Boulia to Alice Springs

 I have only been to Boulia once and that was back in the 80's when we went to one of Philips school friends wedding.  I don't remember a great deal about it because we stayed at the Pub, the wedding was at the pub, and really the pub was all we saw!  So it was a lovely surprise to see that the quiet town has grown somewhat.  There are many street murals but by far and away the best one was at the Aquatic Centre.

There was even a smallish mural on the water tank near the windmill......

I forgot to get photographs of the caravan park but it was definitely one of the best we have stayed in with its huge grassed sites.  It was also a nice surprise to run into a couple that we met in Longreach on the Starlight river cruise.  We did of course sit down over sundowners and have a good old chin wag and we will hopefully catch up with them when we get to NSW.

We got away from Boulia quite early the next morning.  We didn't really have much idea of the road conditions that we were about to face over the next couple of days.  It is a bit daunting when we saw the signpost pointing in the direction we were heading, NT Border 140km, Stuart Highway 637km, Alice Springs 704km.

As it turned out the Donohue Highway to the Northern Territory border was almost entirely bitumen and the gravel that was still there was as good as any highway.  The governments are to be commended.

But, unfortunately on the Norther Territory side the road deteriorated badly.  We stopped at Tobermorey Station for fuel (right on the NT border) and Philip asked the manager what condition the road is in for the next 500km.  His response was "you will never see it any better".  We took that to mean that it would be pretty good but in reality it meant that the road is never maintained and you will never see it any better.....

It was pretty terrible with lots of corrugations and we only travelled another 70km from Tobermory to a camping area called Limestone Rise.  It was still relatively early in the day - around 2pm - but Philip was tired from concentrating and hanging onto that steering wheel! This camping area was great and as there was a fire pit where we pulled up, we decided to light a campfire and cook the chops that Marco had given us, even though it was 30 degrees and the flies nearly carried us away!  But it was enjoyable sitting and watching the flames light up the night.  Just before dark another camper arrived so it was just the two of us, well spaced, in the camping ground.

We woke to a rather cloudy day but the sunrise was quite magnificent.  This is the outback, the true outback.  We never heard a single vehicle throughout the night and we were waiting to hear the howl of a dingo that are prevalent in this area but we either slept too soundly or they are not around.

There was not a great rush to leave the next morning although we probably should have.  If we thought the road was bad yesterday it was ten times worse today.  The only blessing it being Sunday with very little traffic although Sunday didn't stop a cattle muster!

We plodded along at around 40 - 50kmh for most of the morning and eventually stopped for lunch when we reached bitumen.  I opened the van door and was meet by one of my vegetable bins from the fridge and a tub of butter.  Strangely enough, but thankfully, the fridge door had opened, spilling out those couple of items and then the door shut again!  It could have been a lot worse.  Unfortunately though when I opened the fridge a few items had made a bit of a mess with their lids coming off - tub of yoghurt and a jar or salsa made the worst mess.  But nothing that a bit of cleaning couldn't fix.

Philip also found an oil leak under the van but thank goodness he was able to fix it enough to stop the leak.  It was the hydraulic oil for our levelling system.  We set sail again down the bitumen road thinking that it would run out any minute but lo and behold it was now bitumen all the way to our stop at Gemtree around 100km.  The NT government in conjunction with the Federal government is slowly but surely laying bitumen along the Plenty Highway and I daresay it will be finished within the next couple of years.

Gemtree Shop, Hotel and Van Park, is a fossickers delight where you can go on organised fossicking trips to look for various gemstones.  Our friends would love it here.  The van park is lovely with huge drive-through sites and we were pleased to be on power and water again.

It is only 136km from Gemtree to Alice Springs so we didn't leave the van park until after 9am and were in Alice by 11am.  The drive is magnificent with the mountain ranges in the background and the sun and cloud adding drama with the shadows and brightness.

You know that you are in Alice Springs when you spot the giant flagpole with the Northern Territory flag waving in the wind. It sits proudly on the side of the road, welcoming all.

We only have two nights in Alice Springs as we have visited here previously on the Ghan and saw a lot of the highlights on that trip.  We will however take a sunrise hot air balloon ride tomorrow morning - pick up from our van park at 5.15am - as that has been on our bucket list for quite awhile.  Philip wants to visit the Road Train Museum but I think I will stay at home and catch up on some washing.  I know that we will also have to shop some grocery items as things will be limited at Kings Canyon and Uluru, and expensive!