Adventures in Exile 4WD with Wayne | Brand
Adventures in Exile 4WD with Wayne
Phone: +61 457 917 191
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25.01.2022 Tuesday 19/6/2018 Drove to Ellery Big Hole in West MacDonnell Ranges. Another beautiful spot. We decided to do The Dolomite Walk and again just stunning views all around. Near the water there were hundreds of little finches that nestled in the surrounding trees and every now and then would fly en-mass to get a drink of water. On the way back we called into Standley Chasm. There was a kiosk there so we had some home made fruit scones and a cup of tea before doing the walk to... the Chasm. We had to pay $10 each but it was worth it. Spectacular and so different to anything we had seen. One runs out of superlatives ... awesome comes to mind Then back home to get supplies of fruit and vegetables as heading to Uluru tomorrow. Everyone should visit the MacDonnell Ranges area near Alice Springs which has made such an impression on us. The drive through the Ranges here compares with Victoria’s Great Ocean Road but in the Outback ... so glad we came here. See more
21.01.2022 Thursday 21/6/2018 Sunset shots of Uluru
18.01.2022 Friday 8/6-12/6/2018 Drove to Port Augusta on a very wet day. On Saturday got supplies and then visited Australian Arid Lands Botanical Gardens. It was cold an...d the home made Pumpkin Soup and Damper hit the right spot. Wandered around and then drove to Matthew Flinders Lookout on the St Vincent Gulf inlet. Sunday we decided to check out the Pichi Richi railway. Along the way we got some photos of the steam train. We arrived at Quorn Railway station where we saw another train called The Coffee Pot train with 1st & 2nd class in the same carriage. Had a nice lunch in Quorn, then we checked out The Devils Peak nearby and decided to climb it tomorrow. Got back to Quorn just as the Pichi Richi train arrived back. Late afternoon walked to a lookout in Port Augusta. Monday off to climb The Devils Peak. An amazing rocky outcrop and another steep climb which afforded us a 360 panoramic view from Port Augusta to the Southern Flinders Ranges. Back to Quorn for lunch and then home for our last night in Port Augusta See more
17.01.2022 Our bike ride to Simpson’s Gap
17.01.2022 Tuesday 26/6/2018 Short walk in the afternoon along Kings Creek
17.01.2022 Sunday 24/6/2018 Our last day in Yulara leaving tomorrow morning for Kings Canyon. Drove to Ayers Rock but the car park was full and there were many buses there as well. Glad we climbed the rock yesterday. So we had to return to the Cultural Center to park our car. Rode our bikes from there to Ayers Rock, around the base ride and back, 14.1km. Another great day and highly recommend visiting Yulara and seeing these beautiful sites.
14.01.2022 Sunday 17/6/2018 After the big walk yesterday we decided to have a day off walking so we got our bikes out to ride to Simpson’s Gap a mere 47km return ride. A sealed path and 1.15 hrs later arrived at our destination. A great ride with so much to see along the way. As we approached passed a school in excursion and Wayne asked the teacher to take a photo of us with the amazing Gap behind us. As we arrived we were struck by the beauty of this place. A short walk and again more ...beauty revealed all around us. I chatted with a Melbourne couple and he spotted a Rock Wallaby sunning on a huge rock. As Wayne joined us and they then left Wayne and I were lucky to see 3 hopping over the rocks. Quite a treat as these moments are rare. Knowing we had the ride ahead of us we pulled ourselves away. Unfortunately the wind had come up and even though it kept us cool it also slowed us down. We were exhausted and took 10 minutes longer this way but again blown away by the beauty of the MacDonnell Ranges. Drove into town for some supplies and fill up the car before a much needed shower. Snuggled in for a cold -1. Oh Noosa how I miss your warm nights See more
14.01.2022 Friday 22/6/2018 Today we climbed Ayers Rock (Uluru). My second time and Wayne’s first. I’d forgotten how steep the climb was and the chain rail came in handy at times. Wayne was carrying all his camera gear too. I’d also forgotten how arduous it was once you reached what most people think is the top, as there was a further 1.4 km walk to the top point. We don’t think that many people do this last bit. We reached the top in 50 minutes and it was very cold. I wanted to ditch m...y vest but glad I had it at the top. Wayne had a ball with his camera and we had a great time chatting to others. It was the descent I was worried more about but my amazing $8 HiTec boots were unbelievable I came down in 25 minutes and didn’t have to use the chain. My boots gave me so much confidence that I just kept moving. 26 years after my first climb I managed to climb 10 minutes faster thanks to the boots ... love them! Wayne of course kept taking pics all the way down but wasn’t far behind. We then drove to The Olga’s for Wayne to get some more shots from a couple of lookouts we walked to. Returning tomorrow to do the base walk which promises to be another beautiful way to see these amazing rock mountains. See more
13.01.2022 Wednesday 20/6 Thursday 21/6/2018 Left Alice Springs on Wednesday to drive to Uluru (Ayers Rock, Central Australia). After a coffee stop I drove the rest of the way to Yulara Resort, feeling more confident handling the caravan. Arrived late afternoon to another great site in the park. Had dinner and settled in before our big day tomorrow. Thursday walked up to the lookout at the back of our van with views of Uluru and the Olga’s. Great spot. After breakfast headed to Uluru ...to do the base walk, deciding to leave the climb till tomorrow. The base walk was 10k but we added a couple kms extra to do side walks. Photo opportunities everywhere ... stunning! Back home for late lunch early dinner as we want to see the sunset over Uluru. We arrived at the sunset lookout spot with people everywhere. Another special sight of Uluru (Ayers Rock) heaps of photos taken, showing the color changes taking place. Stunning even after the sun set and the red color faded, the Rock became silhouetted against a turquoise sky topped with a pink haze after the sun set. See more
13.01.2022 Our day in East MacDonnell Ranges
11.01.2022 Monday 4/6/2018 Drove to Bunyeroo Gorge along a scenic valley drive East of Wilpena Pound. Got out and walked the gorge creek bed surrounded by exposed layers o...f rock, about 600 million years old, taking photos. Back in the car to Brachina Gorge and once again did the same. Picturesque views at both areas. Very lucky to see a Rock Wallaby in a cave and then watched him take off up the rocky cliff. Such a beautiful spot and a photographers delight. Back to caravan via Wilpena Pound to pick up a few items. Dark clouds rolled over and the cold came in. See more
11.01.2022 Monday 18/6/2018 Destination today was East 80km to Ross River Resort with great scenery once again along the way. Old Station with a camp, bar and restaurant where we had a welcome lunch and coffee. Graham and his wife manage the Resort for owner Grollo. We listened as he gave us the history of the place and showed us the geological finds on the property. Some fossil pieces were 800,000 years old including early sea creatures that absorbed CO2 and exhaled oxygen. See photos.... We climbed the goat track behind the Restaurant to see views of the valley and surrounding ranges. The property consists of 15,000 acres. Graham showed us on a map, the huge Northern Territory properties with the largest of 5million acres (bigger than Belgium) and many more just below that. We then went down the road on a 4WD track to N’Dhala Gorge. Again spectacular. We saw Brumbies, razing dust, charging towards us but couldn’t get the video going quick enough. Some cows wandered through later. It was then off to Trephina Gorge then Corroboree Rock and Jessie Gap where Wayne got a few shots before we headed back. So another beautiful day ends in the MacDonnell Ranges, East of Alice Springs. See more
11.01.2022 Saturday 16/06/2018 Alice Springs. ..... Stopped along the way to take photos of amazing rocky MacDonnel ranges on the way to the final destination of Ormiston Gorge. An unpowered camping site was near the carpark with a kiosk. Another spectacular place and photos galore. I was so grateful for my new hiking boots as we had many rocks along the river bed to scramble over. 2.3 kms of them and my ankle was feeling it. A couple coming the other way told us we could continue anoth...er 4.7kms and finish the circuit. As it was more of a track and not so many rocks to scramble over we ventured on. It was again another view of the mountain ranges and passes. We passed 3 other couples coming the other way, thinking they had left it a bit late to complete. It was sunny but not hot and we basked in the warmth. The only deterrent was the incessant flies that drove us mad. Definitely an area for fly deterrents. Great circuit walk. See more
10.01.2022 Tuesday 12-13/6/2018 Left Port Augusta heading to Coober Pedy It was around 5 and a half hours before we pulled up at Underground B&B owned by an old friend fr...om Wayne’s youth Edward Radeka and his wife Sue. Edward used to live next door to Wayne in Mt Waverley. They had set up one of their rooms for us as a treat. It was very appreciated. We had a lovely dinner with them and the guys shared many memories. First time we have both slept in an underground room. See more
09.01.2022 Monday 25/6/2018 Drove to Kings Canyon. Walked up to the lookout at the Resort to watch the sunset lighting up the nearby escapement. Tuesday 26/6/2018 Did the Kings Canyon Rim walk. I had done this 25yrs ago and always remembered it as being a stunning walk. We were not disappointed. Steep climb up a rocky peak and again, found so many photo opportunities. There were a couple of side walks which showed so much more of the canyons beauty. One was ‘The Garden of Eden’. It was a beautiful deep gorge with pools of water, many plants and trees incl palm-like ancient cycads. Great walk. After a snack we did one of the smaller walks called Kings Creek and more photos then home to relax before tomorrow’s walk.
08.01.2022 Saturday 23/6/2028 Drove to the Olgas, Kata Tjuta, to do the Valley of the Winds walk. Many people here. There were 2 shorter walks to the lookouts along the circuit walk. Another beautiful day. We decided to complete the whole circuit walk. Again many photo opportunities. We completed the walk in 2hrs. After some snacks in the car we then visited Walpa Gorge nearby. Tomorrow is our last full day and after doing nearly every walk here, we plan to ride our Tern folding bikes around the base of Ayers Rock, Uluru.
08.01.2022 Wednesday 6/6/2018 Today we took on St Mary Peak which stands at 1170 meters. It’s the tallest in the area and a 7hour return walk. Set off a little late, at 11...am. It was a long undulating walk to the base which seemed to be never ending. Started the steep climb and the peak just seemed to be always moving away. Towards the top we lost the track and ended up on the North face looking back at the peak above us. We were at 1050 meters and knew it was high as had 2 wedged tail eagles soaring just above us checking us out. After a break to eat, we went down again to find the track we’d missed. We lost 1 hour in this manoeuvre but finally got to the top and what an incredible 360deg panorama greeted us and a different view of the ‘Pound’. We met 3 young French youths on the top. After taking some shots, decided we needed to move on as time and light was running out. On the steep rocky way down my ankle was causing me a problem so made the already difficult descent even worse. It became so painful on the descent that I was grateful when we were eventually on a flatter track. We were both exhausted after 6 hours of tracking and hobbled to the car just as the darkness was enveloping us. So nice to finally be seated, in the car and on our way home to a very hot tasty dinner. See more
03.01.2022 Beautiful MacDonnell Ranges
