Alice Springs lies nestled in the MacDonnell Ranges, which provide a rugged backdrop to the town. We had needed a break from the gorges of the Kimberley (yes, we had gorged ourselves), so the week poking about town was as good for us as it was for Rocky and Matilda. We opted to spend a day checking out the East MacDonnell Ranges, and found we could have spent much more time exploring its delights.
Emily Gap, with the story of the caterpillars painted on the rock walls behind us
Our first stop was Emily Gap. This gap was named by the surveyor William Mills after his assistant's wife (not sure what was going on there), but it had a much stronger meaning for the local Arrernte people. It was here that Intwailuka, an ancestral hero is said to have stopped and eaten caterpillars on his dream time journey. The artwork on the gap walls reflects the story of the caterpillars. It was beautiful, but really cold and The Little Fisherman regretted his choice of wearing shorts against all advice.
We pulled off the road again at Jessie Gap (Atherrke), again marvelling at the colours in the rock as we walked through the gap. The layers of ancient sandstone buckled and twisted into their modern forms are something to behold. Perhaps more amazing is that these gaps were cut by ancient creeks through the rock as it was uplifted, continuing on their original courses as the mountain range formed.
We walked around Corroboree Rock a little further down the road. The stories around this rock involve initiation of young men, and cannot be shared with women, children or men who haven't been initiated. As such, whilst understanding it is a place of great significance to the local Arrernte people, there was little to explain why. Whilst this may be a little frustrating, I am becoming to realise the importance of the Aboriginal law and how their relationship with the land and the people was altered forever when modern Australia was settled.
The rock itself is an impressive thin wedge, rising out of the ground. We enjoyed wandering around the site, happy to respect the site from a distance.
Our next activity was a stroll around Trephina Gorge. A short walk rewarded us with sweeping views of the gorge and surrounding countryside. The campground looked alright too.
I loved the contrasting colours in the gorge. The golden spinifex sitting against the red rock is such a part of this landscape it almost is ignored, but the blue blue sky and stark white trunk of the Ghost Gum provided many photo opportunities. This image is from the iPhone, I hope the big camera brought these colours out even more.
We made our way down a rough 4wd track to John Hayes Waterhole for lunch. There was a bit of water in the pool, and it was a pretty walk into the gorge. Suitably fortified after lunch we trekked to the Chain of Pools lookout to gain a better perspective of the creek.
John Hayes Waterhole
The lookout revealed the isolation of the deep valleys below. The Little Fisherman correctly identified a fault line in the rock where the river changed its course.
Our next stop was the historic gold mining settlement of Arltunga established around 1897. This township is now largely ruins, but some of the old machinery is still in working order, and some of the buildings have been restored.
There were two things that struck me about this gold town. The first was that to extract gold from quartz you need water. In this part of the world water was in precious short supply. I couldn't imagine how the early prospecters felt - catching the train to Oodnadatta, then the 650km camel ride to Alice Springs, before walking for around a week to get here. It was a harsh, forsaken place to wander around with nothing but heartbreak in every stone dwelling.
The second thing is that the Government really wanted Arltunga to work. South Australia (NT was part of SA back then) had missed out on the glories of the eastern gold rushes, and really wanted something to draw back people to their state. The Government thus built several wells in the area (the majority being unreliable) and also installed a large stamping battery. It was obvious that if no private enterprise had done the same, then this was an exercise in how to lose money. The gold out of Arltunga was hard won, that is without doubt. The town soon was largely abandoned, with the Police Station finally closing in 1944.
Our final destination of the day was N'dahla Gorge. A deep river crossing on the Ross River as we drove in had me rather nervous as I was not expecting the water to be up to bonnet height! Rocky almost stalled, but somehow pulled us through. The boys thought it was hilarious of course. We made it in without further excitement.
The gorge has many petroglyphs or stone carvings in its walls. This ancient artform reflected the importance of this gorge as a source of water and hence food in this landscape.
As the sun started casting long shadows we explored many of these art galleries. There were many symbols on the rocks, but the stories surrounding these symbols remain largely unrevealed to visitors.
It was then time to hightail it home. We continued south from N'dahla gorge on a short leg of the Bimms Track. As the sun finally sank beneath the MacDonnell Ranges I pulled over for a photo. The fine red dust of the track took ages to settle in the calm air and made for a ripper couple of photos of Rocky.
The next day was completely different in every way. Good friends of ours from home pulled into Alice Springs on part of their Central Australian holiday. We were looking forward to spending the next few days travelling with Jim and Kylie and the boys were really excited about catching up with classmate George.
The boys were thrilled to bits to catch up with George, but we added to their excitement by dragging them over the road to the annual Lasseters Cup Camel Race.
Camel races are unlike anything I have ever seen. The camels start sitting - however this is not as easy as it sounds... There was lots of grunting and barking from the camels, particularly as one was determined to sit not in his assigned spot, but on top of his neighbour. When finally the race starts, it seems all the jockey can do is hang on, close their eyes and hope for the best as the camels just do what they want. One made it 50 yards before turning around and heading back to the start line, to the amusement of all the audience,
One of the funniest races involved the camels stopping half way around for the jockey to pick up their bride (or bride to be) in order to then complete the race. It seems getting the camels to start is one thing, but getting them to stop is something else altogether.
Giddy up!!
At least one camel refused to stop, and another didn't sit down, so a couple of brides-to-be were left waiting trackside! It was a kind of organised chaos really and a great deal of fun.
The boys also enjoyed the water-ship challenge as two land boats took to the middle of the track with the main aim being to soak their opposition. The day was cool and the water freezing, but they looked like they were having fun - for the first five minutes anyway! Camel Races were given the definite thumbs up by the boys.
On our last morning in Alice Springs, we visited the Transport Museum and Truckies Hall of Fame. Oh my goodness. There was an incredible collection of vehicles of all shapes and descriptions over acres and acres of shedding and yards.
We spent ages walking around the place. I have no idea how you go from collecting old trucks to turning it into something like this, but it was wonderful and we could easily have spent more time here. Kylie was chuffed to find her Uncle on the wall at the Hall of Fame - and the kids loved looking in the Kenworth section, where some brand new Kenworth trucks sat with other trucks that had done their bit.
On display was some good old ingenuity, with the very first road train ever to ply our roads here. Thankfully driver comfort has come ahead leaps and bounds - as too the quality of the majority of our roads.
One of the trucks that brought a lot of equipment to remote stations in the 1940s and 50s was a prototype 8 wheel drive truck. An amazing engineering masterpiece, the driver sat right next to the engine - and a secondary radiator had been rigged behind the drivers seat. This would have been a delightful place to work on frosty mornings, but I would hate to think what a hot summers day would be like in here.
The transport museum was all about the trucks - including the herb garden!
With rain continuing to fall, we had a pub meal in town at the Todd Tavern. Whilst the service was incredibly slow, we enjoyed a break out of the weather before jumping back in the cars and heading to our chosen camp for the night. As we turned off the blacktop, it was after five o'clock. The kids were getting tired, and hungry, and we came across this sign.
Hmmm - decision time
The last thing I wanted was to be stuck down a boggy track on dark. It was time to reassess our options.
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