It was surprising to come upon them as they appeared on the edge of the road after travelling for ages with not a lot to see.

We wandered through the rock formations and took numerous photo’s for the album. 

It is such a special place to visit.   

Clambering over the rocks was awesome and there were information boards around this area also.

These boards gave us the history of the area and the Devil’s Marbles and their importance to the local indigenous peoples.

They were certainly very unique and we enjoyed our time there.

We call into Whycliffe Well and the roadhouse on route.

Apparently there have been numerous sightings of UFO’s in the area in past times.
So the roadhouse area has been painted out with this theme.
It has many displays telling about this phenomena. It is quite effective.

We filled up the fuel tank before moving on.
We had planned to stay in the area for the night, but as we arrived there early, we decided to travel on to the Devil’s Marbles and beyond instead.

There wasn’t much there that interested us so there was no point staying around.

Lindy and Margy had some fun playing around with the display and we took some photo’s of them behind the board with alien’s painted on it. The photo’s turned out well.

]]> http://jaypatrol.com/2006/11/17/whycliffe-well/feed 2 http://jaypatrol.com/2006/10/27/tropic-of-capricorn-and-gem-tree http://jaypatrol.com/2006/10/27/tropic-of-capricorn-and-gem-tree#comments Fri, 27 Oct 2006 05:12:55 +0000 Administrator http://jaypatrol.com/2006/10/27/tropic-of-capricorn-and-gem-tree/ After leaving Alice Springs, our next stop off point was at the Monument where it was the highest point on the main route between Adelaide and Darwin.

There were information boards explaining the difference between the wet and dry seasons in the top end. There is also a welcome to Central Australia board with the usual tourist information. We read all the different panels – these were quite informative.

After leaving the area, we continued our journey.
Reaching the Tropic of Capricorn was a real buzz for us.     
We had never travelled this far north, it was the perfect marker point for the trip. Again there were lots of information to read on the panels on display.

We continued onto Gem Tree. This is a unique area that is full of gemstones just waiting for someone to discover.
When it was suggested for us to go there, I have to admit, I wasn’t too keen on the idea.        
There are no shops; so you have to take all your requirements with you, including water. The only power is via a generator and this is only run between 7am and 10pm. So there are no heaters after 10pm. As the weather was quite cold at night, we would have to have extra blankets and hot water bottles to keep warm. Not my type of a fun time.   

     

When we arrived it was very warm during the day and we couldn’t even use the fan or air-conditioner to cool the caravan.
We booked in for a couple of days. Lindy and Margie were going to meet us there later in the day.

Whilst checking in, we enquired about the gem field trips and what was available to book. We were told we were too late to book onto the tour to the Garnet field. I was a little disappointed as I wasn’t really too interested in the other one which was to go to the Zircon field.
After we decided to book onto the Zircon field trip anyway, the lady told us that we could buy a wheelbarrow of diggings and fossick through it for Garnets seeing that we missed out on the field trip. After discussing it between us, Arthur & I decided to give it a try. (There wasn’t anything else to do there).
So we ordered the barrow of diggings for after lunch.

We proceeded into the park and set up at our delegated camp site in the bush.
This was cetainly going to be very different to what we had ever done before

.

After setting up camp and having some lunch, we went to try our hand with the wheelbarrow of dirt and stones. The lady showed us how to fossick and what to look for in the barrow. She then left us to do our own fossicking. It was getting very warm and lots of flies as we sat at the table and began to get dirty.

After a few minutes, I found a decent sized Garnet. Now I was hooked!
We worked for most of the afternoon, at least till Lindy and Margie arrived. We did find quite a few different sized and different quality Garnets. But weren’t too excited at first. It was tiring work and we were very weary, dirty, hot and dusty by the end of the day.
We asked the owner if we could finish our barrow the next day after we came home from the Zircon field trip. They kindly placed the rest of our barrow behind their house so that we could come back to it later.
 
Lindy and Margie did finally arrive and left us to set up their campsite. We wandered over to them to tell them of our days work.

The day we arrived at GemTree was Territory Day and there were fireworks planned by the owners of the park for that night. So we had to get cleaned up and have tea early in preparation for the big night ahead.
 
It was getting very cold as we rugged up.  Carrying our chairs we headed for the big bonfire that was lit for the nights fireworks. The bonfire was nice and warm and the fireworks were great.
We all enjoyed them.

The next morning we were up early and ready for our day on the Zircon field. It was hard and dusty work. Arthur and Margie wielded the pick digging the hard ground and Lindy and I did the sieving and searching for the elusive Zircon. We did manage to find some good Zircons too. Lindy and Margie found a couple of quite large pieces. Unfortunately, there were shattered and not worth as much as we had hoped for.

At the end of the day we headed back to the camping ground to finish off searching through the wheelbarrow for Garnets. Margie and Lindy helped us finish the rest of the barrow.
We gathered up all our findings of both the gemstones and headed for the gemshop onsite and to see how well we had done with our findings.

I was very surprised to find that we had found a few good sized garnets that were suitable to have jewellery made out of them. Also we had gathered enough good sized Zircons too. So with our good finds we had a necklace made up with the largest Garnet and a ring with the second largest Garnet in the centre surrounded by the 2 largest Zircons. Not bad for a couple of days work. Especially as I didn’t really want to go there in the first place.

Lindy also had some jewellery made with her finds.

After ordering our jewellery, we prepared to pack up and leave the next morning for our next stop off point – Whycliffe Well.  

Then on the 23rd, Lindy returned from her Singapore trip. It was great to see her smiling face as we met her at the airport. I didn’t realise how much I had missed her.

We had been baby-sitting her mobile home in her absense. And Lindy had bought a new video camera for us in Singapore to replace our other one that had died on us earlier, before we had realised till we went to use it the first time on the trip. It was going to cost us $600 to send it to Adelaide to get it fixed (which meant we would be without it for over 2 weeks) and it was a lot cheaper for us to buy another one and Lindy helped us out there. The new one is smaller and more compact than the other one, so we really ended up better off.

The day after Lindy arrived back, Lindy & I went to the airport to meet Lindy’s friend, Margie, who was coming to Alice Springs from Perth. Margie was going to be travelling with Lindy for part of her trip, at least till she got to Queensland. Like when we met up with Lindy, we all hit it off really well with Margie.

It was Lindy’s birthday on the 24th.

Before we left Aice Springs, we spent one more night at the Heavitree Gap Hotel, to see Chris and Scott perform one last time. (Margie hadn’t seen them yet), so it was a bit sad to say good bye to these two old friends.

On the 27th we decided to move out of Heavitree Gap and head for Ross River for a couple of days and look around the East McDonnell ranges this time. This was going to be a different kind of camping as this is a more isolated area, so we needed to stock up on food before we left.

The East McDonnell Ranges are much different to the West McDonnell Ranges in many ways.
The most obvious being that the East McDonnells were very close to the road and driving to Ross River was very picturesque and so much easier to access the various gorges and viewing sites.

We stopped of at Emily Gorge and Jessie’s Gap on the way there. Again these were very unique areas. There was some rock art in these two places as well.

Emily Gorge had beautiful rock formations with varying colours. There was unusual rock art here and an information board that explained how the Ochre and White Lime were mixed for the painting. It also explained the story behind the paintings.

Jessie Gap was different again. With its rugged rock formation, layers of colours and sandy floor. There is also another information board telling the significence of the both Emily Gorge and Jessie Gap. It also tells the how they are associated to local Aboriginal tribes.

The next stop was at Corroboree Rock. Corroboree Rock is a very sacred place for the local indiginous people. It is a large rock shaped like a big arch. It can be seen from the road for some distance. You can walk all around this huge rock and see the full structure of it. Again there are information boards on this site explaining the sacred nature and power of the site. This information also asks that you respect this rock outcrop as if you would a church. Another information board explains how the rock was formed. It is an interesting site.

Moving on from here, we finally arrive at Ross River Camping Ground. This was an old Station in days of old and included a hotel as well as having their own camels, horses and usual farming requirements. The hotel is old and there is a lot of memorabilia to browse through and you can still get a home cooked meal and a cold drink here. ( We dined at the Hotel on the last night we were there. Delicious! We were not disappointed.

The camping ground is a paddock that has powered sites and wood cut for the fireplaces scattered around the park. There is a resident camp ranger here too. There were a few other campers enjoying the outback feeling with us.

As the day drew to a close the long shadows from the surrounding trees gave the evening a special atmosphere. Before too long, it was time to light the camp fire to add to this atmosphere.

We settled down to a cosy night around the camp fire, when the park ranger came over to introduce himself and to invite us to his camp site for some of his special camp fire damper. He already had it cooking.

After we had cleaned up after our evening meal, we headed over to his camp site and his damper. Wow! What a surprise! It would have been the best damper I have ever tasted. And I have not had another one as good since. Thankfully, he had baked two, so there was plenty to go back for seconds, which of course, we did. He had a range of different toppings, there were various jams, honey and golden syrup. I tried it with the golden syrup – Yummy!

Not long after this, the hotel cook, (Derek), wandered over for some company as he had finished work for the night. He was a little under the weather after sipping too much of the cooking wine, but he picked up the rangers guitar and started to play and sing. He had his Darwin Stubby beside him, so he was ready to settle in for the night. (For those who haven’t seen a Darwin Stubby, it is about 2.5 litres of beer in a huge stubby shaped bottle or flagon). It was unfortunate he was a bit inebriated, so the vocals cords were a little too loose. But we had a good time anyway.

As we were weary from travelling, we retired early, but Derek and his mate, the camp ranger were still going long after we went to bed. We could hear them singing and playing an harmonica in the background, well into the night.

The next morning, we were up early and after the usual chores and planning time, we packed some afternoon tea and headed to Arltunga. This was an old mining town in its heyday. Most of the old buildings are still in reasonably good condition, concidering their age and the village is still visible. It was great walking around the small community buldings imagining life in the days when it was a thriving town. All the modern machinery of the day was set up around the area, as was the essential services you would see around town. The plans of the area were available at an information post at the entrance of the park. This was a great to have as we wandered around and looked into each of the houses and buildings. Each one was unique and contained he character of the original inhabitants. The flooring was still intact in most of the houses too. One even had what looked like an oven resembling a wood fired pizza oven. The Battery Pit was still visible too. As well as the old Cornish boiler. There is also the old prison cell there, they even had baddies there in those days. As we continued to walk around the area, we came across the old mine site. It is amazing how these men would dig into the ground or the side of a mountain and crawl through it on their belly’s looking for their fortunes, of which most never saw the fulfillment of their dreams. As we walked further afield we saw little round houses. These were so tiny, they must have only contained the sleeping quarters for the miner.

As we left the mining town area, we passed the ruins of the old Arltunga Hotel. We then passed the present day Arltunga Hotel . This is built of corregated iron and is still in use today.

Driving back to camp, we saw some Brumby’s grazing in the paddock and then we saw a pack of Dingo’s wandering through another paddock, being lead by a black dingo.

We arrived back at camp late and tired but exhilerated from our big day out.

Unfortunately, the next day was a non-event for me as I was not well and slept most of the day. But Arthur, Lindy & Margie went to Trephina Gorge. They took lots of photo’s and video to show me what I had missed out on. Trephina Gorge Is another picturesque area. It has high mountain tracks to walk and rugged countryside to be investigated. They walked along the top rim of the gorge and looked down into the riverbed that meandered around at the bottom.
On the way home they came across some camels grazing in the bush.
The three of them came home exhilerated by the time they had whilst there and I wish I had been up to joining them on the discovery trail.

After lunch, I still was not up to doing too much, so the three amigos headed for N’Dhala Gorge at the back of the camping ground. Here they walked along the riverbed into the gorge. Again, this area was different. The rockwall was more rugged and the area has a beauty of its own. They trekked around admiring the formations and colours. They took photos and video again. They loved this area and came home excited about their trek into the gorge.

By the time they got back, I was up to sitting around the camp fire and enjoyed hearing of their adventures of the day.

The next morning we were up early and packed up ready to head back into Alice Springs. Lindy & Margie were moving on to Hermansburg, where they planned to stay the night in the lonely caravan park up there. As they hadn’t seen it yet. We had to get our microwave oven replaced, because it died a few days before we left for Ross River. Jayco had honoured the warranty and agreed to replace it and fit another air vent in the back of the cupboard to give better ventilation so that it wouldn’t happen again. We had to spend the day waiting for it to be fitted and the vent to be put in. As the repairs were to be done by a Jayco repair agent whose workshop was in a different caravan park to where we stayed earlier, we decided to book into this park for the time it was being fitted and in the meantime, I would do some washing as I could not get into the caravan till it was finished and it was better for me to keep out of the way.

After the job was finished we had an early night as we were leaving early in the morning to head for Gem Tree and to meet up with Lindy and Margie again.

The morning dawned and it was time to move on and time to say farewell to Alice Springs. We had been there for four weeks and had loved the time we spent there. We had grown to love The Alice. But all good things must come to an end. So long Alice Springs – till we meet again.

“The Alice Springs Telegraph Station was midway along the Overland Telegraph Line  from Darwin to Adelaide which played a key role in Australia’s development. It was opened in 1872 and the line suddenly reduced the isolation of Australians from the rest of the world. The exchange of personal & business messages now took hours instead of the months it previously took by sea. By 1900, this very isolated Station was home to a cook, a blacksmith-stockman, a governess, four linemen-telgraph operators plus the station Master and his family.   

This Station is the era’s most intact Telegraph Station and the Parks and Wildlife Commission protects it as solid evidence of the lives led by  the pioneering men and women who first established Australia’s telegraphic lifeline to the world”. 

(extract from brochure, handed to us on our arrival, describing the buildings and operation at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station as it was between 1895 and 1905).

The Station is where the overseas line was joined to our lines so that we could speak to family and friends in England first. (Later it grew,  to the rest of the world). The guide we had to show us around, was very informative telling of this historical event. He explained how this was the original site of Alice Springs. (It was a few kilometres from the existing site of the township). And it was called Stuart Town.
Later on it was decided to move the main town away from here and the current site was chosen. The new site was named after the wife of the current  bigwig whose role I have forgotten. Her name was Alice.

Also the original buildings are still in pretty good condition and it is so easy to imagine the times they lived in. There are even gun port holes in the walls of the homestead to fend off the native enemies.
This was indeed a very informative day.

On the 17th, we packed a lunch again and headed out to the Standley Chasm & Simpson’s Gap.
We parked the car and walked into Standley Chasm. Standley Chasm is a unique area. If you are at the Chasm at noon, the sun shines down the chasm and the colours of the rock changes with the different lighting from the sun. It is not for those in a hurry  as we had to hang around waiting for the right time to take the best photos. We were very patient, (I know, hard work for Arthur), but the wait was truly worth it. They were lots of people there with us, so we  talked among ourselves to fill in the time. Everyone was after that special picture. We were in Standley Chasm for two and a half hours in all. We were rewarded with some great photography after the long wait.

After leaving Standley Chasm, we moved onto Simpsons Gap. This is another area with unique features. It was a bit of a drive into here and then we walked into the Gap. We walked along the dried up river bed to get into the area, having a giggle at the “NO SWIMMING” sign. On reaching the end of the walk, we just lingered to enjoy the surrounding area and taking photo’s. Lovely!
It was time to leave after a while and we headed back down the riverbed back to the car to drive out of the Gap area again.

On the 20th of June, it was time to head out to Hermannsburg and then onto Palm Valley. We had heard a lot about Palm Valley and the pros and cons of driving yourself out there, or taking a tour bus into the area. After much discussion and pondering the options, we decided to drive ourselves. It was going to be a long day, so we packed a lunch and lots of fruit and snacks and filled the drink bottles and thermos before heading off.

We arrive at Hermansburg first. This is the furthermost point to travel out, on tarred surface,  to the West McDonnell Ranges.
We walked around the compound reading the history of the Hermannsburg site. This was an old Mission. The new owners of the site, intend to restore this historical area to its former glory. This is where a lot of the “stolen generation” were housed in those days.

“One of the most famous to live here is Albert Namatjira. He was actually born at the Mission and was a full blood member of the Western Aranda tribe – his tribal name meaning Flying White Ant. Albert was born on the 28th of July 1902 at the Mission. He married Rubina at the age of 18. She was the daughter of a Ceremonial Chief of The Luritja Tribe. The couple had 5 sons and 5 daughters.
In 1934, artist Rex Batterbee visited The Centre for the second time and displayed his paintings at the mission. Albert showed great interest in the watercolours of his Aranda country, so that Pastor F.W. Albrecht arranged for Albert to accompany the artist as camel boy on his next painting trip, two years later. It was on this two month trip, in 1936, that Rex Batterbee instructed Albert in the techniques of water colour painting. Two years later, in 1938, Albert’s first exhibition was arranged with the help of Rex Batterbee. It was an immediate success. Ultimately, exhibitions were held in every capital city of Australia over the years, although none were arranged from 1940 to 1944, most works being sold privately to the military people stationed at Alice Springs at the time. Albert’s fame became wide spread over the following years and many of his paintings were bought by overseas art collectors.
In 1959, after a heart attack, complicated by pneumonia, Albert Namatjira died in the Alice Springs Hospital on the 8th of August. His wife Rubina, died in 1974 at the age of 71. To this day, Albert Namatjira’s watercolours are much sought after by art dealers. Most of his works are in private collections”.
(extract from brochure, handed to us on our arrival). 

We wandered around the site checking out all the buildings, trying to imagine life in the days of the Mission. We had a look at the old original date palm tree plantation. This had been ruined in a storm a few years ago, but the new owners were hopeful of restoring this too. The old Church building on the site is still in use today and a popular site for weddings. We had a look in the Art Gallery on site. This was interesting. Though not really to my taste.

After we were finished looking around, we ventured back inside the old homestead. This is now the tea-rooms. We indulged ourselves with a devonshire tea and just rested before meandering into the gallery at the rear of the homestead. Housed there were prints of some of Albert Namatjira’s paintings. We purchased one of these. It was a print of his painting of “Heavitree Gap”. As this is where we are staying in Alice Springs,  we thought it appropriate to have a Namatjira momento of the time we spent in the Alice.

It was time to move on to Palm Valley, so reluctantly we bade farewell to Hermannsburg and pointed the car in that direction.

This is to be a long rough journey as we are to travel the ten kilometres up the dry Finke River bed at the start of the journey. This terrain varied from sandy bottom to rocky base. It was fascinating to see  the different surfaces, the surrounding mountain range, the vegetation, and other follage. We noted areas where there had been previous flooding too.

We stopped off at a rest area for lunch break and a chance to stretch our muscles before the haul up onto rock sheets to drive into Palm Valley. The first section of rock sheet was an ‘experience’  to say the least. Unfortunately, Arthur had forgotten to take the towbar off the car before we left, so it was a bit of a challenge to travel over the rock sheets and uneven surfaces. But he took it slowly and we managed to get to our destination in one piece. Though we were certainly “all shook up”.
We eventually arrived into the Valley, spotting the first Red Cabbage Palm on the outskirts of there.
Parking the car in the designated area, we had to walk the final leg into Palm Valley. What an awesome sight!  There were plenty of signage around teaching us about this valley and its habitat.
These Red Cabbage Palms were so tall, we were dwarfed by them. Of course we got lots of photographs to tell the story. It is just so amazing that these Palms can be found in such an unlikely place, so far from anything else. And that they continued to survive and thrive.

As it was going to get dark fairly quickly and we had a long drive out of the valley, we had to head back. So once more,  we  had to navigate the sheet rock and rocks out of there. We stopped for a break at the rest area on the way out again. When we arrived, we disturbed a wild Dingo that was scavenging around the picnic rotunda. We managed to get a couple of photos of him too. This was our first sighting of a dingo in the wild. Whilst we were there a coyboy in a 4 wheel drive came roaring into the rest area, flicking up stones and dust. Unfortunately for him, he scared off the dingo, so he missed out on seeing him. His loss!  
We continued back down the track out of the Valley. We again had to travel the ten Kilometres on the dry Finke RIver bed. It is amazing that everything looks so different from the opposite direction. We saw things we had missed on the way in. And as the sun was going down quickly, the shadows and colours of the terrain changed rapidly. An old  4 wheel drive chock full of aboriginal’s overtook us as we navigated through the riverbed, waving arms were protruding from where the windows once were in the car.
We eventually exited the riverbed and hit the black top, (as the seasoned travellers call it).
On the way back, we stopped off at the site of the memorial to Albert Namatjira. It is overlooking the beloved country and terrain he used in his paintings. A fitting end to a very eventful day.

To Be Continued:

The next morning we caught up with the usual washing etc.
As we were so tired, we rested for the first few days. Lindy and some of the others in the park suggested that I had finally “hit the wall” when I arrived as I was so tired. I was still struggling with the virus I had a few days earlier and all I wanted to do was sleep. So we chilled out till we were all bright eyed and bushy tailed again. We did get the usual shopping to stock up the larder and checked out a few shops in the town.

When I was up to it, Arthur and I got the bikes out and decided to tackle the 10 kilometre return ride into the township. The weather was warm and the ride was easy on the bike track. It was a leisurely peddle.

We went into KMart and the nearby sports store. We also went to the Coles store to pick up a few necessities.

On the Wednesday afternoon, Arthur went to the truck museum, as he had heard about it from friends and wanted to check it out for himself.

On Wednesday evening, we walked over to feed the Black Footed Wallabies in the Park. As Heavitree Gap (the Gap between the West and East McDonnell Ranges), is where the Caravan Park is sited , we were fortunate to have these gorgeous little balls of fluff on hand, every night. They come down from the mountain each night to be fed. They were so cute and friendly. The Park has bags of pellets to purchase, for feeding them. These little cuties are so tame that they feed directly from your hand and if you look like getting distracted by any of the other wallabies, he will grab your hand and pull you back to himself. They are so soft to touch.

Then, when we were all rested, we checked out the local camping store as we had seen it advertised on the local TV. It was quite a good store and we purchased a few things, including a smaller version of a “camel pack” a backpack with a bladder in it to carry water (ours can carry 2 litres of water and has lots of pockets to carry extras, like lunch, sunscreen etc), when we were either hiking or riding our bikes. These packs also have a hose fitting that fits into the strap over your shoulder so that you can sip water whilst riding or walking. Lindy bought one too. Later on, Margy, Lindy’s friend from WA bought one as well. These were certainly our best buy.

On Friday. we headed up to Anzac Hill. This overlooks Alice Springs and a good place to get your bearings as Alice Springs is a bit jumbled when it comes to the town planning. It took us a while to remember where places and shops were. This was a lovely spot. Until then, I hadn’t realised that Alice Springs is in a bowl with the McDonnell ranges surrounding it.

On Friday evening, Lindy ’shouted’ us dinner in the Heavitree Gap Hotel, which is on the edge of the Caravan Park. This was certainly a surprise evening as there is entertainment every night.
On the first night we were there, two country and western singers were performing. I am not usually a C & W fan, but these guys were good. We all enjoyed the night immensely. The singers were Chris Callahan and Scott Dawson. They worked well together, bouncing off one another all night. We laughed and sang along throughout the show. Scotty could play the violin like you never heard before. We dropped in to the hotel regulary after that, just to hear these two. We didn’t have to eat a meal or even buy a drink as we were staying in the park. So every night we could have entertainment if we wanted.

Chris used to walk pass our caravan on the way to the hotel in the evening. He always stopped to have a short chat and tell us that is was “a new show tonight-all different songs”. We bought 2 of Chris’ CD’s and have just about worn them out playing them so often.

On Saturday, Arthur and I visited the Desert Park on the outskirts of the township. This was a great day. The Park was very well set out. It had displays of all the local flora and fauna. I loved the Thorny Devils. They were ugly looking little reptiles, but cute too. We got a few good photos here for the website. The highlight was the “Birds of Prey” demonstration. There were an Owl,
a Kestrel, and an Australian Hobby. Unfortunately for Arthur, the Wedge-tailed Eagles were nesting and were not available for the show. He had hoped to get some good photos of the Eagle.

Lindy left on Sunday the 11th to fly to Singapore for about 11 days, to catch up with her friends and do a little shopping. We baby-sat her mobile home in her absence.

On the second week, Arthur and I thought it was time for checking out the West McDonnell Ranges. After packing a lunch and filling the water bladders in the back packs and headed off for Ellery Creek Big Hole. This was such a pretty spot. The park has been well provided with pathways, BBQ areas (where BBQ’s are provided with free gas for cooking) and tables and seats for visitors. It is a popular swimming hole and the water looked cool and very inviting. Unfortunately it wasn’t ideal weather at this time of year. But I imagine that it is very busy in season. Ellery Creek Big Hole was not too far from Alice Springs.As we hoped to see all the gorges in the West McDonnell ranges, we decided to go to the furtherest site next. This next stop was at Glen Helen Gorge. This was a little different to Ellery Creek, but very beautiful also with a waterhole that is used in season for swimming. There is a Resort here for those who like this kind of accommodation. But from the outside it looked pretty ordinary.

Ormiston Gorge was our next stop. I loved this site. There is a short walk up the track to the waterhole and there is a sandbed where the river flows (when there is rain) that we walked down on the way back to the carpark. We could see the fish in the water here, in the water hole, but it didn’t look like they were very healthy and there were a lot of dying and dead fish at the waters edge, as the water was stagnating from lack of rain. We walked further into the gorge and there was a man sitting on top of a high rock, sketching the surrounding scenery. He pointed out to us that there were Black Footed Wallabies up the hillside. We saw one of them.

When we got back to the car, we had our picnic lunch before heading off again.

Moving down the highway, we stopped off at The Ochre Pits next. This is where the local aboriginal people collect the ochre for their artwork. These were awesome as the side of the hill had layers of red, yellow, orange and white ochre. Unfortunately the photos don’t show the intensity of the colours as we saw them with the naked eye.

Our last stop off for the day was at Serpentine Gorge as it was getting very late and nightfall was not far off. Whether it was because we were getting tired at the end of the day, we were a little disappointed here. It was a longer and rougher drive into this gorge and we may have been spoilt by the other spectacular places we had visited. It was lovely all the same, with another water hole at the end.

After here we were weary and dusty, so we headed back to the Caravan Park. It was only about 17 kilometres away.

To be continued:

I will continue on from Alice Springs on our journey in the journal. I will need to refer to the photos to remember on a day to day basis.

To all our family and friends who have been patiently visiting and waiting for my next instalment, I apologise.

And Graham, there is nothing wrong with my fingers, they have just been with me visiting and enjoying this great land of ours. There is so much to see and do along the way. We first of all ran out of internet time and then we were out of service areas for about a week and a half and then we were on the road, which means we drop in and out of service regularly too.

So stayed tuned folks for the next instalment

We stop off at the border of South Australian and Northern Territory to take photos and read the information boards on display.

We didn’t stay too long as I had come down with the virus that Arthur had the week before and I was very tired. I slept most of the journey that day.

We stop off overnight at Kulgera. This is a simple roadside caravan park behind the local roadhouse and petrol station. There were some lovely people to meet at this park, but as I was unwell and not wanting to spread my germs, I stayed in the caravan. Arthur was left with the meeting and socialising..
I did surface later to go to the local hotel for a lovely meal of Braised Lamb Chops. Delicious! 
We retired early that night to prepare for the next long leg of the journey.

We rise early the next morning to get on the road. We were meeting Lindy it Ayres Rock (Uluru).

We stopped off at Erldunda. Whilst Arthur fueled up I went to the shop for drinks and some dried apple to nibble on the way. We then travelled on to Curtain Springs and looked at the price of fuel. We decided it was too expensive at $1.88 a litre against $1.64 at Ayres Rock (as someone had told us earlier),  so decided we had enough to get to our destination and travelled straight through to Ayres Rock. Arriving at 12.45pm. Lindy arrived about 45 minutes later from Kings Canyon. We stayed at the Ayres Rock Camping Ground in the Resort.

The first evening we were there, we packed up some nibblies and a bottle of champagne and headed for Uluru, (Ayres Rock) to get some photos of the sunset on the rock.

 It was a cool night, but it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm. There was quite a bit of cloud cover so the sunset wasn’t as spectacular as we hoped, but it was lovely. As night came down, we were the last 3 left in the park, so we packed up the table and chairs and the leftovers and headed back to camp.

After a sleep in, we went for a walk around the Resort checking out what was on offer there. We stopped off at the Information centre and then had lunch at a restaurant. This was a lovely relaxing meal in the warm sunshine.
After lunch, we went out on a tour to Kata Tjuta National Park (the Olga’s).

We walked up the gorge to view the beautiful vegetation, the colours of the rocks and breathe the crisp fresh air. Whilst we were there the sun began to set. So again we got more beautiful photos of the sun setting and reflecting off the Olga’s (Kata Tjuta).

On Saturday, we again went out on another tour. This time we went out with a smaller group with a couple Aboriginals to Uluru (Ayres Rock).

This was a most informative tour. Because we were with the original caretakers of the area, we were honoured to  be instructed on the culture and the different foods that the original Aboriginals eat. We were even offered different “bush tucker” to try. We were told that as we were guests of theirs we were allowed to try foods from their kitchen. We tasted wild figs and wild plums. They were quite different than I thought they would be. We were also permitted to go into areas otherwise not permitted to go. They explained the importance of the Rock to their culture and the Spiritual  significance of the area. They also explained to us why they do not like people to climb the Rock. We had already decided not to climb it, so we were glad of our earlier decision after talking to these men. They showed us important secret womens and secret mens areas as well. There were areas we were not permitted to take photos or video, but we were still able to get plenty to remember the tour. At the end of the tour, the elder man gave us permission to take photos of him and each of us with the Rock behind us. A truly memorable day.   

In the afternoon we went for a walk around the other side of the Rock to see some more of the sights and take more photos, where permitted. This was a lovely experience as well.

Then that night we went back to the Rock, to get some more of the sunset photos, without the cloud cover this time. We weren’t disappointed. We found a better position this time and Arthur set up the tripod in readiness for the big show. We again took nibblies and drinks and set up the table and chairs to absorb the moment. It was lovely.     

Early the next morning, Lindy and Arthur headed back to Uluru (Ayres Rock) and the Olga’s (Kata Tjuta) to get sunrise photos this time. I stayed back at camp and packed up the caravan ready to head off again. They arrived back exhilarated with their booty of the dawn photos.
As soon as they were back, we hitched up and were on the road again. This time we headed for Alice Springs.

We had to be up early as it was to be a long day. The trip took 12 hours minimum.
We walked to the Underground Book Shop where we were to meet the Bus. It was an Oka 4 Wheel Drive and took 13 passengers.

The driver was late as he had to pick up some food to be delivered on the way. We were to stop off at 5 Stations and 2 Townships.

While we were waiting, Arthur took a couple of photos of a Sturt Desert Pea. Very pretty.

First stop on the journey was at the Dingo Fence. This is a 9600 kilometre fence from Surfers Paradise in Queensland to the Bight near Western Australia. Dingoes are found north in cattle country and protected sheep country is to the south of this fence. 
Next stop was at Lake Cadibarrawirracanna. (try saying that with a mouth full of smarties).

The next stop was at the first homestead at Ana Station.

Ana Station is the largest station in the world. It covers 24,000 square kilometres.  There was a newborn pony for us to photograph whilst we were waiting for Derek. We couldn’t wait to get back on the bus before we were carried off by the flies. They were so bad here.

Our lunch stop was at William Creek. This is the first township. There is a hotel, a cafe & a camping ground. We had a quick snack at the cafe and then ventured outside to check out the surrounding area.

There is an historical display on the grounds between the cafe and the hotel. This was a lot of space junk, very interesting and amusing. There is also a display board telling Kidman Story.
We then strolled over to the hotel, as we had been told to check it out too. Wow! Is all I can say. A bit like the dugout of Crocodile Harry, there was so much memorabilia strewn about the walls. There is also a plaque stating that “the back room was built from the sleepers from  the Narrow Gauge Old Ghan Line by Harry Wehramuller of Robe, South Australia and Eric Garner of Robe, South Australia (formally of Wentworth New South Wales) in 1989.” The air conditioning was a sight to see. 

Back on the bus and the next stop was at an old aboriginal tool making site. We were fortunate to collect some remains of spearhead making that were at this site. The driver hadn’t been here before, so it was truly a unique area and a great find.

Continuing on, we stop off at Nilpena Station to drop off their mail. The folk that live here own a Blue Heeler dog, which makes me a little homesick and missing Comet. Unfortunately this poor older dog is very overweight, but he was very friendly and he greeted each of us individually.

We leave this homestead and continue our journey, noting the different terrain in this area.

We then stopped off at an old Ghan  Railway Algebuckina Bridge and Waterhole. We climbed up the hill for a better view. From here we could see in the distance. There were some pretty wild flowers here too. Unfortunately we didn’t see them till we were leaving, so didn’t get any photos as the bus was too quick to focus on them.

As we leave this area, again the terrain changes again. Nightfall is quickly descending on us and we need to get a move on. We still have another couple of homesteads to visit to drop off mail. So we get our skates on so that we can reach Oonadatta for tea and before it gets too dark for photo taking.

We finally arrive at Oonadatta and the Pink Roadhouse. 

This is a unique area. The roadhouse is painted pink and everything inside is pink too. There is a souvenir area with pink memoriabilia. I purchase a pink stubby holder as a memento of this trip. We have tea here and wander around the town.

Derek, our driver was telling us on the way into the township about the unique program they have in this township for the local aboriginals: The whole town got together, including the Elders to discuss how to overcome the alcohol and poverty of the locals. They came up with the idea that all the men must work for their dole monies, either in normal work or at least 30 hours a week in volunteer work. All the children must go to schoool and the women were to do home duties. No alcohol was allowed in the town either. This plan has been so successful, that last year they had their first 2 children graduate from high school and they are now in university. These people now have a better lifesyle and are very popular and the whole town is united in their endeavours. Derek told us that he really loved these people and has a lot of respect for them. At last there is a good story about the people in this area. “Their a good mob here” as Derek says.   

It is time to continue the last leg of the journey in the dark. We were fortunate to see kangaroos in the wild as they come out to feed after dusk. An American lady on the bus had never seen a kangaroo, so this was a real bonus.

Derek put on a CD of  Len Beadell, so that he could continue the journey concentrating on the road as there are no fences and there is always a lot of livestock and wildlife on the roads at night making it dangerous if one isn’ t alert. The CD was very amusing as he gave details of how he surveyed the outback and the township of Woomera. He also surveyed the areas for the outback roads and tracks. Another area he surveyed was the site for Australia’s first nuclear bomb testing.

Derek talked and joked most of the way. He was a real character, but he made the trip a time to remember.

We finally arrive back at the Caravan Park at 9.45pm. We were weary, dusty and ready for a good nights sleep. But we all enjoyed the experience immensely.

The first stop was a lookout looking back toward the Flinders Ranges. This is a beautiful panoramic distance view – lovely.
The next stop was at Lake Hart. Amazing to see such a large salt lake in the outback so far from anything. The soft colours were so beautiful that we had to take a few photos .

We called into the Glendambo Roadhouse to stretch our legs and get a hot cup of coffee. It was very cold here, so we needed warming up.
This roadhouse was quite basic, but the man behind the desk was friendly and the coffee was hot. We also fueled up again here.

We followed the map all the way, pointing out the various mountains, lakes and towns as we passed through them.

We finally arrive in Coober Pedy in time for a late lunch. We were weary, but not too tired to check out some of the town. Lindy was on one of the tours she had booked previously, so we had time to fill in.

We managed to find a great viewing area, overlooking the township and the dugout homes built into the side of the hill. There are many of these scattered throughout Coober Pedy, as they are cool in the 50+ degrees in summer and warmer in the winter. The dugouts remain at a constant temperature all year around, varying only a couple of degrees in seasons.

Lindy arrived later in the evening and we were able to catch up on each others news.

After an early night and catching up on the usual domestic stuff, we headed into town again.
Lindy was off on her Mail Run Tour so we made our own way around to check out some more of Coober Pedy’s offering. We also got some essential shopping. We then had an easy day resting around the park and catching up on washing.

The next day, we all headed back to check out some of the sites with Lindy. We saw Fay’s House. Fay and 2 of her friends built her own dugout using a pick and shovel back in the early 60’s. This is an amazing achievement in itself. The house includes 3 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, lounge (with TV, Sterio and everything one would find in a normal 60’s home). There is another later addition of a games room. This includes a billiard table and a built in indoor swimming pool.
Fay went on to become a very well known lady in Coober Pedy, in the days when women were not well supported here. So nowadays, she is a legend in the town. Fay is still alive and living in Queensland, but is expected to return in the next couple of weeks. The first mail truck to Coober Pedy was housed in what is now her kitchen. Her house is now owned by a local and opened for tourists to view.

We also toured the Old Timers Mine. This was a working mine in the old days, but now a tourist attraction. This was very interesting too. There is still opal seams visible in the walls of the mine that has been left for people to see it in the natural. There is a mock mine set up with displays of miners models performing the things they would have been doing in the mine to search for the elusive stike of the precious opal. A very well thought out and set up display.

Next stop we called into the undeground pottery, this is where we had to pay for our Mail Run Tour. We also checked out some of the pottery and talked to Derek, the son of the owner. He is such a character and we were looking forward to our tour as he is to be the driver of the bus.

On the way back to the caravan, we noticed a sign to go to see Crocodile Harry’s. We had heard from quite a few different locals to make sure we check him out. Harry is the local eccentric. He is quite a character to meet and his dugout home is surely something not to miss. He has old newspaper cuttings scattered about in which is an article of him calling for 1000 virgins to sign his bedhead. By the looks of his home, he has achieved his goal. He certainly has a fetish for women’s underwear as there were plenty strewn about the ceiling. We could now see what the locals meant.
As we left his house we looked around some to the other dugouts around his house. This is apparently where Mad Max-Beyond Thunderdome was filmed. We could see why.

That night we packed some drinks and nibblies and headed out to the Breakaways. This was a mountainous and sandstone area where at sunset, you can get spectacular photographs as the sun reflects off the various colours on the different rocks and mountains. The views were indeed beautiful. Unfortunately, when we got there the wind was so cold, that Lindy and I had to sit in the car. Poor Arthur was left to take the photos in the freezing wind. But the end result was amazing. The photos reflected the colours of the sunset magnificently.

Lindy and I checked out all the Opal shops over the next couple of days. They are quite expensive in some places, a little cheaper in others. Most of the jewellery was very beautiful. But as I am not an opal lover, I didn’t purchase anything for myself. I hope I don’t regret it at a later date.

On Sunday, we went to church at the Catacomb Underground Church. It was good service and similar to what our services are. After the service the Minister showed us through the rest of the church. We went out on the santuary to the right, up over the top and re-entered the santuary through the left hand side door. The congregation was very friendly and gathered to ask us where we came from and where we were heading. There were a lot of other visitors from various areas of Australia and one couple from USA, to the church that morning too, so the church was quite full.

A very lovely morning indeed.