Easter Trip Summary

Here's the trip in brief:

Fueled up Saturday 17.04.11 in Darwin.
Odometer reading: 106337 km
Litres: 119.6
Cost: $1.597/L
Total: $191.10

Thursday 21.04.11
Home in Darwin to Paul's Dad's place in Katherine - 314km

Odometer reading: 106739 km

Litres: 56.24

Cost: $1.569/L

Total: $88.24

Katherine to Elliott Roadhouse - 421km
Elliott Roadhouse to Telecomms Repeater Station near Attack Creek  - 183km

Total: 918km

Friday 22.04.11
Telecomms Repeater Station to Tennant Creek - approx 70km

Odometer reading: 107367 km

Litres: 60.25

Cost: $1.73/L

Total: $104.23

Tennant Creek to Devil's Marbles - 114km
Devil's Marbles to Heritage Caravan Park, Alice Springs - 418km

Total: 591km

Saturday 23.04.11

Odometer reading: 107858 km

Litres: 109.45

Cost: $1.749/L

Total: $191.43

Heritage Caravan Park, Alice Springs to Rainbow Valley - 168km
Plus approx 20km backtracking

Total: 129km

Sunday 24.04.11
Rainbow Valley to Mt Ebenezer Roadhouse - 234km
Mt Ebenezer Roadhouse to Yulara Campground - 231km

Total: 465km

Monday 25.04.11
Yulara Campground to Uluru - 18km
Uluru to Yulara Campground - 18km
Yulara Campground to Kata Tjuta - 51km
Kata Tjuta to Yulara Campground - 51km

Total: 138km

Tuesday 26.04.11
Yulara Campground to Redbank Waterhole, Owen Springs Reserve - approx 400km

Total: 400km

Wednesday 27.04.11
Redbank Waterhole - nil

Thursday 28.04.11
Redbank Waterhole to Alice Springs CBD - approx 30km

Odometer reading: 108982 km

Litres: 156.64

Cost: $1.749/L

Total: $273.96

Alice Springs CBD to Trephina Gorge Campground - 85km

Total: 115km

Friday 29.04.11
Trephina Gorge - nil

Saturday 30.04.11
Trephina Gorge to Paws n Claws, Alice Springs - 76km
Paws n Claws, Alice Springs to Tropic of Capricorn - 29km
Tropic of Capricorn to Stuart Memorial - 173km
Stuart Memorial to Tennant Creek - 314km

Odometer reading: 109608 km

Litres: 91.27

Cost: $1.73/L

Total: $157.90

Tennant Creek to Morphett Creek - approx 80km

Total: 672km

Sunday 01.05.11
Morphett Creek to Larrimah - approx 370km
Larrimah to Paul's Dad's place in Katherine - 184km

Total: 554km

Monday 02.05.11
Katherine to home in Darwin via the Post Office - 320km

Total: 320km

Grand total: 3,919 km in 12 days
Fuel used: 593 litres
Fuel economy: approx 15.14 litres per 100km
Most expensive fuel - $1.749 per litres in Alice Springs
Fuel cost: $1,006.86 or $83.90/day

Saturday 30.04.11 Trephina Gorge - Alice Springs - Morphett Creek

We managed to get away the earliest on the trip at about 9.15am, probably the anticipation of getting the boys back from the kennel in Alice Springs was motivation enough! They were very excited to see us, and within 5 minutes they had assumed the position and were asleep on the back seat.

We stopped briefly at the Tropic of Capricorn monument, then continued on for close to another couple of hundred kilometres to the Stuart Memorial rest stop, approx 15km north of Ti-Tree, where we had lunch.

The next stop was Tennant Creek for more fuel at around 4.30pm, and we drove on for another half hour or so looking for a track off the highway to camp for the night. We considered going back onto the Old Stuart Highway to stop at the repeater station where we camped on the way down, but liked the idea of staying somewhere different. We found a spot just as the sun was going down on the banks of Morphett Creek not far from Muckaty Station where the Federal Government is considering putting a radioactive waste deposit site.

The temperature quickly dropped, but we weren't bothered with too many bugs, or mice, this time. Off in the distance on the other side of the creek we heard dingoes howling and yipping, perhaps one adult and two pups. Fortunately, they were far enough away not to attract the boys attention.

Thursday 21.04.11 Darwin - Katherine - 5km north of Attack Creek

Paul had been flat out over the last week with doing some final preparations - servicing the car, installing the new 130W solar panel and ARB air compressor, and removing the fridge slide from the back of the canopy, as well as mowing the lawn so it didn't look quite so neglected while we were away.

In the mean time, Rachel was still working morning shifts starting from 6am, which left afternoons to get a few supplies in dribs and drabs, rather than one enormous shop, and sorting out the clothing requirements.

We made a late decision not to head for Katherine on Wednesday afternoon so we didn't feel quite so rushed. We set the alarm for 5am Thursday morning, and were able to get away at 6.40am, making it to Katherine by about 10am for a second breakfast at Paul's Dad's place. We topped up the fuel, then continued south, having a late lunch at Elliot Roadhouse. We had enough supplies for our own catering, but the lure of barra burgers proved too much.

Our final destination for Thursday was meant to be Banka Banka Station, however, 5km from there was a sign saying it was closed, so we had to push on. We went down the Old Stuart Highway detour where there was a bit of a range and views across the plains, providing some good sunset and/or sunrise photos. We found a gorgeous spot right on sunset where a telecoms repeater station was located about 70km north of Tennant Creek, so hopefully we don't die from cancer as a consequence of spending the night under it!

Here are a couple of photos of the views from this place, one at sunset and one at sunrise. Pretty ordinary place, eh? And it was FREE!