It was another cold morning, so the wheelies sat around the fire keeping warm and were being waited on (due to the sandy ground). We left at a reasonable time, with more 4WDriving and spectacular scenery including a perfect campsite at Boggy Hole, our original destination. Stopped briefly at Hermannsburg where we left the trailers under the watchful eyes of Wayne and Bette who caught up on some paperwork and got the generator ready for pumping the tyres up after the others returned from Palm Valley, as we were going to be traveling on bitumen roads again. Continued on to Ellery Big Hole arriving just before dark for our next bush camp where Wayne cooked roast chicken and vegetables. Andrew conducted the first auction of the trip to raise funds for the RFDS, up for grabs was an exemption from traveling with Russell. Bidding was intense with Michael the eventual winner for a mere $95 (a bargain). Sheriff took the auction in fine spirits even singing a few lines to help push up the price.
Leaving behind the Australian Bush wonderland, we all left with a piece of the magic of the Finke River in our hearts. The radios stayed silent as it blessed us with a lovely sense of peace and contentment, reigniting the warmth of respect for the beauty this land has to offer. Yet another wonderful memory to take home with us! We headed to Hermannsburg, a small aboriginal community town, situated near Palm Valley and Kings Canyon. On the way, the convoy pulled over in the middle of an aboriginal reserve to tend to Karl’s flatty. As there were signs to warn us not to leave our vehicles or wander from the roads, there was nothing to do but pull out the sanga’s and raid Okie’s snack attack stash, fill the bellies and keep each other amused on the radio. Keeping the respect of travelling through the aboriginal reserve, the boys fixed the tyre in record time and leaving nothing but footprints, we landed at Hermannsburg for a top up of fuel and another munch out from the local servo. Wayne and Bette volunteered to stay behind with the trailers so the rest of the troop followed Karl into the breathtaking journey of Palm Valley. Another enjoyable 4WD trek while we kicked back to the entertaining and informative muses from our much beloved trip leader. After capturing the essence of the valley on a thousand happy snaps, we slowly meandered back to savour every little piece of this amazing landscape. It was then that Mic, Stu and Chrissy saw out of one of the rock formations a perfect formation of the heads of an aboriginal man and woman. It just made us wonder how much we miss the awe and wonder that continually surrounds us, yet we miss it because we get too busy with the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives. This trip has woken up the inner child in all of us! Thanks Foxtrot Papa for letting them come out to play! With the palms waving in the breeze their goodbye’s we headed out onto bitumen to our next campsite at Ellery Creek Big Hole. Nestling in amongst fellow campers with their dreadlocks & tambourines, we settled down to a feed of roast chicken and vegies gearing up for an auction to raise more money for our ‘Angels of the Sky’. With the Sheriff replacing his pride with good spirits he was nominated into giving an exemption pass not to be a passenger in his truck. You’re a legend Russell; it raised $95 and respect for you, with Mick as the pass holder.
Just when you thought the girls couldn’t spoil you any more, we were treated to a gastronomical delight of pancakes and maple syrup for breaky, it was high fives and hugs all around before packing down camp to head off towards yet another momentous dot on the map – Alice Springs.