Our Trip

Days 21 to 25

The End

Well, the time has finally come,

that I am at the end of documenting our epic trip.

I have combined the last few days

as I didn't take as many photos.

After waking early in the morning,

mainly due to early risers all around us,

moving out to catch the sunrise over the rock,

we packed up camp, went to a lovely

café for some nice hot coffee and croissants,

then headed on our way towards Alice. 

One last lingering look at the rock as

it disappeared over the horizon,

and a bunch more photos of it's disappearing act,

and I turned my eyes forward.

We stopped down the road a little ways

to refuel out of our drums, that still held some

fuel. It was still very cold.

We drove along the Stuart Highway,

enjoying the different scenery

and passing by Mt Connor in all its glory.

We didn't stop at the lookout as I have a ton of

photos of it from a previous visit, so I just happily

snapped a few out the window as we went by. 

We arrived in Alice Springs late afternoon,

tired but excited at the prospect of 

some '5 star living' for a change.

But, first things first, we really needed to 

do some washing and get some clean clothes

on our backs. So, off we went to the laundry

to begin the mammoth loads of washing.

We planned to stay in Alice for 3 nights

as we had a truck that we were looking at

purchasing (which never eventuated).

We settled into our luxury accommodation

and that night we all had the longest showers

of the whole trip, trying in vain to wash the red dirt

stains out of the creases of our hands. 

We actually didn't sleep very well

being in strange beds and indoors, 

with no dingoes or campfire crackling

or camels roaming or birds chirping. 

Emilee's bunk bed squeaked so much

that she ended up camping on the couch. 

In the morning, we found another bag of washing

so we got that done and dressed in clean clothes

to head into town and do some shopping

and sight seeing and a little trip up to the lookout. 

We ended up having a nice, relaxing

time in Alice, not doing a whole lot

as we didn't really feel like going

off road to look at other sights

and Dave didn't want to put our old girl

through too much more dirt roads and corrugations. 

We went out for tea at a lovely steakhouse,

which was a real treat to sink our teeth into a nice, big, juicy 

steak. The first in a while. And of course, 

a Gloria Jeans Coffee each morning. 

Leaving Alice, we headed North.

We stopped by the side of the road 

to have some lunch and saw our old mate

from the Canning chase game, go by. 

He tooted and a little while later,

we caught up to him, and overtook him,

and the chase began again. 

Late afternoon saw us passing through

Tennant Creek, seeing old mate again,

then driving an hour or so until we

came to a nice quiet gravel pit to camp for the night. 

It was actually warm for the first time in ages.

Emilee and Maddy cooked tea

and I went off to explore on my own,

camera in hand and eyes to the heavens,

marvelling once more at God's beautiful creation.

It was a full moon, so I took

a few star shots, but because of

the abundance of light, they weren't the best,

so I was content to sit by our last campfire

and enjoy it while I could. 

It had been an amazing trip,

and I was quite sad that it was almost

over and we had to go home.

In the morning, we headed out,

passing familiar sights as we drove

and stopping for a nasty coffee at a little 

roadhouse along the way. 

At Hi Way Inn, we caught up 

with our chase friends for the last time. 

The road stretched on and on

and the sky was clear. 

All too soon, we were back in Katherine,

with memories made and many stories to tell. 

God is so good! 

And for those interested, here is a map

of all the roads we've travelled on 

in our life here in Australia. 

What an amazing country that we

are so blessed to live in.

And what a lot more there is of it to explore! 

Canning Trip facts:

6,433km travelled 

25 days total

We met 85 northbound vehicles on the actual track

and 2 dirt bikes and 2 bicycles. 

14 days on the actual Canning Stock Route

(and we could have easily have spent another week on it)

13 showers (I think?)

Countless delicious meals and cups of billy tea. 

Thousands of photos and videos taken. 

Billions and billions of corrugations

Thousands of sand dunes crossed

Heaps of memories made

Quality family time spent together

And one tired old cruiser, puff puff puffing 

her way home, but ready for the next exciting adventure! 

PS be on the lookout for my video of

all the action. (be prepared to feel sick 

with motion sickness whilst viewing)

Not to be continued...………

Except for the video

But more adventures planned for the future