NOTE: 

I forgot to note before that when we were driving around Coober Pedy we saw a guy cycling along the road, approximately 100kms out of Coober Pedy and travelling North. For the life of us we couldnt understand what or why he would be doing that. He had what looked like sleeping gear, maybe a swag and a sleeping bag on the side of his bike and he was powering along the road. All we could think of was the shear force of the wind behind the road trains that we could feel in the car and what that would do to him on a little bike. Anyway, when we were almost to Alice Springs, we saw this guy again! We still have no idea why he is doing it but we hope he gets there safely..... the crazy mofo! 

Day 11 - Alice Springs 

Today we had a late breaky and we spoiled ourselves with bacon, eggs and baked beans on toast. I forgot to mention in our previous blog post that when we got to camp yesterday we saw our friends Dee & Geoff that we had met in William Creek, this morning we decided to have coffee with them and catch up before they made their way home. Our first site seeing activity today would be ANZAC hill which was a really lovely spot and a great view. Well worth the visit. 

And Phils little shadow. the beautiful Amelia decided that cuddles for Uncle Phil were in order. With, might I add, a smile that could melt the coldest of hearts. 

After ANZAC hill we went on to the School of the Air which is the biggest classroom in the world (I think, if not Australia hahaha). This is a school that was originally created for those kids in regional Australia who could not attend a normal school. It started as being conducted over radio and has since moved with technology and the teaching is being done online. Everything is provided for the Children, as in, text books, satellite dishes, work books, library books, computers and printers etc and these kids work in an online classroom with other Children who may be 2000kms away from them. The school meets 4 times a year for a week at a time where the kids can actually interact with one another in person, this is unfortunately a cost to the parent. I had no idea this existed and I was so intrigued by the teachers whom put so much time and effort into creating such a system for these kids in Outback Australia. Rhyanna Brown, you'd be a perfect teacher for these kids! I highly suggest everyone check out their website and read up about all the wonderful things these guys do for these kids. 

We then went to visit the Old Ghan Museum but as we had to pay, Phil said he "wasn't that interested in trains and I am a tight ass so I am not paying to see it", we turned around and went to Coles instead! We are making our way to Kings Canyon and Uluru tomorrow for the next few days and will be far away from shops so a stock up was in need, especially for Phil's beer! We made our way back to our campsite and spent the afternoon organising ourselves and watching the kids play in the playground, with a few drinks in hand of course! 

Day 10 - Alice Springs 

Today we are expecting the other Briscoe clan and their friends the spooners however not until late this afternoon. Our plan was to stay local and visit places like the Emily & Jessie Gap and Old Ghan museum. 

We set off to visit Emily and Jessie gap first, the below photos will help you learn all about these sites. There were some interesting aboriginal paintings on the rocks and they had a nice little walk around the area. 

After Emily Gap we moved onto Jessie Gap which was also quite a little area of very similar surroundings. 

After Jessie Gap we moved onto to Corroboree Rock which was an awesome looking rock formation which was formed an estimated 8 million years ago. We had a great little hike around this rock, we looked for a goanna type creature that lived there but unfortunately were not lucky enough to see them. 

We then found a sign advising us of the rest of the parks in the East MacDonnells ranges and Phil decided we were to explore a little further, especially to those areas of which were dirt road. The sign we found was below and the destination was back to Alice via Arltunga Historical Reserve. 

On the way we stopped at the site of the Ghost Gum, it was a fairly big white gum tree but interesting all the same. 

From here we moved on to find the Arltuinga Historical Reserve/camping ground where we would stop for lunch. A few stops along the way at some dry river beds and we made it to the pub with no beer. Yep, a pub with no beer available onsite unless you BYO'd. We stopped here for some lunch. 

After lunch we jumped in the car and started to make our way to Alice via the dirt road. Phil checked our fuel (and we weren't carrying any extra) and made a comment to me saying "ooh, its gonna be cutting it fine". I was hardly impressed by this and my anxiety hit the roof. Not only was I concerned about the fuel but there were a number of "crossroads" where we just guessed our way through and the entire time the car GPS could not identify the road we were on and the Hema maps GPS continuously told us to turn around. We finally got to a dead end, we couldn't go any further. Unfortunately Phil decided we should have taken another turn off and we back tracked. At this stage I was starting to totally freak about our fuel levels and being stuck 150kms from anywhere with nothing but raw meat and nothing to cook it on! Not only this, I was busting to go to the toilet. Whilst backtracking Phil hit a rather large dip at speed to which some profanities left my mouth. He turned to me saying "settle down, its alright", my response, "I know its alright but I just identified how strong my pelvic floor actually is, I nearly wet myself!". I got a laugh then, After a little while longer, a stop off at a beautiful old house that I wasn't getting out to view in fear of my bladder bursting, we decided to go back to the campsite and find a toilet. From here, we decided to go home the way we came! WOOHOO!! After the toilet stop Phil confessed we actually had plenty of fuel but he thought it would have been funny to warn me that we didnt, although by the time we would have made Alice we still would have been cutting it fine. There was a very serious discussion from my end as to why that sort of joking is just not on hahahha, 

On the way home I drove so Phil could have a few beers! The highlight was finally seeing some cows on the side of the road, very close! Some even lets us take some photos, others just pee'd in our direction. 

By the time we made it back to camp the Briscoes had arrived and were in the pool. We went over and said our hellos and organised to go to the local RSL for dinner as Pete had said it had great reviews for food. Whilst we were getting ready, two little munchkins decided to grab some selfies on my phone which made me laugh. 

After the RSL it was an early bed for us. The Briscoes & the Spooners being introduced to their first night in below 30 degrees. I feel for them already, its going to be a cold one. 

Day 9 - Kulgera to Alice Springs

Today we left Kulgera for Alice Springs, a 3 hour drive. We found the Welcome sign and had a selfie, thanks Tamara for the Selfie stick, its come in great use!

We went in search for the first supercheap auto and car wash in town and cleaned the car! This process in itself took an hour. We got to the caravan park, set up and set off for Coles to restock some fruit and vegies which we have been missing out on. Oh, and Phil had to stock up on beers which was a bit of a wait as the liquorland didn't open until 2pm. This was our afternoon and that's it. We have sat at camp, I have caught up on the blog and we'll cook dinner, shower and go to bed. Tomorrow afternoon we are expecting the 'other' Briscoe clan to arrive and their friends the Spooners. I am sure we will have plenty of adventures to tell shortly. For now, that's a wrap! 

Day 8 - William Creek to Kulgera

Today we woke after a full nights rain to decide whether we'd make it out of William Creek or not. We had breaky, discussed our chances with our new friends and went over to the pub to see what the 'local' opinion was. As it was a Sunday, the lady advised us that they don't change the sign (road closure sign) until around 9.30am. Her words exactly where (at 8.30am) "so if you want to leave, you'd better nick off quickly", and that we did! A quick pack up, argument free AGAIN, a shower and we were on the road. As soon as we hit the dirt we knew it was going to be a rough run and that it was. It took us 3 hours to get out of William Creek in the wet, it was only a 2 hour trip in the dry. After about half hour in my anxiety was lowered although I hadn't seen our trailer disappear from behind us quite like it had a few times! There were a lot of fish tails and a moment where I had to yell out "POLE!" to Phil however having absolutely no control of the car, there wasn't much he could do about it. We did however clear it and I reckon only by millimeters. It was a long road out, slow and quite worrisome at times.... most times. By a little over half way through the car was doing 25ltrs/100km, we usually sit at around 13ltrs/100km! By the end of it we were doing 30ltrs/100km purely because of the additional dirt we were carrying. Here are the photos of what we looked like once we made it out! 

After we made it out we went to Coober Pedy to try and find a car wash but the only one we did find said that they were awaiting an electrician so it was out of order. We decided to kick on and make it as far as we could North to be able to make Alice Springs tomorrow. We got over the NT border and stayed at the "first and last Pub in NT", the Kulgera Roadhouse. 

We decided to get a room instead of set up a wet tent late at night. We went to the pub next door for dinner and met another lovely older couple Jan & Ray who sat with us at our table for dinner. We got chatting and found out they were from Tasmania and their son owned a sheetmetal and powdercoating business down there. Funnily enough, he has just brought a machine that FJP has and Phil had heard about this business through the salesman. We made new friends with them, had a few drinks and went off for an early bed. Jan reminded me a lot of my Granny which made me feel a bit closer to home but made me miss my Granny and Pop all the same. A trip to Bermagui is soon to be booked. 

After putting the heater on and going to bed, I woke again at 10pm to a stifling hot room. I decided to turn the heater down and finally fell back asleep at 2am. I woke again at 7am to Phil who was awake and apparently freezing. He told me I was trying to kill him with the cold however I was still on fire. Either I was still sick or he was getting sick... time will tell! We went to breakfast, included in our room rate, and met our friends Jan & Ray again. They gave us their email address and told us to visit them in Tassi and that they had plenty of room for us in their place. They are close to wineries and wineglass bay so I am pretty sure thats another holiday we'll be booking in soon. 

Day 7 – William Creek

Today I woke earlier than Phil and having no phone reception and it being totally freezing, I stared at the ceiling for a good hour. I woke with the start of a head cold AND even though I packed everything but the kitchen sink, cold and flu tablets were not included and NO, there is no IGA or pharmacist here! We had breaky, just cereal this morning, a coffee, showered and made our way to the runway for our flight to Lake Eyre, there is no airport building here. We were in a tiny little Cessna that seated 4 however it would just be Phil, myself and Sam the pilot today. We were booked in for an hour flight over Lake Eyre and it was everything we imagined and more. The Lake spans over 155kms from North to South and a similar distance from East to West, unfortunately I forgot what the pilot said it was. It is however the lowest point in Australia being 15m below sea level. The lake is fairly full at the moment however is only 2m deep at its deepest point is. There are an abundance of birds with some of the pelicans coming from as far as Papua New Guinea. The lake does have fish in it which come from the other fresh water lakes however they do not survive long because of the high salt content in the brackish water. We also learnt that Lake Eyre has a catamaran club and that a farmer with a private plane decided to try and land his Cessna on the shore of the lake which he did so unsuccessfully. Whilst the shore looks quite dry and hard, it is not. He broke his prop in the process and the plane had to be retrieved by four wheel motorbikes. Here are some beautiful photos of Lake Eyre.

The love heart island!

After our flight we made our way 70kms South to Coward Springs. This is a natural spring with warm water which bubbles, also known as a natural spa. It was a beautiful green colour and whilst we took our swimmers, neither of us was keen on getting in to get out to 14 degrees. We left here, grabbed a few photos with the old Ghan train line which is worse for wear and made our way back to camp. As I was feeling under the weather with a head cold not a hangover, I laid down for a nap which ended up being a 2 hour sleep.

Tonight we have decided that we will have dinner at the pub, they’re famous for their hamburgers and after seeing them, we decided they should be on the menu. 

We met some friends at the campsite from Campbelltown, NSW. They were an older couple who had been together 20 years however only married just 6 months ago. After checking out their Ultimate Camper trailer, which looks like our next purchase, we joined them for dinner at the pub.