Rainbow Valley 2–The mice

As soon as the sun set at Rainbow Valley our campsite was invaded by hoards of mice.  When I says hoards i mean 40-50 mice at a time in one field of view. 

We were sitting in our chairs eating T bone steaks from Millner meats and enjoying a cold bevvie.  We started to see little dark shadows emerging from the grass and bushes.  Before we knew it there were mice under our chairs, crawling over our feet, running in and under the car, everywhere.

We threw down one of our finished T bones and the mice went nuts.  There was a constant stream of mice attacking the bone and scaring each other and jumping about around the bone.  We could actually stand next to the bone and catch the mice with a box they were so hungry.

Eventually when the bone was stripped clean we saw a few larger naive hopping mice.  We did not have the camera out unfortunately but they were very cute and a lot bigger.

Mice jumping in all directions keen for the meat

OMG, so scary when the flash goes off.

Just hanging on for a good feed

Rainbow Valley 2–The mice

Rainbow Valley–red rocks and blue skies

 

Two weeks ago we drove down south towards Adelaide on the Stuart highway to camp at Rainbow Valley for a night.

The area is very sandy and is a small conservation reserve.  The reserve is based around a large colourful outcropping of sandstone in a flat basin.  The outcrop really jumps out at you and is made of very crumbly sandstone of reds, yellows and greys. 

The area is quite desolate otherwise but did support a very large population of flies and mice.  We walked around the rock and also up onto it at one point.  We had the campsite to ourselves or so we thought.  An hour later hoards of campervans loaded with senior citizens and some kids too arrived. 

We had a pleasant time, got some beautiful photos and also watched a lot of mice devouring our leftovers.

I would recommend Rainbow valley for one night, mainly for sunset or dawn as it is beautiful but there is not much else to do there.

Zebra Finch nest in a sharp spikey tree.  There are tonnes of finches around and you find nests everywhere.

Beautiful weather carved sandstone

The view of the mud pan below the sandstone formation.  Our campsite was on the left of this flat.

The camping area, with campervans starting to arrive in the arvo.

Watching the moon rise over the sandstone bluffs

Corinne testing our roof rack on the drive home.

Rainbow Valley–red rocks and blue skies

Ellery Creek Big Hole

 

Last week we drove out to Ellery Creek Big hole which is a permanent waterhole in a gap in the West Macdonald ranges.

The waterhole is about 80kms west of Alice.  We drove out on a beautiful warm, sunny blue sky, autumn day and reached the waterhole just in time to see about 200 school kids leaving.  The kids and teachers were all strangely friendly and all said hello to us.  Either that or we had signs on our heads or something. 

The waterhole is great.  It is situated in another gap in the range and is quite deep and full of fish.  There is a nice sandy beach and a few private spots where you can relax. 

You can swim right through the gap to the other side if you want. 

We found ourselves a nice spot and had some lunch.  Then it came time for me to convince Corinne that the small freshwater fish in the waterhole were not interested in eating her or biting her.  There are no crocs down this way either so we would be safe to swim, just like the 200 kids before us.

Corinne eventually gave in but found the swim a little cold and stressful, her irrational fear of fish lives on.

We had a great day and will definitely go back.

Our little private beach from which Corinne entered the fish infested waters, and survived.

The view through the gap, from the beach.  The water was full of noisy Brits.

There were tonnes of fish in the water, some stripey ones and some bigger ones down deep. 

The fish coming to the surface, ready to nibble on human flesh

A nice spot for a picnic

Corinne looking gorgeous

Ellery Creek Big Hole

Mt Gillen Climb

 

On our last day off together we decided to do a bit of exercise and climb Mt Gillen.

Mt Gillen is a small hill down the road from us along the West MacDonald range.  We don’t know exactly if it is the green hill in front of the escarpment or if it is the escarpment itself, but we certainly climbed up something and it was quite steep and hard.

The walks starts off from John Flynn’s grave on Larapinta drive.

We walked through typical scrubby bush land, crossing dry creek beds and seeing lots of beautiful purple wild flowers.  The blood woods are flowering at the moment too and are overflowing with yellow fluffy flowers and nectar which smells of honey. 

Eventually we started climbing and the path becomes rough and steep, to the point where it is hard to stand up.  The walk was actually far more tiring than we thought and by the time we got to the top we were pretty knackered.  There are beautiful views from the top of Alice and the West Macs.  You can actually keep climbing higher up towards the escarpment but we didn’t. 

The climb was well worth it and gave great views of the surrounding country.

Very pretty wild flowers that are all over the place.  Responding very well to the recent rains and flowering in Autumn.

A view along our path.  We climbed the small hill on the left of the photo.  Actually quite high.

The escarpment of the West Macs

Corinne halfway up the hill with Alice in the background

A great little scene through some intersecting valleys.

Lizard, sunning himself on the hill.

Corinne looking out over Alice.

Bloodwood in full bloom

A panorama of our walking spot

A very wide panorama of the view from the top of Mt Gillen.

Mt Gillen Climb

Mooloolaba Visit

 

When we were in Queensland a few weeks back we finally managed to get up to Mooloolaba and visit my sister and her family at her new house.  They have recently finished renovating the house which is 5 minutes from the beach.

The house is great and so is the garden and landscaping.  There is a good sized pool and outdoor area and some grass for the kids.  Even the mutt has a better place to play now. 

We went fishing in the arvo with the kids down at the the canals hoping to catch a shark or something similar.  The kids love it and get to pick up dead fish, catch prawns and generally explore.  Even Jenny came along and got into the dead fish, mangroves etc. 

Ted managed to eat an entire packet of chips almost by himself and Wade caught a few small fish, which was good, cause none of us did.

It was a pleasant arvo in a great spot.

The typical wide based stance of a professional fisherman, Ted.  Looking for a big Jew fish or perhaps a Mako shark.

Gangster fisherman looking tough and very serious.

Ted, beer by his side and rod in hand, a happy toddler.

Dead fish found by Children and Jenny.  Accompanied by an unpleasant odour.

That’s me, camouflaged against the watery back drop so i don’t scare the fish.

Harper, pumping yabbies and looking into the sun at the same time.  An unsuccessful adventure.

The whole crew, desperately trying to murder a fish.

Andrea and Corinne, waiting, trying to outsmart the little silvery creatures.

 

Corinne, sweetly holding the rod.

Mooloolaba Visit

Straddie pics–Final

 

Here are some final pics from our week at Straddie.

Cheers

Surfer at main beach, doing his stuff

Another bloke, carving it up.

The girls, tres bon at the gorge walk, Point Lookout.

The fletchers, looking gorgeous.

A nice sunny pic of Main beach, disappearing into the horizon

The Gorge, lots of turtles and stingrays to be seen here in calm weather.

Straddie pics–Final

Straddie Holiday–The real photos

 

Hello again.

I will put in some better photos of our hols at straddie and not the weird phone obsessed ones.

So we spent the week in our cool house, breakfast, beach, crystal clear water, sun, lunch, relax, drinks, party dinner etc.  Quite a nice way to spend a week with good friends.

None of us got the cameras out that much, not at the beach because of sand and security and not at other times because too relaxed or too drunk.  We still managed to get a few nice pics one morning on a walk and another day on an organised photo trip down to the beach to see the surfers.  All in all a very nice week in a great place with fun people.

Shanny’s amazing Ricotta and tarragon stuffed, spatch-cocked chickens.  Absolutely brilliant and Gluten free.

Another Shanny brilliance.  Sweet potato, fetta, sun dried tomatoes on a bed of rocket and red onion.  We always eat stuff like this.

Crystal clear water, amazing.

Corinne, looking fit and sweet on the headland

Frenchman’s beach, a place of much nudity.

Big old male kangaroo, see scrotum.

Corinne and Shannon, very happy little muffins.

A glorious couple.

The view of main beach from the headland, cloudy day.

Straddie Holiday–The real photos