Travelling Past Time: Entry 4

21/4/16

It was back to days of driving with those special locations far apart with little to see other than the flat plains of central Australia. We regularly changed drivers and stopped for a power nap whenever the need aroused, naturally on the comfortable bed of our caravan.

A pleasant night was spent at a roadside stop about 33 kilometres north of Eridunda (turn off to Uluru) then it was onto Rainbow Valley Conservation Reserve located about 100 kilometres south of Alice Springs.

Rainbow Valley was another beautiful location with a basic camp ground provided for viewing the effects of the sunset on the cliff faces. This place had great photographic potential depending on the position of the sun and weather conditions throughout the year. It was also a great spot to relax for a couple of days to recharge our bodies before resuming the slog north.

Rainbow Valley mid afternoon

Mushroom Rock

Rainbow Valley colours changing with the setting sun

Rainbow Valley campground at sunset

Rainbow Valley sunrise

Road into Rainbow Valley a bit sandy & corrogated

Rainbow Valley early afternoon

We have previously spent time exploring Alice Springs and only stopped to attend to our internet activities, restocking the pantry, fuel, having lunch at one of the clubs where we caught up with Mary’s brother Michael whom we hadn’t seen for about 10 years. It was a tiring day as our bodies were still adjusting to daytime temperatures in the low to mid 30’s. We left Alice Springs continuing north late afternoon with an overnight stop at a parking area beside the road.

Mary with brother Michael

Our next stop over was at Barrow Creek Pub where we obtained a powered site at $7.50 for the night which provided some nice respite in our air-conditioned caravan from the heat.

We did manage to stretch our legs walking around the old Barrow Creek Telegraph

Station opened in 1872 which was still in use up to 1980.