69DTvTzsnnlrskzZC6jObY2qFFoecd-7hzOnMc5xmN89Twmz05JKSEBn144kXPAu_gjRDfFXkcMVwQ/s1600/Kings+Creek+Walk_010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="265" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUlBWxsgaipmxr0MB7_-RBVSf_hFxJ62yrHOzTHAE6gDyc2Umw7IQDR0jMs9ymh69DTvTzsnnlrskzZC6jObY2qFFoecd-7hzOnMc5xmN89Twmz05JKSEBn144kXPAu_gjRDfFXkcMVwQ/s400/Kings+Creek+Walk_010.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Our site at Kings Canyon Resort, N.T. April 2011.</span></span></em></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">We donned our fly screen hats and went for a short walk around the resort, discovering the "views" we had been told about were right there at our caravan! At least we got some exercise. The little bush flys were not too numerous but were there in just enough numbers to be annoying whilst walking along. Our fly screen hats worked well and we were glad we had taken them with us. All in all we had enjoyed our stay at Kings Canyon and can not cross it off our wish list of places to go and see. It was time to start getting ready for an early departure the next morning.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChc7_oWA7Ymq6G2YB_F3USx0MnPkyyWFZkIXWDqGn220P_DcR4F82pEqZ6qaGnhGJwD91Vnvn4P-cMBiXm0ieWrTtZazyYLDK_fohahULNoXBO7vgI59eRy_y-W_imn_-L2YFTXyKEwc/s1600/Kings+Creek+Walk_009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChc7_oWA7Ymq6G2YB_F3USx0MnPkyyWFZkIXWDqGn220P_DcR4F82pEqZ6qaGnhGJwD91Vnvn4P-cMBiXm0ieWrTtZazyYLDK_fohahULNoXBO7vgI59eRy_y-W_imn_-L2YFTXyKEwc/s320/Kings+Creek+Walk_009.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Bob and Marion with their fly screen walking hats. April 2011.</em></span></span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tuesday 5 April 2011:</span></strong><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>06.00am.</strong> We departed Kings Canyon Resort just on dawn and were treated to a glorious sunrise as travelled east towards the main highway once again. We were so taken with the sunrise I stopped to take a photograph, before continuing our journey.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuJUYimd_UW50R_KoKVXA8Hc8RlT4Ia28WLgJPa0hqGs_DtPqscQ7yh81RWxG812IpuOL9VfU_0AyCjUZqy3QfosgnNj4CxjkRXi_7qPWnrO0h9i6klrYZpNDgYN5F3jjRO0xjLnX7yAI/s1600/IMG_8338_cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="199" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuJUYimd_UW50R_KoKVXA8Hc8RlT4Ia28WLgJPa0hqGs_DtPqscQ7yh81RWxG812IpuOL9VfU_0AyCjUZqy3QfosgnNj4CxjkRXi_7qPWnrO0h9i6klrYZpNDgYN5F3jjRO0xjLnX7yAI/s400/IMG_8338_cropped.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Sunrise Luritja Road near Kings Canyon - April 2011.</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We continued on in the growing daylight and it was not long before daylight flooded the country side and we could observe the wildlife as we passed. We were privilged to spot several flocks of Major Mitchell cockatoos sitting in trees beside the road. It was great to see them as these birds are becoming quite rare and can only be found in remote parts of Australia.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfV_lg0q8gFfVI9GKfsIM5RqOSd9-FIhp8rNe5BkP6JWldh9vALR8s40IE0raJk3RKG-wZtawhGavq0vvyK7uWpcFmP3urbYvq3a2LDQJg0qBgEuLNvX-Vyep8KJE_FP5HuqylfxXUIA/s1600/MajorMitchellCockatoo_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfV_lg0q8gFfVI9GKfsIM5RqOSd9-FIhp8rNe5BkP6JWldh9vALR8s40IE0raJk3RKG-wZtawhGavq0vvyK7uWpcFmP3urbYvq3a2LDQJg0qBgEuLNvX-Vyep8KJE_FP5HuqylfxXUIA/s320/MajorMitchellCockatoo_01.jpg" width="272" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As we turned a corner we crested a small sand dune and there on the side of the road was a large feral camel. He stood very tall and gave us a regal stare as we drove past. This was the only camel we saw on this trip, although we had seen them before during the course of other trips.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-5mUBAO1w3IxU7hWyD-icgUqwvONJ1rbcDQ6yvic2-QZ03Bd48WEueU-USpYX1pej934MBSWURsBDEQEBgPnjQfIj12XqiR61pKZ9PsO4j3o14QIzbXyJoR4lqztGSorPfaY1w60ct94/s1600/camel+wild+australian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-5mUBAO1w3IxU7hWyD-icgUqwvONJ1rbcDQ6yvic2-QZ03Bd48WEueU-USpYX1pej934MBSWURsBDEQEBgPnjQfIj12XqiR61pKZ9PsO4j3o14QIzbXyJoR4lqztGSorPfaY1w60ct94/s1600/camel+wild+australian.jpg" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em> <span style="font-size: x-small;"> Feral Camel - Australia.</span></em></span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>08.05am.</strong> We turned onto the Lasseter Highway and continued towards the Stuart Highway. We now had just over 100km to go before we reached the Stuart Highway and then we would continue on to Alice Springs. We arrived at Erldunda at <strong>09.19am</strong> and turned north towards "The Alice". We covered the 193km in good time, arriving at Alice Springs at <strong>11.42am</strong> and after booking in with the friendly staff at the MacDonnell Range Holiday Park, we were soon set up and enjoying a relaxing afternoon. We took a drive into town to obtain some supplies and drove up to Anzac Hill lookout to revist the view of the town from there.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3jliX4kLgXQl8dIjdZ6Tink065Cxd-m062zInM6_63hRm92Q9qw1a_4QFFyUBafrEpgRuaMbfRx2CRTzugmSg3NVzU-8rK1SCWR7YiQofM6oUtTmVFCH9TWOPmmPlq3echJcR6Ci9PE/s1600/Alice+Springs_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3jliX4kLgXQl8dIjdZ6Tink065Cxd-m062zInM6_63hRm92Q9qw1a_4QFFyUBafrEpgRuaMbfRx2CRTzugmSg3NVzU-8rK1SCWR7YiQofM6oUtTmVFCH9TWOPmmPlq3echJcR6Ci9PE/s320/Alice+Springs_01.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Alice Springs - April 2011.</em></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A nice cold beer and a relax in the shade on the grass, back at the caravan park rounded off a pleasant day. To morrow we would commence exploring the region in ernest.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wednesday 6 April 2011:</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today we planned on driving out along Larapinta Drive to the Finke River and Palm Valley near the <span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hermannsburg Mission. We set out to drive the 127km to the Finke River, where the road passed by Hermansburg. The road into Palm Valley was four wheel drive only and followed the river along its course. As we travelled along the bitumen road we spotted a small herd of brumbies but they were very wary and galloped off when I stopped the car. We found that several of the small creeks crossing the road had recently been in flood and water covered the road at many of these crossings.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbB0m-AcfKk7qB__CCQKTUAzqHGV1BLiN9R7bATzUk2s9XbI3tSOmkcpYe644-g82iReAnhwQVVQ4ce_am51vDXK6pWoBhozLopbOMoa_7b9twi7VTSvH39o4rYk632SNfu3nqw1oCzY/s1600/Finke+Trip_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbB0m-AcfKk7qB__CCQKTUAzqHGV1BLiN9R7bATzUk2s9XbI3tSOmkcpYe644-g82iReAnhwQVVQ4ce_am51vDXK6pWoBhozLopbOMoa_7b9twi7VTSvH39o4rYk632SNfu3nqw1oCzY/s320/Finke+Trip_001.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><em> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Crossing recently flooded creek bed en route to Palm Valley.</span></em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">We duly reached the small mission settlement of <span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hermannsburg and decided to call in on the way back; in the meantime we continued on our journey. Imagine our surprise when a short distance on we came to the cement causeway crossing the Finke River, only to find the floods had destroyed one lane of the crossing! We stopped to watch the aboriginal children playing in the river before crossing over on the one remaining lane.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3idAsHgeAVowGQbwCPO1kEnwz9Cl1MBRzVB2WjGco-Yz5L7YgeqUjzxLTn7tYcx-MQP-VgMtFxE5Vr7t6rkbqbuQr5DbS6havz1qVC42BEbd62j4rNqIVixiFaRTEmU6HDdi1QAZWNfU/s1600/Finke+Trip_002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3idAsHgeAVowGQbwCPO1kEnwz9Cl1MBRzVB2WjGco-Yz5L7YgeqUjzxLTn7tYcx-MQP-VgMtFxE5Vr7t6rkbqbuQr5DbS6havz1qVC42BEbd62j4rNqIVixiFaRTEmU6HDdi1QAZWNfU/s320/Finke+Trip_002.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Finke River flood damaged causeway, <span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hermannsburg.</span></span></span></em></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Just over the causeway the bitumen ended and we turned left onto the 4WD track leading to Palm Valley, which was about 16km further on. We found the going relatively easy for most of the way, but there were places where engaging four wheel drive was the prudent course of action, to avoid getting bogged in the soft sand. In places the track virtually disappeared and one had to follow along the river bed until the track became evident once again.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3Ifur9iCnx1P2j7lae7RQF9PaU4Xc5O32TpGYFHkCMoNJo3HuVeXHDHuc6WdQ0G2yXno1yXrBb2XzHVtXmtiiL5bskjd1bh59bDsToyx-DHYfwJvtcVsAHV0eBbtH10OVI7u0jubWBQ/s1600/Finke+Trip_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3Ifur9iCnx1P2j7lae7RQF9PaU4Xc5O32TpGYFHkCMoNJo3HuVeXHDHuc6WdQ0G2yXno1yXrBb2XzHVtXmtiiL5bskjd1bh59bDsToyx-DHYfwJvtcVsAHV0eBbtH10OVI7u0jubWBQ/s320/Finke+Trip_003.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Bob & Marion at Finke River, N.T.</span></span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitkTTwagU_KwBiyt72pFLmTAYyrAwYk8ZhLecuvmTTbIoevSh95tqyI1xjHIJED7Uyl_3ejKVaBuS8hOegemYdfj8PtzI-Nc3KERTsuQfyjiQGycZCF97YOakadaZQz_ZlunKRNmVbQGU/s1600/Finke+Trip_004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitkTTwagU_KwBiyt72pFLmTAYyrAwYk8ZhLecuvmTTbIoevSh95tqyI1xjHIJED7Uyl_3ejKVaBuS8hOegemYdfj8PtzI-Nc3KERTsuQfyjiQGycZCF97YOakadaZQz_ZlunKRNmVbQGU/s320/Finke+Trip_004.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Bob at the entrance to the national park.</em></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27ISSN7hraQn2JaKTqGKrgraMGQe7uoGkcUCZwSoYY4spdDyN4mSnRX0-9mvbQ_ljB5a9eoERUlluc-SnXewunYkRKjN78QMmFW-XSCofZ4YO_0_MHFO51RFtUfcf5vnPv01L3cQCEes/s1600/Finke+Trip_005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27ISSN7hraQn2JaKTqGKrgraMGQe7uoGkcUCZwSoYY4spdDyN4mSnRX0-9mvbQ_ljB5a9eoERUlluc-SnXewunYkRKjN78QMmFW-XSCofZ4YO_0_MHFO51RFtUfcf5vnPv01L3cQCEes/s320/Finke+Trip_005.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Some of the rock landscapes were unique.</em></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xVlZO1r34kZG0nzDeNpeGMI_L2QUHlnUiDJ43b8BpcJzizYGamZxRl6d-mchDRoj0v_Qu9CVmpL1nzKIHXgsQAPmT_6h5u96dqbCkN8PKCvkAAgAz7ODibxZSbGL_hGcWRyn-XDlu0E/s1600/Finke+Trip_006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xVlZO1r34kZG0nzDeNpeGMI_L2QUHlnUiDJ43b8BpcJzizYGamZxRl6d-mchDRoj0v_Qu9CVmpL1nzKIHXgsQAPmT_6h5u96dqbCkN8PKCvkAAgAz7ODibxZSbGL_hGcWRyn-XDlu0E/s320/Finke+Trip_006.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>The track disappeared in places.</em></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We finally reached the beginning of Palm Valley and stopped to take in the beauty of this unique oasis in the middle of the desert. Rising in the West MacDonnell Ranges, the ancient Finke River meanders for nearly 700kms, across plains and rugged mountain ranges, before soaking into the sands of the desert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the backbone of the Centre’s largest drainage system, creating a ribbon of life through a region where rainfall is uncertain and drought is almost guaranteed. Having driven through this landscape we came to appreciate mother nature's creation all the more.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdtTh7Fc2iJYvMXL7ghq94zzdflm6VApwymINgW4Pn_fHDA0lMtix56pWFdJsGmGFOb0Hm5LWVnPJ8s8QGJ3CxT5-IeRqRwWvajCf9xdNb2kDH185vsPHozbW1FpxDkpQ9fYlP2KbJirc/s1600/Finke+Trip_007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdtTh7Fc2iJYvMXL7ghq94zzdflm6VApwymINgW4Pn_fHDA0lMtix56pWFdJsGmGFOb0Hm5LWVnPJ8s8QGJ3CxT5-IeRqRwWvajCf9xdNb2kDH185vsPHozbW1FpxDkpQ9fYlP2KbJirc/s320/Finke+Trip_007.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>First sighting of Palm Valley, N.T.</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After spending some time exploring the area and admiring the scenery, we continued on to find the main location of Palm Valley as per the map we had in our possession. After several more crossings of the river we finally came to the end of the track, where we found the entrance to Palm Valley proper; and an information shelter. We greeted one of the park rangers who happened to be there at the time and then sat down to read the information contained on the boards in the shelter. We learned the following from Wikipedia:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Palm Valley</span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">, within the Finke Gorge National Park, is an east-west running valley in the </span>Krichauff<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Range 123 km (138 km by road) southwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Australia. Palm Valley and the surrounding area is the only place in Central Australia where </span><i>Livistona</i><i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span>mariae</i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> palms (also known as Red Cabbage Palms) survive. The nearest specimens are 850 </span>kilometres<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> away in Queensland. The valley is indicative of central Australia’s tropical past, whereas the region is now largely dry Central Ranges xeric shrub land.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">The average rainfall for Palm Valley is only 200 mm per year. Although the gorge usually appears dry, there are some small pockets of semi-permanent spring-fed pools that allow the unique flora in this region to survive. During significant rainfall in the region, an expanse of water can be witnessed flowing through the valley gorge. During such events, a variety of aquatic life such as desert fish, shield shrimps (</span>Triops<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span>australiensis<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">), tadpoles and frogs can flourish.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We also read about the growth of cycads on the rock walls surround the valley, many of which were on display within our sight.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQUk1F_Nz6_28YAUrUiNRe55MskdSlwz7yi_agggExVp65krCuEFRH9AkSg7cZbE66AdluTqO6Uhg_tCztl7TH5QMxO2_ghPXSAeOsy9NeZCTd-8-SC15J7kntOM2fzud5ZQcjPQJQoXI/s1600/Finke+Trip_008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQUk1F_Nz6_28YAUrUiNRe55MskdSlwz7yi_agggExVp65krCuEFRH9AkSg7cZbE66AdluTqO6Uhg_tCztl7TH5QMxO2_ghPXSAeOsy9NeZCTd-8-SC15J7kntOM2fzud5ZQcjPQJQoXI/s320/Finke+Trip_008.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Palm Valley - the end of the track.</em></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We sat down to have a picnic lunch and discussed the adventure we had experienced in getting to the valley. It was indeed an experience not to be missed, and although Marion had her heart in her mouth at a few river crossings we had enjoyed the drive. I personally had a sense of achievement, having successfully negotiated one or two obtacles mother nature had placed in our path. My approach to the track had been to take it easy, engage the high and low range 4x4 transmission as needed and pick a good line to follow. The road was quite good most of the way, but care had to be exercised if one were to safely negotiate this track.<br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We decided to count the river crossings on the way back and to our surprise found we actually crossed the Finke River thirteen (13) times, in addition to a few deep pools in amongst the rocks, caused by recent flood rains. I made no mistakes on the return trip and took it easy when crossing the river.<br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0x16I-ZQJt35ENg8Xb7PCUnuQg3GNSofqaLdkwCC_-YWFYJfr_itjYQQFP8PPzmb33_dj4Gy_keq30epX1D-wAyeoeGBlBsz-cGxNVABQmOKvt-N61uprfACq28xLepVnX5lXUidvd1s/s1600/Finke+Trip_009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0x16I-ZQJt35ENg8Xb7PCUnuQg3GNSofqaLdkwCC_-YWFYJfr_itjYQQFP8PPzmb33_dj4Gy_keq30epX1D-wAyeoeGBlBsz-cGxNVABQmOKvt-N61uprfACq28xLepVnX5lXUidvd1s/s320/Finke+Trip_009.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Crossing the Finke River en route home.</span></span></em></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>Once back on the bitumen we called into Hermannsburg Mission Community to have a look around this old settlement.</em><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Hermannsburg</span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> is an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory of Australia, 131 km southwest of Alice Springs. It is known in the local Western Arrernte language as </span>Ntaria<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="googqs-tidbit">At the 2006 census, Hermannsburg had a population of 559. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="googqs-tidbit">It was established as an Aboriginal mission in 1877 by two Lutheran missionaries from Germany who</span> had travelled overland from Bethany in the Barossa Valley in South Australia. They named their new mission after Hermannsburg in Germany where they had trained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1891, the missionaries left, but the settlement was continued by lay workers until, in 1894, Pastor Carl Strehlow arrived. His son T.G.H. </span>Strehlow<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> became a noted anthropologist and was initiated into Arrernte customs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pastor Strehlow learnt the local Western Arrernte language and is credited with translating the Bible into the language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Albert Namatjira was born at Hermannsburg in 1902. He developed the ability to use his acute observation of the land to paint Western-style </span>watercolours<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Painting in this style came to be known as the Hermannsburg School of painting. </span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">The mission land was handed over to traditional ownership in 1982. The Hermannsburg Historic Precinct was included on the Australian National Heritage List in April 2006. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of the historic township is now protected by the National Trust. [Source: Wikipedia.] </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of interest were the old buidings erected in the late 1800s most of which were still in use. The community had a happy atmosphere and was neat and tidy. We did not stay long as we were able to park and have a quick look around.</span></span></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiux-lxkJhIVZXf-BrAajsrEcMeIAW_ogaFUoZatXHb3PE3z93LlvcFkw5ySNZON_EcfcuXDEq8smQzfHgUbrUl0k3z7OlgpjTomVlNLlyzSFCN_eHGiwsYFdSf1_Tz3Ib_FnvOPuQehR4/s1600/Finke+Trip_010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiux-lxkJhIVZXf-BrAajsrEcMeIAW_ogaFUoZatXHb3PE3z93LlvcFkw5ySNZON_EcfcuXDEq8smQzfHgUbrUl0k3z7OlgpjTomVlNLlyzSFCN_eHGiwsYFdSf1_Tz3Ib_FnvOPuQehR4/s320/Finke+Trip_010.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Hermannsburg Mission Community, N.T.</span></span></em></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p>It was now time for us to return home and we made good time on the bitumen, which was quite a change after the rigors of the 4WD track out to Palm Valley. Once home we sat down and relaxed whilst planning tomorrow's trip out to the gorges.</o:p><br />
</span></span></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thursday 7 April 2011:</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today we planned on another full day "on the road" checking out the gorges to found along the Namatjira Drive. We knew there were several gorges; and having read up on the subject, we decided to visit Redbank Gorge, Glen Helen Gorge and Ellery Creek (big hole). We found it was a drive of some 127km to Redbank Gorge and we spent some time going for a walk along the dry sandy creek bed meandering through the gorge. I have to say we weren't too impressed with this gorge, but better to have gone for a "look see" than to spend the rest of our lives wandering what it was like.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc0DsEJOOgRLHQ9Hud-g2r1vPFBzBz7ia1Gv31-XyUPJzO64FQ_oJzBZU5otw067tfVAg6cQt7UJMxTcVt8i05GZesG9o-zVWTsGFRPR2seR4IxktyInGDL3hi0juYejRdp0MmbK1_aE4/s1600/Alice+Gorges_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc0DsEJOOgRLHQ9Hud-g2r1vPFBzBz7ia1Gv31-XyUPJzO64FQ_oJzBZU5otw067tfVAg6cQt7UJMxTcVt8i05GZesG9o-zVWTsGFRPR2seR4IxktyInGDL3hi0juYejRdp0MmbK1_aE4/s320/Alice+Gorges_001.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Redbank Gorge from the lookout, N.T.</em></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Back towards Alice Springs, some 29km we turned off the road into Glen Helen Gorge. This historic site boasted a hotel/store and the gorge itself was impressive. En route to Glen Helen we were struck by the differing landscape on either side of the road and I stopped to take some photographs to demonstrate this diversity.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyupausNdOuFR6JtTQ184r_M_h8MUtxNZTbrmQ5kVEy7WYm8ttR6WymbzvrysSfsCl7yblPG7vNLI0kzdRG4dQc46JH8daC95OCyLjSAq46CWnOPkhqQ3ibDDMqFWADjlBMHuBihWM9gQ/s1600/Alice+Gorges_002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyupausNdOuFR6JtTQ184r_M_h8MUtxNZTbrmQ5kVEy7WYm8ttR6WymbzvrysSfsCl7yblPG7vNLI0kzdRG4dQc46JH8daC95OCyLjSAq46CWnOPkhqQ3ibDDMqFWADjlBMHuBihWM9gQ/s320/Alice+Gorges_002.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>The differing landscape on either side of the highway - note the ribbons of colour above.</em></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlllAKWauWe-tXaAYCWEIWSJN9Tn9csBDYS36hyphenhyphenLqxYb5etb6jFE11wT321edolDLWP3XREjsLMLXae5gvvOEvjhhKGpoz90JGjcM1IGrtMiKW2S-UeSi7sPF2P53ojUoww7my0Pp0D-c/s1600/Alice+Gorges_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlllAKWauWe-tXaAYCWEIWSJN9Tn9csBDYS36hyphenhyphenLqxYb5etb6jFE11wT321edolDLWP3XREjsLMLXae5gvvOEvjhhKGpoz90JGjcM1IGrtMiKW2S-UeSi7sPF2P53ojUoww7my0Pp0D-c/s320/Alice+Gorges_003.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">West MacDonnell Range near Alice Springs, N.T.</span></em></div><div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Arriving at Glen Helen Gorge we were immediately struck by the rock cliff wall on the South bank of the Finke River, immediately behind the hotel/resort building. This cliff is quite impressive and the cliff face has been sculpture by wind and rain to form an impressive sight.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhPHIU2ggWNWpoWnPnTAvD4xgSDXbYOFoQE0YBRWQxvmL_iObC4qJhJa5PYdP7ssJ260azyxdlSj1DwtAO3baGpEGPYH7n5YNUxM4MyCOVnhitRL0v5o5joGjHCnfxDuyOkohdqhJdFO4/s1600/Alice+Gorges_004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhPHIU2ggWNWpoWnPnTAvD4xgSDXbYOFoQE0YBRWQxvmL_iObC4qJhJa5PYdP7ssJ260azyxdlSj1DwtAO3baGpEGPYH7n5YNUxM4MyCOVnhitRL0v5o5joGjHCnfxDuyOkohdqhJdFO4/s320/Alice+Gorges_004.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Glen Helen Gorge, N.T. 98km West of Alice Springs.</span></span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We took the short walk along the edge of the river to the spot where the river cut through the gorge and turned South. This was quite a picturesque and well worth the walk to view it. We also saw quite a few small fish swimming in the pools along the river bank.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5rWIDfSlwo9aH2dq4KkgG5DHVIhzz9Lri9jeWbvVjv-VzcXbavd-MI-CRtd9ZXk2P7AWzMhONjqFPCkb27OenxUT4yFXYENI3pVdmh4nN46Vh0fPdZvDvLxuCDp_HH7Xbnlp1k4jUWI/s1600/Alice+Gorges_005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5rWIDfSlwo9aH2dq4KkgG5DHVIhzz9Lri9jeWbvVjv-VzcXbavd-MI-CRtd9ZXk2P7AWzMhONjqFPCkb27OenxUT4yFXYENI3pVdmh4nN46Vh0fPdZvDvLxuCDp_HH7Xbnlp1k4jUWI/s320/Alice+Gorges_005.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Finke River, Glen Helen Gorge, N.T.</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After a stroll through the resort building we drove back to Namatjira Drive and turned east towards The Alice once again. Some 87km from The Alice we turned off the road into the picnic area at The Big Hole; otherwise known as Ellery Creek. This water hole has its own sandy beach and is a great favourite with the Alice Springs community. After another short walk to the water hole we could see why it was so popular. There are picnic sheltes and facilities at the car park and in summer the water would be a welcome relief for swimmers.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg12FiOA5tu7yo78ghKbWjIPIqZayMsl6OGaaXRmn-5DxMRHSlKgGM0KAOBVtF7G1kX6CauRHpuzKwL1Y-ySy-lvJAx8XNVO5cb0ro7Pubx1KDPu02sl_NF8K95pZ8wR3Iw-t-djNtdx5o/s1600/Alice+Gorges_007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg12FiOA5tu7yo78ghKbWjIPIqZayMsl6OGaaXRmn-5DxMRHSlKgGM0KAOBVtF7G1kX6CauRHpuzKwL1Y-ySy-lvJAx8XNVO5cb0ro7Pubx1KDPu02sl_NF8K95pZ8wR3Iw-t-djNtdx5o/s320/Alice+Gorges_007.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Ellery Creek Big Hole, near Alice Springs, N.T.</em></span></span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our day trip was over after visiting Ellery Creek and we decided to give Simpson's Gap a miss as we had previously been there and it was now getting on timewise. We were looking forward to a relax at the caravan park. Thus another eventful day came to an end.</span></div><br />
<div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Friday 8 April 2011:</strong></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today was our last day in The Alice and we decided to go and have a look at the historice precinct at the Alice Springs Overland Telegraph Station. A look at the information boards in and around the precinct revealed the following informtion of interest.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Alice Springs Telegraph Station was one of eleven staffed repeater stations on the Overland Telegraph Line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This line consisted of a single strand of iron wire on 36,000 timber poles stretching 3,000 miles across Australia from Adelaide to Port Darwin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From Port Darwin a submarine cable beneath the sea to Singapore connected Australia to the rest of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>News from Britain which prior to 1872 had taken three months to reach Australia by sea now arrived within a few hours.<o:p> </o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1p2zNQR1Dj7oZN8jF8s27v7M3wy6s64kXc86XsuUKPRuRStW-KilYCmz6VppkBeNVrkLc2LOanhegS3wYsaXV6FI2Z0d9pLNisVYrgnQjynHnQbbIynJNRnXUeqI9MqdryOcbBtEK2cM/s1600/Alice+Tele_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1p2zNQR1Dj7oZN8jF8s27v7M3wy6s64kXc86XsuUKPRuRStW-KilYCmz6VppkBeNVrkLc2LOanhegS3wYsaXV6FI2Z0d9pLNisVYrgnQjynHnQbbIynJNRnXUeqI9MqdryOcbBtEK2cM/s320/Alice+Tele_01.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>The original Telegraph Station, Alice Springs, N.T.</em></span></span></div><div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Following upon the discovery of gold in the Eastern MacDonnell Ranges in 1887; the town of Stuart was gazetted on 28 November 1888.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The town was named after the explorer John McDouall Stuart who crossed the Australian continent from South to North in 1882.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The overland telegraph route followed his path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In response to public demand the town was renamed Alice Springs in 1933.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alice Springs was named in honour of Mrs Alice Todd the wife of Charles Todd, the South Australian Post Master General, who was given the responsibility of planning and constructing the overland telegraph line.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRakZrvDkf_dnUwD0tuQhCpf9j1mQ5Y-hjNR3L5Rk8NtsM8Vv8t2m8ykJrkKBJXUmWNfVpXEmQhhypRbjrodlxz96mk_B-F51LRM1VSPkUimLcOI_QfvBgDlzgHTsb9VhkdRjfGNS-z4/s1600/Alice+Tele_06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRakZrvDkf_dnUwD0tuQhCpf9j1mQ5Y-hjNR3L5Rk8NtsM8Vv8t2m8ykJrkKBJXUmWNfVpXEmQhhypRbjrodlxz96mk_B-F51LRM1VSPkUimLcOI_QfvBgDlzgHTsb9VhkdRjfGNS-z4/s320/Alice+Tele_06.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>The original Alice Springs was really a rock pool.</em></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A large outcrop of granite rock runs under the bed of the Todd River at this point, catching and holding any water that comes along. It gives the impression of a spring, but in fact is a rock pool perched on the underground granite rock.</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When we entered the old telegraph station we found two men busy at the telepgraph controls, obviously sending and receiving telegrams. They told us that this week they were celebrating the cententary of the station and would be operating the telegraph for three (3) days. We had just lucked in on this celebration! For $3.00 we were able to send our grandson Jake a telegram for his coming birthday; something of historic value he could hold onto as a keepsake for later years.</span></div><div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYkkAzlEg2lnPjC6udUwlN_scjSazBaA7Q0q8xoGJ-mYvA7yaPhJQGBbbDVDVqm6Eig-4ADOuc7-M5RnLT7vrxR5MUcGLyEETWSFsdOwP0F8ae8rDsiGSvkVLtHou5SlKryc9mVVFJk4s/s1600/Alice+Tele_05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYkkAzlEg2lnPjC6udUwlN_scjSazBaA7Q0q8xoGJ-mYvA7yaPhJQGBbbDVDVqm6Eig-4ADOuc7-M5RnLT7vrxR5MUcGLyEETWSFsdOwP0F8ae8rDsiGSvkVLtHou5SlKryc9mVVFJk4s/s320/Alice+Tele_05.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Telegraph in operation; centenary of the establishment - 8 April 2011.</em></span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thomas Elder imported 120 camels into Australia in 1866.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were the forerunners of the famous Afghan Camel Trains which served the outback for over fifty years; their tracks crossed two thirds of the country where horse and train could not go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the camel drivers were commonly referred to as Afghans, many were from Pakistan and Northern India also.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once a year during the period 1899 to 1908 the camel trains brought supplies into Alice Springs and the goods were stored at the Telegraph Station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine the thought that must have gone into that shopping list!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-WFJw0AU3Mw5GWLxGBgHvI_SDXfUKvcAXpTUQZRzRNpNBVqSXsmu3OvkEKI0uv0QUpOfvn55aFIyCRyu_BxjIijIR7vptKmHlXse01dSEofa4pUS8LmbpWitpiCJSRGfLXfuvTr420k/s1600/Alice+Tele_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-WFJw0AU3Mw5GWLxGBgHvI_SDXfUKvcAXpTUQZRzRNpNBVqSXsmu3OvkEKI0uv0QUpOfvn55aFIyCRyu_BxjIijIR7vptKmHlXse01dSEofa4pUS8LmbpWitpiCJSRGfLXfuvTr420k/s320/Alice+Tele_02.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Old camel train - Alice Springs, N.T. 1800s.</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We spent a couple of hours walking around the station precinct and touring the several building which were open to the public. Whilst having a look through the old barracks building, which was later used as a store and school, we noticed a couple of holes made in the walls. These holes were in fact rifle holes used by the early occupants to defend the building from attacks by Aboriginals. Whether or not they were ever used as such is a mute point, not enlarged upon by the literature.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBrA2S1EACWS2syCDmtIhEsJKBaVv3irBKXQ6o8UhgLTcV6OvWV_Z79Nuqfkorxv9dBM61XY0a5SLJ2wHDlDfdQEziIh_TRHVAKroD-zaMy2lDSSluIl-7987gkeoGN6pvso1jx3Gdwo/s1600/Alice+Tele_04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBrA2S1EACWS2syCDmtIhEsJKBaVv3irBKXQ6o8UhgLTcV6OvWV_Z79Nuqfkorxv9dBM61XY0a5SLJ2wHDlDfdQEziIh_TRHVAKroD-zaMy2lDSSluIl-7987gkeoGN6pvso1jx3Gdwo/s320/Alice+Tele_04.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Old Barracks building - note rifle hole centre left wall.</em></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After our visit to the telegraph station we drove around to the Stuart Caravan Park to visit our travelling friends Robyn and Peter and meet the Aboriginal artist, Tommy Crow. We were hoping to purchase a couple of his paintings but weren't sure if we could afford them. When we arrived we found Robyn and Peter at their caravan and after hearty greetings and a cup of tea, they took us over to meet Tommy Crow at his caravan. We found him working on his art in a small makeshift studio and he made us welcome to his humble abode. Tommy told us he had played the didgeridoo overseas and in Australia. HIs artwork has made him famous for his unique style and he uses his art to help close the 17yr life expectancy gap between whites and aboriginals in Australia by donating 10% of all proceeds to this project. We had a good talk with Tommy and found him to be friendly and intelligent; we were both very glad to meet him. He offered us some paintings and we ended up purchasing two of them from him.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">His website is </span><a href="http://www.sunsetdreamingaustralia.com.au/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.sunsetdreamingaustralia.com.au</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and is well worth a visit to see the televison advertisement he made for the Northern Territory and his history. His artwork is also available for sale on this website.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6TuHDL65Aq6fH-vbs6eeJwfd7LncAUpRaMCKXC7nG1UseO_0dv0aWxKOpqgAGt6FfAA9it6RNgpigLauxdyfSxQxrhxVxumqqva3gqTJ7wfIMef2nDvZQdkhF3y4ukbomGyvqRyaOXQ/s1600/Alice+TomCrow_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6TuHDL65Aq6fH-vbs6eeJwfd7LncAUpRaMCKXC7nG1UseO_0dv0aWxKOpqgAGt6FfAA9it6RNgpigLauxdyfSxQxrhxVxumqqva3gqTJ7wfIMef2nDvZQdkhF3y4ukbomGyvqRyaOXQ/s320/Alice+TomCrow_01.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Tommy Crow at work - Alice Springs, April 2011.</em></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWS2AMs_5llfTGGndRrPquYAw8CaqX1N6POark38s8yeVAzEIMXpzxCDowDF8HagvOU2XLhRiyThJfuYs6MZ_m70lCCmDoKx8aeVr_Zg7sQoksVuL50OumLy59njN-H7ulA16YVdlYNWc/s1600/Alice+TomCrow_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWS2AMs_5llfTGGndRrPquYAw8CaqX1N6POark38s8yeVAzEIMXpzxCDowDF8HagvOU2XLhRiyThJfuYs6MZ_m70lCCmDoKx8aeVr_Zg7sQoksVuL50OumLy59njN-H7ulA16YVdlYNWc/s320/Alice+TomCrow_02.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Tommy Crow and Bob with one of the paintings Bob & Marion purchased.</span></em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPoRCDwaRsettHOW0g7diK9iIG_GpBePlLhxsmi1h9SRfonp8SqDfPllD-K5DcMil2-Z6dE4Tsgv5WPBZlUeWb3k0kfz-R4PJcS9EmCSfGvUVCI9bb1RJaqY099Eh28SknNvFwqoVATlI/s1600/Alice+TomCrow_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPoRCDwaRsettHOW0g7diK9iIG_GpBePlLhxsmi1h9SRfonp8SqDfPllD-K5DcMil2-Z6dE4Tsgv5WPBZlUeWb3k0kfz-R4PJcS9EmCSfGvUVCI9bb1RJaqY099Eh28SknNvFwqoVATlI/s320/Alice+TomCrow_03.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Tommy Crow artwork - Stuart Caravan Park, Alice Springs.</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meeting Tommy Crow was a highlight of our visit to Alice Springs and an occasion we wont forget. We cannot thank Robyn and Peter enough for taking us to see him. After sitting down for another cuppa and a good chat, we finally said our goodbyes with hugs and promises to stay in touch. It was back to our caravan to have a relax and prepare for our departure the following day. We sat around feeding the birds that came to play around us and enjoyed a quite evening.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5R9j8j1zolJ3uQPvXd26P3X96UJV2iIyAGpEMChRfD_H7VevWl1KDyPq2L0I6gJEgmyxfsOWMV1QCDR-LTxnX6QrzAmhfaVjHwbAe4rggBMxgVmxzHxRrzOLGdsIWfvMXkSX_vlgiYI/s1600/Alice+CP_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5R9j8j1zolJ3uQPvXd26P3X96UJV2iIyAGpEMChRfD_H7VevWl1KDyPq2L0I6gJEgmyxfsOWMV1QCDR-LTxnX6QrzAmhfaVjHwbAe4rggBMxgVmxzHxRrzOLGdsIWfvMXkSX_vlgiYI/s320/Alice+CP_01.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Mynah Bird and Crested Pigeons.</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Saturday 9 April 2011:</strong></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>06.55am:</strong> Once again we were off to an early start as we wanted to take our time on the road, but still make some miles towards home via the Barkly Highway. We set off towards Tennant Creek along the Stuart Highway, passing through Ti Tree at <strong>09.18am</strong> and Barrow Creek at <strong>10.23am</strong>. We were making good time and passed through Wycliffe Well at <strong>11.31am</strong> before making Wauchope at <strong>11.45am</strong>. We were making good time and decided to call into the Devils Marbles (Karlu Karlu) to take some photos. We arrived at <strong>11.52am</strong> and whilst there I surprised a dingo who did not run for cover although he kept his distance.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_V6ql1griRRFjxLE82CReam9LqEYXsFAoZvOB2_EJ-iFKZ_oWPjWkOoHRquowpp3md8GSMi5QRaR2JlxnbXARM-FaO7ygLBEJRFNzbxtzYgadkjaFhrzloe1ulN_XVANyqrSqb0A5GI4/s1600/Devils+Marbles+NT_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_V6ql1griRRFjxLE82CReam9LqEYXsFAoZvOB2_EJ-iFKZ_oWPjWkOoHRquowpp3md8GSMi5QRaR2JlxnbXARM-FaO7ygLBEJRFNzbxtzYgadkjaFhrzloe1ulN_XVANyqrSqb0A5GI4/s320/Devils+Marbles+NT_001.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Devils Marbles near Tennant Creek, N.T.</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_fgHTZlWQMjKCm2Hzoj9bQVvl6311WySDdv9QG0zUJkaIDQYnXBfVWgEH_3Wlq8mJv1RlRYElbkSTh88J05P5gTBdLfgoL_WwXlO_KBEwsyVoBmsV17zRT7VBD-z6_DST3s_DEDUxYQ/s1600/Dingo+Devils+Marbles_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_fgHTZlWQMjKCm2Hzoj9bQVvl6311WySDdv9QG0zUJkaIDQYnXBfVWgEH_3Wlq8mJv1RlRYElbkSTh88J05P5gTBdLfgoL_WwXlO_KBEwsyVoBmsV17zRT7VBD-z6_DST3s_DEDUxYQ/s320/Dingo+Devils+Marbles_01.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Dingo at Devils Marbles N.T.</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We took our time having a look around and walking amongst the many rock formations that make up this interesting place, which is a sacred site to the Aboriginal community in the area. Generators are not allowed in the camping area any more as they are said to disturb the spirits living amongst the rocks. I'm not sure I go along with that, but I guess we have to respect the local beliefs.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1KlvW9adJZsPX-spqojb-NqBlW1GC5oVhrRnpQT0JqX1aamVfCzdTzs7WAO3RMccgZdXScN-BwXrXntBaDz6JRlUpyW5s9oeLNyfgrPhBaOyUyjcEHX3x_uo-w1RXe-2vUE21ujxq1Y/s1600/Devils+Marbles+NT_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1KlvW9adJZsPX-spqojb-NqBlW1GC5oVhrRnpQT0JqX1aamVfCzdTzs7WAO3RMccgZdXScN-BwXrXntBaDz6JRlUpyW5s9oeLNyfgrPhBaOyUyjcEHX3x_uo-w1RXe-2vUE21ujxq1Y/s320/Devils+Marbles+NT_003.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Edad1Cw1Aht3lluJl07gVnYOvjMri35ZZFZdDRSwXIiWDmA8ALSzTZ1mHO5wFcQbkdeYCLKGbi7HKCT2zeR2AtKOMjEgQhif6bBvZ5ZWgpY6gZnEjYnJ3QHyLdqx-nC3GHQ4DxttpvY/s1600/Devils+Marbles+NT_004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Edad1Cw1Aht3lluJl07gVnYOvjMri35ZZFZdDRSwXIiWDmA8ALSzTZ1mHO5wFcQbkdeYCLKGbi7HKCT2zeR2AtKOMjEgQhif6bBvZ5ZWgpY6gZnEjYnJ3QHyLdqx-nC3GHQ4DxttpvY/s320/Devils+Marbles+NT_004.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Devils Marbles N.T. April 2011.</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">We departed the Devils Marbles after lunch at <strong>12.32pm </strong>and arrived at Tennant Creek, where we topped up the tanks with diesel at <strong>1.48pm</strong>. Tennant Creek <span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> is a regional centre for the Barkly Tablelands in the Northern Territory, it contains government services and local business. Famous for being the site of the last great Australian gold rush it was also an important link to the overland telegraph station in the 1800s. The town is named after a local creek which the explorer Stuart named after one of his friends who helped finance one of his unsuccessful attempts to cross Australia south to north. (Stuart eventually succeeded in this endeavour.) </span> After a short drive around Tennant Creek we departed there at <strong>2.03pm. </strong></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At <strong>2.2.0pm</strong> we arrived at the three ways and turned right onto the Barkly Highway; we were now on the "last leg" of our trip home, although we have a few nights on the road to go yet. Passing the 41 mile bore and the Barkly Homestead we arrived at our overnight camp, Soudan Dip, at <strong>05.46pm.</strong> It did not take long to set up and get the generator going and Marion prepared a lovely evening meal. We watched a bit of satellite television to catch up on the local news at home and then retired for the night. Camping here for the night brought back memories of the last time we camped here on our way to Darwin with our grandson Jake. Jake and I had started a camp fire and sat around having a very serious discussion on the merits of life in the bush.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-WrNXQdH3pXhfAxnn9asA8iYdAQ0XupNfGnNcKlK8NvfjFEQlBIWtkZAQjYJ3DgOgs5l78Q7KCXw4qYJI2fnVjrubfTRdNV_DwvIzlgkfgrBUxTBN1cbOyP9G6LE6EijE9wqi07EwjVg/s1600/Soudan+Rest+Area+NT+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-WrNXQdH3pXhfAxnn9asA8iYdAQ0XupNfGnNcKlK8NvfjFEQlBIWtkZAQjYJ3DgOgs5l78Q7KCXw4qYJI2fnVjrubfTRdNV_DwvIzlgkfgrBUxTBN1cbOyP9G6LE6EijE9wqi07EwjVg/s320/Soudan+Rest+Area+NT+-+Copy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Jake and Bob Campfire Soudan Dip N.T.</span></em></div><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-27035959798699962492011-05-22T13:00:00.000+10:002011-05-24T08:46:19.485+10:00WEEK 5<div align="left" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"></div><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGnirWXDf6Zt7-SNxGrclbIOJ8LmuGv980bcwI34qwbZCeonRjGe57Pd8GCxeLig_ccqTIuA0ia52rhWp8n0-p7XuihJe0uPonmSJqeeo1q3br07wFc8kyG5S_8epxjW2PeaDX3eXFDY/s1600/Sunrise+Leaving+Kings+Canyon_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGnirWXDf6Zt7-SNxGrclbIOJ8LmuGv980bcwI34qwbZCeonRjGe57Pd8GCxeLig_ccqTIuA0ia52rhWp8n0-p7XuihJe0uPonmSJqeeo1q3br07wFc8kyG5S_8epxjW2PeaDX3eXFDY/s200/Sunrise+Leaving+Kings+Canyon_001.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CARAVAN TRAVELS AUSTRALIA WITH BOB & MARION CASSIDY</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Week 5 - Whyalla SA to Kings Canyon NT:</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Sunday 27 March 2011: </strong>As was our usual practice we went to the local church in the morning. After mass we again drove around for a short time before going to a local take-a-way for lunch. We then returned to the caravan, where we spent a quiet afternoon reading and relaxing out of the wind. We were actually feeling a bit depressed, what with the weather and the realisation that all our expenses in Adelaide, including equipment replacement, gas fittings and installations, had depleted our budget to the extent we were not confident we could afford to continue our trip to Perth. We pulled out the maps and made some calculations, before deciding we could still have a holiday by travelling north up the Stuart Highway to Woomera, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. We could also fulfil an ambition to go and see Kings Canyon, which we had bypassed when we last visited Ayers Rock (Uluru) in the Northern Territory some years ago. Having made this decision, we notified all those expecting to see us on our return trip and promised to travel down south to see them again next year. At least we can look forward to that trip, when we will also complete our intentions of exploringing the southern states on the east coast of Australia. Think positive, that's our motto! It was time to "burn our bridges" and move on. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Monday 28 March 2011:</strong> </span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>07.28am.</strong> Departing Whyalla was uneventful; however I had concerns that the vehicle would be covered in salt from the strong winds blowing in off the ocean during our stay on the foreshore. I informed Marion, who was very dubious, that I intended putting the car and caravan through a car wash when we got to Port Augusta. We arrived there at <strong>08.30am</strong> and found a large car wash on the eastern side of town. The attendant was a bit surprised to see a Toyota Landcruiser towing a caravan, pull into one of the bays and stayed with us to make sure we were going to fit into the washing bay. He gave us advice on how to use the washing equipment and hovered in the background whilst I did the job. When it was time to go I had a very tight turning space on then exit side of the washing bay, and just made it around burshing the wall lightly with the very end corner of the caravan's rear bumper bar. No damage eventuated to the wall or the bumper bar, and after thanking the attendant for his assistance we continued on our way with a clean rig. My worries about salt were over and Marion was much relieved. We drove back through town and turned right onto the Stuart Highway towards our intended destination, the old rocket range town of Woomera. At <strong>11.00am</strong> we stopped to photograph a salt lake named Island Lagoon which was almost full of water. This is a very rare occurrence in this desert country and we were reminded that last time we had passed this way the lake had been a dry white bed of salt.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/IslandLagoonSA01413373196463580172120110406090732.jpg" width="320" /><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Island Lagoon Salt Lake, Stuart Highway, South Australia.</span></em></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After our stop at Island Lagoon Salt Lake, we continued on, arriving at Woomera at <strong>11.40am</strong>. We set up the van and settled down to relax for the rest of the day, having decided to stay an extra night in order to give ourselves a full day to explore Woomera once again. We raised the satellite dish on top of the van and enjoyed some home grown Queensland television before retiring for the night.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Tuesday 29 March 2011:</strong></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We spent the morning at the Information Centre Rocket Museum and the Woomera Historic Museum, taking time to view an excellent DVD about the exploits of Len Beadell, surveyor and explorer. Len Beadell was responsible for surveying and building all the major outback roads in central Australia, including the Gunbarrel Highway and the Connie Sue Highway, named after one of his daughters. I had a special interest in his work as all the books he had written adorned my bookshelves at home. Len also identified and developed the sites for the testing of the atom bomb in outback South Australia. The fist site was called "Emu Claypan"; and atomic bombs (Totem 1 and 2) were exploded there on 15 and 27 October 1953 respectively, by the British. The second site was called "Maralinga" which is the aboriginal word for "thunder", and it was here that between 27 September 1956 and 9 October 1957 seven atomic bombs were exploded. Len went on to build several other roads that opened up the outback, including the Anne Beadel Highway and the Gary Highway named respectively after his children.</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" height="156" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/atombombmaralinga594898720686259476420110406090733.jpg" width="144" /><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Atomic bomb test, Emu Claypan, S.A.</span></em></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Len Beadell was also responsible for opening up the last remaining isolated desert areas (some 2.5 million square kilometers) of central Australia from 1947 to 1963. He is sometimes called "the last true Australian explorer". He is buried at Woomera in the local cemetery and </span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we drove out to the site, just outside the town to look at his grave.</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/LenBeadellGrave01843275281286296722720110406090733.jpg" width="320" /></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" height="290" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/LenBeadellGrave02511007893295091173820110406090733.jpg" style="height: 290px; width: 307px;" width="307" /></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Len Beadell Grave, Woomera S.A.</span></em></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After spending most of the day in and around Woomera town we returned to the caravan park to find we had new neighbours, Peter and Robyn from Daintree in Far North Queensland. After a visit to the bar in the caravan park for a quiet drink; we invited them over to our shade for drinks and had a good session enjoying each other's company with much laughter and anecdotes. We promised to met up again futher up the track.</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/WoomeraBar01810422590668754832420110406090734.jpg" width="320" /><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Woomera Caravan Park, S.A. Donga Bar.</span></em></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/WoomeraBar02369853027531886373320110406090734.jpg" width="320" /><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Inside the donga bar. Robyn is on the left. Woomera S.A.</span></em></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all we had enjoyed our short stay in Woomera.</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Wenesday 30 March 2011:</strong></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>06.57am. </strong> We quietely departed Woomera and drove north along the Stuart Highway towards Coober Pedy. We passed Lake Hart, another large salt lake and we were not surprised to see it was also full of water. It was obvious that Lake Eyre was not the only salt lake to have received some of the flood wates from the Queensland channel country and Cooper Creek system in the north. The last time we had seen Lake Hart it was an imense span of white salt baking in the harsh outback sun, with not a drop of water to be seen. Australia is indeed a land of contrasts.</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>11.21am. </strong>We arrived at Coober Pedy, South Australia. Approaching from the south was an experience as the panoramic moonscape of opal mining mounds consisting of white dirt had doubled in size from when we last saw it, and had spread southwards for mile after mile. We also passed over several overpasses under which wide mining roads leading to and from local iron ore mining operations had been constructed. The area had certainly changed since our last visit in 2006. We pulled into the Opal Inn Caravan Park and set up in time to go for a walk around town and enjoy a late lunch at one of the local resturants. After lunch we visited the Desert Inn underground opal centre, including the underground bar where we had enjoyed a few drinks during our last visit. I chatted to the manager, who was from Sri Lanka, and he pointed out one of the problems they are currently having with droplets of water penetrating the ceiling from above the man made caves. The solution to the problem had not been forthcoming at the time of writing. Taking more notice as we walked through the system of underground tunnels, we did notice seveal areas of ceiling where very small stalactites were forming. I wonder what will happen in the future if this problem is not overcome.</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/CooberPedy01368466513231310248520110406090734.jpg" width="320" /><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Desert Inn, Coober Pedy, S.A.</span></em></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From the Desert Inn we went to the Coober Pedy Underground Book Store where we browsed through the shelves and spent some time admiring the underground structure.</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/CooberPedy02612396228037063493720110406090734.jpg" width="320" /><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Underground Book Store.</span></em></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After walking around town we returned to the van and had a rest. Later that same afternoon Peter and Robyn arrived and set up near our site. We arranged to go out for tea to a Greek resturantnaed Tom and Mary's Greek Taverna, where I hoped to meet up with a friend we had met on our last trip, Angelo Legogiannis. In 2006 Angelo had been the tour guide for our bus trip out to the breakaways north east of Coober Pedy. We had become friends and enjoyed a marvelous evening with the family who then owned the resturant. Sadly the resturant had new owners now, Mario and Wendy, who were just as hospitable as Tom and Mary had been. On this occasion Angelo came along with his new wife and we all enjoyed an evening of fine food, fine wine and merriment. It was great reminiscing with Angelo and the evening passed all to quickly. All too soon we had to retire and get some sleep, as we were leaving Coober Pedy the next morning.</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Thursday 31 March 2011.</strong></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>0706am.</strong> We attempted a quiet departure, but I am sure we woke Peter and Robyn who were sleeping in! We were soon back on the open highway travelling north once again towards Marla and the Pedirka Desert, one of Australia's smallest deserts lying just north Oodnadatta. I knew I had to obtain fuel for the landcruiser and regretted not purchasing some at Coober Pedy, but it was too late now. <strong>1000am.</strong> We pulled into the Marla Roadhouse and fueled up. My wortst fears were realised; we paid $1.905/lt for diesel! Not the best planning by yours truly! My only concolation was that we now had enough fuel to last us until we got to Alice Springs where it would be somewhat cheaper. <strong>1156am.</strong> We arrived at the South Australia_Northern Territory border and pulled up at the rest area for a break. Imagine our stunned surprise when we observed the large iconic border structure was missing the respective state emblems which had been proudly displayed on each side for all the enjoy. Somebody had removed them! It must have been a mid-night job, because they would have needed ladders and tools to get them off the walls. What on earth possesses some people to steal something that was on display for all to see. We couldn't believe it!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGTLCsmOApUT2uyFfSd5O1P7mVFLdXhOIC2SrL3q6BJga_LJ898pjAhfPX2i_fPQLUjVYMNq_rmh3ifqBKQr2eBJ4ZUICs2qlFSwGS5Rg_f66RBA3rCHcWoMo6uAZeJouYfs0LwDSnMA/s1600/IMG_8230+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="266" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGTLCsmOApUT2uyFfSd5O1P7mVFLdXhOIC2SrL3q6BJga_LJ898pjAhfPX2i_fPQLUjVYMNq_rmh3ifqBKQr2eBJ4ZUICs2qlFSwGS5Rg_f66RBA3rCHcWoMo6uAZeJouYfs0LwDSnMA/s400/IMG_8230+-+Copy.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Marion at the S.A. _ N.T. Border. Note the dark circle high above where the missing emblem was once located.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">After a short rest here we were off again, hoping for an early stop at Kulgera in the Northern Territory. We duly arrived about an hour later - 12md NT time. [S.A. had been on daylight saving time.] It was just a basic caravan park with a large covered swimming pool and very clean ammenities. We were quite surprised as we also had power grass and shade. We decided to have lunch at the roadhouse resturant where we were served a large steak meal which the cook grumbled had been spoilt by my request to cook it "well done". Like most cooks he wanted to do it medium rare; however, I remained adamant I like my steak cooked not ozzing blood. We had a good yarn with him and he told us of his many travels around the outback. I suspect we could have been fascinated with some tall stories had we been staying longer. Later that afternoon Peter and Robyn arrived and we enjoyed a quite drink in the shade. As this would be the last time we saw them before meeting up again in Alice Springs, we exchanged telephone numbers and addresses and wished them a safe trip north, whilst we would be heading west to Kings Canyon. Both Peter and Robny had jobs lined up in Alice Springs and would be staying there indifinitely; thus it was only a matter of a week or so and we would meet up again.</span></div><div align="justify"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Friday 1 April 2011:</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>0639am.</strong> We were awake early the next morning and were soon on the road again. <strong>0731am.</strong> We arrived at Erldunda Roadhouse and turned west off the Stuart Highway onto the Lasseter Highway heading towards Mt Ebenezer arriving there at <strong>0810am</strong>. We had passed this roadhouse on our last trip and knew there was an aboriginal art gallery inside. Thinking it might be worth our while to have a look at the art, with a view to a purchase, we pulled up and went inside. We were told by the owner that no photos were allowed of the artwork and I assured him I would abide by the rule. We were pleasantly surprised by the contents of the art gallery and came across and original dot painting which was pleasing to the eye. Having decided to buy this painting, we were treated to a much more friendly reception. We took the time to have a chat with the two owners and were given a photocopy sheet showing a photograph of the artist and an explanation of the dot symbols on the painting. Apart from acquiring the painting, it was an interesting experience and we were glad we had stopped.</span></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh39FXsFxGlw0aCVtv3DrW96O0xswP86Pxb5w9Q8JOhxxT-MgnMtKGJbOfKMlgvU9Ye2LLB-Lspz9b5swhek_x_YVgeP9UK_FjwMwQWhRPd5-KOkXFyprHxCThcF6pRTHizu-XScon3LAw/s1600/IMG_8233+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="266" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh39FXsFxGlw0aCVtv3DrW96O0xswP86Pxb5w9Q8JOhxxT-MgnMtKGJbOfKMlgvU9Ye2LLB-Lspz9b5swhek_x_YVgeP9UK_FjwMwQWhRPd5-KOkXFyprHxCThcF6pRTHizu-XScon3LAw/s400/IMG_8233+-+Copy.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Mt Ebenzer Roadhouse N.T.</span></div><div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">We continued west and at <strong>0914am</strong>, some 53km on, we turned back north on the Luritja Highway leading to Kings Canyon. This highway was a good double lane sealed road and we had no trouble cruising along for about 139km before reaching the Kings Canyon resort where we had booked a powered caravan site. We were given our own choice of a site and found we could in fact occupy two sites as there were only a few caravans and motor homes booked in at this time of the year. <span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Kings Canyon</span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> is part of the Watarrka National Park in Northern Territory, Australia. Located near the western end of the George Gill Range, it is 323 km southwest of Alice Springs and 1,316 km south of Darwin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The walls of the canyon are in excess of 300 </span>metres<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> in height. </span>We intended spending the next three days exploring the area and going on some of the walks available; enjoying the bush and the wildlife, including birds and dingos. The dingos were not afraid of humans and one had to be careful not to encourage them as they were unpredictable. We had two dingos visit our site but they kept going and we did not feed them.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelOB45WJQ7W1tP_JDy6RLEj_iH9yplsDpKUTnC7XQP7gtte0U2E9ikW0UMpr64kTkMU86-NmU8IsIlGMKnqesNOFnKKI8eLNRXH6EuPcmEBnJFNQwSKQcbRTMIhdMRT3yv3QPhSAs23g/s1600/IMG_8238+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="266" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelOB45WJQ7W1tP_JDy6RLEj_iH9yplsDpKUTnC7XQP7gtte0U2E9ikW0UMpr64kTkMU86-NmU8IsIlGMKnqesNOFnKKI8eLNRXH6EuPcmEBnJFNQwSKQcbRTMIhdMRT3yv3QPhSAs23g/s400/IMG_8238+-+Copy.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Dingo Sign - Kings Canyon, N.T.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Saturday 2 May 2011:</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Kings Canyon Resort Day 1:</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">One of the easier walks in the National Park is the Kathleen Springs walk which is about 2.6km return from the car park. We set out in the morning and took our time exploring the walking track and the surrounds. At one very small pool of water in a creek bed we stayed for quite some time watching the birdlife come and go.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvP8eu8tmNtEraQ0EiImRoBMjzMOwymlFnzYz1GzxGex3jaMu7zovEbOxMTk8lVF1PJzBO4iYb0ihuE-8FrFMApS-tFJWoEVq8eIbQnST2ZQiK_j51ytImlKWjQHXKftgiwWOveBQhCPk/s1600/zebra+finches_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="195" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvP8eu8tmNtEraQ0EiImRoBMjzMOwymlFnzYz1GzxGex3jaMu7zovEbOxMTk8lVF1PJzBO4iYb0ihuE-8FrFMApS-tFJWoEVq8eIbQnST2ZQiK_j51ytImlKWjQHXKftgiwWOveBQhCPk/s320/zebra+finches_01.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Pair of Zebra Finches _ F left M right.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTX6d1Jsz6TTBZSdIclG_M22kMLat0d3NB_erBNI7rhiYaOEsYGm-hx9qgmK5Kuh4hcu1H9n5QAK3qRXDdG6DCtmkHDfH-strbYmOC5V4kaK0bSMQEufXPV6Bh4GoF8rgVWDxvGX-rsA/s1600/spinifex+pigeon_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTX6d1Jsz6TTBZSdIclG_M22kMLat0d3NB_erBNI7rhiYaOEsYGm-hx9qgmK5Kuh4hcu1H9n5QAK3qRXDdG6DCtmkHDfH-strbYmOC5V4kaK0bSMQEufXPV6Bh4GoF8rgVWDxvGX-rsA/s320/spinifex+pigeon_01.jpg" width="207" /></span></a></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Spinfex Pigeon.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The walk to the springs took us past some aboriginal rock carvings which had been registered as a sacred site and reminded me of wave marks made by the tide in the sand. The rock pool at the springs was quite large but did not look inviting to me. The walk was made all the more interesting by a number of information boards and we enjoyed the day out. On the way back to the car park we came upon a sand goanna and stopped to let him wander off the path into the bush. The zebra finches seemed to follow us from bush to bush as we walked along; I think they were as interested in us as we were in them.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Goanna on the path.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">On the way home I was taken with the rugged beauty of the hills and ranges and the cotton wood trees growing on the floor of the valley. They had a character all of their own and seemed to be a perfect fit in the landscape. We arrived home in time to clean up and wander over to the entertainment area where there was country music in the air. We stayed a while enjoying the show then headed back to the van for a meal and bed.</span></div><div align="justify"><br />
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</tbody></table></div>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-78313758943483767142011-05-22T12:16:00.000+10:002011-05-22T12:16:22.003+10:00WEEK 4<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sunday 20 March 2011: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Following mass at Henley Beach we went for a walk along the beach path to view the mouth of the River Torrens. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> The Torrens is not one of your "mighty rivers" but has a charm all of its own. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> Where it enters the sea at Henley Beach is quite a nice beach. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> We spent some time enjoying the sunny morning as we knew rain was on the way.</span></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/TorensRiver01710914351779875616320110326173010.jpg" width="320" /> <em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Mouth of River Torrens, S.A.</span></em></div><div align="justify"><em><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">One of the pelicans sitting on the barrage wall had a yellow tag fixed to its wing, identifying it as an "escapee" from the Adelaide Zoo. </span></em><em><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Another pelican sitting on top of an old pylon looked a bit "strange" to us. </span></em><em><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I have included a photo of this bird. </span></em><em><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Can you see the difference?</span></em></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/TorensRiver02719282912169228387120110326173010.jpg" width="320" /> <em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Fibre-glass Pelican Mouth of Torrens River, Henely Beach, S.A.</span></span></em></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">After a pleasant walk along the beach front path, we returned to our vehicle just as the rain began coming down. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Marion wanted to do some shopping at West Beach so we decided to have a "brunch" there as well. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We then drove over to Happy Valley to have a cuppa with Aunty Nat and say goodbye, as we were leaving on Monday for </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Melrose in the Flinders Ranges. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> After another enjoyable afternoon with Nat we returned to the van, where I connected my Garmin GPS Street Pilot to the laptop and downloaded a new set of maps of Australia. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> All went well and we had an up to date set of maps to assist us in our travels. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We were glad we had packed up the annexe on Saturday, as the rain did not let up for the rest of the day.</span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Monday 21 March 2011: </span></strong><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>07.51am</strong> </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">we departed Adelaide Shores Caravan Park and used the Port River Freeway to take us out of the City towards Melrose. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Passing through Nantawarra we were both struck by the beauty of the misty rain on the hills in the distance, </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">with rolling grazing downs in the foreground. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> It is times like these I wish I had a "wide angle" lens for photographing </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">the beauty of our land. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> At <strong>09.43am</strong> we stopped at a very small </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">town named Lochiel where I took some photographs of an old stone store and a large "pink" lake, which was not shown on the map.</span></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/LochielPinkLake01358762643759069938320110326192116.jpg" width="320" /> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Pink Lake, Lochiel, S.A.</span></em></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unfortunately the rain was persisting at the time and it was hard to get a photograph showing the </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">contrast necessary to highlight the pink colour in the lake. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> It can be seen if one looks carefully at the above photograph.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>10.06am</strong>: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> We passed through the town of Snowtown and kept going. </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>11.05:</strong> We passed through the town of Gladstone, with its historical goal, which we had inspected in the past.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>11.54: </strong> We arrived at Melrose. It was still raining a light misty rain and we quickly had the awning up for shelter and placed our tables and chairs out to sit and relax for awhile. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> Melrose is a very historical town situated at the foot of Mount Remarkable in the Flinders Ranges. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> For many years in the early 1800's </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">it was the northern-most outpost of whte settlement in South Australia. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> We had visited once before and found the name of one of Marion's </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">ancestors on a plaque in a park named Paradise Square.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> The area had once been the site of a makeshift burial ground; however the land was not consecrated and as many of the bodies as could be found were later disinterred and buried in the official cemetery out of the town.</span></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/MelroseParadisePark02803770318477030937920110326192116.jpg" width="320" /> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Paradise Park, Melrose - 1800's. </span></em></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Note </span></em></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">the graves to the left of the large gum tree and the Court House to the right of the tree.</span></em></span></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/MelroseParadisePark01487153655403504799420110326192117.jpg" width="320" /> <em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;">Paradise Park Melrose 2011. </span></em><em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;"> Note the same large gum tree with the memorial to those buried here; and the same Court House building to the right of the gum tree.</span></em></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our purpose </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">in Melrose was to further research </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Marion's </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">ancestors on the Willington side of her</span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> family. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Our first port of call was the old Police Station and Court House, which is now a museum. </span> <span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The gentleman there put us in touch with Margaret McCullum of the local Family History Society and we arranged to meet her at the society's </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">hall the following day. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I suggested we vist the coiuncil offices in Melrose to see if they had any records of the grave sites of the Willingtons buried at Melrose. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The lady we spoke to was most helpful and provided us with the site numbers and names of all the Willingtons buried in the official cemetery. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> She also informed us a family named Nott was related to the Willingtons and hence to Marion, by way of the marriage of a daughter to </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">one Charles Willington. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> In addition another daughter of the Nott family married Charles Willington's </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">half brother, William Willington. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We were finding more and more "extensions" to Marions family line. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">It turned out that William Nott was the surveyor who surveyed and laid out </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">the town of Melrose! </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The lady at the council office gave us the loan of a book on the history of Melrose; and promised to photocopy any pages we wanted. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> So far the town was </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">making us welcome! </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The gentleman at the Court House Museum had informed us </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">that one of the Willingtons still lived in Melrose and we determined that we should meet him during the course of our stay; bearing this in mind we decided to extend our stay by another day and let Marina, the park manager, know of our decision. </span> <span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">As soon as she learned of our purpose, Marina also mentioned Laurie Willington </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">to us. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We were starting to feel Marion was almost being accepted as a "local" by the townsfolk. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <em>This was to be confirmed the next day</em>. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Time got the better of us and we returned to the caravan in the misty rain to retire for the evening in the warmth and comfort or our home on wheels.</span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><em>Tuesday 22 March 2011: </em></span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">We were able to stay warm in the van for a late breakfast, before heading out</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> in the misty rain once again to keep our </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">appointment with Margaret McCullum at the Family History Society. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> Margaret was there waiting for us<em> </em>and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">proved to be a real help. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> She retrieved all the information available on the Willingtons and the Notts from a huge data base kept on their computers. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> In additon she unveiled a large library of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">original publications of "The Register" newspaper an </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">old Adelaide newspaper, in which were many death, birth and marriage notices of the families we were interested in. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> I was allowed to photograph all these items. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> She also </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">retrived a large number of original documents bearing official records such as land grants, surveys, and grave locations.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> Again I was allowed to photograph all these documents. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> As the morning quickly passed and we struck up a good rapport with her, Margaret told us she had a "special treat" for us. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> She went to another area of the hall and came back with two items. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> One was a small book which had been presented to one of Marions Great Great Grandfather's sons, Thomas Willington, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">as a local school prize. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> It bore the inscritpion inside the front page. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> She also brough a large framed document to the table and unwrapped it in front of us.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> The document was about 3ft x 2ft and was the original survey plan of Melrose, prepared by William Nott. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> I was allowed to photograph this document also. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Margaret kept going and produced more and more information for us. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> She then apologised for not being able to produce more! </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> By now it was well after lunch time and we decided to call it a day. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> Suddenly Margaret threw up her hands and told us she had almost forgotten a book written by one Robert Flynn on the convict Thomas Humphstone Willington and other members of Flynn family line. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> She produced the book and gave it to Marion, on loan, to read and return before we left town. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> This book had a complete list, generation by generation, of the whole Willington family!</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> Later that same day I rang the author, Rob Flynn, in Canberra; but sadly he informed me he had only produced fifty of the books and had none left to sell. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> He took my name and email with the promise to let me know if he decided to publish again; saying he only need twenty expressions of interest to do so.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">We left Margaret and drove a short distance </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">around town to see if we could find Laurie Willington. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> He was not at home. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> We then went to "Bluey's Blacksmith's Cafe" for a Pie Floater lunch.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">This tyypical S.A. meal is a home made </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">meat pie "floating" on a bed of mushy pea soup. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> It was the right weather for one! </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> No sooner had we entered the cafe than the proprietor asked us if we were the Queenslanders researching the Willingtons. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> We agreed we were and he produced </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">a photo copy of the baptisimal record of Charles Willington and gave it to us. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> Margaret had been on the job in our absence! </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> The proprietor and his wife chatted with us, and we were informed </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> that the historical old building we were sitting in had once been the shop belonging to one Edgar Willington, another of Marion's </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">relatives, who had a carpenter's </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">business on the spot in the time of the first world war. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">We were shown a set of shelves, now used as a display cabinet for all their old china and ornaments, which had been made by Edgar to house his tools. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> After a genial meal and cup of coffee, and the mandatory photographs, we decided to take advantage of a break in the rain to drive out to the cemetery and locate the several graves we had information </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">on.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">The cemetery is located some 7kms from the town; and when we inquired, we were informed this was so because there had originally been a concern in town that the graves would "smell and cause disease" - how times change. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">We easily found the graves we were looking for and I photographed each </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">one for our records.</span></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/MelroseWillingtonGraves017017693375277371520110326192117.jpg" width="320" /> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">The combined Willington-Nott family grave; with the grave of the carpenter, Edgar Willington, in the foregrond beside them.</span></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The rain held off long enough for me to take the photographs I wanted; then down it came again! </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We returned to thank Margaret McCullum once again and learnt that her family were pioneer graziers and they still owned most of the land surrounding the town. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We left Margaret with a </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">promise to leave the book she had lent us at the local store for </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">her to collect on Wednesday. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Returning to the van was a welcome respite as the rain was coming down again and we were ready for a rest. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tomorrow would be another day.</span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Wednesday 23 March 2011:</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We woke up and found we had no electricity! </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Apparently this was the third time in several </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">days that the power had failed. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> After breakfast we went for a drive around town and called in to chat with the proprietor of "Joe's Corner Store" </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">which was located in an old stone building. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We were informed the building had been constructed in 1927 </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">and had been a store from the outset. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We mentioned Thomas Willington's store, but did not obtain any informtion of relevance. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We had already discovered that Thomas had run a confectionary shop next to the local hotel; however that building had long since been demolished and a new business now stood in its place. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">From "Joe's Corner Store" </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">we went to Laurie Willington's </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">cottage </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">and found him sitting on the verandah having a snack. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We introduced ourelves and had a very interesting conversation. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We had been previously advised by the locals that "the mayor of Melrose" was a bit of a character; and we would not be invited inside his dwelling.</span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> This proved to be the case, </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">but the 85yr old Laurie was happy to talk to us and told us all about his family. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> We spent about thirty minutes or so with him, an exchanged notes with our respective details on them. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> When it was time to go, I asked him if he would agree to having a photograph taken with Marion. </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> He had no hestitation in agreeing and the photograph hereunder was taken outsite his cottage.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/WillingtonLaurieandMarion322294960161702761320110327092143.jpg" width="320" /> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Marion and Laurie Willington, 85yrs., outside his cottage, Melrose, S.A. March 2011.</span></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We left Laurie in </span><span style="font-family: arial , helvetica , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">good spirits vowing he would come and visit us in Queensland in the near future.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">We decided to have a "tourist" look at the town; and using a map provided at the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">caravan park, we took a self-drive tour. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> Our fist point of interest was the old brewery where the Jacka</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> Brothers had brewed "the best beer ever" from the late 1800's to the early 1900's </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">when the depression put them out of business.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Thursday 24 March 2011:</strong> </span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>08.28am:</strong></span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> We departed Melrose in misty rain, a condition we were getting used to by now. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> It was only 68km to Port Augusta via Wilmington and Horrocks Pass. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> As we descended from the mountains towards the coast the rain finally ceased and we had a clear view of the ocean as we approached Port Wakefield Road from the heights of Horrocks Pass. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> We arrived at Port Augusta at <strong>09.25am</strong> and kept going towards Whyalla, turning left onto the Lincoln Highway a short distance out of town. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> At <strong>10.55am</strong> we arrived at Whyalla, South Australia and found our way to The Foreshore Caravan Park, where we quickly set up and tied down the awning in anticipation of strong winds which had been forecast for later that day. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Peter, our neighbour, advised the location of a good fish and chips shop in the CBD.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> We had no trouble in finding "Barnacle Bills" </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and sat down to a great meal of King George Whiting </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">at a reasonable price. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> From there we drove out to the Information Centre and gathered up all the tourist information available.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> The RAN Corvette "HMAS Whyalla" </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> was on display as part of a maritime museum adjoining the Information Centre, and I took a couple of </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">photographs of this impressive vessel.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/HMASWhyalla298982008009578019220110405165355.jpg" width="320" /></span> <em><span>HMAS Whyalla, Whyalla Information Centre, South Australia.</span></em> <br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">After our visit to the Information Centre, we drove out to the other side of town to purchase fuel, before calling in to the shopping centre to have Marion's </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">glasses fixed. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> A lens had come out of the frame and was in danger of being lost. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The optometrist was most obliging and restored the glasses to their original condition without cost to us. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> When we arrived at the caravan park we found the wind was really blowing a gale! </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> A strong wind warning had now been issued and it was time to fold up the awning to ensure it wasn't </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">damaged. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> This was to be our lot for the next three days! </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The strong winds averaged forty knots continuously and we were also treated to some more rain for the duration of our stay. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Of course it all cleared up on the day of our departure; although the wind was still blowing when we left. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The locals informed us Whyalla was known as "Windy Whyalla" </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">and laughed off the conditions.</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The poor tourists were all suffering from cabin fever </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">as we could not sit outside and enjoy the ocean view. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Some of the oldies </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">got quite cranky about the weather and complained bitterly to all who would listen. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> It was a real shame, as our site was right on the beachfront and had a lovely view out to sea; </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">which could not be taken advantage of.</span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/WhyallaSeaview01814401469361457295920110405165355.jpg" width="320" /></span> <em><span>The view from our caravan, Foreshore Caravan Park, Whyalla, South </span></em><em><span>Australia.</span></em> <br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Friday and Saturday - 25 and 26 March 2011:</strong> </span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We holed up in our van for most of the time, but each day </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">we made the effort to drive out and take a look around the town. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Marion took advantage of a sunny Saturday morning and did some washing; it did not </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">take long to dry in the wind! </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I noticed some die-hards walking around with fisherman's </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">wet weather gear on, and carrying brand new rakes together with the </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">obligatory bucket! </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Inquiries on my part revealed that at low tide these </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">fishermen were walking out on the flats exposed by the receding waters, and raking up sand crabs! </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Most were very secretive </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> about the methodology involved; however one kind Italian informed me thus:</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> One had to walk about on the flats looking for a small blue circle in the sand. This was the back </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">of the sand crab, which was usually just exposed and indicated where it had buried itself whilst awaiting </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">the return of the tide. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> A quick rake with the implement described and hey presto! Crab for dinner! </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> He had caught ten that day, using this method. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I was not that desperate for crab meat and decided to stay warm in the van, whilst others braved the elements for their feed. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">One day I struck up a conversation with the park gardener and he told me how he had planted several </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">seedlings of Sturts Desert Pea a couple of years back and how all had died except one. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> From that one plant he had managed to raise three more, but try as he may most of the plants he attempted to raise would die off before reaching </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">maturity.</span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/SturtsDesertPea01465351219020243194720110405165356.jpg" width="320" /></span> <em><span>Sturt's Desert Pea, </span></em><em><span>Whyalla, South Australia.</span></em><br />
<div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The photo above does not do the plant justice as the flowers were dropping off at the time. When seen blooming in the desert this plant is spectacular and creates a lasting impression.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>END OF WEEK FOUR. </strong></span>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-19735275733648157152011-03-26T16:42:00.001+10:002011-03-26T16:42:43.202+10:00BACK TO PERTH CARAVAN TRIP WEEK 3<div class="pagination m0 mt20 mr20 small noclear">Page <b class="bigpondBlue underline">1</b> | <a href="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/index.do?ppg=1">2</a></div><div class="postDetails noflow"><h2><a href="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/post.do?id=595257">BACK TO PERTH 2011 - WEEK 3</a></h2><div class="postSubHead small">Sunday 13 March, 2011 - 11:06 by <a href="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/index.do?type=me">Bob and Marion</a> in <a href="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/index.do?type=category&catId=62188">Travel Log</a></div><div class="small">views (22) | rating <img alt="o" height="10" id="postRatingStarNonImage0" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/images/defaultTheme/ratingStar_non.gif" width="9" /><img alt="o" height="10" id="postRatingStarNonImage1" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/images/defaultTheme/ratingStar_non.gif" width="9" /><img alt="o" height="10" id="postRatingStarNonImage2" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/images/defaultTheme/ratingStar_non.gif" width="9" /><img alt="o" height="10" id="postRatingStarNonImage3" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/images/defaultTheme/ratingStar_non.gif" width="9" /><img alt="o" height="10" id="postRatingStarNonImage4" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/images/defaultTheme/ratingStar_non.gif" width="9" /> (0 votes)</div><div class="blogOutput noflow"><br />
<div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Sunday 13 March 2011:</strong> After Sunday mass at Henley Beach we returned to the van in order for Marion to complete some much needed washing of clothes. The forecast was for some showers that did not arrive so we were fortunate in that regard.</span></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/MarionWashing13March2011823695774808384156020110313111531.JPG" width="320" /></div><div align="justify"><em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Marion Washing 13 March 2011.</span></em></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">After lunch we drove over to Aunty Nat's house where Marion was generously given the use of Nat's </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">sewing machine to make some alterations to the </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">jeans and long trousers we purchased last Friday. We had a pleasant visit and watched the rainbow lorrikets feeding at the bird feeder whilst sipping our coffee. Back at the van we had a "scratch" evening meal and I retired early to read a good book. We had a telephone call from our daughter Cathie to advise us Jake had come down with suspected "Chickenpox" and would be going to the doctor on Monday. We immediately envisioned having to return home to look after him whilst his parents travelled to work. Sometimes we think this trip was not meant to be; given the late departure due to floods and hold ups with our solar installation, however time will tell.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Monday 14 March 2011:</strong> We both woke up at 4.00am this morning. We were worried about Jake and the possibility of baby Luke (Lucas) catching the disease from Jake. We discussed the possibility of going back home, but decided to wait for a report this morning. At 10.15am we received a telephone call from Cathie to advise all was well and the illness Jake had come down with was called "Hand, Foot & Mouth". It was not chickenpox, thank goodness!</span></div><div align="justify">Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common childhood illness that is caused by a viral infection (most commonly the Coxsackie A16 virus). It typically affects children under the age of 10 years, but older children and adults can also be affected. There is no relationship between hand, foot and mouth disease and the condition known as foot-and-mouth disease that affects animals. </div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cathie informed us the doctor was of the opinion</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> all would be well by Wednesday and Jake could return to school. In the meantime Beau had days off and would be looking after him. We could continue our trip! (Cathie was surprised we were even contemplating returning home; guess we are "worriers" at heart.) Today is a public holiday in Adelaide and nothing is open; thus we decided to stay "home" and complete some washing and maintenance. It would seem my deep cycle battery has called it a day after 4.5years of hard work. I currently (no pun intended) have it on a sophisticted machine </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">which is trying to re-condition it, without success I am afraid. Looks like we are in the market for a new one. The rest of the day has been spent reading and relaxing. Tomorrow we will be attending the funeral of John Koukourou's mother which will be a sad occasion for the whole family.</span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Tuesday 15 March 2011:</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">We drove to Unley early making sure we found the church and a parking spot, as we knew there would be a large number of friends and relatives attending the funeral of Mrs Katina Koukourou, John's mother. We entered St Spyridon's Greek Orthodox Church and took a seat towards the rear to await the arrival of Nat, Lee and Alan as arranged. Neither of us had attended a Greek Orthodox Church Service before and we had plenty of time to gaze upon the beautiful artwork depicting saints and religious adorning the walls of the church. There were also several very large chandeliers hanging from the ceiling one of which was of an enormuous size. We noticed an iconic painting standing just inside the entrance to the church proper; many of the congregation bent to kiss this painting as they entered. Katina was born in Rizokarpaso, Cyprus and lived from 1921 to 2011. She is now at rest with her husband, Stelios.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">After the ceremony we were taken by Alan and Lee, together with Nat, to the Buckingham Arms Hotel where they brought us a smorgasbord lunch. The food was excellent as was the wine and conversation! After lunch Marion and I went shopping before finally returning to the caravan for a well-earned rest.</span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Wednesday 16 March 2011:</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Today we struck out on our own to do the "tourist thing". We started with a drive to the Torrens Lake in the city center where we intending taking a cruise on the Lake in a "Popeye" boat. We were an hour early and spent the time walking along the bank and watching the ducks and swans at play. A couple of black swans swam over to us, no doubt looking for a "hand out", but we had nothing to offer.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><img alt="" height="234" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/swansblack02907370764667346978020110322093210.jpg" width="320" /> <em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Black Swans - Lake Torrens.</span></em></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">The boat finally arrived and we embarked upon our cruise. Being a week day we had only a few other passengers for company and the captain proved to be a genial host. When I went forward to take a photograph of one of the old bridges across the Torrens, he obligingly stopped the vessel and positioned it for the best angle of the shot.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> <img alt="" height="244" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/laketorrens02a244848505607216940420110322093211.jpg" width="320" /> <em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Oldest Bridge Over the Torrens Rv.</span></em></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">The banks of the Torrens along the city reach and the lake boasted landscaped lawns and gardens, all of which made for a postcard picture. As we slowly made our way upstream and down I thought the scene was a perfect setting for mole and his friends from "The Wind In The Willows" and I was reminded of the quote, "<span style="font-family: Verdana;">"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." - <span style="font-size: 9pt;">Kenneth Grahame, <em>The Wind in the Willows</em>, Ch. 1</span>.</span></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><img alt="" height="82" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/WindInTheWillows503512219797508618420110322091654.jpg" width="119" /><br />
<br />
Our voyage was over all to soon and as we returned to the dock the mist from the fountain floated gently over us, bidding us a fond farewell.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">After the boat trip we went to a little cafe nearby where we had lunch. We then drove to the Adelaide Zoo and paid our entry fee. Our first call was to see the two Giant Panda Bears, Wang Wang and Funi. We found one of them fast asleep in the panda house; however Funi was up and about and treated us to a good view.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><img alt="" height="320" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/panda01515076026353506503220110325182943.jpg" width="267" /></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Much to our delight Funi decided to inspect her enclosure and I got some good photos of her walking about.</span></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/panda0285796659752083064520110325182944.jpg" width="320" /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> <em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Funi, Adelaide Zoo.</span></em></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We then strolled around the zoo looking at all the exhibits. I felt a bit sorry for some of the larger animals as it did not seem appropriate for them to be caged up. I was particularly struck by the confinement of the lions, but they did seem content. One female bestowed a "lion's stare" upon me for several moments; those eyes bored right into me. She was a very large lion and I would hate to meet her on a path in the wild. I felt a bit privilaged that she choose to stare intently into my eyes for all those moments; I could see some of her spirit was still there.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">After the lions we found a couple of enclosures which house the famous tree kangaroo, which is so hard to see in the wild. I was at least glad to be able to photograph these unusual animals. Tree Kangaroos can also be found in New Guinea, as well as tropical North Queensland, Australia.</span></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/TreeKangaroo01430156530025773787120110325182944.jpg" width="320" /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> <em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Tree Kangaroo, Adelalde Zoo.</span></em></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">After leaving the zoo we returned home driving through heavy traffic. It was a bit intimidating coping with the beligerence of some drivers who seemed intent on maiming themselves and others as they approached round-abouts at speed and played "blindman's bluff" when changing lanes. I perservered with my sedate country style of driving and we eventually arrived back at the caravan park in one piece! Another day of high adventure was over.</span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Thursday 17 March 2011:</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">I spent the morning testing all our batteries as I was suspicious that at least one had given up the ghost in the caravan; and another in the car was not behaving normally either. To my consternation I found the deep cycle battery in the caravan was completely dead; although I must admit it was over 4yrs old. The auxilleries battery in the car had "gone out" in sympathy and after a bit over 2yrs work was also dead. It had been feeding off the cranking battery (used to start the car) and thus the cranking battery was feeling the strain when it came to starting the car. This is what alterted me in the first place. I spent a couple of hours ringing around for prices as these deep cyc</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">le batteries are not cheap to buy! I finally find a distributor who was prepared to sell me two batteries at "trade price" and his quote stacked up against all the others to the tune of $50.00 cheaper for each respective battery. We had to drive down to Port Adelaide which was about 8kms away, but it was worth it to get these batteries at the right price. By </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">the time all this was done the day was shot to pieces, so we returned to the van and relaxed for what was left of the day.</span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Friday 18 March 2011:</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Marion was attempting to do some early morning cooking on the gas stove in the van when she advised </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">me we were running out of gas. I turned the suspect cylinder over to the second cylinder, only to met with the declaration, "That one's empty as well. You will have to go and fill them up!" Now I was sure that the second cylinder was full; and was intent on proving my point. I removed each cylinder from inside the van's boot and attached a tester to each in turn. The first cylinder still had a quarter of a tank of gas in it; and the second was indeed full! Whilst this was a small win for the "mere male", it was a big problem. Something had gone wrong with the gas system! Either the gas line had been holed, or the regulator had a blockage. Maybe the regulator had collapsed entirely. I gave the regulaor a few taps with the hammer to see what would happen and Marion reported a slight increase in pressure before the flame immediately fell back to being just visible at the burner on the stove. That told me the regulator was faulty and would have to be replaced. I called a gas fitter on the telephone only to get no reply; all I could was leave a message and hope for the best. Just after 9.00am Mark from Waterworks Plumbing rang me. I explained our problems to him and he promised to come out to us at 11.00am, after he had done another job. I said a silent prayer that the "other job" would not take too long. True to his word Mark turned up just before 11.00am and made short work of testing the regulator, confirming my earlier diagnosis. He had to go away to obtain a new regulator of the correct type and promised to return ASP. Again I whispered a silent prayer that this would be so! Again true to his word, Mark was soon back with the new regulator and made short work of installing it and testing the system. I was very impressed with his professional approach and his genuine attitude. He charged us $87.00 for the new regulator and as I had priced them on the internet at $133.00 I was most impressed. We had planned to spend the day at Victor Harbour but gave that idea away, as it was far too late to be driving that far. Nothing was really lost as we had been to Victor Harbour a number of times in the past. Instead we went shopping for groceries and returned from the shops to the van for a well earned rest. Finally I had a functioning 12v system in the car and the van respectively; and a functioning gas system in the van. All was well and the worrying was over!</span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Saturday 19 March 2011:</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Our time in Adelaide was coming to an end. The two weeks had simply flown by and we wanted to do a bit more of the "tourist thing". Rain was forecast for our last day, Sunday, so we decided to head over to Glen Osmond to see the monastry of St Paul of the Cross which was owned by The Passionists order of monks. Lee and Alan had told us about The Sacred Garden in which large marble statues of the fourteen stations of the cross had been placed, and they said it was well worth going to see. We arrived in bright sunshine and parked in the grounds. The garden was easily found and we entered via a small pathway to find a peaceful and well landscaped garden.</span></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/StationCross01605906247406315260920110325182944.jpg" width="320" /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> <em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Station XI - Jesus Is Nailed To The Cross.</span></em></span></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/StationCross02533040747729117703620110325182944.jpg" width="320" /><em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;"> Station XI - Jesus Is Natled To The Cross. Close Up of Art Work.</span></em></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">The statues were strategically placed along the path and I was struck by the excellent work of the artist who had made them. I photographed each one taking our time as we proceeded from station to station. We also came across one of the biggest Moreton Bay Fig trees I have ever seen. A sign informed us it was planted in the 1850s. It was a magnifcent specimen even more so for being south of the latitude at which these trees are usually found.</span></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/FigTree018809315882549962920110325182944.jpg" width="320" /> <em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Moreton Bay </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Fig Tree circa 1850s.</span></span></em></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/FigTree02195290639911183097320110325182944.jpg" width="320" /> <em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Moreton Bay Fig circa 1850s.</span></em></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We left the garden in silent reflection upon what we had seen; it was not only the religious aspect of the Stations of the Cross, but the beautiful art work we had seen, that caused us to be so reflective. We went and visited the church where we saw some magnificent paintings. I hope these works of art will be preserved for future genertions to wonder at. After leaving the monastry we decided to drive across the City of Adelaide and the Torrens River to see the statue of Colnel Light, known as "Lights Vision". Imagine our surprise when we arrived to find a full scale Japanese Wedding in progress! I managed to get a couple of photos before leaving the scene to the wedding party.</span></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/ColoneLight01321099348288661761820110325185058.jpg" width="320" /> <em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Lights Vision, Adelaide, S.A.</span></em></div><div align="justify"><em><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Colonel William Light was </span></em><em><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">the first surveyor general of South Australi. He fixed the site and laid out the city of Adelaide in 1836. After a quiet drive through the CBD of Adelaide, we returned home to the van for the rest of the day. We discussed the fact that rain was expected on Sunday and Monday and decided to take down the annexe, in preparation for our departure on Monday, whilst it was still dry. This poved to be a wise decision. After the work was done, it was time to sit and relax in the shade with a glass of wine and chat with passers by. A very good day had come to an end.</span></em></div><div align="justify"><em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">END OF WEEK 3.</span></em></div></div></div>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-7982380189499886822011-03-08T08:27:00.000+10:002011-03-13T11:21:13.311+10:00Back to Perth Week 2<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Saturday 5 March 2011:</b> Having set up our site yesterday today was our settling in day. Whilst Marion did some washing I spent a very frustrating day trying to fix the html language mistakes that kept appearing in my Week 1 blog. No matter what I did the mistake kept coming back. I tried the suggestions in the help file, but nothing seemed to work. The problem centred around the Word document I had imported into the blog. After a very frustrating day I gave up and published with no photos and all the mistakes, determined to have another go when I got the chance. That was the end of Saturday! Eventually I got it right.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sunday 6 March 2011:</b> We were up in time to go to 9.30am mass at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Henley Beach and enjoyed a special mass for the children who had started school this year, it was heart warming to see them all singing "Butterfly Wings" and doing the actions that go with the song. Back at the caravan we had time to relax for a few hours, before setting out on the drive to Flagstaff Hill where we visited our cousin Jill and her husband John. Cousin Lee was there also with friend Allan; as was Aunty Nat. Jill's sons Adam and Justin popped in for a short visit an we said hello to Adams wife and children also. For reasons that will become apparent I have not mentioned surnames here. Jill must have worked for hours preparing finger food of all shapes and sizes! What a spread! We were treated like very special people and Marion and I enjoyed this interlude immensely. Good company, good food and wine and great surroundings. I really looked forward to seeing this branch of our family once again and was not disappointed with the hospitality. It's great to see them all again.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later that same afternoon we were invited over to a friend's house to see an avairy full of birds, including some very tame black cockatoos bred in capativity. We were also shown a great collection of asian artefacts that had us enthralled as each item was explained to us in detail. Also included in the tour were some special religious icons and other assorted items that took one's breath away! We were both very grateful for the opportunity to see all these wonderful works of art and will remember the experience for a long time to come! We met this person through our cousins' auspices and because the collections we saw were of some value, I have not mentioned names here for obvious security reasons. All in all we had a wonderful afternoon and enjoyed ourselves very much. It was all over too soon! We took Aunty Nat home and dropped her off with the promise of a luncheon over here at our caravan; as well we have planned a family trip to the country side at Tooperang to see the family farm. We are looking forward to that, as we will see a memorial to my Uncle Bernard for the first time.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGzNmtex7bRnKdBTwH0Wp4fvi_c9w1ZD2a5nLrxThf6KbVKdfbFAYcGUvhJoY-_PSkSCePEatXE06eUL8J9Y-J_Nmo0gubA23ybru-7n_5F8mt150YBtRZU2KehNyyvJkouOF0Tslc0Ik/s1600/IMG_7820+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGzNmtex7bRnKdBTwH0Wp4fvi_c9w1ZD2a5nLrxThf6KbVKdfbFAYcGUvhJoY-_PSkSCePEatXE06eUL8J9Y-J_Nmo0gubA23ybru-7n_5F8mt150YBtRZU2KehNyyvJkouOF0Tslc0Ik/s320/IMG_7820+-+Copy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the Carvings We Were Shown</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw9Fj92T37YwYyuuQPL5T4R87VcyxQ-jqG55PjVNMkRDxrhyTPxPUOEsuqlePeZ8C0LLPcAajuhFYLYP8ebCvEoEZ0Hp99sKKVK3jb-2oQB5C90siMsCf0XofmmwZn_msXIhTg2lGS4lE/s1600/Black+Cocky_RBC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw9Fj92T37YwYyuuQPL5T4R87VcyxQ-jqG55PjVNMkRDxrhyTPxPUOEsuqlePeZ8C0LLPcAajuhFYLYP8ebCvEoEZ0Hp99sKKVK3jb-2oQB5C90siMsCf0XofmmwZn_msXIhTg2lGS4lE/s320/Black+Cocky_RBC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bob & Black Cockatoo.</span></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Monday 7 March 2011:</b> Today we set out to do some research regarding Marion's "family tree". We wanted to find the grave of one Thomas Humpstone Willington, Marion's Great, Great, Great Grandfather. He had been transported to Tasmania as a convict for stealing wearing apparel at the age of 21 in 1830, aboard the <i>S.S. Clyde</i>. His sentence was seven years tansportation and we are not sure if he served the whole of his sentence, or received a pardon at some stage of the sentence. In any event he subsequently arrived in Adelaide and worked as a "Hawker" in the Port Adelaide area, before moving to Melrose, S.A. where he set up a store. He later returned to Port Adelaide, became a well known pioneer and builder and was one of the first subscribers to the Port Adelaide Institute. His photograph appears in a supplementary history of the institute.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinsd3y1r9K97hnHG6Nuv3jIfRXkQcQsrGDLBec5YZr6i0XuGkVaCoLdSgi6pgziFDEi8oC80omg9FUz5mAzaXUC4-UZmUYNJCZVH33aA_tgJze9C1hQzrrDj4AArOn-Y_lYLit6yUYFY8/s1600/Thomas+Humpstone+Willington+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinsd3y1r9K97hnHG6Nuv3jIfRXkQcQsrGDLBec5YZr6i0XuGkVaCoLdSgi6pgziFDEi8oC80omg9FUz5mAzaXUC4-UZmUYNJCZVH33aA_tgJze9C1hQzrrDj4AArOn-Y_lYLit6yUYFY8/s320/Thomas+Humpstone+Willington+pic.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thomas Hump[h]stone Willington</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His Tombstone shows Thomas Humphstone Willington</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It took the help of Meredith from the Port Adelaide Library to find out the lease number of Thomas' grave in the Cheltenham Cemetery. After some inquiries at the cemetery office we were able to locate the grave, which turned out to be a family "communal" grave. When we found it the tombstone was inscribed with several names of his descendents and, we thought, his name did not appear. We were about to walk away when I told Marion to walk around to the next row of graves and stand behind the tombstone whilst I took a photograph. Low and behold on the back side of the tombstone Marion found Thomas' name and the names of his immediate family inscribed. The tombstone had been turned around to use both sides!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tombstone had been turned around to use both sides!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZIqX0hX8URXlaxTJ9V8kAO_SjBEhOere8X-xO4GpEfjwZOMh7gUES86qOV2FzT2SDcApLrwi6sUFMTuJGgRH5xfwnupWdz-ee6zonmtHTkVimN4y8ebE4lYoyx5ahEqd1968kfSBFmE0/s1600/Willington+Grave+Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZIqX0hX8URXlaxTJ9V8kAO_SjBEhOere8X-xO4GpEfjwZOMh7gUES86qOV2FzT2SDcApLrwi6sUFMTuJGgRH5xfwnupWdz-ee6zonmtHTkVimN4y8ebE4lYoyx5ahEqd1968kfSBFmE0/s320/Willington+Grave+Front.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Front view of grave</em>.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZ2CTcEdCag8ydQ0Hhdx32QCds_uVI8clQZarHb_zGT7QrGP9HZQF4cIy9hGSz1cfCpmZJdTodPjHVpfzjkmKuhpdwkTb9wLZQvYZine2zl1uJDFnjGWgHLsinRGQW9aVG7bzVjGKfEg/s1600/Willington+Grave+Rear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZ2CTcEdCag8ydQ0Hhdx32QCds_uVI8clQZarHb_zGT7QrGP9HZQF4cIy9hGSz1cfCpmZJdTodPjHVpfzjkmKuhpdwkTb9wLZQvYZine2zl1uJDFnjGWgHLsinRGQW9aVG7bzVjGKfEg/s320/Willington+Grave+Rear.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rear view of grave.</span></td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Considering ourselves lucky to have found the tombstone, we decided to call in person to the Port Adelaide Library and thank Meredith in person for her research and emails to us in Queensland before we left on our trip. We found the library without any trouble and introduced ourselves to Meredith, who turned out to be the head librarian. She took us into the locked research room where she did some more research for us and provided us with copies of several documents which will be added to our family history websites. Meredith also suggested we become visiting members of the library, which would give us access to the internet resources there. We took up her offer. Thanks Meredith!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We treated ourselvs to lunch and returned to the caravan to make some telephone calls. We learnt that Jill's husband's mother is very ill and we did not know this when we visited yesterday. John had insisted nothing be said as he did not want to put a damper on our visit. We feel very sad for him and the family as things do not look to good. We decided to call it a day and remain at the caravan for the afternoon. During the night it began to rain.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Tuesday 8 March 2011:</b> We awoke at 4.00am to the sound of heavy rain and found to our dismay the water had pooled in the roof of the annexe! Hasty provisions were made to support the roof with additional poles to ensure the water ran off. Our efforts seem to have worked and as I write the rain seems to be easing off. Thank goodness!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2t7E7K0_QA_yW1PrMrxddB1OVro5GAHyps5S_IYhpaHWbHta0_-Jtvh_fA-F0Xce4cQCr93cwB9cbHkdQtqFiXI7K6QxhE2Lq-YG5r5WysUQe3FExGmVQoc7uwD2VCFoaI1aAL3TJCA/s320/AdelShoresSite.jpg" width="320" /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Our Site at Adelaide Shores Caravan Park, S.A.</span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well I was wrong. As it turned out it rained all day on and off. We heard on the radio we had over 30ml last night (1" +), more in one night than the average rainfall for the month! We were happy to stay home in the van and relax whilst keeping an eye on the water on the roof of the annexe. I lowered one corner of the anexe in order to allow the water to run off somewhat easier and this worked well. We decided to put the T.V. inside the van in case water dripped on it; and whilst we were doing that we hooked up the satellite dish to the T.V. and tried it out. We thought a large tree at the back of our van would block it out, but it didn't and we were able to watch the news on our local channel back at home. We were also able to watch the ABC programs in Queensland which was a bonus as they came on half and hour earlier than in S.A. I read some more of Kiki's book, "<em>The Voyage of Islita</em>" and did some writing also.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The forecast is for the rain to ease off over night and we are hoping we will be able to go for a drive tomorrow.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Wednesday 9 March 2011</strong>: After Ash </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Wednesday Mass at Henley Beach, we drove to Port Adelaide and had a look at the Port Canal Shopping Centre, where we had lunch. We then strolled over to the Port Adelaide Library and used our visitor's account to do some more research. From there it was a rather long drive across </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">town to the Payneham Cemetery, where we found the groundsman very </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">helpful. He contacted the records office for us and found the location of the grave of Henry John and Susan Catnach Willington, Marion's Great, Great Grandparents. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">He was kind enough to take us to grave site which was located near the corner of Marian Street, Payneham. We were most grateful for his assitance! </span></div><div align="justify"><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/WillingtonPayneham01921119666182688363820110311084347.jpg" width="320" /><em> </em></div><div align="justify"><em><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Marion's ancestors, Payneham Cemetery, Adelaide, S.A.</span></em></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">After photographing the </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">tombstone above we drove back to the caravan, arriving home at 4.30pm. Another day was gone! Sadly when I checked out our messages, we learnt that my cousin Jill's mother-in-law had died in hospital. I made some telephone calls of condolence and sent off some emails. We will attend the funeral next Tuesday.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Thursday 10 March 2011:</strong></span> <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today we </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">spent all day at the caravan reading and wrting and updating the family tree website. It was good to have a relaxing day, after all the running around we have been doing. Tomorrow we will go shopping.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Friday 11 March 2011:</strong> Another relatively lazy day in Adelaide. We drove over to the Marion Shopping Centre to get some decent clothes to wear to Mrs Koukourou's funeral </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">and managed to get what we needed in our respective sizes. We had lunch at the shopping centre before returning home for a quiet afternoon's reading and relaxing.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Saturday 12 March 2011: This morning I drove over to Aunty Nat's home and picked her up for lunch at our caravan. We had a lovely few hours chatting over lunch, walking down to the beach and going for a drive around Adelaide City. I was very happy to have this opportunity to have Nat over to our van as she had never been on our previous visits to Adelaide. We drove Nat home to her house and returned to our </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">van in time to relax for an hour or so before our evening meal. All in all a very nice day!</span></div><div align="justify"><strong><img alt="" height="213" src="http://rbmlcassidy.bigblog.com.au/data/10/53539/image/RBNAT179862012797883828220110313105948.jpg" width="320" /></strong></div><div align="justify"><em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt;"><strong>Aunty Nat and Bob 12 March 2011.</strong></span></em></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">And so our second week came to an end.</span></div></span></div></div><br />
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</div>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978612107698534824.post-57591419192672148432011-03-05T12:34:00.000+10:002011-03-05T12:34:03.912+10:00WEEK 1: [Including Saturday Preceeding]<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">BACK TO PERTH 2011</span></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Saturday, 26 February 2011:</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Towing our Coromal Princeton 605 caravan behind our Toyota Landcruiser Series 100, Marion and I departed home at 5.24am and headed west!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We passed through the familiar towns of Gympie (Bruce Highway), Kilkivan (Wide Bay Highway), Goomeri (Burnett Highway) and Murgon before reaching Wondai (both on the Bunya Highway) at 7.40am, where we stopped for a short break.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From Wondai we travelled on to Kingaroy, Kumbia and Bell where we stopped for a short break before continuing on to Dalby, arriving at 9.58am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We fuelled up at the Dalby Woolworths Plus Petrol Station, where fuel was .03c cheaper than any other in town; with our card we also got another .08c discount, which was a small bonus.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Leaving Dalby we continued south-west along the Moonie Highway arriving at Moonie at <strong>11.44am</strong>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were disappointed to find the roadhouse closed, as were all the little shops in the complex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a sign of the times in country Australia it would seem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were to visit many more small communities which appeared to be “dying”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is happening to country Australia?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why are all these once thriving communities slowly becoming tired and abandoned, except for the diehards who struggle on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am glad I have reached my “senior years” and can remember the good times out in the “real Australia”; it is very sad to see what is happening out there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also noticed the road damage caused by the recent floods and heavy rains, all the way along the highways we travelled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many patches of road were being repaired, but there is a long way to go before all damage is fixed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In places the heavy transport vehicles have created deep depressions on the near side bitumen of the roads and these depressions can be dangerous to the unwary traveller, particularly when passing oncoming traffic with no room to move out and around the hazard.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We stayed at Moonie for almost an hour and had lunch in the caravan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the Information Centre was closed, which may have been because it was Saturday and no volunteers were available to man the premises.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We turned onto the Leichhardt Highway and travelled on to Goondiwindi on the New South Wales border, arriving there at <strong>1.42pm</strong>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then turned onto the Newell Highway at Goondiwindi and crossed the New South Wales border over the Macintyre River.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Macintyre and Weir Rivers drain an area of about 44,000 square kilometres, most of which lies in the southern border parts of Queensland, with a small part of the basin extending into New South Wales. The Macintyre River has three main tributaries - the Macintyre River in New South Wales, the Dumaresq River along the border, and the Macintyre Brook. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Major flooding can occur along each of these river systems causing isolation of towns and rural lands, and severe flooding at times in the Goondiwindi area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whilst some flooding was experienced during the recent flood disasters, the Goondiwindi flood levee held and saved the town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The levee is 11m high and the flood waters nearly raised that high!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1HDBGp7voBGuZq9bhZ2b1PJVBqdECUzsgTuofz22owW4I_gGZmcY9Co0MudY6ZqJWiJAxP2iqUj1w6eYa_-PguqVw_lM-OT02emYQPvfs-guVFcTJoMxjPTMIubK9j-798KL7cI99i0o/s1600/10_65_meters_7am.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1HDBGp7voBGuZq9bhZ2b1PJVBqdECUzsgTuofz22owW4I_gGZmcY9Co0MudY6ZqJWiJAxP2iqUj1w6eYa_-PguqVw_lM-OT02emYQPvfs-guVFcTJoMxjPTMIubK9j-798KL7cI99i0o/s320/10_65_meters_7am.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Goondiwindi Flood Level 14 Jan 2011_ another .4m and the town would have gone under!</span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Leaving Goondiwindi, a short drive brought us to Boggabilla and 30kms further south brought us to the Northstar rest area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We kept on as we wanted to make the Tookey Creek Rest Area, where we intending camping overnight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We arrived at Moree at <strong>4.11am</strong> Daylight Saving Time (DST), having put our time pieces forward an hour after crossing the border.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At <strong>4.52pm</strong> (DST) we arrived at the Tookey Rest Area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were joined by two couples, fellow travellers, who were on their way to Tasmania for a fifteen day touring holiday in a motor home and a caravan respectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the thought that I would spend a lot longer in Tasmania if I spent the money to take my caravan over Bass Strait in the car ferry, which is not a cheap exercise as it is an overnight trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully one day Marion and I will make the trip to this lovely island state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the night we were also joined by five road trains with enormous prime movers.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBkvxONdwZA5ytjxDQXZsWhvOhJb51Xzs_3Ojq8Y0lK-EjKbOx_YtQ-FWQ31pnWi3nJu1bDDIi-hdPdmGk-zkC2Ry-sEljQJL6H88wUlLVdw_v2kjGpIwBmfXeaPNrLSJxRjbWlctZtk/s1600/Tookey_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBkvxONdwZA5ytjxDQXZsWhvOhJb51Xzs_3Ojq8Y0lK-EjKbOx_YtQ-FWQ31pnWi3nJu1bDDIi-hdPdmGk-zkC2Ry-sEljQJL6H88wUlLVdw_v2kjGpIwBmfXeaPNrLSJxRjbWlctZtk/s1600/Tookey_01.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tookey Rest Area NSW_our first overnight on the road.</span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Newell Highway is one of Australia’s life lines for the transport of goods to and from the Southern States to the Northern States; as we travelled along the highway it was noticeable that the trucks and road trains flowed in a constant convoy carting all sorts of goods and machinery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder what the “bullockies” of old would have thought had they lived to see this wonder of modern day transport; trips that took them months to transport their goods by bullock dray now take a couple of days only. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAjYXYnHDDEq74-ghTGEegqONuPw_JdT__bFjPCWZvGwutohsEOJv0r8dNNayNncZwRxWoRDtnQ_mV1AUIiznbMsjmo8drX-5p0I1j_EvFYGQEV9KK9F68uwa2v0o8dhSupFFFaXmJ3O8/s1600/bullockie_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAjYXYnHDDEq74-ghTGEegqONuPw_JdT__bFjPCWZvGwutohsEOJv0r8dNNayNncZwRxWoRDtnQ_mV1AUIiznbMsjmo8drX-5p0I1j_EvFYGQEV9KK9F68uwa2v0o8dhSupFFFaXmJ3O8/s1600/bullockie_01.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>Transport of yesteryear!</strong></em></td></tr>
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</div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A cloud of dust on the long, white road,<br />
And the teams go creeping on<br />
Inch by inch with the weary load;<br />
And by the power of the green-hide goad</i></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The distant goal is won.</i></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b>The Teams</b> (1896) – (1<sup>st</sup> stanza)<br />
<i>by Henry Lawson</i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilD23Ot6tVCh7bnxAbsT1QkA9rjZ8tZUdWl8siikCJIJWd_peWFxIbjB5Ig972Jn7DiBy39c0BpQKVkIjtdoxn2NYHi8AEACJbKsBNJ8FufK6Ipof4ABR2b0G1GKry0x56NeFlYF33P0g/s1600/Bluetruck_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilD23Ot6tVCh7bnxAbsT1QkA9rjZ8tZUdWl8siikCJIJWd_peWFxIbjB5Ig972Jn7DiBy39c0BpQKVkIjtdoxn2NYHi8AEACJbKsBNJ8FufK6Ipof4ABR2b0G1GKry0x56NeFlYF33P0g/s320/Bluetruck_01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Modern Day Transport 2011</em></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We generally found the “truckies” courteous and obliging, provided we “called them through” on our UHF radio when they wanted to pass us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The procedure I followed was to call the driver on the radio and advise him to let me know when he wanted to pass and I would slow down for him to get quickly past our caravan “rig”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never, repeat never, told a truckie what to do, I always left it up to him; as I learnt several years ago, truckies do not like being told “how to drive”.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">During the night the trucks kept rolling all night long and the rumbling noise made by their passage soon became a background noise similar to the sound of waves breaking on the beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I slept well; however Marion had a restless night with a sore throat and feeling unwell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope she does not come down with the flu and leave me to do all the work (ha ha ha)!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sunday, 27 February 2011: </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next morning we were up early and decided to grab some breakfast at McDonalds in Narrabri some 55kms down the highway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next town was Coonabarabran which is a large town and seems to be surviving well given the rural crises many communities are experiencing. Marion still has a sore throat but battles on.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From Narrabri it was on to Gilgandra, home of the famous “Coo-ee” march which took place in 1915 from Gilgandra to Sydney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time the tremendous casualties lists coming from the Gallipoli battlefields in the Dardanelles, where the ANZACS were fighting and dying in horrifying numbers (some 2000 soldiers lost their lives), resulted in a “call to arms” and a recruiting drive was on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A group of 35 recruits commenced marching towards Sydney picking up more and more recruits as they passed each small town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took them from 10 October to 12 November to march on foot to Sydney, upon arrival they marched into history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The information centre at Gilgandra has an excellent display room where the history of the march and several artefacts such as original flags, items of equipment and copies of newspaper articles from the days of the march, are on display.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Together with other displays of historical aspects of the town and a large display of aboriginal art and weaponry, the information centre is well worth the time spent to have a good look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent nearly an hour there and the time was gone before we knew it.</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnOoWRFNrl8d_-WDZEWIjSoevn5ZZL3KJqOUYJ5vHF-QKdbDdwFXQKPjaxxnDzOBtaE99R5RTKWyUeXqpxFE_oxHU2XaGB1mnSoroty1G0nVQ672fj-vCukdvQFvwT9NEijO2EJw2qfs/s1600/cooee_march_1.jpg" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original 35 marchers leaving Gilgandra</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqHJNTRxv6WLlSQBgdBT_pk7BYbiMq0ItnaoFS5-CdoP1afwXX1_CtnBpe4-ztl2ACPEx4DlgNOgQf6Wsi05XBRmTVl76LjUYppeYrNs-97352avq45c-D5iJNhMuhD8cqAXElXQ2dm8U/s1600/cooee_march2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqHJNTRxv6WLlSQBgdBT_pk7BYbiMq0ItnaoFS5-CdoP1afwXX1_CtnBpe4-ztl2ACPEx4DlgNOgQf6Wsi05XBRmTVl76LjUYppeYrNs-97352avq45c-D5iJNhMuhD8cqAXElXQ2dm8U/s1600/cooee_march2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The numbers increase, near Springwood, NSW.</span></span></em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Arriving at Martin Place, Sydney, NSW, 263 men.</span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1.07pm</b>: The next town we passed through was Dubbo where the famous Taronga Western Plains Zoo is located.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This zoo is noted for its breeding programs and has many African animals exhibited in open space enclosures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a “must see” for travellers and we have visited several times in the past, thus we did not visit this trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We travelled on and arrived at Parkes at <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2.44pm</b> passing through the small town of Peak Hill on our way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was shocked to see how tired looking Peak Hill was with many commercial establishments apparently closed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a sorry sight to see this once vibrant little community on the wane; I remember when it was worth a stop to refresh oneself and have a look around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coincidently, a talk back radio show we were listening to was broadcasting the calls of persons who were espousing the same sentiments I have mentioned in this travelogue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many were calling for Australians to band together to save their heritage and the rural way of life, which they all felt was slowly dying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The questions were asked, “What will Australians do when all the small farms and diaries have been taken over by the large conglomerates?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Will Australia produce enough food to feed its population when all the small producers have left the land?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I myself wonder what the future holds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enough of this doom and gloom!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On with our travels!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Passing through the countryside near Parkes we once again saw the very large communications dish, which featured in the film “The Dish”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have previously visited the dish complex and seen the display which features the important roll this dish played in communications with the Apollo Missions to the moon.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3.12pm:</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We arrived at Forbes, New South Wales, and turned off the Newell Highway onto the Lachlan Highway to travel the 90km to Cowra our destination for the next couple of days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We drove along the lovely tree lined highway which runs along beside the Lachlan River, through the rich and fertile Lachlan Valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We saw crops, cattle and sheep and even alpacas (originated in South America) as we drove along the highway.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4.24pm:</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cowra at last!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We crossed the Lachlan River, turned right and arrived at the Cowra Van Park, where we booked in for a short stay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are some historical sites we wish to see and we will rest up here whilst I carry out some small maintenance tasks to keep our equipment in tip-top condition for our travels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will also have to establish if in fact it is feasible to tow our caravan out to Clear Range via Canberra, where my brother Mike lives on his small property in the hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flood damage in this area has resulted in one bridge being washed away and the Angle Crossing over the Murrumbidgee River being closed for repairs to the crossing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It well may be we have to put off our visit to Mike and Fran until our return from Western Australia.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">10.00pm:</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I received a telephone call from my brother Mike with a report on the road conditions out to his property at Clear Range.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After discussing the pros and cons and confirming the closure of the Angle Crossing and the Smith’s Road Bridge over the Gudgenby River, we both thought it would be best to postpone our visit until our return from Western Australia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Decision made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will stay here in Cowra an extra day to have a good look around and then head off on the Mid Western Highway towards the Newell Highway and then cross the New South Wales border with Victoria en route to the South Australian border.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was time to go to bed and sleep on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another day gone!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Monday 28 February 2011:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">04.00am </b>BANG!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BANG!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BANG!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very loud claps of thunder had us leaping out of bed to prepare for the coming storm!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We quickly rolled up the caravan awning just as the rain started coming down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anticipating strong winds and heavy rain, we knew that in Queensland where we lived this thunder was normally the precursor of a heavy storm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately the anticipated wind did not eventuate and the rain was quite sedate, compared with what we are used to in Queensland it was a fizzer!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>Cowra</b> is a large town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia in Cowra Shire. It is located 310 m (1,020 ft) above sea level <span style="display: none; mso-hide: all;"> </span> and about 310 kilometres west of Sydney on the banks of the Lachlan River. At the 2006 census, Cowra had a population of 12,835 people.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">During World War II Cowra was the site of a prisoner of war (POW) camp. Most of the detainees were captured Japanese and Italian military personnel. On <date day="5" ls="trans" month="8" w:st="on" year="19">August 5, 19</date>44 at least 545 Japanese POWs attempted a mass breakout from the camp. Simultaneously, other Japanese prisoners committed suicide, or were killed by their countrymen, inside the camp.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ZzS0qRBMMvhrJLsKgOm6odaCatZhGJTENqukwPZHmdNp62HumaaG7psQIDlqOa91LLKaC9BB-3KemyLcaHkk1i1DtdZ2t7Xf97Tn8VSNPd4L4a2m7RVK1j7wanncYEOSn15hBwh3fSk/s1600/Cowra+War+Cemetery_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ZzS0qRBMMvhrJLsKgOm6odaCatZhGJTENqukwPZHmdNp62HumaaG7psQIDlqOa91LLKaC9BB-3KemyLcaHkk1i1DtdZ2t7Xf97Tn8VSNPd4L4a2m7RVK1j7wanncYEOSn15hBwh3fSk/s1600/Cowra+War+Cemetery_01.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Japanese War Cemetery, Cowra, NSW.</span></span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">The actions of the POWs in storming machine gun posts, armed only with improvised weapons, showed what Prime Minister John Curtin described as a "suicidal disregard of life", and had no chance of success.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">During the breakout and subsequent recapture of POWs, four Australian guards and 231 Japanese died, and 108 prisoners were wounded. The dead Japanese were buried in Cowra in the specially created Japanese War Cemetery. This is the only such cemetery in Australia, and also holds some of the dead from the WWII air raids on Darwin.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;"><shape alt="IMG_7798 - Copy.JPG" id="Picture_x0020_12" o:spid="_x0000_i1029" style="height: 291.75pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 437.25pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="IMG_7798 - Copy" src="file:///C:\Users\BOBCAS~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image011.jpg"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></imagedata></shape></span><span style="color: red;"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">0830</b> We are finally learning to take it easy and not worry about early starts each day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This morning I met a couple who were staying at the caravan park also, and we struck up a conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It turned out Gwen was a member of the pioneer Hodder family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her ancestors were among the first settlers to contribute to the birth of the town of Cowra.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She gave me some great information about the early days of Cowra and how she had grown up in the town herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gwen’s husband showed us some original bricks Gwen’s great grandfather had manufactured in Cowra in the early 1800s; they were clearly marked with his unique brand comprising the suits of cards, i.e. hearts, diamond, clubs and spades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each brick we were shown had one of these marks embedded into it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After our talk with Gwen we went and filled up our near-empty diesel tanks (270lts in total) at the local service station; before heading over to the local information centre where we had been told, a very good display relating to the Cowra POW breakout was on offer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were not disappointed as we sat and watched a holograph image of a young girl from the times tell the whole story of the breakout, which occurred whilst her fiancé was a POW in Singapore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story had a happy ending when her soldier boy returned from the war and married her in Cowra.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course the young girl was an actress; however, the whole presentation was very well done.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We then drove out to the site of the POW camp where the break out occurred and visited the Japanese Gardens of Peace constructed by a joint Japanese Cowra effort at reconciliation which has proved successful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gardens were nothing short of beautiful and we spent a long time walking around and sitting by running water, peacefully relaxing and watching some lovely little wrens as they hopped about on the grass and in the bushes without a care for our presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We really enjoyed our visit to these gardens and I took some good photographs.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;"><shape alt="IMG_7767 - Copy.JPG" id="Picture_x0020_13" o:spid="_x0000_i1028" style="height: 300.75pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 451.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="IMG_7767 - Copy" src="file:///C:\Users\BOBCAS~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image013.jpg"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></imagedata></shape></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"> <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Japanese Gardens, Cowra, NSW.</span></span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A visit to a replica guard tower and the site of the POW camp itself gave us a bit more of a feeling for the historical aspects of the events that occurred on 5 August 1944.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From there we went to the Japanese War Cemetery and the Australian War Cemetery adjoining each other in a very poignant way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After our drive to these historical sites we returned to Cowra town and had lunch before returning to the caravan park for a well earned rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were entertained by the ubiquitous gathering of hundreds of Corella parrots in the trees lining the Lachlan River where the caravan park is located.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The screeching and antics of these birds was something to behold!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After sunset the screeching was finally reduced to the odd squawk as the birds settled down to sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We too had a peaceful night’s sleep and looked forward to a nice easy day tomorrow as we retired for the night.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tuesday 1 March 2011:</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today is a “rest day” I have to do some maintenance on the car and the generator and we will go for a walk up town to have a better look at the shops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a light breakfast we walked up town and went “window shopping” before returning back to the caravan in time for lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After lunch I serviced the generator and the car before cleaning the windscreen and filling the window washer reservoir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only negative discovery was the probability our deep cycle battery for the caravan is on the way out; not a major revelation as it is several years old and still providing 12volt lighting and water pump power to the van!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think a new one will be in order once we get to Adelaide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We decided to prepare for our departure tomorrow morning by hooking up the car and the caravan and rolling up the awning; this will give us a “head start” in the morning and we won’t annoy the neighbours with our noise early in the morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some strange reason, unknown to us, the Corellas did not turn up today and I have missed the photo-opportunity I was looking forward to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marion cooked a lovely fillet steak tea for us and we watched television before retiring to bed for the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tomorrow is another day!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wednesday 2 March 2011:</b> As planned we left Cowra at <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">6.50am</b> and drove west along the Mid-Western Highway as the false dawn appeared in the eastern sky with a crescant moon hanging just above the horizon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We passed through several country towns, including Grenfell where the great Australian author and poet, Henry Lawson was born on the Grenfell goldfields.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Lawson led a discordant live owing to his alcoholism and was at one point jailed for public drunkenness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However he was a poetic genius and his short stories and poems live on today as part of Australia’s history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was and is one of Australia’s favourite sons and ranks right up there with the equally great bush poet, Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A short distance on we passed by the Weddin Mountains where Ben Hall the notorious bushranger had his cave “hide-out” for many years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hall was as famous as Ned Kelly in his day and led a very rough life in the bush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He and his gang committed many famous robberies and in 1865 he was betrayed by a local and as he walked into his camp on the morning of 5 May 1865 he was fired upon by eight police and killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is said he never fired a shot and was running away when shot in the back; there were in excess of thirty bullet wounds in his body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His grave can be seen at Forbes, N.S.W.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;">Source Wikipedia</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">We continued on along the Mid-Western Highway until we reached Hay where we crossed the Murrumbidgee River and briefly joined the Cobb Highway before turning west once more on the Sturt Highway passing through Balranald at <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2.15pm</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We reached Lake Benanee shortly at <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3.09pm</b> and set up camp for the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A beautiful cool breeze was coming off the lake, which was full to capacity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had plenty of time to relax before the evening meal, watching some satellite television and reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am currently reading a book entitled “The Voyage of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Islita</i>” by Kiki Wheelock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the story of Kiki and her husband Russell’s voyage around the world in the 33ft sloop (sailing yacht) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Islita</i> and is enthralling reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Wheelock’s hail from Bulverde, Texas, USA, and we met them on their circumnavigation trip when they called in at Brisbane and stayed for several months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have kept in touch ever since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lake Benanee is quiet and peaceful and we only have two other campers with us at the moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The passing trucks on the highway can only be heard if one listens intently as we are some distance away from the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hurray for a quiet night!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTa3NaRGXMrgneK40p_RNMhZ5SysFIMqcGUoBYNEMX2c1aiWK1-UBjVixdFJ5DHW0dWE1KBe5_4jLYvQNmfl3OVXqpv0XVZ8D7DR6_nq83QK6iOlA1pJktJRP4jWZJh_8BOmlpBOz04JM/s1600/Lake+Benanee_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTa3NaRGXMrgneK40p_RNMhZ5SysFIMqcGUoBYNEMX2c1aiWK1-UBjVixdFJ5DHW0dWE1KBe5_4jLYvQNmfl3OVXqpv0XVZ8D7DR6_nq83QK6iOlA1pJktJRP4jWZJh_8BOmlpBOz04JM/s400/Lake+Benanee_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Lake Benabee Campsite, NSW.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcc-hBle6zbAeu0Jm9lRDXA1xuDUcDlVm-qBkYgN2oFwguP8wNNbhqB-U5Ya7hce9jViIxnxhP5MHlcj4W9ek4CZ2hxE2sQDJY-woZG_fsZ2PmVLSgx9UQLR6wQP11n6qBgp8Xs5ja_Bw/s1600/Henry_Lawson_photograph_1902.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcc-hBle6zbAeu0Jm9lRDXA1xuDUcDlVm-qBkYgN2oFwguP8wNNbhqB-U5Ya7hce9jViIxnxhP5MHlcj4W9ek4CZ2hxE2sQDJY-woZG_fsZ2PmVLSgx9UQLR6wQP11n6qBgp8Xs5ja_Bw/s1600/Henry_Lawson_photograph_1902.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Henry Lawson 1867-1922</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thursday 3 March 2011:</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today we are hoping to make Adelaide around lunchtime hence and early start was called for and at <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5.51am</b> we were on the road again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As dawn was breaking we were following alongside the Murray River and Malleefowl country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We kept a sharp look-out for a Malleefowl but did not see one.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-no-proof: yes;"><shape alt="malleefowl.jpg" id="Picture_x0020_9" o:spid="_x0000_i1025" style="height: 285.75pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 451.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="malleefowl" src="file:///C:\Users\BOBCAS~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image018.jpg"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></imagedata></shape></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibtDStz1h-R8xHRdC0EsqYpFNc8I7fUDGsy3v3dJm7KNSTdj4X-quluyluPmm4yfJfohoqlwedXsiZGXHnWSOm8KnDeZUAG31UUmJ59weOpm3tOgc2MoYCwKwj2tcqP2PyeivObjglR2E/s1600/malleefowl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibtDStz1h-R8xHRdC0EsqYpFNc8I7fUDGsy3v3dJm7KNSTdj4X-quluyluPmm4yfJfohoqlwedXsiZGXHnWSOm8KnDeZUAG31UUmJ59weOpm3tOgc2MoYCwKwj2tcqP2PyeivObjglR2E/s400/malleefowl.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Malleefowl:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Source: Cheryl Ridge: </em><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.pbase.com/chezzyr"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.pbase.com/chezzyr</span></a></span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Arriving at Buronga, NSW<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> 6.55am</b> we decided to fuel up at the BP Service Station as there were a large number of trucks doing the same thing; we figured the price must be right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it turned out we were correct in our assumption and got a good price for diesel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From Buronga we crossed the Murray River into Victoria and the town of town of Mildura.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mildura is an Aboriginal term meaning Red Earth. The countryside is known as the Sunraysia Region and can boast of wineries, orchards, flower gardens including Australia's only inland Botanic Garden and other attractions; not the least of which is the Murray River itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We continued on through this well set out and tidy town; and at <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">8.55am</b> stopped at Yamba just across the border into South Australia. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRRGQsiecouty-rI53cH1B1Gs6YKuJ8GPQTHTl7mjCv5RWhRuyOOANT6oTfb1tHuhJcC3MtVE1AU8CTNA_GGhVz0Li-wHy-ZFnVmJnvPR4oTgBSMDiptNSwJBBolT053xwOgfckzU4T2A/s1600/Yamba+SA_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRRGQsiecouty-rI53cH1B1Gs6YKuJ8GPQTHTl7mjCv5RWhRuyOOANT6oTfb1tHuhJcC3MtVE1AU8CTNA_GGhVz0Li-wHy-ZFnVmJnvPR4oTgBSMDiptNSwJBBolT053xwOgfckzU4T2A/s320/Yamba+SA_01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yamba, NSW. Fruit Fly Inspection Point.</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After taking some photographs of the border crossing fruit fly checkpoint, we pulled into the inspection area and handed over some potatoes and onions Marion had peeled and stored in sealed containers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was not enough for the female inspector who confiscated them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We accepted her decision and did not argue, it was not worth it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some years ago when we crossed at the same inspection point we were allowed to keep our potatoes and onions which we had prepared in the same manner; I guess it depends upon the person doing the inspecting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least I saw them go into the bin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We moved on.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At Paringa we again crossed the Murray River at one of the Locks and we had time to stop behind traffic half way across the bridge and take a photograph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvljMZ0H2X5aPgITrvE8cUAsd8bMV6wfzXyccCSpfW5226gzK7JOQFaWo-_zYH-yOA07FBqZ55gTr0iJsw5aOid1huX-rEJvAO-12pmptXiO-LuplwUJPAGcLuELj8RxAoclUqWWx7i_g/s1600/Muray+Paringa_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvljMZ0H2X5aPgITrvE8cUAsd8bMV6wfzXyccCSpfW5226gzK7JOQFaWo-_zYH-yOA07FBqZ55gTr0iJsw5aOid1huX-rEJvAO-12pmptXiO-LuplwUJPAGcLuELj8RxAoclUqWWx7i_g/s320/Muray+Paringa_01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Murray River, Paring, S.A.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Paringa is 216km north-east of Adelaide and only 5km from Renmark. The road south-east from Renmark is on the eastern edge of the Riverland and the gateway to Victoria including the towns of Wentworth, Merbein and Mildura. You can also enter South Australia from Sydney and Canberra and the Riverina via Paringa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paringa is from an Aboriginal word meaning "big bend in the river". In 1913 Paringa became the first Murray town to become connected to Adelaide by rail. The Paringa Suspension Bridge was opened in 1927 and is only one of five spanning the Murray River in South Australia.</div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the other side of the bridge we came into Renmark where we had a “Maccas” take-away breakfast on the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From here we came upon some wide open flat grazing country which spread out all the way to the hills approaching Adelaide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The colours of the country side were soft brown and creams of grazing grass and made for some good scenery as we approached the hill climbs up and over the ranges and on into the Barossa Valley. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We drove past wineries and fields of grape vines as we cruised along in the moderate traffic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The double land highway became the Northern Expressway and took us right into Port Adelaide, where a short drive brought us to our destination, Adelaide Shores Caravan Park, West Beach, Adelaide, South Australia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had been worrying about being allocated a good site at this park, as we wanted to stay for some time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had telephoned ahead and been told it was unlikely we would get the site we wanted as a long week end was coming up (Adelaide Cup) and all the good sites were booked out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However when we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to find we had been given the site we wanted – hurray!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was time to “set up” the van and annexe and settle in for an enjoyable stay in Adelaide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first major stop of our trip had been reached.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Friday 4 March 2011:</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We awoke at a reasonable hour and had bacon and eggs for breakfast – joy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After tidying up and a cup of coffee I telephoned the company who service the Trailer-Mate Caravan Jack I use with the caravan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had serviced it myself but could not get it to work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not knowing where I had gone wrong I decided to take it to the experts and get a new set of seals and dust covers as well as a service of the unit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spoke to husband and wife team Tracey and Sean and arranged to meet them at their warehouse this morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sean serviced the jack and showed me how he did it as he went along; he told me he could not find anything I had done wrong, but maybe one part I had not tightened up enough was the problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suffice to say the jack worked perfectly after he had done his work and I was glad to pay the small fee involved – one less worry for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We celebrated by going shopping at the Marion Shopping Centre and arrived back at the caravan in time for lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The afternoon was spent relaxing and talking about our trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have decided to stay in Adelaide until Monday 21 March 2011 and have a good relaxing couple of weeks here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made contact with my cousin Jill and we are looking forward to visiting them in the coming days.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">END WEEK 1:</div>Bob Cassidyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02581935674557123019noreply@blogger.com1