Northern Territory

I've just returned from a trip to the Northern Territory.

Last time I travelled, to Tasmania, I did a lot of very detailed posts, and I reallise now that I never did wind up blogging about the final days of the trip. So this time I will start with a brief overview, then follow with more details.

Day 1 (Friday): Fly to Ayers Rock Airport. Pick up hire car and drive to Yulara. Check in to Lost camel Hotel. Drive to Ularu. Stop at the cultural centre and look at displays. Follow Liru walk from cultural centre to Ularu, and back. Drive to sunset viewing car park and watch sunset over Ularu.

Day 2 (Saturday). Drive to Ularu from Yulara. Join ranger guided walk on Mala walk. Stop lunch. Ularu base walk.

Day 3 (Sunday). Drive to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). Follow Valley of the Winds walk (full loop). Follow Walpa Gulley walk. Return to Yulara.

Day 4 (Monday). Drive from Yulara to Kings Canyon Resort. Check in. Drive to Kings Canyon and follow Canyon Rim Walk. Return to Kings Canyon Resort.

Day 5 (Tuesday). Drive to Kings Canyon and follow Creek walk. Drive to Kathleen springs walk and follow walking track to spring. Drive to Alice Springs. Check into Heavitree Gap Outback Lodge.

Day 6 (Wednesday). Morning - Wash clothes. Midday. Lunch in Todd Mall. Afternoon. Alice Springs Desert Park.

Day 7 (Thursday). Drive to Glen Helen Gorge and walk to Gorge. Attend Ranger talk about animal signs (tracks and droppings). Drive to Ormiston Gorge and walk to waterhole. Drive to Ochre Pits and walk to pits. Drive back to Alice Springs.

Day 8 (Friday). Drive to Simpsons Gap and follow Ghost gum walk, then Cassia Hill Walk. Continue on to Gap, and walk to Gap. Drive to Standley Chasm. Follow walking path to first Chasm. Return to Alice Springs. Visit Reptile Centre. Get to hold snake and several lizards.

Day 9 (Saturday). Drive to Telegraph Station reserve in Alice Springs and visit original site of Alice Springs. Drive to airport and take plane back to Melbourne.

It was a great trip, but I am glad to be home :).

Duct repair

Since the start of the cold weather, i have been using the ducted heating, but finding it sadly ineffectual. I suspected there was something wrong with the ducts (a suspicion supported by family and friends who told me that the heater should be working better), but I hadn't geared myself up to crawl under the house to have a look.

This afternoon I finally got myself organised. After gearing up with tough jeans, shoes, long sleeved top, heavy work gloves, dust mask and torch, I crawled under my house to see what was happening. Sure enough, there was a problem. One of the ducts leading to the far corner of the house had pulled loose from the joiner, so the warm air was all flooding out to heat the underfloor space. Two rolls of duct tape later (plus some rope to hold the duct off the ground a bit, the old support had broken), and the duct was rejoined.

I am also a bit amazed by the sheer amount of rubbish people have dumped under the house over the years, although given how much broken glass and bottle caps I keep pulling out of the garden, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

2 rolls of duct tape: $5.
Heavy duty torch: $5.
Savings on wasted heat over winter: $100s.
Finishing a dirty unpleasant job I had been putting off: PRICELESS.