Advertisement
Published: September 30th 2013
This is certainly a strange place, central Australia. Underground people at Devils Marbles, then just a few ks down the road towards Alice, Wycliffe Well where there is a concentration of alien contact, maybe even abductions, and Aileron where people are giants if the artwork is to be believed.
We didn't stop for any great time in this dangerous region, but kept the foot to the floor and duly arrived safely in Alice Springs.
Although we knew it was outback, we had no concept of the appearance of the town. So one of the early stops was up ANZAC Hill which is both a memorial place from WW I, and a good view point for the Northern Territory's second largest town. About 28,000 people live here, but I am not sure quite where, except to say that the town is divided by the MacDonnell Ranges and other hills, so it isn't easy to get the full picture.
We stayed at the MacDonnell Ranges Caravan park which is a good example of the geography. In The Alice Springs Panorama you will see a gap in the ranges left of centre. This
geological feature has been named The Gap, and our caravan park was through that gap and on a little. (Road to Adelaide)
The town centre has inherited horse and cart sized roads, so parking for motor homes close to the shops is near impossible, but a caravan/bus park has been provided on the banks of the Todd River, and you can easily walk the three blocks to the supermarkets. Getting back laden with food is not so easy unless you highjack the supermarket trolley for the journey.
I guess one of the great heroes of Alice Springs was Rev John Flynn. He was sent to the area with a two fold mission, spreading the Word of God, and to report on the health and welfare of the (white) women and children at Alice. In the end, his vision has blessed all people of this area, and indeed, all of outback Australia. He was the visionary who started the Flying Doctor Service, now with Royal recognition, the RFDS. Interestingly, RFDS is Australia's 3rd largest fleet of aircraft after QANTAS and Virgin, having 63 fixed wing turbo prop aircraft in service nation
wide.
When in The Alice, visit the RFDS Centre in the middle of town and watch the video of the service and its impact on outback folk (which includes us Grey Not-Mads) who can require service when travelling in remote areas. There is a mock-up of one of their latest aircraft and I was keen to have a look. One of our friends at Church has been an RFDS pilot for many years. Now, I'm not quite sure how to express this, but he is taller than my 6ft 2 inches, and has much larger feet than I, and it has puzzled me how he could fly these aircraft.
So, into the cockpit I climbed, settled myself into the non-adjustable seat, found the pedals (must be an automatic, only two pedals) but the steering wheel wouldn't clear my knees. Seems that if I were a pilot, I would have to fly straight only with a maximum of 5 degrees tolerance from the straight and narrow.
I hadn't been seated long when master 5 (unknown to me) joined me in the cockpit - I think it
may have been an attempted high jacking. He demanded to be flown to Adelaide, started the engines and we were up and away arriving there about 2 minutes later. I was then ejected from the pilots seat, because his seat didn't have a steering wheel. Oddly enough, his name was Flynn. I have no idea where he took his mum after Adelaide, but he sure had fun.
There are many places to visit close to Alice Springs. We decided that we would drive out into the West MacDonnell Ranges, and visit a couple of interesting places, Simpsons Gap and Standley Chasm. There are many other interesting spots to visit, but these were chosen as they have sealed roads to good car parks, and then interesting bush walks to the feature of the park.
The first stop was Simpsons Gap. We were warmly greeted by resident flies again, so our fly hats proved invaluable. Seems other visitors must have thought we were royalty, and they kept waving where ever we went. Can I suggest that every Wellingtonian (NZ) visit this place. You will feel just so at home. Seems the far
side of the gap acts like a funnel, and the wind flies through the gap with great gusto. Even the flies retreated having lost flight control. To get to the gap one walks up a dry sandy bed which is adorned with a No Swimming sign. There is water in the gap, but I would think that a mouse might be able to swim, but nothing larger.
As we were walking, a group were pointing up the rocky face and said there were rock wallabies hoping around. Indeed, after looking hard we saw several running around. Marg decided to just shoot photos of the colourful tumble of rocks, and if she got a wallaby, that would be a bonus. Three of the photos when seen on the computer had these cute little creatures.
Next stop was Standley Chasm. We were surprised to see that a fee applied to entry, thinking this would be another small national park. This is tribal land, and the aboriginal owners charge $8.00 for pensioners to visit. They have a kiosk there, and keep the facilities such as the toilets exceptionally clean. No complaints from me
for the fee.
I had heard about this place some time back and knew that the visit needs to be timed at midday, otherwise there is poor lighting in this 80 meter deep chasm. I guess it is about 2 meters wide, but depending on where the photo is taken, the slight curve makes it appear narrow. The rock formation is fascinating, leaving one wonder what caused a 2 meter wide split in the mountain range, leaving a chasm with vertical walls.
The walk here is of a medium grade, so moderate fitness is required. No wheel chair access for certain as the path winds up a rock valley. A great place to visit. The photos will give some idea of the chasm, but its size and height make pictures a poor second view.
The MacDonnell Ranges Camping Ground here has quite a few activities for guests throughout the week. One activity we joined in was the Didgeridoo demonstration by Marshall (not sure his family name). He was teaching how to play this North Australian Instrument. I hadn't realised that its origins were the top
of WA and the red centre and north in the Northern Territory. The instrument is made from a small tree or branch that has been hollowed out by termites. After showing several techniques to be used, he got some children to come and have a go. Charlie was the winner, but the noise cannot be accurately reported on TravelBlog.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.163s; Tpl: 0.069s; cc: 11; qc: 25; dbt: 0.065s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Mum & Dad
non-member comment
Rocky stuff
Fascinating the way the rage has been split. Looks a dry arid sort of place to hang out permanently.