Uluru to Brisbane - the ultimate road trip

---

The next destination in the Outback odyssey was Kings Canyon located in Watarrka National Park, which was approximately 200 miles from Uluru.  It was necessary to backtrack nearly half that distance and turn north onto a two-lane road that dead-ended into the Park.  Other roads existed, but they were strictly for four-wheel drive vehicles.

One of the highlights of visiting Kings Canyon is seeing the unique rock formations that have been created over millions of years.  The landscape and rock formations at the top of the canyon looked like a scene from a Star Wars movie.  Kings Canyon was an oasis in an otherwise barren desert.  There was an abundance of water, vegetation and trees deep in the recesses of the Canyon.

In the Outback, water comes from deep underground where it is trapped in highly porous sandstone during "the wet" or rainy season.  Water is slowly released over time as it is drawn up to the surface creating pools and in some cases rivers with magnificent falls.  This life-giving liquid is a precious commodity, which is highly sought after by humans, animals, sparse vegetation, and stunted trees with very deep roots.

The return trip to Alice Springs was truly déjà vu all-over-again.  It was roughly a 300-mile return drive, which on any major U.S. Interstate would take approximately four hours.  However, in many parts of Australia the term Interstate is loosely used and applies mostly to two-lane roads, which was the case everywhere in the Outback.  That combined with a four-cylinder hippy van driving on a pancake flat road and a warp-speed of 50 mph, extended the journey to more than six hours.

Alice Springs has a population of nearly 25,000 people and is the only large town within almost 1,000 miles.  Like Darwin, nearly everything is very expensive because it must be trucked in.  The worst sticker-shock always came when putting petrol in the van.  The highest price was nearly $8 USD per gallon.  Although the 10-gallon tank didn't hold much that fact was not reflected at the cash register.  The disadvantage of having such a small tank was the need to "top it off" at almost every gas station in the Outback because of the distances between them.

By Outback standards Alice Springs is a mega city.  It has all of the services and a wide array of options to satisfy almost any interest.  The town has a variety of cultural venues, museums, shops and even a small mall.  Seeing a Kmart was the biggest surprise.  The prices were closer to reality, although not the blue-light specials we were accustomed to back in the U.S.  However, in the Outback everything is relative. 

Three Ways was the junction where we turned east toward the coast.  It was approximately half way between Alice Springs and Darwin, and was the same road we had traveled approximately two weeks earlier - another déjà vu trek.  Just before turning onto the road heading east, we stopped at Devil's Marbles Conservation Reserve.  The boulder-strewn area has a variety of rock formations, which as you might have guessed, looks like very large marbles.  It was difficult to understand how they could have been deposited there.  After reading an information placard the mystery was solved.

When the ancient sea retreated millions of years ago, it left enormous sandstone deposits, most of which still exist.  However, as a result of the constant assault from wind and rain over a similar number of years, the sandstone was worn down to create the amazing rock formations.  We generally think of rocks being created from the "building up" process caused from volcanic activity.  In some ways the reverse is true at Devil's Marbles because the unique rounded shapes are the result of them being "worn down" over millennia.

The distance between Three Ways and Brisbane is nearly 2,483 kilometers or 1,552 miles.  It would take nearly five days with overnight stops along the way.  Australia has one of the best camping infrastructures in the world.  In addition to a wide variety of caravan parks, the Northern Territory provides pull-offs for road-weary road-warriors traveling to far-flung destinations.  Australia also permits campers to set up a tent virtually anywhere unless expressly prohibited.  It's called bush camping and became our favorite form of camping.   Generally we did not hit the road until 9:30 a.m. and needed to find a place for the night by around 4:00 p.m. or risk the chance of hitting a kangaroo or wallaby at dusk when they came out to forage.  A long-haul day was approximately 300 miles and included a stop for lunch.

According to the map, we were suppose to turn south and east on a road nearly 500 miles from Three Ways.  One of my sons pointed to a road sign and asked is that was the road we should take.  I assured him it was not, and continued driving.  We eventually stopped for lunch and I looked at the map, and realized he was right and I was very, very wrong.  I now had to break the news to my fellow tribe members, and fully expected a munity and to have my keys and map confiscated.  They took the revelation better than expected, which only helped prove we were truly travelers, not tourists.

We could have backtracked, but had experienced enough of that.  Instead we agreed to proceed north and east, which took us to Townsville.  My major faux pas added another 1,000 miles to our already excruciatingly long ultimate road trip.  But as they say in the Outback, "A thousand miles here and a thousand miles and it's close to being called a jaunt by Australian standards".  Well, I am not sure anyone else actually says it, but that was my story and I was sticking to it.

Once in Townsville, we headed south to Brisbane on the major interstate highway, which like all the rest to date was two-lanes.  The distance between the cities was 1,363 kilometers or 852 miles.  In route we stopped at a local information office in Mackay (pronounced Macki), and learned that one of the rarest animals in Australia could be found high in the mountain streams not far from town - the duck-billed platypus.

This small elusive creature was my redemption!  If I had not driven by the road south and east to Brisbane, we would have completely missed the opportunity to see platypus in the wild.  Or at least I hoped so since there was still no guarantee that we would actually see any.  Fortunately, the stars were aligned and we saw several at dusk and the following morning while they foraged along the riverbank for their evening and morning meals.  Once vilified, I was now a hero - how quickly the stars can change.

There was one more national park to visit before returning the hippy van in Brisbane.  The drive through the Outback and beyond was a wonderful experience; however, we were all ready to stay in one place for more than 24 hours.  Next week's article will not only provide the total number of miles traveled, but also the conclusion of our trek through the wonderful land called Oz.

And remember, "Travel is the ultimate education."

---