Across the Savannah Way

From Broome to Cairns the Savannah Way stretches across northern Australia for 3501 km. A mixture of road surfaces...gravel, bitumen, bull dust, gibber rock and everything in between make it one of 'Australia's great adventure drives' and it proved to be a little bit that way for the now experienced 4WDers from Gladstone, QLD. With the masterful driver, Jon, behind the wheel and the always-improving navigator, Kirsty, in the passenger seat, the Van Itallies drove and drove and drove...and had a lot of fun while making the haul from Mataranka NT to Domadgee (QLD) before taking a detour down to Lawn Hill NP. Places like Roper Bar, Borroloola, Southern Lost City, Butterfly Springs and Hell's Gate were visited as we clocked up a few more kilometres exploring wonderful Oz.

Creek and river crossings a plenty....although as the dry season comes to an end, there wasn't always water to navigate. But every one did have a 'do not swim' sign. This is definitely croc country.

And huge roo country. This fella stood defiantly on the road for a time before bounding off into the scrub. You probably can't tell by the pic, but he was a BIG boy....we actually thought he was a car then a cow before we got close enough to see him properly.

Great communication out here.

Sometimes when you're camping, you just have to improvise. The ground was so hard and rocky here we couldn't drive the tent peg in, so we found this truck diff-housing that someone had 'lost' along the way and used it.

The Way.

See.....

Mindil Beach markets in Darwin....Jon struts his stuff. Mick was impressed....so was I.

Sunset in Kakadu.....15 minutes after it, you get carried away by wetland mozzies.

Ooppps. Turn your head (or computer) on it's side and then you'll get the idea. A little croc in the Adelaide River.

The obligatory shot of the happy couple...at Yellow Water, Kakadu.

One of the many Aboriginal artworks we have seen....the weird little guy on the right is Lightning Man.

Ahhhhhhhhh!

The day was HOT....the air was, the ground was, my body was. And there were flies everywhere. Thick and fast they landed on any exposed flesh as soon as you emerged from the safe cocoon of the car. A few biting march flies joined the less vicious varieties and made life just that bit more uncomfortable. Smoke filled the air to the south. A late dry season burn-off made sure that the blue skies were hidden, at least in one direction. And the road was rough...a true 4WD track which even made us have a 2nd attempt on one of the exits from a creek crossing.

We arrived at the carpark of Sandy Creek Falls in Litchfield National Park (120kms from Darwin) and I was a little disappointed to see that it was still another half hour walk into the falls. Did I really want to take that hike...what with all the flies, the heat and the fact that it was 12 midday?

Yes...I did, because the ranger's sign promised it would be worth it.

So 1.7kms and 24.03 minutes later.....

PARADISE FOUND!

Do you see what we see?

What do you see in each of the pictures below? 

Have a guess and then scroll down and we'll tell you what we see:)

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

A. Opal mining operations north of Coober Pedy, SA. Each one looks just like this.....piles of mullock and a truck with a drum in the air. It's their extraction unit. In the mullock, you can 'noodle'......look for off-cast or missed opal.

B. The Beautiful Beast. We just clocked over 60 000ks on the Nissan, so that means we've done over 13 000 in 11.5 weeks....on dirt, gibber, rock, black top and through gorges, rivers and deserts.

C. Jon standing on Lambert's Centre....the geographical centre of Australia near Finke, NT. You might recognise the flagpole as a replica of a more often visited one.

D. A minor hiccup but one that caused us to change our whole itinerary. 

E. The landscape traversed by early explorer Scottish James McDouall Stuart as he tried (5 times) to find a way from Adelaide through to Darwin. Eventually...SUCCESS! And then the  Telegraph Line was put through and then a railway and then a road, opening up the way for miners, pastoralists, tourists and the rest of us. Brave man!

The Finke

We had a memorable run through NT’s Finke Desert…lots of red sand, great fun and a cold, cold night. Our departure from Alice led us onto the road to Finke – an Aboriginal community 250km south of the Springs. We ended up doing the trip over 3 days….3 days full of:

Historical sites - Chamber’s Pillar was a marker for avid explorer Stuart on his way through to the north. Many explorers and travellers since then have carved their initials on the pillar. The Old Ghan Railway can be followed much of the way to Finke. In fact, the track is on top of the old railway line some of the way. Watch out for dog spikes!

Drooling – The Finke Desert race is held every year on the Queen’s Birthday weekend. A timed race by buggies, modified utes and trail bikes this is a ‘must do’ for pros and hacks alike. Jon was soooo excited to be driving beside and at times, on the FDR track. We even saw bike riders out practising and met Ben Grabham, the winner of the last 2 FD races in the bike section. Very cool! I have a feeling J will be back sometime to take on the ‘whoops’ himself.

Perfect Camping Spots – The friendliness of the Chamber’s Pillar campers was a huge contrast to the total isolation of a night camping in the Finke Desert by the race track. Red dirt under our feet, a dark sky laden with stars, cold, crisp night air, a fire blazing for warmth and delicious damper lathered with honey. Hmmmmmm…the way life was meant to be:)

Bye Bye Alice

Who let this one thru??? Maybe all those flies have finally made us CRAZY!

Ormiston Pound (west of Alice) is HUGE! We did the 3 hour pound and gorge hike.

The Thorny Devil is a little CUTEY! And so well adapted to life in the harsh Red Centre.

Nights spent out bush are SPECTACULAR! Beautiful sunsets.....good-bye flies....hello brilliant stars.

Arltunga Historic Reserve is home to the ruins and mines that hundreds of gold miners lived and worked in in the late 1800s, early 1900s. Absolutely INSANE!  Pushed wheelbarrows of all their stuff more than 600kms from the end of the rail line to what??? Little water, 120kms+ from civilisation, harsh winters and summers and very little gold. This is the restored ruin of the gaol. The guy in front....WANTED! On suspicion of goat rustling. Oh yeah, goats were another obstacle the miners faced. Good for meat but ate every bit of vegetation in sight.

Today we are 'on the road again' after 8 days in and around Alice Springs. Of course, that was not our original intention, but a service of the Nissan revealed the bushes on the struts were very worn. Not good when you want to cross a desert or climb a sand dune or tackle a rocky road. So we've had a week of chasing new ones which had to be flown in from Adelaide and were fitted by the local ARB guys yesterday. Not that we have been bored at all while we have been here in town. Alice has a lot to offer the tourist and we have enjoyed doing some of the in-town stuff as well as getting out and about in the MacDonnell Ranges which run either side of Alice. We have visited gorges and chasms, ochre pits and pounds, holes and rocks and more gaps than you could poke a stick at. Not much water around in any of them, but there's a little bit there so you can imagine how pretty it all must be when there is water around. In town we have had a shopping fix as well as visiting some of the local icons...the RFDS station, School of the Air, Old Telegraph Station and Desert Park....where the birds of prey show is a must! The weather has been exceedingly good....days of 23 and nights of 8. And we found a cozy, clean little caravan park with friendly owners and fellow tourists. All in all another great week in the Van Itallie's trip.

Other NT icons

'You'll never never know, if you never never go.' Remember that slogan from the TV ads trying to coax the rest of us to the NT? Well it's true. There are so many extraordinary things to see and do in Central Oz that sometime, you just have to visit. Here's pics of a couple more of the iconic wonders we have been surrounded by in the past couple of days.....

Kings Canyon....looking up the canyon towards the walls

The walls of the canyon

On the Finke River 4 WD Route......this is Boggy Hole.....one of only 6 permanent waterholes in 600kms of the river. Very nice.

Our camp spot in Finke Gorge NP near Palm Valley. Very warm here...but Oh My Goodness! The stars!!!!!!

Palm Valley is full of palm trees and cycads....but not a drop of water.

The Climb

Jon gears up to make his dash to the top of Uluru.

The surface is very rough and rugged...on top as well as down the sides.

'Made it!'

Looking down towards the descent path.

The non-climber strikes the same pose she did 30 years ago!

Our stay at Uluru was highlighted by Jon being able to climb ‘The Rock’. It had been a long time dream of his, so we were pleased that ‘The Climb’ was open 1 of the days we were there. It was actually closed on 2 days for high winds and rain. He made the climb in almost record time to the top….I was amazed watching from the base how quickly he became a tiny figure high up on the steep red slopes. Once at the top, he spent quite sometime enjoying the extensive views and posing for photos – as you’ll see. He also made a couple of ‘Uluru TV’ segments for the one who didn’t climb. Says Jon, “I didn’t want to come down. It was an amazing experience being at the top. I felt quite privileged to be there, particularly as it seems that not everyone gets to climb.” Another one of those ‘ahhhhhhh life’s good’ moments. 

More to come....

After a quick change of plans, we decided to rocket into the Northern Territory. So we are now deep, deep in Central Australia, the Red Centre, or as I like to say 'The Home of the Fly'....make that 10 billion flies. We have seen and done so much in the past couple of days. But Uluru was great! Did the base walk....all 3 hours of it with my million fly buddies. Jon did 'The Climb'  - while I wrote postcards:) We also had a Sounds of Silence dinner....gourmet bush tucker dinner under the stars in the red dirt between Uluru and the Olgas. Saw the sun set on the rock with a rainbow above. Very special. We've hiked the Kings Canyon, roughed it on the Finke Gorge 4WD route and camped at Palm Valley. Now in Alice Springs. No pics this time....you'll just have to take our word for it.