It is better to stop, there are amazing things to see

Well, we spent our first night in the Center of Central Australia last night in the Erldunda Resort (Roadhouse).  We had a lovely dinner last night in the roadhouse and found a celebrity, Cluck Norris.

This is a famous rooster who thinks he is a Kangaroo. Cluck was found under a bridge a year or two back, was brought to the roadhouse and instantly became a hit when he moved in with the Kangaroos. 

From the first day he arrived, he has stayed with the Kangaroos and now the roadhouse is doing a little cashing in by creating stubbie holders, fridge magnets and anything else you can imagine.  Of course, we had to get a fridge magnet

The evening was a little chilly, but we were fine in our little tent.  The park was full of caravans and I think they were worried for us, as two ladies passing on the way to the ablutions block stopped to ask me if we were ok last night and not too cold.

The road was great to drive on, however, we did have a little wind, a crosswind from the east. SO for safety reasons we did a little less than the 130Kmh speed limit and cruised at 120kmh

 

Our first stop for the day was Stuarts Well, another roadhouse, where it was time for some diesel with a reasonable price of $1.89.9 a litre.

This could be seen as a place to get fuel but as it was a low kilometer day we decided to have a look around, and coffee.  Without a doubt, it was not the best in the world but certainly the best in town.  The roadhouse also had many different purposes, caravan park, camping ground, bar, restaurant, swimming pool, you name it.

It also had a shrine and personal collection of Smurf memorabilia.

These places are a standout to us and it really does make the trip. The people are raw, but friendly and humorous, the places are hard but welcoming and always different.

Katie on a rocking chair made from old truck suspension springs.

These rules should apply in all pools

The local hound at Stuarts Well

We then spent the remainder of the day getting the final 100 clicks into Alice Springs, where we topped up the groceries and tried to buy some alcohol.  Not an easy task on a Sunday afternoon in Northern Territory. According to the sign on the closed Liquorland, the only place you can buy the hard stuff on a Sunday is from the Hotels, basically over the bar.

There was also a market on in town, where we had a look and Katie purchased a natural skin lotion made by some local indigenous ladies. There were some amazing local artworks on display too.

The car had a little wash, and then we returned to the Wanngardi Caravan Cark.

I thought that would be the end of the day's blog, nothing else was planned other than some camp cooking and then over to the camp kitchen for the washup.

We noticed two couples over in the camp kitchen area they were cooking up some dinner, we had finished ous and went over to wash the dishes.  Pleasant hellos were had and we, in turn, found that we were in the presence of a full-time Country Bushballadeer, Tom Maxwell.

It was a quick chat but we learned he and his wife have been on the road for the past 20 years and have been living from the caravan for 8 months of every year. It sounds to be an amazing lifestyle and he is here for a few more nights so may even get to catch up again.  His website is http://www.tommaxwell.com.au/