22 April 2016 - Day 20 - Curtain Springs

We woke up and decided to all stay in bed together and watch a movie.  It was lovely and exactly what we needed.

Once the movie was finish we went outside and realised that we were the only van left in the carpark, it was lovely and quiet so we decided to do some school work.

Our first stop for the day was The Kulger Pub which is the first and last pub in the NT, unfortunatley it was closed.

The next stop was the Erldunda service station to feed the Emu's that live there.

Drove to Curtain Springs and free camped next to the homestead/pub.  It was a great spot and we met some really nice people including the 88 year old owner, Peter who helped attached the original chain to Ayers Rock.

During the night we heard wild dogs or dingos howling.

21 April 2016 - Day 19 - Kulgar SA/NT Border

Left Coober Pedy around 11am and had a stop at Marla for lunch.

Then we had a long drive to the SA/NT border and stayed at another free camp in a rest stop on the side of the highway.

It was really nice to be on a hard surface instead of dust.  The carpark soon filled up and there was approx. 8 caravans.

17-20 April 2016 - Days 15-18 - Coober Pedy

We got up and the kids wanted to ride their bikes on the salt lake.  So we went for one last walk on the lake and then decided to have a parents verse kids touch football game.  The kids won by 1 point and I think I paid the price for the next 2 days, my legs were aching!!!! But it was heaps of fun.

Drove to Glendambo and filled up with petrol and the kids climbed a windmill on the side of the road.

Arrived at Coober Pedy early afternoon and stayed in a backyard of a really nice guy called Gary.  We had found the camp on a website and everyone was writing awesome reviews about him and the place.  It was a dirt/dust backyard with approx. 8 caravans jambed in tight and you only get charged $5 p/night per family.  We had the best time here and met some really nice people including a lovely family from Cronulla Ryan, Rochelle, Rome, Lennox and Banjo.  We have since met up with them again and spent 3 days together in Ayers Rock.

Had a relaxing afternoon in the camp ground but noticed that we had a cracked windscreen already!!! Not happy but at least no-one is hurt.

Over the next 3 days we visited The Crocodiles Nest, The Old Timers Mine, The Big Winch Lookout, Fayes Homestead, the local swimming pool for a swim, The Kangaroo Sanctuary, the skatepark and The Breakaways for sunset and saw the dog fence .

We tried our hand at Noodling which is opal fossicking and found some nice opals.  We thought we had struck it rich with a piece approx. the size of a prune.  It turns out that it has great colour but is a little crazed and is probably worth around $300 - we are not retiring yet!!!

The school work was hanging over our heads so we visited the Coober Pedy School library and got quite alot done in 2 hours.

16 April 2016 - Day 14 - Lake Hart

We left around lunchtime and stopped off at Spud's Roadhouse at the turn off to Woomera for an ice cream and then headed to Woomera.

Woomera is a very weird but interesting place.  There was no one to be seen on the streets, it felt like a ghost town.

The kids enjoyed walking around the rocket display.

We decided to drive abit further to a free camp on the side of the highway at Lake Hart which is a massive salt lake.  Thank god there was another caravan in the carpark because I was a little hesitant about staying on our own in the middle of nowhere.

It turned out to be a beautiful spot except for the flies, hence the fly nets in the photo. We had to cross over the train tracks to get to the salt lake, we had just crossed over the tracks and a huge freight train came around the corner.  It was very exciting.

 The sun set was awesome and we had a great night.

14 -15 April 2016 - Days 12 - 13 - Pt Augusta

A big Thank You to Michael, Karen, Jack, Chelsea and Toby for letting us stay at their place.

We had so much fun over the 3 days that we spent in Pt Augusta.

We were lucky enough to be taken out on Michael's boat and caught 6 blue swimmer mud crabs.

The kids were having the time of their lives even though they were giving me a heartattack as Jack and Toby taught them how to ride a motorbike.

Within 24 hours the boys were riding by themselves on a dirt track in the backyard.

We also visited the Wadlata Information center that was great and really informative.

A trip to a new town wouldn't be complete without checking out the skatepark, the kids were happy!!

13-15 April 2016 - Days 11 - 14 - Pt Augusta

Went for an early morning walk to collect some firewood to make damper for breakfast, which turned out to be delicious considering it was our first attempt!! I am sure that damper will be made again on this trip.

We all went for a mountain bike ride thru the country side at Wilpena before we packed up and hit the road to visit my cousins at Pt Augusta.

12 April 2016 - Day 10 - Wilpena Pound

Today we decided to try one of the hardest hikes there is to do at Wilpena Pound.

It was Mount Ohlssen Bagget that stands at 923m above sea level.  The boys really surprised Michael and I as they almost ran the whole way up in 1 hour and 20 minutes.  The track was very rocky and dangerous in places with massive drop offs.  Once at the top the view was amazing!!

It took a little longer to come down as there were lots of loose rocks and it was easy to loose your footing.

After a swim in the freezing resort pool we headed to the local runway and went for a light plane ride over Wilpena Pound.  It was great to put it all into perspective, especially what we had just climbed.

The resort holds a aboriginal welcome ceremony every night where they tell you about the local tribes and traditions.  The aboriginal man told us that an elder had passed away that morning.  Later that night after the kids had gone to bed Michael and I were sitting around the fire and I noticed a funny smokey/spot light shape coming from the ground up to the sky in the distance.  It was very strange and we couldn't work it out, later after speaking to some people they confirmed that they thought the light was a min min light.  As Wilpena is a sacred sight it is not uncommon to see a min min light and especially after a passing.  The whole experience was really different.

Another great and exciting day!!

11 April 2016 - Day 9 - Wilpena Pound

Today we headed to Wilpena Pound after another quick stop at the local skate park.  We will be able to rate all the skateparks in Australia after our trip!!!!

It was a lovely drive to Wilpena with not as much wild life on the sides of the road so it was a little bit more relaxing.

Wilpena Pound is an amazing place it feels like you are in the middle of nowhere with awesome mountains and scenery around you.

We decided to try the easiest hike there was, the drought buster but ended taking a wrong turn and went for a lovely bushwalk off the beaten track and saw some kangaroos.

We sat around and had another camp fire in the evening and really enjoyed our sorroundings.

10 April 2016 - Day 8 - Peterborough

After another trip to the local skatepark we headed across the NSW/SA border and the fruit fly exclusion zone to Peterborough.  I was allowed to keep a carrot but had to surrender some other fruit!!!

We visited Magnetic Hill which was a massive magnet on a very dusty back road that gave the illusion that if you turned your engine off and put your car in neutral that it was pulled towards the magnet.  It was actually on a hill and it rolled down but the kids loved it anyway.

We stayed in another free camp which was in a small grassy paddock with some 3 other caravans (all grey nomads!!)

9 April 2016 - Day 7 - Broken Hill

We had a massive day exploring Broken Hill.

First we visited the local markets and then the big chair on top of the lookout.  The view was amazing over the town.  Next was the Silver City gallery and mint, Bells 1950's milkbar for a milkshake and then onto the Royal Flying Doctors base.

Silverton pub was exciting as when we were having lunch the 3 resident donkey's walked up the road to the pub for a drink of water.  Once we had finished our lunch we got in the car but didn't get too far as the donkeys stopped us and stuck their heads in the windows - it was very funny. Next was the Mad Max Museum, the Mundi Mundi lookout and the sculptures in the desert for sunset.

We were all tired and had had a great day.

8 April 2016 - Day 6 - Broken Hill

It was a lovely site to wake up watching kangaroos drinking from the reservoir.

We took an early morning walk around the reservoir before the boys had their first fishing experience of the trip.  They didn't have much luck, but they did catch a fish in a coke can that they accidently hooked!!

Next stop on the map is Broken Hill.

The dive from Cobar to Wilcannia was an interesting one.  The amount of road kill on the road was  very sad and sometimes dangerous, as massive kangaroos lay in the middle of the road and you couldn't swerve around them if a car/truck was coming in the opposite direction.

The boys spotted over 300 live emus, lots of kangaroos and goats on the way.

After hearing lots of terrible stories about Wilcannia we were not sure what to expect. The kids wanted to wear their skateboard helmets as we drove thru, as we had been told that quite often beer bottles and rocks get thrown at cars.  It was all abit disappointing as we saw nothing, but we were safe.

We camped alongside the Broken Hill Race course for $15 a night and watched the trotters and race horses train - great spot!!

7 April 2016 - Day 5 - Cobar

We left Dubbo around 9am and made our way to Cobar.

We saw our first wild emu on the side of the road which was very exciting.

Michael's horse was racing at midday and we just made it in time to the Cobar Servicemans Club to watch the race.  The horse came 2nd - yippee!!!

Another skate park was on the agenda.  Michael thought that a magpie was swooping him but it was actually a pet cockateil.  The bird flew down and landed on the skate ramp and Cooper picked him up - we couldn't believe how tame he was.  After lots of discussion with the kids we did the right thing and drove the bird to the local vet for them to find the owner - the kids wanted a mascot for the trip but we declined.

After all the excitement we headed to a free camp on the bank of the Newey Reservoir.  It was a lovely free camp with lots of wildlife.  We could hear a bird making alot of noise during the night and Cooper was sure that it was a golden eagle.  He was spot on, in the morning we found that the

eagle had its nest not far from the caravan.

The kids built their first camp fire and did a great job and enjoyed eating the massive marshmellows that Jenny had given them.

6 April 2016 - Day 4

We haven't had much luck so far with flat tyres on our bikes!!!

Michael and I have both had a flat tyre from cat eye thorns that are everywhere out here.

We decided to go for a ride along the river before we headed to the zoo but unfortunately I got a flat along the way.

Then we headed to Dubbo Zoo which was great.  The african wild dogs were definately the highlight as we saw them get fed.

4 April 2016 - Day 2

Today we woke to a thick fog in Bathurst.  It was really spooky!!

The boys had their first PE lesson which was a run around the hockey ovals and another trip to the skate park before breakfast.

We then headed to Mount Panaroma to drive around the track, the kids loved every minute.

Next we went to The Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum which had a great collection of gems and the only complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in Australia.

After a quick bike ride along the river we hopped back in the car and headed to Dubbo approx.
207 Kms.

We are staying at the BIG 4 Caravan park and are enjoying a relaxing night!!

3 April 2016 - Day 1

The day has finally arrived and we are heading off on our big adventure.

Our first stop is Bathurst - 215kms away.

We are staying at a free camp at Berry Reserve next to the skate park.  It didn't take long for the Peterson boys to hit the ramps!!!

We are still in shock that we are here!!!