summer wine: 01 June 2011, - King's Canyon to Alice Springs, N.T. Central Australia.

At Temple Bar Campground

Fording a river

Queues of nomads going to & from King's Canyon this morning which is wonderful with a little mist hanging around the ranges, mostly I suspect is a remnant of the burnoff done in the National Park yesterday. Along the way we are surprised by a small group of Brumbies (wild horses) which appeared from nowhere in our path. Thankfully Stu was not travelling too fast, especially as there was a small foal which was not quite as fast as the others. They were beautiful animals, look in really good condition - understandable with the amount of grass on the plains this year. Also saw another large wedge-tailed eagle feeding on road kill. Further along we were contacted on our CB radio by a caravan following, just asking where we were headed etc. It's really quite nice to have a little chat, but also useful if someone wants to pass you & you don't realise they are there or even more important, if there is a problem with your van & you don't realise. There seems to be an abundance of eagles, hawks, & kites etc in this area. We also heard more dingos this morning. Once we leave the Lassiter Highway & are back on the Stuart Highway, the plant life is so pretty, with lots of small wattles (different from those I know) & they are covered in flowers, among other lovely little wildflowers. We stay in an another rest area for the night, luckily we decided to stop early as it was soon 'no room at the Inn'. It was pretty rough underfoot & not too far off the road, but nevertheless nothing kept us awake.

Reaching the outskirts of Alice , (formerly named Stuart Town), we are surprised by the surroundings, expecting it to be just dry desert. Once again we are lucky that we are here after the rains. The entry along the highway is an avenue of lovely ghost gums - they have done a great job. Everywhere we go there seems to be something named Stuart, so my Stu thinks he owns the place!
The caravan park we have chosen is naturally the cheapest & is about 20 minutes south.  The name was passed onto us by some fellow nomads, along with the name of the owner (Mona the owner)!  We have a little trouble finding it & do a U turn & almost give up when a vehicle comes alongside us & asks if that is what we are looking for. He tells us it's not the usual run of parks, but fun & should be renamed 'the asylum'. That wasn't very encouraging but his wife said 'it's fine - basic but clean'. At first we couldn't even find anyone to book in. There was a small shed which was labelled 'Office' with hours 5pm - 6pm!!! Here we were at about 12 noon. Finally we find the lady manager's hut & she is very nice & helpful. Gives us all the lowdown on what to see & where & we are given a lovely big grassed site which gets the morning sun near our door - most important. I must say it's the first time we have been lucky enough to do this for some time, & with the very cold mornings, it's great if you can have brekkie outside. There are plenty of trees for shade too if you need it to sit there in the afternoons which are now pretty hot. All the other campers are much friendlier than any other camp we have been in, & it is quiet even though it is a 'dog-friendly' camp. All the dogs are well behaved but aren't allowed to wander the camp. After settling in we headed into the town to stock up on 'grub' etc. Alice is quite a large town, a bit confusing to get around, but it seems to have everything & anything you might require. It's quite clean & modern, a few areas where some of the inhabitants hang around doing nothing but they seem harmless.

There is a raft of things to see from Alice, lots of walks in outlying areas, but we ease into the 2nd morning by going to 'The Desert Park' which is only about 15 minutes away. It is belongs to the Arrernte indigenous people & we found it to be most informative & interesting. There are birds & small native animals like geckos, lizards etc galore, & a wonderful range of native plants. It's surprising how many I am sure have been hybridized into our garden at home. The whole aim of the park is to educate & inform people of how the Arrernte people lived & survived in the desert for thousands of years. A very nice young Arrernte man gave a talk on the use of certain plants for both food & medicine, & also what their range of tools were made from & what they were used for.   They were certainly an intelligent & amazing race to survive in their harsh environment - some of what we learnt they were well ahead of modern medicine. Their social strata & ethics were also amazing. They had a very good system to prevent interbreeding & although marriages were not arranged, they were limited to only certain tribes (or skins, as they call it). We were most impressed by it all & by many of the things he explained about the way of life today & what 'their mob' were trying to achieve. As he explained, his father brought him up not to have a chip on his shoulder, that the past was just that, & that they all needed to move on together, white & black.   It was so emotional that both Stu & I had tears in our eyes. If only the world could be more tolerant & learn from each other & live as one.

Stu has surprised me with an early birthday present - an early morning balloon flight over the area. It's something I have always said I would love to do but didn't think I would have the courage. Believe me, you don't need courage. It was so neat! The worst bit was getting up at 4.30am in the freezing cold to be at the collection point at 5.15am. There were only 10 of us, so it was friendly & nice. After driving out of the town the first thing was to stop & check the wind direction, which was done with small helium balloons with a red light in them, sent aloft into the sky After several stops to do this, the pilot then knows the best area from which to take off. It's then necessary to drive out over dirt tracks to some field to do so. Then in the dark we all assist to unpack the balloon & basket, after all, we had paid plenty for the priveledge. The basket was built for 12 + pilot, & it surprised us that it was in sections like an egg carton. Strangely I was not nervous at all, & after the usual safety talk, we all boarded & very gently left the ground. There was really no sensation of height at all & apart from the huge gas flame now & again, it was peaceful & lovely. We had hoped for a sensational sunrise & fabulous views. Sadly we didn't get either so not many photos & we both felt a little disappointed though the trees & plants below looked quite beautiful with the early morning sun. The landing was as gentle as the take off, & after assisting to pack up the balloon etc (no mean feat), we were treated to a champagne breakfast. Despite the disappointment I will certainly do it again some day (when I have saved up).   Almost forgot to tell you the best part. The van driver follows our progress & is in radio contact with the pilot all the time, so is told when & where we are going to land, so it is a different road, different paddock. The track back proved to be a very sandy track which was fine for the van without the passengers, trailer & balloon weight, but not so when they were all combined, so stuck we got, all having to shovel out sand from the tyres with our hands, & finally having to unhook the trailer & leave it behind to be retrieved by a 4WD vehicle. We then pushed the van out of the holes, and a good laugh to end the outing.
On return to the caravan park we had a nice rest & a cuppa, then after lunch set out to explore by car. Heading down the Ross Highway, which turns into a single laned, though sealed road, we headed for a series of gaps & gorges we had learned of. The first two, Emily Gap & Jesse Gap were lovely little picnic areas with a short walk at each, & at Emily a small waterhole & some old aboriginal stone carvings. Continuing on we came to Corroboree Rock which we walked around, - a amazing structure in that it was more like a very high wall of rocks stacked on top of each other. Naturally with it's name, it had special ceremonial significance to the indigenous people. Our last stop was Tryphena Gorge where we had a lovely picnic lunch before the walk over the top of the gorge then down to the river bed which magically had clear,clean water in it. Was lovely to do the return walk paddling back up the river with shoes over our shoulders. Pity it wasn't deeper, I'm sure many people would have been swimming. There were many wonderful ghost gums along the banks & one large one in particular, with many outstretched limbs, I could imagine in the dark of night looking rather ghostly with it's white, white trunk. Everything you do here is many kms of driving, so that little jaunt was 70kms each way. We have now done over 10,000 kms, so decided a day of rest was in order not going anywhere at all.   Thus I am able to catch up on this blog - & Stu climbed under the Landcruiser to do it's due oil change. We are lucky to be in this camping ground as it wouldn't be possible in most places. They even have a drum for the waste oil, probably because there a quite a number of permanents living here in little cabins, quite common in Oz. Now I'm off to sit out in the fresh air & shade to read my book which is taking many months to get through, most unusual for me. Surprise, surprise, we haven't done any painting either. Lots of them in our heads & photos to guide us, so SOMEDAY!

Another day, oh what to do? Stu is keen to visit the old Telegraph Station in town which was midway along the Overland Telegraph Line from Darwin to Adelaide & played a key role in Australia's development. Opened in 1872 the line suddenly reduced the isolation of Australians from the rest of the world & meant that exchanges of both personal & business now only took hours instead of the months it took previously by sea. By 1900 this very isolated station was home to a cook, blacksmith/stockman, governess, 4 linesmen-telegraph operators plus the Station Master & his family. Of course it was all morse code in those days, so Stu was able to have a little 'fiddle' on the keys - a real trip down memory lane for him. Eventually there were many buildings added, & those left today are lovely sandstone in excellent condition. The other thing which struck me in particular, was that a school was set up here for the children & eventually took in aboriginal children as well, (most 1/2 caste) who had been taken from their parents by the missionaries to educate them as whites. A really sad tale when confronted by the details & stories from those who were 'those children' However, at this school they were well looked after & loved until they were shifted on.

Our other 'cultural/historic' thing was to visit the local Cultural Centre, very nice & modern & well done. It has a movie theatre which only shows 'good' movies, art gallery, (mostly aboriginal), & museum. All very interesting but the highlight for me was to see some of the paintings by Albert Namatjira as I have a print which was given to me in 1962. He is very famous in Australia as the first aboriginal watercolour artist. Though now passed on, his family are carrying on the tradition in art & produce some lovely watercolours.

We wake next morning after a wet night to showers. Our plans were to leave early to visit all the gorges around the close proximity (300km return trip) in the West MacDonnell Ranges! What to do? We could travel 150km & find the weather better there, on the other hand it could be worse. Decision made we took the risk as the weather forecast was for heavier rain for next several days. So glad we did. A few light showers on & off throughout the day but nothing to hinder us & I had taken soup to heat up on the gas BBQ's provided in the picnic areas in most places. Began at the furthest away which is the most well known, Ormiston Gorge. Towering red cliffs & large waterhole with an abundance of water, in fact so much that it wasn't possible to walk the long trail without swimming across it & as it is always very cold, we were not about to do that, though we did see some young ones who did & good for them too. We were able to climb to a lookout which gave us a wonderful overall view. One thing we did notice was that there were lots of lovely silver fish dying there but we eventually discovered that it is a natural thing which happens each year when the water gets too cold, & it provides food for some of the birdlife there, like a lovely white-faced heron I managed to snap.    The other 'wildlife' which were more than plentiful were mice, tiny little field mice in their hundreds everywhere we have been. Not pleasant for those in tents as even if they keep them out, they scratch & squeak all night apparently. Anyway, it would have been gorgeous on a sunny day, but it was quite good light for photographs just the same. Onto Glen Helen Gorge, also lovely but very different, lots of water present as the Finke River has forced it's way through flowing towards the Simpson Desert. We had hoped to see black footed wallabies here but no sign today. There is a resort here also but must admit it didn't look too flash. Our next stop is at the Ochre Pits, were for generations the local aboriginal people have used it as a mine for the ochre found there. It is absolutely stunning with it's cliffs of many colours, almost like an abstract painting with the earthy colours of the ochre spilling out in waves & stripes. Next stop was Serpentine Gorge, which was a 4WD track in & as I was the driver for the afternoon, thorougly enjoyed. Continuing onto Ellery Creek Big Hole, where we find again high red cliffs, & a large waterhole with lovely sandy creek fringed by gums. This is one of the most picturesque & popular picnicking & swimming spots in the West Mac's & we could see why. Finally made our way back to camp at about 5pm after a good day's exploring.