Around Australia 12 - days 60-65

Adelaide to Home, via Broken Hill, Cobar, Coonabarabran and Goondiwindi

Day 60 - Saturday, 29 May 2010

Got up early today, had breakfast in the dining room with Irene and Lawrence, then decided to go check out the RM Williams Museum.

After that, Irene and Lawrence decided to go on the bus to town, so, B. and I bought ourselves a bottle of red and a bottle of Baileys Irish Cream. some lunch and went back to our room to do some laundry and take it easy, being as how we were wiped from the train trip.

Irene & Lawrence joined us at about 4pm to have some cheese, biscuits and booze, during which Irene & I managed to consume almost the whole bottle of Baileys. It really is very nice. I didn't think we were drunk. We then went off to the dining room to have some dinner, before retiring to our rooms and flaking out.

- J

Day 61 -  Sunday, 30 May 2010

Up again in time for our continental breakfast with Irene and Lawrence, before packing up and leaving for Broken Hill today. Irene and Lawrence took off for Murray Bridge to go on a 3 day Paddle Wheeler trip on the Murray.

We had quite a long drive to Broken Hill today. Stopped at Burra (http://www.burrahistory.info/BurraHeritageTrail.htm) to have a light lunch of Cornish pasties,

then straight on to Broken Hill. On the way, we had really bad weather, which cleared up a bit as we got further east. We also saw another couple of young emus on the side of the road.

Arrived in Broken Hill at 5.30pm, checked out our room, went to get some petrol. We find we don't forget to get petrol if we do it the day we arrive in the town, rather than the next day.Topped up the petrol, picked ourselfves up a couple of Hungry Jacks burgers and have retired again to our room, absolutely wiped out again. I feel we are getting to the point where we are looking forward now to getting home. Should be home in about 4 days time.

- J

Day 62 - Monday, 31 May 2010

Had a fairly usual drive from Broken Hill to the copper mining town of Cobar, where we are now. The countryside for most of the drive was very flat, with small, scrubby bushes. Because of all the rain they are having at the moment, there are big waterholes full of water everywhere, and all the foliage is very green and lush looking - not at all the usual look, I suspect. We actually saw another wild emu today, also lots of goats. Don't know if they were feral or not. Some were inside the fences and a lot were outside.  Also, we saw flocks of parrots, some plain white ones, and some, white with pink cheeks. I think there is so much more wildlife because of the rain.

We stopped at Wilcannia to have lunch. Wilcannia is a very sad looking town. Everywhere you look, there are closed and really sad looking buildings. There only appeared to be one IGA open, and the roadhouse we had lunch at. Any buildings that weren't closed and trashed, had big security screens all over. It was strange, because, when we drove into town at about noon, there were only about 4 Aboriginal people sitting on the footpath, outside the IGA. We went into the roadhouse, where there were a couple more people. We ordered our meal, sat down to eat, and within about 10 minutes people started coming in and ordering their lunches - all Aboriginal people - lots of them kids, all of them in quite nice, clean clothes, and very polite, happy people. The only dirty, messy people we saw were two white blokes who came in and sat behind us. Really odd little town. We drove around it for a few minutes, because a lot of the closed buildings were obviously very old, beautiful, and built of coloured, obviously local, stone. All really very sad.

Anyway, after lunch we finally arrived in Cobar and signed into our motel for the night. Have decided to try for Coonabarabran tomorrow, then Goondiwindi, then home on Thursday.

- J

Day 63 - Tuesday, 01 June 2010

Driving out of Cobar today, we came across this monument:

 

 Rather moving. Then a little further on we came across this:

 

designed to be viewed on entering Cobar from the East. 

We are now in our room at Coonabarabran, in the Acacia Motor Lodge. We have a handicapped room, which is absolute luxury, huge bedroom, with queen and single beds and table and chairs, separate dressing room, and an absolutely massive bathroom. Top that off with free wireless Internet access! This is second only to the Sails in the Desert at Ayers Rock, and the tariff is only $120, including a free continental breakfast.

They are very proud of their chef here who is Chinese, and has an international reputation. His menu is a choice of European and Chinese dishes. I had a magic curried prawn dish, and Joce and I both had delectable crepes suzette for desert.

- B

Day 64 - Tuesday, 02 June 2010

Goondiwindi today.

I am not usually interested in race horses, but Gunsynd is something of an exception. He was owned by a syndicate of Goondiwindi residents, hence his name (Goondiwindi syndicate) and at his retirement from racing was Australia's highest stake earner. The residents of Goondiwindi have erected a statue in his honour, and when he retired he was farewelled at special events throughout eastern Australia.

We are staying tonight at the Ascot Lodge Motor Inn, in yet another very comfortable room. We chose it by reviewing the comments of previous guests on the Internet, and they were justifiably positive.

- B

Day 65 - Wednesday, 03 June 2010

We have set out to find the Gunsynd statue:

 

and as we were leaving town, we saw the Victoria Hotel, which dates from 1898, and has been recently renovated. It is a beautiful building, and has been well preserved. 

We are on the home straight now, and stopped off in Toowoomba to have lunch with Geoff, who is spending some time in the newly-located Book Nook in the centre of town.

We have had a marvellous time, but both of us are happy to be home. We owe a debt of gratitude to our GP, who was also a customer of ours  at the shop. He advised us to make this trip, while we could still enjoy it, so we did, and we certainly have. Thanks Ian.

- B

I agree wholeheartedly with the above paragraph. We have had a fantastic time, enjoyed every minute of it, even the long, slightly boring bits on the Nullarbor, and up the north coast of WA. I am so glad we did it now, because I really don't think we could have waited much longer and achieved what we have. The absolute BEST bit was the helicopter flight over the Rock and The Olgas. I advise all of you to do it while you can - even people who think it might be frightening - it's not. One feels very secure.

We have finally seen a lot of our own country. I was a bit surprised at how many of the small outback places have obviously lost quite a bit of population. As most of you know, I do enjoy writing to politicians and giving them my opinion. I am thinking seriously of writing to Kevin Rudd and suggesting he ask any of the small townships if they would welcome having a few of the boat people live there for 2 or three years before they (the boat people) could become Australian citizens. It worked after the war when all the Italian and Greek people came out here, and I don't see why it shouldn't now.

It is lovely to be home, and to sleep in my own bed. I think Bernard got a bit tired of carrying everything in and out of our motels - especially the microwave! I know we are both looking forward to going back to Ipswich East School next Friday. I hope you have all enjoyed hearing about our travels as much as we have enjoyed doing them.

- J

Around Australia 11 - days 53-59

Darwin to Adelaide via Alice Springs and Ayers Rock

Day 53 - Saturday, 22 May 2010

Today, we had to be at the station where The Ghan departs by 7am at the latest, so that we could have the Prius put onto The Ghan.

After leaving our lovely car in the hands of the blokes at the station, we went and waited until 8.30am when we were able to get on board. Our Platinum class room, while not really huge, was a darn sight more roomy than the next class, Gold. We each had a single fold down bed (just as wide as we are), our own shower and toilet, and we were served our meals in our room, because I found it very hard to walk along the corridors to the restaurant car. Also, when we got there, the tables and seats were obviously meant for lovely, young, thin people, and I couldn't fit in. Anyway, we were given very good service for all our trip. The landscape we passed through was very reminiscent of our trip over the Nullarbor. We decided we would go to bed without a shower, as it would be too hard. The lights are turned off at 10pm, leaving only a little overhead downlight on.  So, we ended up going to sleep at about 10.30pm, but then, I woke up every couple of hours.

- J

Day 54 - Sunday, 23 May 2010

After being woken by our lovely attendant, Erin, with a cup of coffee today, we continued on until arriving in Alice Springs at about 11am.

Alice Springs is surrounded by lovely red rocky mountains.  The town seems to built in amongst the huge mounds of beautiful coloured rocks.

We arrived at our motel, Desert Palms Resort, which turned out to be individual small cabins with steeply pitched roofs.  We were really looking forward to a shower by then, and, wouldn't you know it? They had an electrical problem and we only had cold water until about 8pm.  

We then decided to drive around the Alice for a bit, (the Todd River actually is dry sand, even after all the rain they have just had), then ended up having lunch at a local club, The Gillen Club, which was the usual club with pokies and a bar, and good food, but was also very kid friendly.  There was a birthday party going on outside, where there was a lovely playground with a huge area (about the size of a swimming pool) covered by a massive rubber bubble the kids were bouncing on like a trampoline.  Inside, there was a kids' room with an array of computer games.

After lunch, we went back to our motel where I did a load of laundry while waiting for the management to get the hot water problem fixed.  We got to have a lovely hot shower by about 10pm, were asleep by 10.30pm and I slept for 8 HOURS!  I never sleep for that many hours in a night.  The bed was sooo lovely, and the room sooo lovely and dark.  B. slept for about 10 hours.

- J

Day 55 - Monday, 24 May 2010

After our great sleep, we were ready for the 400 plus km drive to Ayers Rock today. Fantastic scenery for most of the drive!  We stopped at Mt Ebenezer Roadhouse for lunch, checked out their lovely Aboriginal Art Gallery, bought me a beaut net to put over my head to stop the flies getting up my nose, and continued on until finally coming over a hill, to find Ayers Rock (Uluru) in the distance.

During the drive, we saw a lot of eagles circling every now and again, and, finally, we got to see a large flock of green budgies.  One of the eagles flew straight up the road at us, then flew off over the top of our car.

Arrived at our accommodation for the night and it turned out to be as B. calls it, at least a 6 star hotel.  He had to walk about 50 metres from the front door, down past a very expensive gift shop of beautiful glassware, Aboriginal art work, etc, to the reception.  He was then told to bring me inside, where I was met with a wheelchair and wheeled to our room, which was about another 150 metres from reception. The room is sort of gobsmacking. We both have a queen size bed, the bathroom has beautiful marble floors and is about as big as an average bedroom, with, of course, two wash basins.

We are expecting to have yet another good night's sleep, then up early for a lovely breakfast in our room, then being wheeled back to reception to be picked up by the shuttle bus to take us for our much awaited helicopter flight over the Rock and The Olgas.

- J

Day 56 - Tuesday, 25 May 2010

Oh boy, have we had a day! After a really good night in our lovely hotel, we were picked up by the helicopter shuttle bus at 9am and taken out to the airport where we were given all the safety instructions, like 'Don't go near the tail rotor."  Once more, we were levered into a little seat (a bit more comfortable than the plane at Kakadu), given a headset each, and off we went. Talk about breath-taking!

We had a very nice young man for a pilot, who pointed out all the sights.

We flew over towards The Olgas first. Fantastic!! The colours have to be seen to be believed on both The Olgas and the Rock. I didn't know that The Olgas were comprised of 36 different rocks. Just the sight of the green bushes on the red sand dunes is something to see. It's all so big, one can't express how awe inspiring it is.

The helicopter flight is much more exciting than the plane flight was.  When the pilot banks over to turn the machine, there is just a bit of glass, and, of course a very tight seat-belt, between you and 3,500 feet

After going back to Ayers Rock, (I can't think what to say about Ayers Rock - it's just too overwhelming), and flying beside it, he then took us back to the airport. I thought we were going to bump when we landed, but, no such thing.  Just a gentle touchdown.  We both got out grinning like a pair of idiots. Adrenaline pumping!

The pilot has told us that it was really something to drive to the base of each site, so, after the bus brought us back to the hotel, we hopped into the car and drove out to the base of the Rock, and he was right. Up really close, it changes colour as the sun shifts. The Olgas are the same. We drove 50km out to the Olgas and back, then back out to the Rock, so we could get lunch at the Cultural Centre.  

Now back in our hotel room, absolutely exhausted. Leaving tomorrow to go back to the Alice to catch The Ghan on Thursday to Adelaide.

- J

Something that surprised me, was how secure I felt in the helicopter. I had heard reports from others about how scary it was sitting in the front seat (where I was), with glass down to your feet. I must say I did not experience that at all. All told, a wonderful experience. We have now had a hot air balloon flight, a light plane flight, and today, a helicopter flight. As I said to our pilot today, I really can see how folk would want to learn to fly a helicopter. Add the venue to the experience, and this has been one of the most exhilarating days I can remember.

- B

Day 57 - Wednesday, 26 May 2010

Back to Alice Springs today.

Left our very lovely luxurious room at about 9.15am to travel back to the Alice, actually 457km.  The scenery, which we had expected to be red, dry desert, has turned out to be covered in green bushes and grasses, due to all the rain we brought with us. It's a really great drive, back past Mt Conner, which we think almost rivals Ayers Rock.  In fact, we saw it as we were driving into town yesterday, and thought it was actually Ayers Rock. It was only when the helicopter pilot pointed out that it was exactly in alignment with the Rock and The Olgas, that we realized that it wasn't the Rock.

We stopped at Erldunda for lunch, and also something for tea tonight. Then, back on the road again, this time driving through the McDonnell Ranges, which surround Alice Springs with beautiful, great outcrops of multi-coloured rocks.

Arrived back at the motel we stayed in after first arriving in Alice Springs, The Desert Palms Resort, a great place with very reasonable rates.  http://www.desertpalms.com.au/accommodation.php 

Had our tea which we had bought back at Erldunda. B. had bought an egg and lettuce roll which he said was so good, it was worth going back to Erldunda to get another one.  A mere 200km.  BTW, while I was waiting for him to visit the loo in Erldunda, I was reading a poster on the wall with the history of the Erldunda Roadhouse. It gets its water from 3 different bores, 1 that is only 5km away, but the water is not potable, and is therefore used for the garden, the other 2 are over 20km away.  They also take in any emus that are injured on the roads, (no kangaroos because there is usually not enough water).  They keep them and breed them, and are now sending them to other places that need emus.

Tomorrow, back on The Ghan for Adelaide.

- J

Day 58 - Thursday, 27 May 2010

Today, after checking out of our room, we once more got back on The Ghan. This time, our room was the last one in the last passenger carriage, even further down the train from everything. Still, our room was comfortable, and we were also facing forward this time, so we could see what was ahead.. We found going forward to be much more comfortable than facing backward. Yet again, we were waited on by a couple of very nice, young ladies, Hannah and Lauren. As soon as the train started, we were presented with two lovely scones, jam, cream and coffee. From then on, the food just kept coming and getting more exotic. For our evening meal, we had pork chops in a wine sauce, with veges - yum!

As we bounced along, the scenery outside was just as spectacular as before. As usual, we had an overcast sky, threatening to rain all the way to Adelaide.

This time, we also decided to take some photos of our room, to show everyone how nice it was. As last time, we got a lovely nightcap of liqueur before settling down for a bit of a bumpy night's sleep.

Day 59 - Friday, 28 May 2010

Before arriving in Adelaide, where we were going to spend only one night, we got an email from Cousin Lawrence and Irene to say they were going to be in Adelaide for a couple of days, so we asked them to book us into the same motel, so we could meet up with them.

On arriving in Adelaide, we found the lovely ladies of The Ghan had arranged for an electric people mover to meet us at our carriage to take us up to the waiting room, while they unloaded our car. So, we sat in this open people mover (like a large golf buggy), with a light bleeping on top, and drove the whole length of the train. One of the attendants had told me that it was 650 metres long. I felt like the Queen, as everyone on the platform turned around and watched as we drove past.

After picking up our car, we drove into Adelaide and found the hotel, the Adelaide Royal Coach Motor Inn, (http://www.countryclubs.com.au/royal-coach ). This is a full-facilities hotel/motel, with 24 hours reception and 24 hours room service. We are in a very comfy double room which we got for $130 per night complete with continental breakfast. Definitely worth a visit when in Adelaide. We settled in, met up with Irene and Lawrence, and ended up sitting in our room, consuming some lovely chocolate liqueur they had bought from Echuca, and some red wine.  I think I am becoming addicted to liqueur.

Needless to say, we slept well last night.

- J