Next morning was a leisurely brekkie and pack up as we were heading to Alice to re-stock, and the bottle shops don't open until 2pm
This morning we also said our good byes to the Queensland crew; brianm (Brian and Val), Blueroo (Stu and Jean) and Mr Bitchi (John and Adele) would be staying in Alice for a few days R&R before Kingbilly joined them to tackle the Simpson crossing. A great bunch of people, and an absolute pleasure to travel with
So after re-stocking at Alice, the rest of us headed out along the East MacDonnell Ranges and set up camp at the beautiful Ross River Resort campground.
Next morning ourselves, JCOJ, Jacko and Kingbilly and families decided to do the relatively short drive to Ruby Gap. Well, 3 hours to travel 80kms wasn't what we expected, but it sure was fun
The last 5 kms through the deep sand and rocky climbs into Ruby Gap was a blast!
Garnets are everywhere in Ruby Gap, so we all set to finding our fortune.
Our last morning at Ross River saw us farewell the last of the Queensland Crew. The Kingbilly clan were off to meet the others and start their trek back home across the Simpson Desert. Looking forward to that trip report Dave
The rest of us set off for Gemtree, with a stop at Arltunga ruins, Central Australia's first official town.
Leaving Arltunga, we travelled part of the Binns Track to Gemtree. At one stage we had to stop to let four of these big buggers past.
Gemtree was the last camp of the group travelling together. We had 2 nights there, reliving the trip around the fire, indulging in baked spuds and camp oven roasts, fossicking for more gems and it even produced a champion paddy melon bowler (you'll have to read the blog to find out more
)
Sunday morning was the last of the official trip and yep.........it was raining
The first rain since we'd left Melbourne 3 weeks earlier. After soggy pack ups, we all said our goodbyes, and one by one left for the journey home.
We were headed to Coober Pedy, where we had treated ourselves to 2 nights in an underground motel! Linda was joining us, with the Jacko clan stopping the night at Marla, then meeting up with us at CP. We would all then travel south together on the journey home.
Underground church
Entrance to our hotel
The Breakaways, just outside Coober Pedy
From Coober Pedy we took the boring (Stuart Hwy) road south, passing through Port Augusta and camping at a working sheep station called Spear Creek. We had a great spot up the back in the bush sites, and if ever you visit this area I'd highly recommend it. It was good to see some green rolling hills again, though it was cold with a bit of rain just as we set up.
We took the low road to our campsite.
From Spear Creek it was a nice drive through the hills, and then the plains, towards Broken Hill.
We camped at Penrose Park in Silverton for two nights.
Linda had decided she wanted to get home earlier, so the next morning she was up bright and early (as she was every morning
) and we said our goodbyes. Linda and Tayla were our constant travelling companions this trip, and we thoroughly enjoyed their company, so it was a bit sad to see them head off.
We spent the day with the Jacko's exploring Broken Hill and Silverton.
Silverton is a great, quirky little town, with a few galleries, the Mad Max Museum and an awesome pub
Looking over the Mundi Mundi plains
Silverton sights
That night was spent at the Silverton Hotel. A top little pub with great atmosphere, a good sense of humour and awesome parmas. It was a great way to spend our last night with the Jacko clan, and it ended with myself and Jacko passing "The Test" and becoming life members of the Silverton Hotel
Our last stop for the trip was with Di's cousin and his family at Gol Gol. We said goodbye to the Jacko clan at Wentworth, as they were staying in Mildura. The Jacko's were great fun to travel with and we've made some good mates there!
So that's it. After 8600kms we had seen some incredible sights, ticked some things off the bucket list and made some great friends in the process.
To the fellow MySwaggers on the trip, it was a pleasure to share this adventure with you all. This was our first MySwag trip, and what a fantastic bunch of people to do it with
We started out as names on a forum, and ended up as mates. We have definitely gone away from this trip with more friends than we started out with, and the MySwag spirit really shone through on more than one occasion.
To John (JCOJ) a massive thank you for organising the trip. It exceeded all our expectations, the itinerary was great, and you even managed to provide perfect weather (except the last day at Gemtree!). We had a ball and look forward to the next one!
