Day 22 & 23- Birdsville to Toompine to Dubbo

Today was another big day in the car, Birdsville to Toompine, approximately 700kms. I dont have any photos for these next two days, they were spent in the car with not much going on in the outside world. 

We arrived at Toompine, a little pub just outside of Quilpie which is where we would spend the night. There was a Polo/Lacross game on today which meant a lot of locals from surrounding areas where in attendance and having their own little party at the, I guess you'd call it, club house. Unfortunately this meant that the chef was up at the clubhouse cooking their meals and meant I was not getting my veggies for dinner. As I was not in the mood for meat, I snacked on some cheese, crackers and dip for dinner instead. 

After dinner, we sat by the fire to be entertained by Ella, Lea and little Emma who made a dance up for us and also reenacted one they had done on Mothers Day for Janelle and Rachel. I thought they did an amazing job and really enjoyed the entertainment. Not long after this little Amelia was putting her thongs on and smacked her poor little head on the caravan door, the bottom sharp metal corner which meant she had quite a bit of blood coming from her head. First aid kits were all out and with a bit of pressure and some gauze, the bleeding stopped. Emma grabbed her a lolly and nearly all was forgotten. Not 10 minutes later little Emma accidentally kicked her toe on some wood near the fire and cut and ripped a little toenail off which also resulted in a fair bit of blood. The first aid kits were brought out once more. It was then decided anyone under 30 had to sit down as they couldnt be trusted not to hurt themselves, we cracked up when everyone realised that also meant me! 

Just as we were all getting ready for bed, Pete realised he couldnt find his phone. After stripping the car and going over the days events it was concluded that its possibly fallen out of the car during the travels... BUGGER! Off to bed we went to see if we could get into reception in the morning and hopefully find it in the car. 

Oh, and the party at the clubhouse was still going, it actually went until about 3am. Good on them, it sounded like an awful lot of fun! 

Day 23 - Toompine to Dubbo 

We woke again for another early start. Unfortunately, No. 2 of the bad luck struck for Pete when he realised one of the tyres on his car had gone flat over night. A tyre change before pack up was in order. We left camp for Dubbo to stop in a couple of places on the way to retrace steps and hopefully find the phone but we had no such luck! Instead, No. 3 of the bad luck struck for Pete as he discovered his CB cord had broken, lucky, we have two hand helds as we are waiting for Phils car to be kitted up, so Pete took one of those. 

Full steam ahead to Dubbo so Pete could get to the Optus shop before close and get a new sim card but not before a quick photo at the border. 

Pizza is on the cards for dinner tonight. After quite a big day in the car we arrived at Dubbo, booked into a motel room within the Caravan Park for the night and got ready for dinner. Shared pizza all round for both Briscoe crews and the Spooners. 

Tomorrow we head home!! WOOHOO. Looking forward to being in my own bed and shower and of course cuddles from my fatso pussy cat who I have missed like crazy! 

Day 21 - Birdsville 

Today would be the day we conquer Big Red! 

We drove around 35km out of Birdsville into the Simpson Desert to conquer the big sand dunes called Big Red. We got there, let some air out of the tyres and Phil and I went straight up... mind you, I wasn't so keen on coming back down again. After a few turns, a few videos and photos of all three cars going up and down we decided to go for a drive a little further out. Phil and Glen had been discussing how Big Red is so much smaller than they remember and we discovered why as we drove further into the desert! We had been playing around and having fun on Little Red, we discovered Big Red a few kilometers down the road. We sat there watching about 30 different cars give Big Red a go and having had only seen maybe one car make it up, we had decided against giving it a go. None of us had sand flags on our cars or permits to be where we were! However, in the end, Glen and Phil decided to take the easy track up Big Red and we made it over. The other Briscoes had headed back to Little Red to make their way back to Birdsville that way. Unfortunately, in all that excitement I didnt get any photos of Big Red but here are some of the Little Red experience. There is video to come!

After our Little and Big Red experiences we headed to the Bakery to try some of their famous pies and one of Phils favorites, the Curried Camel Pie. I had a plain pie but did have a bite of the Camel Pie, it was nice but I wouldn't eat a whole one! A few selfies were taken here on my kidnapped phone. 

After lunch we headed back to camp, we would have dinner by the fire again tonight but not before one more stop off at the Pub.. Oh, and a few more selfies. 

Day 20 - Boulia to Birdsville 

Today we make our way to Birdsville. It was another early pack up from the Showground, a quick coffee pick up from the service station and off we went, on the road again! 

We stopped at Bedourie for our homemade lunches and a play in the park for the kids and of course, a toilet stop for most. Phil and I took some photos of the awesome little pub and one of the original houses in the area. 

As we were leaving we got chatting to a lady on the radio who had advised there is some water on the road ahead. We also knew that was going to be the case because of the announcements on the radio which mentioned 200mm however the road was open so it was full steam ahead. We passed a lot of traffic on the way, a lot more people had obviously left Birdsville again today which meant there were quite a lot of stones being thrown up at our windscreens also. Pete made a funny comment about it looking like we were missing out on something as the traffic was all coming the other way. Another traveller did reply to him stating it was as a result of the big bash which Pete replied "Oh yeah, we have tickets to that, doesnt it start next week" knowing full well it was finished already and just being cheeky, this lady however advised us that it was over and we would all be waiting until next year. It gave us all a good chuckle! 

We finally hit the water and it was a little deeper than 200mm in most places! It made for a lot of fun and interesting times watching people drive through and getting through it ourselves also. I did feel very sorry for a motorcyclist who seemed to have found a high patch in the road for a brief moment, I have no idea how he was ever getting through all that, especially with all the traffic just pushing all the water around. 

 

We also passed a sign which had been covered in boots and various shoes. I thought it only fitting that I snap a photo of this also.

We got through the water and dirt road with all three of us having a new crack in the windscreens. After Phil and I continued to get pelted but have no damage we thought we may have just been bullet proof however we did get shot and have ended up with quite the hook shape crack in the windscreen. 

As we were only 20kms or so out of Birdsville we had come across yet another couple on the side of the road but this time with some serious overheating issues. After chatting with Pete (who has a mechanics trade also) and the rest of the boys, it was decided they would make their way back into town and we'd follow them in. 

We made Birdsville!!! Woohoo! Straight to the pub for a beer, then the Caravan Park to book in and set up. After set up, we went back to the pub for some more drinks. Dinner by the fire and showers all round and we were ready for bed! 

Day 18 & 19 - Alice Springs to Boulia

Day 18 and 19 saw us spending a lot of time on the road travelling from Alice Springs with a destination of Birdsville.... eventually. It will take us two days travelling and we will stop somewhere along the way for tonight (Day 18). 

It was a long day on the road and we stopped at a little town called Atitjere where we thought we may be able to get some fuel. As we entered town Phil and I had noticed that there wasn't really much happening there. There were a lot of houses that had seen better days and aboriginals walking the streets. We were then pulled over by a couple, who were also travelling. who had advised us that the fuel station and only public toilets were closed for the next hour, possibly their lunch break. The Spooners stopped and asked some workers if there were any other toilets which they said if we went to the council block, they would likely let us use theirs. As they were getting this information one of the guys remembered Glen from years ago when he worked in a country town police station and arrested this guy for drink driving, how funny that he would run into him again in the NT and recognise him too! We went past the council building but as it was also centrelink and there were some fairly dodgy looking people around, I had told Phil I would not be getting out of the car! To the side of the road somewhere we went! 

As we kept on travelling we came across that couple we met briefly in town, they had blown a tyre so we all pulled over and put the boys to work! We had them back up and running in no time. 

That night we found a spot on the side of the road, in the bush a little, to camp. We gathered some firewood and decided on a baked dinner in the camp oven for dinner. The other Briscoes had the same, the Spooners had decided on something else for dinner. After dinner we played some scattagories, Pete joked about my fear of camping on the side of the road telling me he was hearing footsteps around camp etc. Once I had gone to bed, mind you not without Phil, he came walking around our camper scratching on the canvas! I was all over than though expecting some sort of prank. It was a good laugh! It ended up being quite a nice night and we all had a good sleep. 

Day 19 - the side of the road to Boulia 

Today we packed up our little camp in the middle of nowhere and made our way to Boulia, QLD. It was another big day on the road so no site seeing or wonderful photos, except for the border crossing, for these two days.

We arrived in Boulia quite late, we were unable to get into the Caravan Park because of the amount of people camping who had left Birdsville after the Big Bash concert. We were told however that the council had opened the Showground for the overflow of campers and we headed there for somewhere to stay for the night. We got a spot for all three of us and there were toilets and showers.... BONUS! An early dinner and bed for Phil and I, we were stuffed. 

Here are a few photos from the last couple of days on the road. 

Day 17 - Uluru to Alice Springs 

Today was another early start to pack up and make our way to Alice Springs for a night. We stocked up on veggies, water and snacks at Coles and beer at liquorland for Phil, I still have my original stash from when we left. 

Tonight we are in a cabin THANKFULLY!! Its forecast to reach 1 degree again tonight and we have a beautiful heater to keep us warm! I washed my hair and showered in a great ensuite! Not sure where our next stop is or when we'll have reception again however we are on our leg home! 

Until then.......

Day 16 - Uluru

We were up early this morning to catch the 8am ranger guided walk around Uluru. We arrived but there didn’t seem to be anyone else around and a sign that stated the guided walk wasn’t until 10am. We started the walk ourselves with the Mala track followed by the base walk which was a 10km walk around the entire rock! After the Mala walk Aiden needed a toilet stop so Pete & he walked off to catch up with us later! The walk was a flat track and there were information plaques along the way about the different caves and areas of which the Mala people lived. There were some aboriginal paintings still on the rock which we were able to capture.

One thing about the rock that still blows Phil and I away are how different it is to what we had imagined from images etc. It is not a long flat rock, it has many peaks and troughs and is not smooth. There are caves and bits that stick out and it is not oval in shape! The shear size of it is also mind blowing. We both expected it to be big but nowhere near that big! Joel was messaging me and had a good point when I had told him we could see quite a bit of it from 150kms out, he said that would be like being able to see Nowra from Sydney! Its hard to fathom really.

Some facts about Uluru from our visitors guide told us that Uluru is just the tip of a huge slab of rock which continue below the ground for possibly 5-6kms. It is 3.6kms long and 348m at its tallest point which is 43m higher than Sydney’s Centrepoint tower!   

Along the walk Amelias little legs got tired and she took turns on Ella, Emma (not me) and Lea’s backs, as well as Nels and Glens shoulders. Aiden and Pete finally caught back up to us!

After the walk we got some more rain. Phil and I went to the Cultural center with the spooners however since most of the information available was what was read on the walk around Uluru, we left. We had a quick drive around town, found the Outback Pioneer Bar and had a drink or two decided that we would come back for dinner as there was a restaurant where we could cook our own meat!

 

Its okay, Ella didnt fall, she was being cheeky to uncle Phil so he tickled her to the floor. 

Back to camp for showers and we got ready for dinner, it would just be the two Briscoe clans tonight. As we arrived and ordered some drinks we waited for the kiosk to open for the kids meals. Us adults chose our meals with Nel choosing T-bone, myself having the lamb rump and Pete & Phil choosing a trio of Kangaroo, Emu sausage and crocodile tail. The boys cooked up and we all helped ourselves to the veggie and salad bar! I tried Phils emu and crocodile (I had tried crocodile earlier this trip) and didn’t mind them both. I already know that I do not like Kangaroo so did not try that one. The emu wasn’t bad but tasted more like an overseasoned sausage to me, I wouldn’t choose it as a meal for myself at a restaurant. I do however quite like crocodile, both times its tasted like fish to me.

We finished dinner and went back for an early bed! It was a big day having been up early and doing the 10km walk, we were all stuffed! I did however later find some selfies that Miss Ella took on my phone. 

Pack up day again tomorrow, off to Alice Springs for a night to stock up for our trek home!