We are on holiday!

Friday 15th July

We got up, packed up and off by 10, saying goodbye to Uluru and heading towards Alice Springs. Initially we had planned to stop at Kings Canyon, but thought we were due some more relaxed camping (and again, the thought of carrying Otis on a 4 hour walk….!). We stopped at Erlunda again for more fuel, and said goodbye to the emus! Interestingly – whilst there is still plenty of time for things to change- so far diesel has been the same price as Braidwood!

We stopped at a roadside stop on the Finke River, a beautiful sandy expanse of riverbed and probably a great place to camp! The kids loved the giant sandpit and took some encouragement to leave! We pushed on to West MacDonnell Ranges, and Ellery Creek Big Hole. A stunning location that we have stayed at before as part of the Larapinta trail. Unfortunately I had a planning fail here, as we were meant to book. Not wanting to take someone else’s allocated site Richie rang Amelia with the satellite phone, and learnt the whole place is booked out. Some people there kindly offered to claim us as part of their group when the Rangers came in the morning, except they were leaving the next morning, and we didn’t want to risk having to pack and leave on the Rangers request, which apparently they had been doing. Amelia found a site available for 2 nights at serpentine chalet, 20km up the road. With the sun setting we jumped back into the car and drove there, straight into the setting sun.

Unfortunately, serpentine chalet is not remotely like Ellery Creek. Rather than a creek side campground next to a waterhole in a gorge, we got a dusty site surrounded by Spinifex and shrublands. Which might have been fine, except we were expecting the former. Just as I suggested we try to make the best of it, and enjoy a fire and the peace and quiet, dozens of mice appeared, and Otis suddenly succumbed to some painful chafing on his thighs! 😭

Once things had settled it was lovely to sit at the fire and enjoy the moonrise. Tomorrow will be dealt with when it arrives 🙃. And when in range I will work out the problem with booking (which I had checked for but didn’t find the park online so had thought it wasn’t required), as this affects future plans.