DAY 23 FROM SOUTH TO NORTH - TOP END (NORTHERN TERRITORY) TRIP

17 May 2010

ORMISTON GORGE – OCHRE PITS – SERPENTINE GORGE – ELLERY WATERHOLE – ALICE SPRINGS

I mentioned yesterday that we were pondering whether man or nature grafted the red flowers and other leaves onto another bush. Well we have an answer today. It is mistletoe and is considered a parasite. A tour guide gave us the answer.

This morning we revisited Ormiston Gorge. The colours were quite different from yesterday.

On the way to the gorge there is a lower ridge with a single tree that stnds out from a far.

The I finally got to go and see the Ochre pit.

Soft stone, colourfl swirls and lines - what a sight. It looked so much better than I could have imagined. Ochre has played such an important part in indigeneous life. Not only was it used as medicine, for ceremonies, decorations but it was also something they traded. Only the men were allowed to get the ochre from the pit but they had to make sure the women always had enough for their ceremonies.

A lizard was sunning itself on the cliff edge.

Wild flowers were growing high up on the rock wall.

Birds were flying here, there and everywhere.

What a interesting place.

We then travelled down to Serpentine Gorge.

I was not as impressed with this gorge. Other travellers had told us that the lookout was really worth going to. We started to make our way up but I decided it was not for me and I had not taken my walking stick with me. Hubby went on alone. He came back with very sore legs and said it was not an easy walk and required concentration to make sure you did not slip on the rocks on the way down. He nearly decided to turn back without finishing it but he soldiered on. So I was glad I gave it a miss. Whilst the views were good I was not sure that he thought it was worth the effort.

Finally we went to Ellery Creek Waterhole. What a beautiful place!

So peaceful, except for the birds, calm, tranquil. Just loved it.

The cycads were high up on a rocky ledge above the waterhole.

Finally back to Alice Springs for the night. We needed to fuel up, top up our water, stock up, cryovac the meat and get ready to go to the East MacDonnell Ranges tomorrow.

DAYS 18-20 FROM SOUTH TO NORTH - TOP END (NORTHERN TERRITORY) TRIP

12 - 14 May 2010

RAINBOW VALLEY – ALICE SPRINGS

What a night last night. Hubby woke up at night thinking he heard a car drive in. He thought it was a bit late for someone to arrive here at night and dozed off. A while later he woke again as the noise was stil continuing. He got up to see what it was. He soon realised it was coming out of our car. Somehow the radio had come on and as there was no signal it was making a crackly sound. He couldn’t figure out how it had come on. So after switching it off with the remote he came back to bed. In the morning we found a huge locust on the ipod. It must have hit the radio with some force and turned it on.

In the morning we went for a walk to Mushroom Rock.

Rainbow Valley from the side had some very interesting features.

There were several interesting faces sculpted into the rock by nature’s forces.

Mushroom Rock was very interesting. It had such different textures throughout the rock.

There were also nests on the roof cavity. We had a debate whether they were wasp or bird nests.

Finally the hubs were unlocked after many days as we were going to go on the main road up to Alice Springs.  So we are back in civilization and road trains were soon overtaking us.

It was not far to Alice and we were there at lunchtime. We stopped at the Caravan Park recommended by Leigh but it was full so we went on to Heavitree Gap Outback Lodge. CMCA members get a really good deal here. We paid $21 per night for a powered site. It is a reasonable caravan park.

The site is close to the Todd River at the base of West MacDonnell Ranges.

We settled in then went in search of a diesel tank cap. We couldn’t get one straight away but an order was sent to Perth. Hopefully it will be here by Friday.

Next stop was the information centre where we armed ourselves with compulsory reading and returned to the caravan park. We didn’t feel like cooking so we went to the adjacent Tavern for dinner. We tried emu, camel and kangaroo skewers. The emu was drowned in herbs. The camel was very tasty. The kangaroo we had tried before so was no surprise. There was a tour group at the next table. Whilst we were eating they were having a demonstration of australian reptiles – lizards and snakes. Not my cup of tea but at least we saw what the king brown and black snake looked like in this area.

The second day was washing and cleaning day. We have had an invited traveller with us since Adelaide – a Mouse! We have baited it with two different traps to no avail. So we totally emptied the car trying to find it. We found where it has been but there is no trace of it. We are not sure if it is still with us as we have not heard anything for the last couple days. I will still get some bait just in case it is still here. We first saw it in the front right hand dasher. So it could be anywhere.

In the evening we caught up with a couple we met at Old Andado. They had kindly offered to help us sort out some issues with our moving map on Oz Explorer as it kept defaulting every few minutes to the satelite version much to my frustration. We spent a couple of hours with them sorting out the problem and having a great chat.

On Friday I spent some time wandering through the galleries taking in the wonderful works of indigeneous art on display. I went to my favourite galleries and some new ones. At Peta Appleyard Gallery I was lucky to see Sarah Brown’s exhibition, Just around the corner that focused on central Australia, as it was the last day of the exhibition. The painings were fabulous and the the show was a sell out – all the works had been sold. Whilst I was enjoying myself in Alice's centre, hubby collected the new fuel cap and tinkered happily around the Oka. I then met hubby for lunch and after doing some shopping came back to relax at the campground.

By the way aren’t the garbage bins cool?!

DAYS 99-100 ALICE SPRINGS

6-7 June 2008

DAYS 99-100 Pilbara – Kimberley Trip

ALICE SPRINGS

We hit Alice today and it didn’t even reach 20 degrees. It was hovering around 19 degrees and it is expected to be between 11 and 13 tomorrow. What a quick weather turn around for us.

It is a beautiful drive into Alice. After stopping to get an Oka shackle bolt we went to the visitor’s centre. As we drove out someone came up and told us that out tyre was going flat. Yes another flat tyre. We got to Bridgestone and they checked it out. It appeared that a rubbing valve caused a slow leak.

Whilst that was being attended to I went to see two local galleries nearby. Then we went back to get two brake adjuster spare parts and finally made it to the MacDonald Ranges Caravan Park. It is a very lovely caravan park even though quite expensive- $35.50 a night for up to 2 people in a powered site. Hubby did a grease and oil and repairs to the brakes whilst I worked through mileages for the next section of the trip. We found ourselves camping next to a couple we met at Tunnel Creek. On the other side of us is a group from Canberra. We exchanged information and had a great general natter about things.

It is day 100 of our trip and our first wintery day – how time flies. Overnight the rain started. It is cold today – only 13 degrees and steady not stop rain. The water is sitting on the roadways. Well long pants, long sleeve tops and fleece vests came out of their bags today. It sure feels like winter. The Finke races are on so some of our plans have to change. We cannot go to the Ewaninga Rock Carvings or do the Old Ghan Track to Oodnadatta.

So we went exploring in town. We liked Alice. Around town it was clean. The three plazas are close to each other. The new Alice Plaza does not appear to be finished. We visited Gallery Gondwana that focuses on contemporary indigenous art. An absolutely beautiful gallery. I saw Dorothy Napangardi’s work here again and hung properly it looked stunning. I saw her work in Kununurra but hung in a gallery where everything was overcrowded. Then we went to the Red Sands Gallery (I think that was its name) that had a mixture of interesting indigenous artefacts. Someone now has to learn to play the didge and it is not me. Somehow we saved the best for the end. The Mbantua Gallery and its museum is something we have long needed in this country. It features the work of Utopia region’s finest artists. Downstairs several galleries exhibit the works of current artists within a fabulous space. Upstairs you learn about aboriginal art, culture, life and how it all fits within the dreaming context. There is an exhibition of many of Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s work as well as work by several other artists. There is also an interesting presentation of local bushtucker and some paintings relating to them. It was just wonderful.

Outside it was still overcast so there was no point going sightseeing. After stocking up for the next section of our trip we returned to the caravan park to warm up.

It is interesting that you cannot buy cask wine here until after 6.00pm and 2 litre casks are as big as you can get.