Easter Weekend - Part II

We arrived at Ross River Resort mid-day on Saturday and spent the rest of the day setting up camp and preparing lunch and dinner.

  After dinner, we had a bit of fun dying eggs by the fire (definitely a new experience), playing with sparklers and just relaxing.

The next morning, Jamie was ecstatic to learn that the Easter Bunny had gotten our note and had found us at the campground.  He hid eggs, candy and even brought a truck filled with chocolate eggs. 

(Never did find baskets here, so Jamie had to put his loot into Tupperware.)

Who needs breakfast?



The babies were very patient waiting for our big excursion for the day: Arltunga Historical Reserve.

So, Ross River is about 80km (~50 miles) east of Alice Springs and the Arltunga Historical Reserve is another 45km (~27 miles) east.  The tour books say that it is accessible in 2WD vehicles, but I have to say that that would be one uncomfortable trip.  Once we got about 40km out of Alice Springs the road becomes only a single paved lane, the road to Arltunga?  Gravel.  Fortunately, we were the lead car in our 4WD.  Everyone else had to contend with our dust.  ;)  Unfortunately, Jamie started getting a bit carsick, so we pulled off to give him a break.

The Outback (usually not so green)

Checking on Jamie

The road to Arltunga

So, it turns out that Jamie was feeling sick at just the right time.  As we all got out to get some air, we noticed that one of Kevin's tires was completely flat.  We then spent about 30 minutes re-inflating it.  (Good thing a co-worker insisted Kevin bring an air compressor.)  Bad news, it only made it another 5 miles before he had to change it.

Goofing off.  More from Arltunga and Trephina Gorge in next post.