Sun, 23rd June, 2024 Gravel pit on Stuart Highway, south of Alice Springs to Tropic of Capricorn Rest Area, north of Alice Springs, NT

4.2 degrees in the camper but not for long! Clear sky.

Still cold when we packed up but no wind so ok. Continued northward to Alice Springs.

Running alongside the Waterhouse Range for a while then we turn away from it.

About 40kms out the MacDonnell Ranges come into view. Over the rail line which like us is heading for the ‘Gap’ through the West and East ranges.

Sat at the rail crossing for a long while as a freight train went by - we were going to the dump point and water point on the other side of the showgrounds.

Passed the old ‘Ghan’ train that we got photos of last visit. Through the ‘Gap’ and into town.

A ‘rally’ car turned in front of us and we could see that it was part of the Shitbox Rally. We have seen a heap of them heading south today. I googled it and found out that it finished today in Alice Springs. They started in Melbourne on 14^th June in cars that they bought for about $1500. So far they have raised over $2.3 million for the Cancer Council. Well done and I bet they all had a ball.

Had a cuppa beside the Todd River - well in the camper parked by the Todd River! Around to the shopping centre to top up the groceries then topped up the diesel tank @ $1.989/L.

Drove up Anzac Hill for lunch and Steve read while I uploaded my blog and FB posts. Another Rally car pulled up beside us.

Continued along the Stuart Highway northward to Bunnings but they had run out of gas bottles. Luckily we get a month out of each bottle so we are good till we come back in a couple of weeks. Being Sunday the other shops weren’t open.

Across the railway line again as the line heads up to Darwin. The Ghan was in town today as the travellers came up to Anzac Hill on the bus.

Passed the turn off onto the Tanami Track where Jon went up to work. Got a text from him that he is good and still up the Tanami.

We are still climbing in elevation and then we passed the ‘highest point on the Stuart Highway between Adelaide and Darwin’ marker which said we are at 727.2m. We had stopped here in 2018.

Across the Tropic of Capricorn - we can feel the warmth, haha. Actually it is still quite chilly outside in the shade. Pulled into the rest area and set up for the night.

Had a cuppa and chatted with a lady who works on one of the stations’ outcamp called Quartz Hill, east of Alice.

She left and we were by ourselves for a while before a couple more travellers pulled in for the night. Steve got a fire going in the fireplace and invited another couple to join us. Mac and Karen are from Hindmarsh Island on the Murray River down near Victor Harbour. They said it was a lovely area of farms etc but now the farms are being subdivided and the land prices etc have risen a lot.

A flock of green budgies flew over us tweeting away. Beautiful after sunset colours through the trees and on the layer of little clouds. It got cold quickly but we were having a great time chatting.

Eventually we gave in and headed back into our camper with the heater on.

We watched a movie, Sniper, that was filmed in 1993 around Far North Queensland as we spotted the Kuranda Train going over the Stoney Creek bridge, Paronella Park etc.

I checked the weather forecast and the minimum will be -1 degrees and max of 19 tomorrow! So much for Tropic of Capricorn. At 10pm it was 5.7 degrees, though feels like 1.7 degrees, BOM said. For us we were in a warm 23 degrees - thank goodness for our heater.