Helicopter over Uluru

Helicopter over Ularu

All though we chose not to walk on the rock itself, we thought it was a great idea to fly over it. The helicopter would not start at first which is always a worrying thought.

We made it in the end.

The girls were very excited to sit inside and put on the headsets. Although Mia only had standard ear muffs.

Ularu seemed like miles away from the helipad but only took a few minutes and we were nearing the worlds largest rock.

One of the resorts in the red centre.

 

The red Centre

 Ayers Rock - ULURU

THE RED CENTRE
After 7 weeks we pull into the very very red centre of Australia. This video below is one of my all-time favourites.

We weren't to know but this photo of the girls collecting some red sand was later printed at 1.5 meters, framed and still hangs on our upstairs wall.

if you click the 'you tube' logo the video will play larger 

l. 


Thats one almighty rock

Our good travelling buddies. Lots of laughs with these guys
and we camped next to each other at the camping grounds

Location photos - Digital 1 photography

Curtin Springs

 

CURTIN SPRINGS

We have finally reached the Northern Territory. 

On one side of this huge sign, you stand in the Northern Territory

And on the other side you're in South Australia

We Stand Divided. One foot in Either State.

None of us has seen anything beyond this point in our lives so it's rather exciting for every little detail along the way.  Curtin Springs is one of the last stop-overs for most travellers heading to the Rock. The distance is too far so everyone tends to stay here and leave in the morning for a fresh start.

The Boomerang Entrance sign

Funky Street Art

Main Street Sign Post

There was a guy who had ridden the entire Stuart highway on this posty bike. What a nutter!

Town Amenities were what you can expect here at Curtin. Very Dusty too. They did have internet here but WOW... i think we paid $5 (per 10 minutes) into some sort of vending machine and the screen looked 100 years old. but the speed was dial-up and took me 15 minutes to even check emails etc. obviously for desperate people only.

  Thought I might walk the town with the girls to get a couple of photos in. feeling quite anxious about seeing Ularu and having the girls with us for this fantastic family adventure

Little Lily is always smiling 

And Mia is the chatterbox.

 So Its 'keep the van attached' and get a nights sleep here till the morning. Next stop. The ROCK!

We are definately not missing the work and running a business. As for real estate photos, i cant see anything worth taking in Curtin Springs.  haha

Gemtree - Fossicking

 Garnets and Zircons

    We new once we continued up the stuart highway the we could get into some gemstone hunting and a place called Gemtree is exactly what we were looking for.

We had to check for road closures in these areas because it does'nt take much to rain out a strip of roadway.

A quick stop at a local art piece to mark the silly section of the trip...

The diggers getting dirty in the middle of Australia.

What a dig

Once we got the hang of digging to the rightndepth we made some headway into the gem collecting

The riverbeds were all dried up but you can definately see where the water flows when it is the rainyt season.

Thought i might try my hand at metal detecting the riverbeds.. And found a $2 coin under a gum tree... Go Figure.

Dinky - The Singing Dingo

Stuart Wells Road House

On the trip north to the upper Northern Territory, you cannot go past a  stop at the Sturat Wells Roadhouse. This infamous road stop is home to an Australian icon. DINKY, the singing dingo.

Not much here to see but a a novelty, non the less. You are greeted by his owner Owner Jim Cotterill, and then he takes you into the local bar area to be entertained by Dinky.

Firstly, someone has to volunteer their piano playing services to get the Dingo into position.. and then.......

Well just watch the video and see!

Hot Air Balloon Ride

 Come Fly With Us

One of our trip 'Bucket List" adventures was to Hot air balloon over Ayers Rock, but with the weather not on our side we took a Helicopter ride instead. That loeft the Hot airballoon ride to be carried out at another time. 

That time was in Alice Springs. The weather was spot on to go up and this is how it happened.

Bitterly cold morning of 2 degrees, but this is what is needed for hot air to rise i guess.

After about 30 minutes travelling against the wind through paddocks and bush terrain, we arrive at the lift off site. Then the filling of the balloon takes place.. at least another hour of prep time

Then we are all loaded into the Balloon as the sun starts to rise. they predict the time peerfectly for the best experience

Lily is smailing hut very nervous to be going up...

Some beautiful scenery from the balloon 

We earned our Hot air balloon certificates. 

Another adventure off the bucket list

Alice Springs

 

ALICE SPRINGS

21-5-2012 

We have arrived in Alice Springs.

 

 After being in the Red Centre its going to be nice to chill out at the Alice for a while. The kids need a break from being on the road so we made sure of a nice van park for a few days...

During our stay we catch up with Brian & Merrilyn for a quick tour of The Local Botanical Gardens. Decided to capture some of the outback Flora

 

 

Alice from the Anzac Hill Lookout