Erldunda

14 – 16 August

Heading south we stopped for a picnic lunch at Finke River Rest Area – well set up with a sheltered picnic area as well as shaded picnic tables and toilets – before reaching Erlunda which sits at the junction of the highways between Alice Springs, Adelaide and Ulura. This makes it a very popular rest stop. We decided on 2 nights as there was the possibility of some new bird sightings just a little way north. The roadhouse/pub/motel/caravan is very well set up. The caravan park consists of mostly drive-through sites, the pub has a happy hour and serves meals, there is a takeaway and a small supermarket as well as a very busy fuel station.

I found this Black-fronted Dotterel in the middle of a dry, dusty paddock. I haven't seen this scratching technique before.

This Australian Hobby was seen around the campground a couple of times.

Most visitors ventured up to the sunset viewing platform for a few photos. There is also a kangaroo sanctuary and emu farm although we gave them a miss.

Not a very impressive sunset, by this time we hadn't seen a cloud for weeks.

After sunset, other travelers check out the kangaroos and a white rooster.

We did go in search of the birds which Mick’s guide book had promised but they were nowhere to be seen. That is becoming a very common story for us. Never mind, we still get to see some beautiful places.

We stayed two nights so I could look at the Banded Whiteface site north of Erlunda. It was supposed to be good for some other Central Australian specialties like Pied and Black Honeyeater as well. It wasn't, but the simple fact is that the country is very open and a mixed flock of birds way in the distance kept moving away and I could not close the distance. I saw Australasian Pipit, Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Black-faced Woodswallow and Zebra Finch. Mick

I found none of the sought after species from the guide books but did see a huge flock of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos.

After two nights at Erldunda we set off for the real red centre – Uluru.