3 - 2024 - Travel time - Adelaide to Alice Springs, NT

Entry 3 – 2024 – Travel time – Adelaide to Alice Springs, NT

We spent about 3 weeks at our home base, focusing our time on fitting out our new caravan. It’s internal storage layout being very different to our previous caravan. Most of our old storage containers, unsuitable with the different space sizing’s.

We were up to version 4, shuffling around, attempting to obtain a suitable storage location for our internal gear.

Just as much time was spent adding our external equipment. One of the caravan spare wheels was removed from it’s storage cage, replaced by the 2^nd 4wd spare wheel, normally stored on the tow tugs roof rack. Other equipment stored on the roof rack was relocated within the confines of the caravan and tow tug. Thus, the roof rack was removed reducing our weight by about 100 kilograms including the removal of the 2^nd caravan spare wheel.

With the completion of transferring all our required equipment into the new caravan we were ready to resume our Australian travels.

It felt good to be back on the road again. Or should we say it felt fantastic, good for one’s well-being.

The day time temperatures had been in the sub-20’s with overcast skies. It was 10 days till the official start of winter in southern Australia.

We were focused on heading north towards the warmer climate of northern Australia.

Our first overnight stop was nearby the town of Port Augusta on Spencer Gulf. We caught up with one of Mary’s school days friends and some of their friends from those same times whom were also visiting with their caravan. We had a wow of a time with plenty of conversation. There was an added bonus of a great setting. Thankyou Sandra, Robert, Vicki and Ian.

The El Alamein Army training base was located to the rear of Sandra and Robert’s home. Early morning we could hear a different noise and spotted some tank type vehicles moving about at a pace. Something different.

Continuing north, leaving Port Augusta the landscape noticeably changes. We were leaving the coastal regions, entering the arid lands of central Australia. About 60 kilometres up the road, we stopped at a lookout taking a photograph of the landscape back towards Port Augusta. Large trees no longer visible. Around another 50 kilometres up the road the landscape had changed again.

We were into the vast Australian outback regions where you needed to be smart and consider your water and food requirements. Available water, food, fuel, communications and services are a scarce commodity in the outback.

It was nice to have the cloudy skies dissipate, replaced by a feel-good blue sky.

Our next overnight stop was at a rest area overlooking Lake Hart. It is a great inland setting with a dry lake bed surface covered by a layer of crusty salt.

You can walk onto the lake surface via a pipe under a rail line with a diameter of about 1 1/2 metres.  

Once you are in the Australian outback there seems to be infinite amounts of the same, not much in the way of inspirational scenery for thousands of kilometres. Thus, a large amount of time when in the outback is taken up by “just driving,” following the few paved roads to faraway destinations. We were driving the Stuart Highway, the only paved road travelling north – south through the middle of Australia.

We had travelled this route many times, having explored the few, “highlights,” on offer along its route.

When deliberating, what we would like to do in 2024 we thought the “top end,” of Northern Territory would be nice. It would be three years since we had last visited this region.

We do love the scenery and the special charm of the N.T. national parks. Being able to set up camp in one of N.T. national parks, sparks all our feel-good senses.

Since our last time in N.T. the rules had changed, now requiring advanced booking for a national park camp site.

We found ourselves needing to book camp sites around six months in advance. We felt we were losing our freedom, where in retirement we could go where-ever, stay where-ever, when-ever we wanted.

Was there a certain element of working-class people, (Bureaucrats,) jealous of the free and easy life-style retired people pursued? Were these people trying to impose restrictions for freedom of movement on retired people, imposing similar rules as the structured work force environment they needed to abide by?

What-ever the reasons or excuses provided, it certainly isn’t appreciated by us!

With an imposed structured timeline, we allocated a requirement to travel about 300 kilometres a day for arrival at our first national park booking site. It was easy driving along the Stuart Highway without much in the way to entice some further exploration.

There was the mandatory photograph on arrival at the town of Coober Pedy. Our first time with the new caravan and we hope many more.

When about 75 kilometres south of Coober Pedy we started to spot the occasional, magnificent eagle. Its always good to spot an eagle, a rare sight. Heading north early in the morning from Coober Pedy we saw around two dozen eagles. It was a great way to start our day. There did seem to be an abundance of fresh “road kill” about.

P.S. (Note to self. Have the camera in-hand when either north or south of Coober Pedy at around the 100-kilometre mark from town.) (Stay a couple of nights in town and head out at first light without the caravan to go eagle spotting.)

The following two nights were spent at roadside rest areas. It was good to be back in our loved outback Australia environment.

The closer we got to the town of Alice Springs the redder the colour of the soil became, letting us know we were in outback Australia territory.

It was good to arrive at the town of Alice Springs, our first target destination. We were planning some time in the nearby McDonnell Ranges and were looking forward to a break from the long-distance driving duties for a while. We stocked up on fresh food and filled the tow tugs fuel tank.