We were supposed to do the Olgas walk (4 hrs) this morning before heading off, but instead we just decided to do a drive by and take a couple of pics. We got away by 10am and decided to get to Alice so we could get the car serviced and I can update the blog, cause it's been a while....
Here's one for you Dad, not far out from Yulara we come across a couple cycling in the middle of bloody nowhere. Dad you need to pack your saddle bags and get on your bike and get out here and do it!
We had a pit stop at this free camp spot, in the camp 6 book there were no toilets listed, but as per the Tropic Capricorn camp they have installed some brand new loos! And they have painted them red to match the dirt..... Mel topped up the fuel with the 40 litres from the jerry cans to make sure we make it to Alice.
On the way we have a stop over at the Camel Farm and Stuarts Well. Jim Cotterill is the owner of Stuarts Well and his family history goes back to the early 50's when they immigrated from England. His father was in tourism and he started the very first tours of King's Canyon when they opened Wallara homestead. They actually built the road out from Alice to Wallara and tours commenced in 1960. Jim's dad passed away in 1976, but they continued to expand and operate until 1990 when the lease was not able to be renewed.
Jim made the decision to hire a bulldozer and dozered the whole property, dug a humungous hole and buried the lot! He has been at Stuarts Well ever since and Dinky the singing dingo has made this place infamous world wide. Yep he jumps up on the piano and paws a tune. No one actually trained him to do this, he is self taught. Jim shared some interesting facts about dingoes. They were actually introduced to Australia some thousand years ago from Asia. They are highly intelligent animals, one dingo in Sydney has been trained as the hearing dog for a couple who are deaf and unable to talk. This dingo takes his instructions from his master by his coughing noises, amazing.
Dinky is going to feature in a Dr Harry series - Amazing Animals screening on 3rd November, so tune in! This shot is of the Todd River in Alice Springs.......driza dead dingo"s donga! You can't see here but this river bed is scattered with empty drink bottles, casks, etc. While in Alice we service the car, get the exhaust fixed and stock up on food and alcohol (yep priorities).
We spent a couple hours out at the Desert Park. It was pretty pleasant and laid back. Lots of birds, they had a nocturnal display, it was a nice setting. Check these little horny devils, we only spotted as we were leaving, I actually thought they were bigger than this, but they are only bout 15cms long. Well we are setting off tomorrow for the trek up to Darwin. We will probably have a couple over nighters along the way and we are thinking we might just camp out, instead putting up the trailer tent, so that might make for some interesting reading when next I update the blog..till then.
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