Alice Springs

Alice Springs 24th June

 

 

 

First port of call was the Araluen centre where the famous Beanie Festival was being held. Fab, creative beanies of all shapes and colors and selling like hot cakes. We watched local Aboriginal women learning how to needle felt and looked at all the lovely things for sale.. Hand spun wool too. Once the Aboriginal women learn skills like these the can make goods which bring in an income for them.

Very cold o/n temperatures down to -4 one night and we had the heater on in the van.

We spent time in galleries and saw some of Namitjira's beautiful watercolours. The museum had an excellent audio tour on the beginnings of life on the planet with relevant exhibits and a day at the Desert Park was very interesting. The bird show was great and the nocturnal house had lots of night creatures on exhibition.

As we were leaving the c'van park in Alice we had our first drama!

Ken noticed a bolt hanging loose from his suspension and we found that it had snapped and was just hanging loose. After carefully reversing back onto his site and inspecting the damage a quick trip was made to find parts ( plus extras just to be safe). He and Glenn did the repair and off we went thinking we were so lucky it hadn't come adrift at speed.

 

Ellery Big Hole

This was a very lovely spot with a deep (cold) swimming hole, baby ducks, falcons soaring high above the cliff tops and a NP camping area which was very pleasant.... Loos, water and free barbecues.

Kings Canyon

21st June Kings Canyon

 

We loved Kings Canyon.

Glenn and I did the KingsCanyon rim walk.. Quite challenging uphill to begin with and a generally rocky walk which took us 5hrs. We took our time to look around and admire the beautiful Holly Grevillea in full flower and the unusual Spinifex Pidgeon which was eating our crumbs as we lunched at the stunning Garden Of Eden Waterhole. The Pidgeon has striking markings and a very tall topknot.

We then drove the Merindee Loop rd and explored Redbank Gorge.. A beautiful small gorge with interesting rock formations, the Ormiston Gorge and then Serpentine Gorge with its deep, beautiful waterhole.The climb to the top was the most difficult to date but the views spectacular.

We bush camped that night and our fire struggled to ward off the cold while we cooked. Next morning we went to Standley Chasm and got there at midday with the sun directly overhead so it's rays penetrated to the floor of the Chasm. The colors were vibrant reds and oranges as the sun hit the steep walls. Striking.

We drove on to Alice towards through magnificent countryside. I was amazed by the beauty of the West Macdonald Ranges. My expectations of Alice and surrounding country were of red dust and flat terrain. Not so! Rich and green.

 

Kata Tjuta -Olga's

 

Uluru

 

Kings Canyon

21st June Kings Canyon

We loved Kings Canyon. 

Glenn and I did the KingsCanyon rim walk.. Quite challenging uphill to begin with and a generally rocky walk which took us 5hrs. We took our time to look around and admire the beautiful Holly Grevillea in full flower and the unusual Spinifex Pidgeon which was eating our crumbs as we lunched at the stunning Garden Of  Eden Waterhole. The Pidgeon has striking markings and a very tall topknot.

We then drove the Merindee Loop rd and explored Redbank Gorge.. A beautiful small gorge with interesting rock formations, the Ormiston Gorge and then Serpentine Gorge with its deep, beautiful waterhole.The climb to the top was the most difficult to date but the views spectacular.

We bush camped that night and our fire struggled to ward off the cold while we cooked. Next morning we went to Standley Chasm and got there at midday with the sun directly overhead so it's rays penetrated to the floor of the Chasm. The colors were vibrant reds and oranges as the sun hit the steep walls. Striking.

We drove on to Alice towards through magnificent countryside. I was amazed by the beauty of the West Macdonald Ranges. My expectations of Alice and surrounding country were of red dust and flat terrain. Not so! Rich and green.