The sun was shining when we woke up this morning. The night had been cold, and it was still nippy.

We left Marla at 9:48am with the temperature sitting on 12 degrees once again. Once again, I read to Russ, and it is getting very interesting with lots of plots and counterplots coming into the open.

Last time we stayed in Coober Pedy we went to Reba’s Underground Caravan Park. This time we decided to take a recommendation from Lyn and Pete and stay at the Tomcat Hill Caravan Park which is a bit outside of town on the east side. We arrived to a warm welcome around 1:00pm.

The owner of the park is Des Roffey whose daughter is Chelsea Roffey – a goal umpire in the AFL. In fact, she will be one of the goal umpires on Sunday’s match between Richmond and Collingwood. Des is a very proud dad.

The park is at the top of a hill with an uninterrupted view of the Breakaways and part of the Painted Desert. I think it would be extremely hot here in summer. We have power and water but there is only one washing machine (complementary) and the park is full so I will have to wait and see if I can wash my sheets, doona cover and towels in his machine which is bigger than mine. It was going flat chat this afternoon right up to where we were losing the light of day. However, I have done four loads in my machine and many of our clothes are now nice and dry. Tomorrow should finish drying off the few remaining items on my clothesline.

Excitement this morning – we have clouds, and it is fairly overcast. After so much time of fine sunny weather a cloud or two makes all the difference, haha.

We slept in until 9:00am as we did not completely detach the car from the van so only minimum time was needed to be able to set out. It was 10:53am when we pulled out of the park, and we were the last to leave other than those who were staying another night – 3 caravans and 1 camper trailer. Their vehicles had left early so one may assume they were venturing to either King’s Canyon for the day, or Uluru. I am amazed at the number of people who travel such long distances in a single day. I personally could never do it.

We had to listen to the mournful sound of crows both yesterday and early this morning. It is a thoroughly depressing sound unlike my beautiful magpies (of which there were none).

Once again, I read the book. Russ has quite got into the swing of things and now waits to see what the next convolution will be in the story. He says on the days we don’t travel he finds himself wondering what he is missing.

We crossed from the Northern Territory into South Australia at 11:15am and the odometer reading was 143,118 kilometres.

We encountered precipitation at 11:29am on the way and for some considerable time. We haven’t seen any rain for so long it is another thing to get excited about. I am sure as we travel further south it will just become annoying.

It was 1:30pm when we arrived at the Marla Traveller’s Rest Stop and got more fuel. It is a strange way they set the caravan park out, and one of the few places where you are told to stay off the grass.

As we were setting up, we heard a very noisy goose. Needless to say, it was also noisy into the late afternoon and then into the early morning. I think it was more annoying than the donkey at Banka Banka Station.

The temperature only got down to 11 degrees overnight, but it was sitting on 12 degrees when we finally made it to Marla, so it hadn’t climbed much in all that time.

Once again, we had an early tea and an early night. We were one of the earliest to get here but the park was fairly full by nighttime, and there were a lot of people staying in the motel section.

We left the caravan Park at King’s Canyon at 9:53am and the temperature was sitting on 14 degrees. This morning it appears as if there has been a mass exodus of vans and motorhomes over the last two days. I believe that school holidays are over.

I read most of the way and we have now started Book 6 of the Foreigner Series, and we have definitely not been fortunate enough to see any dingoes.

We arrived at Erldunda Roadhouse and Caravan Park at 12:40pm and had finished setting up by 2:00pm. During the rest of the afternoon, I finished perusing all of our photos and have chosen what I think will be the most interesting ones to see.

We had an early tea and went to sleep about 9:45pm. It was a bit chilly, and I am very glad to have an electric blanket to turn on in the early hours of the morning.

Fuel here is fairly expensive so Russ has tipped the diesel from the jerry cans into the car, and we will top it off tomorrow morning before we leave.

We set the alarm for 8:00am and had a leisurely breakfast after our showers. We had to be over at the Helipad at 9:50am for our safety instruction, and as we like to be early or on time, we arrived well within given time frames.

Last night we ventured over to the Bar and Grill for tea. It was an enjoyable meal but nothing to write home about. Russ had his usual Parmi and I had Pasta Carbonara.

The day was sunny with a cool breeze, and there was a bit of a haze over the ranges.

We thought we may have had to share with other people as there were six of us in the safety briefing, but it turned out that they were running slightly behind schedule and these people were the 9:30am bunch.

It is very busy with air traffic. While we were waiting for our turn to board Jamie flew in from Uluru with passengers who must be loaded as they are flying out each time form Uluru to see the items of interest with the region and this is costing them $4000 per person each trip.

We watched while they were escorted out to the helicopter and buckled into their seats. Before the flight was able to lift the doors opened again and two of them got off the helicopter and came back to the office. Apparently, another of the passengers was a big man and the other people were unable to access their safety harness as he was sitting on it.

Emily escorted them away from the plane and re-booked them onto another flight, and Jamie came over to help with the start-up protocols with Soara while she did this.

Once they had left Emily came outside to where we were sitting and said Soara had insisted that she make sure Russ got one of the Professional Helicopter Services caps, valued at $25.00. Amazingly it actually fit his large head, so he was stoked.

We were extremely lucky to be the only passengers on our flight, and Soara was our pilot. Because of the differences in weight distribution – Soara and I in the front and Russ to one side in the back seat – Emily brought across one of the blue plastic containers that were near the office and put it on the empty back seat.

I commented to Soara that I had wondered what they were used for, and she grinned and said they were full of gin, vodka and tequila. We all enjoyed the joke.

I took my telephoto lens with me, and I should have had my normal lens, so Russ was able to get more photos than I did while we were in the helicopter. The George Gill Range is only a handful of kilometres from King’s Canyon and is where the ancient landscape comes to life.

The incredible forces which created King’s Canyon was also responsible for the creation of the middle ranges in the far distance from here, and the entire McDonnell Ranges which begin near Alice Springs.

The helicopter flight was stunning. Soara gave a running commentary about what we were seeing as she circled the King’s Canyon and she also had to keep in check with other craft in the area. The flight went for 15 minutes and was worth every cent. We were able to view the King’s Canyon Walk, the Garden of Eden, the City of Domes, and Carmichael’s Crag. (photos)

The Garden of Eden is so named because it has a perpetual water supply all year round. The City of Domes is very like the Bungle Bungles but smaller versions of them, and then we went out to view Carmichael’s Crag.

Kings Canyon is a valley that cuts firstly through a layer of Mereenie Sandstone, deposited about 400 million years ago, now forming sheer cliffs. Below the cliffs, the slope is less steep and the valley cuts through the softer Carmichael Sandstone, deposited about 440 million years ago. Between the Mereenie and the Carmichael Sandstone is a thin layer of purple mudstone, which represents deposits laid down when the environment was changing from shallow marine (Carmichael) to an inland dune field in which there were rivers and lakes (Mereenie).

At Kings Canyon, the Mereenie Sandstone is cut by a very well-developed set of west-north-west and a poorly developed set of north-north-east trending vertical joints. Erosion is proceeding along these joints. For instance, Kings Creek upstream of the main canyon flows along a series of straight lines; the lines forming right angles with each other and conform to the directions of the joint sets.

Many joints can be seen on the plateau on either side of the canyon. The best developed are parallel to the canyon wall. Some extend down for many metres and range from several metres wide down to hairline cracks.

The City of Domes is a feature of the canyon itself and the domes are a result of jointing and weathering. These deep cracks or joints criss-cross the local sandstone, resulting in quicker erosion, to form isolated blocks of sandstone. Further weathering by wind and rain have then eroded the top corners and sides of the blocks to form the domes that are visible today. The sandstone is quite soft rock and easily broken.

The section of Kings Creek called the Garden of Eden gets its name because of its lush vegetation. The canyon is made up of two layers of sandstone with a layer of hard mudstone in between. Rainwater percolates through the Mereenie Sandstone but the layer of shale stops the water soaking through into the Carmichael Sandstone. This creates a water table in the Mereenie Sandstone, above the layer of mudstone. The Garden of Eden cuts this water table, allowing stored water to slowly trickle out of the sandstone to water the lush vegetation.

The Mereenie Sandstone is a clean white sandstone. It was deposited in an environment which ranged from aeolian (i.e. in the air) to lacustrine (fresh-water lake) to marine. The red colour is believed to be due to an iron-rich dust blown onto the rock surface and then chemically fixed to the sand grains by a form of fungi which thrive on iron, silica and ephemeral (short lived) rainwater.

Kings Creek is 650 metres above sea level and the canyon walls range from 100 to 150 metres above the creek. The highest point of the George Gill Range is near Carmichaels Crag, 908 metres above sea level.

When Ernest Giles visited the area in 1872, he named a prominent peak (Carmichael’s Crag) after his companion Samuel Carmichael. Carmichael’s Crag is the highest point of the George Gill Range and sits over 900 m above sea level.

To the local Aborigines the site was a sacred women’s place and is meant to represent a dingo mother lying down with her eight pups suckling. This can be seen so clearly from the air as we came around Carmichael’s Crag from the Canyon side. (photo) We were very lucky to strike it at the right time of day when the sun’s rays were highlighting the curves of the canyon sides.

The King’s Canyon is in the Watarrka National Park and was leased to the Parks and Wildlife Service for 99 years in 2012 by the traditional owners with an agreement that the park will be jointly managed by traditional owners and ranges together.

After the helicopter flight we headed in the car to King’s Creek which meanders through King’s Canyon. The walking track is well designed and laid out with much of the stone that has fallen from the rim of the canyon itself. It is very popular, and we met lots of people both coming and going.

The trees in the bed of King’s Creek have to survive both floods and years of drought with little or no rains. Water may be found under the sandy creek beds for many months after a rain event. Living in a riverbed is no protection against severe drought. During dry times river red gums drop limbs and most of their leaves to be able to survive. The hollows left by falling limbs provide dwellings for many animals.

From the air King’s Creek looks like a ribbon of green compared to the surrounding countryside. It is country home to a diverse range of plants. On the cliffs and open sunny rockfall faces, cracks and crevices allow roots of stunted shrubs and tussock grasses to take hold.

On the shady side are dwarfed trees such as White Cypress and Ghost Gums. Shrublands of emu bush, wattle, spear vine and spinifex live on lower slopes where some soil is found. In lower shaded areas there can be stands of Native Fig and Striped Mint Bush.

Holly Grevilleas (photo) and Sticky Hop Bush survive on remnants of rainfall under the open canopy of the larger trees. Of the more than 600 plants recorded in the Park, over 60 are rare or remnant species.

The native flowers are also starting to come into season and are everywhere, but I have had no luck in sighting a dingo. They do give you an information sheet about what to do if one comes into the Caravan Park and other people have said they were here a few days ago.

Once we made it Back to the van Russ spoke with mum before we downloaded over 1500 photos from both cameras. Now the time-consuming part begins as we got through them to pick out the ones that are interesting.

We have investigated the Light Towers that are a feature here at the caravan park. (photo). Internationally acclaimed light artist, Bruce Munro, was inspired by naturalist Lyall Watson’s book ‘Gifts of the Unknown Things’, his fascination with the Australian Outback and his use of everyday objects to see sounds in colour.

The Light Towers is made up of 69 two-metre towers that represent the same number of ‘earth pulses’ described in Watson’s book.

The original score of the music played during the Light show was composed by Orlando Gough and the colours of the towers change in response to this entrancing music.

Bruce Munro first discovered his primary medium of light for expression at art school in the late 1970s. He remains intrigued by the sense of the unknown that he says only the Australian Outback can deliver.

Light Towers at King’s Canyon Resort and Caravan Park follows up his ‘Field of Light’ at Uluru which won him global recognition after its debut in 2016.

The ‘divine pulse’ is in the earth’s upper atmosphere which forms a deep note ‘well below human power of hearing’, and it resonates at a rate of 69 beats per day.

The 69 towers in the field look like enormous batteries of light and each one represents a pulse of the earth. Each tower stands 2 metres high and is constructed using 216 ordinary glass bottles, imported with meticulous care. They are layered in place by a series of 5mm steel dividers (photo) and are connected by threaded rods built for this purpose and anchored to a concrete plinth.

Empty save for illuminated optic fibres which give off each tower’s hue, they survive solely on the power of a 12-volt battery, charged by the outback sun. Each tower generate enough watts to work its own wifi receiver, a speaker and a RGB projector (red, green, blue).

The musical score heard during the display is a capella soundscape that follows the lyrical cycle of a day from sunshine to sunset.

Spinifex grass abounds all over this area. It was first valued by the Aboriginal population as an abundant source of tasty grains. The spinifex and other seeds were ground into a flour and the resulting ‘bush breads’ formed an important part of the traditional diet.

It was also critical in spear-making because of the adhesive resin that can be extracted from the spinifex stems.

A recent study by the university of Queensland proved that spinifex nanofibers could significantly improve household latex and even make commercial cement mixes up to 20% stronger.

We slept in this morning. The last few days have finally caught up with Russ and he woke up with a migraine. The morning was chilly, but the temperature reached 19 degrees by the middle of the afternoon with a slight breeze.

We went to the store and re-fuelled the car and bought some fresh milk. There was only UHT at Erldunda and I have some of that in the cupboard.

We then headed over to the Helicopter Flights and booked in for tomorrow morning at 10:00am. We had to pay extra for Russ as he was considered a man and a half after we were weighed. The lady we spoke to was Soara and she is one of the helicopter pilots. The other is Emily. I told Soara she was obviously well named, and it was destined that she should have a pilot’s licence.

After booking the flight we watched Emily bring in her load of tourists and took more photos. After that we ventured out along the bitumen to find the best spot to see the sunset on the mountain range without being blocked by trees and shrubs.

The wildflowers are out and there were plenty of them for photographs along the side of the road. When we got back to the park, we headed over to the viewing platform to see what the view was like. We have decided to do one evening out along the road, and the other evening at the viewing platform.

Rob rang in the late afternoon while he was taking Lucus to basketball. Rob coaches both Lucus’ team and another so they were going in early. He was telling me that one of their cats had been injured and was at the vets who is asking over $3000 to pay for the operation to fix the broken leg. He wanted to know if we had pet insurance and I had to tell him we didn’t.

It was a very cold morning and had been really cold all night. Russ’ electric blanket had been in use for the entire night, and I had an extra blanket on my side of the bed.

We left Erldunda at 9:25am and the temperature was sitting at 7 degrees. It was a lot lower than that when we first woke up and turned the heater on.

Surprisingly, the only minor damage to the van from the trip was to the handle of the grill area which fell off and was easily fixed once we found where the screws had rolled. It was a bit dusty, but no where near what I would have expected, but many of the leaves left in the skylight from Kunnunara two years ago were sitting on top of the comforter. There are still more to shake loose over time.

It was 12:06pm when we arrived at the intersection where there is a fairly large area for caravans to meet. It wasn’t very long before Lyn and Pete, Heather and Alan also arrived. There was lots of hugs all around while we clarified what had happened yesterday.

Russ looked at Alan and Heather’s water pump which was causing them problems but was unable to be of any assistance. He could only recommend Alan see someone at either Alice of Darwin.

We moved between vans with our cuppas. We ended up at our van to show them the Starlink and its connections which is the reason we are able to use our phones when there is no other service. As Lyn and Pete have Apple phones they will need to determine if they can use Voice Over Internet. Our phones are Android and can do so.

We exchanged info on different areas we were going to. Lyn and Pete were able to tell us about Des at Tomcat Hill Road caravan park in Coober Pedy and we were able to give them some indication of where they could purchase Starlink and its accessories.

I later sent a text message to Des at Tomcat asking for a booking and telling him his park came highly recommended. He replied within a short period of time and told me we are good to stay there.

Yesterday the Codd and Dobsons all walked the Rim at King’s Canyon and told us the best places to get a view of the mountain range at the back of the park where we might also see a dingo. This is also where our caravan site is situated so we have a beautiful range behind us that is stunning during sunset and sunrise.

The caravan park and resort at King’s Canyon is as big as the one in Alice Springs. It has the benefit of being the only area of buildings within a very large region.

A spectacular canyon located in the southwestern part of NT, Kings Canyon is the central feature of Watarrka National Park. The canyon, which is situated at the western end of the George Gill Range, is known for its towering red cliffs and the numerous rocky domes that dot the canyon’s rim.

It is also noted for the lush vegetation along Kings Creek, at the canyon’s base, and the many species of birds that can be seen in the area.

Kings Canyon lies within the Red Centre and is a region of some 100,000 square miles (260,000 square kilometers) that includes large areas of desert and rocky ridges. Uluru/Ayers Rock lies about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of the canyon.

Kings Canyon is approximately 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) long. The walls of the canyon reach heights ranging from 330 to 490 feet (100 to 150 meters) above Kings Creek. The canyon is composed almost entirely of a type of sedimentary rock called sandstone. The canyon’s bottom layer of sandstone was deposited some 440 million years ago.

A top layer of sandstone was deposited about 400 million years ago. Another type of sedimentary rock called mudstone formed a thin layer between the two sandstone layers. The canyon formed as these layers were uplifted over time and erosion of the rock occurred.

The distinctive domes found near the top of Kings Canyon are ancient sand dunes that have been compacted into mounds of soft rock. Wind and rain have helped mold the domes into their present shape.

The area encompassed today by Watarrka National Park has been inhabited by Aboriginal peoples for more than 20,000 years. English-born Australian explorer Ernest Giles led the first European expedition into the area in 1872. He named Kings Canyon and Kings Creek after one of his longtime friends, Fielder King.

In the early 1960s an engineer named Jack Cotterill, impressed by the natural beauty of Kings Canyon, built a ranch nearby and began developing the area as a tourist destination. In 1989 Watarrka National Park was established. The park’s name derives from an Aboriginal word for a type of bush that thrives in the area.

Kings Canyon has become one of NT’s most popular tourist sites. Several walking trails allow visitors to explore the canyon. A main trail leads to the canyon’s rim, which provides visitors with a vast panoramic view of the canyon and the surrounding countryside.

Tourists may also walk along the slopes of Kings Creek and visit an area dubbed the “Garden of Eden,” which is known for its many large cycad plants. Among the birds that may be sighted at Kings Canyon are honeyeaters, wedge-tailed eagles, peregrine falcons, spinifex pigeons, zebra finches, and Australian kestrels.

I spent most of the night after tea making sure we had the best photos for upload to the website tomorrow.

The weather was nippy but not freezing and the sun was shining. This is one of the best caravan parks we have ever stayed at. It is well organised. Very well set out and the staff were cheerful and helpful.

While we were packing up Russ saw a family of Babblers which made his day. Originally, we were going to travel down the highway and stay at Erldunda Roadhouse before heading off the next day to King’s Canyon. Russ did some research and he informed me that the road across the west to King’s Canyon was bitumen all the way now and it would take about 200 kilometres off our journey.

I took him at his word, and we re-scheduled our bookings to do it that way. His research is usually spot on.  We had made arrangements to have a meal tonight with Lyn and Peter and Heather and Alan Dobson who were also at King’s Canyon.

We set off at 9:25am and the temperature was sitting at 10 degrees. We travelled on the Larapinta Drive to Hermannsberg – a distance of 126 kilometres – and then the road became gravel. We continued on with a lot of concentration on the horrible road surface with terrible patches of corrugations and a bit of swearing when we encountered deep sand patches with cambers that cause nightmares.

After 30 kilometres of this mistreatment to car and van we pulled over and we were approached by two other vehicles coming from King’s Canyon way with off-road rigs. Russ spoke to them, and they informed him that the unsealed section of road was 197 kilometres long (and we had only travelled 30 of them!!!)

We decided that it was in our best interests to turn around and go back to Alice Springs where we had to re-fuel before we could continue down the Stuart Highway to Erldunda Roadhouse as per the original schedule. I sometimes hate being right! That mean t that we had already travelled 312 kilometres before we once again left Alice Springs.

Luckily, I was able to get the last power and water site at Erldunda and advise them we would be late arriving. I was also able to ring King’s Canyon and say we had encountered problems and would not be able to get there for our first night’s booking. The young lady was wonderful and refunded us that night’s booking which we can redeem through our membership with G’Day Parks in a future booking for up to 12 months.

We then still had 203 kilometres to travel to get to Erldunda, and we were unable to get a phone message to Lyn about our delay as she did not have service at King’s Canyon, but we ended up being able to text them instead.

I have nearly finished reading Book 5 of the Foreigner Series although it was impossible to read on the gravel, or even to hold the ereader while maintaining a death grip on the 4WD bar during that part of the drive.

We finally made it to Erldunda at 5:36pm with some light still around for setting up purposes, and the park was packed on both powered and unpowered sites. We re-fuelled at the same time so that we wouldn’t have to join a queue tomorrow morning. To make a worse end to an already horrible and long day, Collingwood got slaughtered by Hawthorn – how ignominious!!

We had a very early tea almost as soon as we had set up and an even earlier bedtime. Lots more texting went on as Lyn and Pete couldn’t get any outside service. It was arranged that we would all meet for a cuppa tomorrow at the intersection of Lassiter Highway and Luritja Road.

It was not as cold this morning, but the heater did go on for a short period of time. At least the sun is still shining which always makes the day seem better. However, the polar fleece blanket has now joined the doona and the comforter.

There are some pretty birds around the caravan park. I got some great shots of galahs turning themselves upside down to get a drink of water from the taps. And along side these birds are the top knot pigeons. We also were visited by some Port Lincoln Ringnecks, one of whom takes food from your hand. I had it do this with the wild bird seed, but Russ had to make too much noise trying to get the camera for a photo and it flew away. However, I still feel quite honoured by its trust.

A new bird for us is the Yellow-throated Minor and I managed to get two great shots of one.

We went to Standley Chasm last time we were here but went as far again this time. The Chasm is interesting but is now so very commercialised that it has lost a lot of its appeal. I did get two photos of the walls at the ablution block which look terrific.

So, we turned around and went back towards Alice and visited Simpson’s Gap instead. We did not get here last time so it was new territory for us.

The name ‘Simsons Gap’ first appears on a sketch of the area made in 1871 by Gilbert McMinn a member of the Overland Telegraph survey party. Unfortunately, he left no evidence of who Simson was or why the spelling was later changed to Simpson.

The Park was originally a pastoral lease (called Simpsons Gap Station), used for fattening stock on their way to market. In 1970 the entire property became a National Park under the Conservation Commission and was joined with other western parks in 1992.

Simpsons Gap is in Tjoritja / West MacDonnell National Park which runs along the MacDonnell Ranges, nd is a permanent waterhole. The park is managed for its cultural, natural, historical and recreational values. Gaps and gorges provide important niches in the MacDonnell Ranges and the gap itself is home to significant species including the Black-footed Rock-wallaby, plants like Glory of the Centre and Rock fig.

There is a colony of black-footed rock wallabies living among the rocks here. We saw two of them sunning themselves with the help of a young park ranger who pointed them out to us. The number of rock-wallabies have declined in other parts of Australia but numbers remain stable at Simpson’s Gap.

Ricinocarpos gloria-medii – Glory in the Centre – is a shrub to 2 m high, erect or spreading. The leaves are narrow, grey green with a covering of star shaped hairs; and he margins are strongly revolute. The flowers are white or creamy. The seed capsule is white-tomentose with star shaped hairs. Photos courtesy of the Northern Territory Government Info sheet.

Rock Fig is a spreading large shrub growing to 4m in height. The leaves are thick, leathery, glossy and dark green. Round edible fruit appear throughout the year (often after rainfall). They change from yellow to reddish-brown when ripe.

Often found growing on rocky outcrops or near rock faces, usually in gorges and other sheltered areas. The fruit was an important food source for most groups of Aboriginal people in Central Australia. They were either harvested fresh from the plant or allowed to fall and collected when dry. The dried fruit were ground into a paste.

Simpson’s Gap is one of the most well-known gaps in the MacDonnell Ranges, and this park is only 20 minutes from Alice Springs township. It is a great place to see Black-footed Rock-wallabies, although you need a good eye to spot them as they blend so well against the rocks.

The park contains Mulga Woodland and rare and relict plants. The area is an important site for Aboriginal people, as several dreaming trails cross here.

Areas of Mulga woodland provide important habitat for many different animals including birds. Park Rangers and scientists monitor areas to learn more about these species and how best to manage the environment. Park Rangers and Traditional Owners manage the gap area for weeds, fire and feral animals.

The access path at Simpson’s Gap was constructed by the staff and inmates of the Alice Springs jail. It was opened on 31 January 1990. It is very well constructed and a good walking surface. It sure beats walking on loose sand of the empty riverbeds as we had to do at Trephina. The path there was very overgrown, and we deemed it unsafe.

Before we headed back to the van Russ pulled into the car wash and did a good job removing the dust and dirt from poor old Hornet who has done an amazing job, as has the driver. We also went to Coles to stock up on fruit cake. As per usual there was a line up at the two open cashier’s desk and 16 self-serve checkouts. I loathe having to shop at Coles and if we hadn’t had an already long day, I would have waited in line to be served instead of doing their job for them.

Another freezing cold morning with the sun shining. Russ is now wearing long pants instead of shorts with a singlet and his jacket.

We left the park at 10:00am and the temperature was sitting at 9 degrees. We went back into Alice to pick up our scripts, and the wild bird seed which was overlooked on the shopping list yesterday.

Needless to say, we also went past Brumby’s Bakery and Russ bought a beesting while I decided to try their Long Johns. Let’s just say they hit the spot when we finally arrived at Trephina Gorge and had our lunch.

We travelled to the furthest point – Trephina Gorge – and then worked our way back to Alice seeing the other places of interest. Russ and I both agree that Trephina Gorge is the most magic place for us over all the other gorges in central Australia.

As you leave Trephina Gorge you go past the oldest ghost gum tree in Australia, and we had to make a stop there to see it once again. It is magnificent, and as I wrote in the last journal, is registered as the oldest ghost gum in Australia in the National Australia Registry.

We then travelled back towards Alice and stopped at Jessie’s Gap and Emily’s Gap. The photos are fantastic. We hit them both at the right time of the day and they both had some water in them, Emily more so than Jessie.

I took lots more photos of the ranges as we travelled and some of them just about do justice to the splendour of the scenery. We do have a truly magnificent country to explore.

A freezing cold morning at minus 1 degree with a feels like temperature of minus 3 degrees. The sun is shining but I have got out the thermals, and the heater did its duty to warm up the van before showers.

Floors needed to be done today, and it was Russ’ turn to clean the shower and ensuite.

We headed into town – a trip of just over 5 kilometres – and went shopping at Woolworths and put scripts into the pharmacy for pick up tomorrow.

Temptation presented itself as we left Woolworths and went past Brumby’s Bakery. They had the most delicious looking beestings, so we had to buy one for each of us. Truly decadent taste and they went down very well with our cuppa once back at the van.

Once again, and very much like it was two years ago, there is a very large population of indigenous people wandering around the city centre. We took the ramp up to the top floor of the car park area – very cramped in together – and watched a young indigenous youth try all the car doors while wearing a balaclava. It is a very sad sight.

We also found the BP depot where the price of diesel is 20 cents cheaper per litre than at any of the petrol station in town. I usually have a chuckle at these places as many people use their phones to find out the cheapest fuel but then get stuck trying to use the electronic pad to pay for their fuel before it is pumped.

One lady had so much trouble as we were arriving that she decided to leave. She pulled over in the area to check another place for fuel and I raced after her to inform her she had her petrol door open and the screw on lid also open. I closed it and she complained she couldn’t figure it out. As there were a number of other vehicles waiting, I didn’t have time to tell her as I raced back to the pay terminal.

There was a very nice gentleman there who was extremely perplexed. He and the other lady had both been trying to get fuel. When I got there Russ told him that I could work them and would be happy to provide some assistance. The problem is that to use the first of these modules you had to be reading two electronic screens. The newer models have them all on one touch screen.

The other problem that many people encounter at these terminals is that you only have specific amounts to choose from and they think that the whole amount will be charged to them even if they don’t get that much fuel. I was able to advise the gentleman that only the amount he pumped would be removed from his account once he had completed his filling of the tanks.

I was able to assist him and to give him information about how to get his receipt print out when he was finished. He was filling up to the value of $1200. The mind boggles at paying that out in one swoop.

He was before us, and Russ was able to use the other side of the bowsers. As we were filling up a much smaller amount we finished before him.