Pass The Sunscreen! ... And The Birdseed?

We've finally made it above the storm front, and now find ourselves in sunny Mataranka where it's a balmy 31 degrees (approx 88 Fahrenheit) during the day and cool overnight.  Needless to say, it's a welcome shock to the system.

We're staying at a homestead which backs onto the national park and is a short walk from one of the beautiful (we're told) natural hot springs where millions of liters of crystal clear 34 degree (94 Fahrenheit) water flow through daily.  I can't wait to check it out and have a nice long soak.  There are are a few of these hot springs around, as well as the river and barramundi just waiting to be caught, plus whatever the town has to offer, so I imagine we'll have plenty to keep us entertained for a few days.

The park itself seems nice enough so far.  It's bush style camping with shaded (and powered) sites, barbecues, a kiosk with shop and canoe hire, and a bar with food and nightly entertainment.  We only arrived yesterday afternoon, so after setting up we didn't have time to see much other than about half a dozen peacocks wandering through our site.  Judging by the state of the amenities block, I don't think I'd be keen on staying in one of their cabins, but if you've got your own accommodation it so far seems like a really nice spot.

Speaking of peacocks, as I was writing this a visitor turned up at the camper door.  I didn't have my camera ready but did the best I could with my phone.  More later.

Splish Splash Squelch. Heading To Tennant Creek

The Devil's Marbles, or Katu Katu as they are known in all four local Aboriginal languages, are located about 100 kilometers south of Tennant Creek.

They are known as the "Devil's Marbles" because of the way that these huge granite boulders are precariously perched, seeming to defy gravity.

We had planned to stop somewhere south of Tennant Creek, but since it rained all day we decided it was as good a day as any to spend in the car and pushed on a bit further.

There is bush camping in the area, but due to the wet weather the tracks are muddy and we headed for a caravan park that was rated highly in one of our guides (and had a "bush show" in the evenings that I wanted to see - yeah, I'm a dork).

Apparently lots of others had the same idea. The bush campers were coming into the towns seeking refuge from the muddy conditions and filling up the caravan parks and motels.  As I waited in the car for Mike to return from the reception office, I watched the couple with the caravan ahead of us make a u-turn out of the park.  Uh oh.  Not a good sign.  Sure enough, Mike returned with the news that there was no room for us.

We headed over to the only other park in town.  Sure enough when we got there the couple from the last park were pulled in in front of us.  The owner indicated an area that should have some available spots.  We set off, and passed the other couple who had looped around to the right.  Mike went left and we found a spot.  Mike had a chat with them after we had set up.  They were miserable because their mattress and bedding had gotten soaked in the deluge.  They were sharing a spot with another camper.   It turns out that we had snagged the last spot! 

And what a spot it is!  We may need to swim to get to the amenities block!

Other travelers we met couldn't find a hotel/motel room anywhere and ended up parking in a tent site and sleeping in their car.  I entertained the thought of asking if they wanted to sleep in our under-bed annex, but with the mud it wouldn't have been any better than their car.

I was grateful that we took the time to pack up with extra care, and our camper is a warm, dry refuge in what is feeling like a very soggy world.  In some ways we are lucky to have seen this area under such unusual wet conditions.

As I write this, the next morning they are playing "Rain" by Dragon on the radio.  "Oh is it any wonder the streets are dark,  Is it any wonder we fall apart?  Day after day strange rain falls down.  All over town, Rain Comin'." 

We are at the north edge of the storm front and are expecting a sunny day tomorrow.  I'm sure by next week everyone will be complaining about the heat!

Rain Rain Go Away!

We had a couple of nice sunny days here in Alice Springs and took full advantage of them. After getting the laundry done (yay clean clothes!), we headed out to the Alice Springs Show.  For those who don't know what "The Show" is, particularly those not in Australia, picture an annual carnival with a country twist. These are held all over Australia (The Melbourne Show, The Geelong Show, The Sydney Show, etc.).

All the usual suspects were there - rides, the haunted house, games with prizes to be won, clowns, people on stilts, and lots of deep fried sugary carnival food.  There were also two exhibit halls - one with various educational and flea market type stalls and another that had the winners of such competitions as "best vegetable display", "best jam", "best cake", etc.  The winners of various photo competitions were displayed as well, and some of them were fantastic.

The local kids were all smiles and excitement and I was glad that they had nice weather and could enjoy a day that I'd imagine kids look forward to all year (despite the odd muddy puddle as seen below).

There was an arena for horse competitions, an area for dog agility/herding contests, and then something truly bizarre. As we headed toward the exit a large crowd came into view.  There were several men up on stage.  One banged on a drum punctuating the patter of  another as they persuaded people in the audience to step forward.

In the photo you can see the guy in the center (in the hat) talking to the crowd flanked by boxers (in robes) who work for him.  The other men are from the audience who volunteered to challenge the boxers to a fight as the crowd hooted and hollered, encouraging them.  It was the weirdest thing, and I didn't know if I should be horrified or entertained. We watched for a few minutes and left before any fighting started.

Back on the road, we took a drive to the West McDonnell Ranges again to see some of the sights we didn't get to before the rain.  After a brief interlude with loose horses on the highway,

which wasn't nearly as surprising as the time that we came up behind camels pulling a cart on the highway, we were on our way.

Our first stop was Standley Chasm, which we reached by following a walking track up a rocky riverbed.

 As we got closer there was a bit of climbing over rocks, and the path got steeper.  We met some people coming the other way who assured us that the climb was well worth it.  They were right.

The Aborigines know the chasm as Angkerle Atwatye, but their belief as to how it was created is kept secret. They fear that the story will become altered or diluted by overexposure if made public, and compromise the sanctity of the site.

The chasm's European name honours Ida Standley who was the first school teacher in Alice Springs (1914).  In 1925 the school for Aboriginal children was moved and she became it's matron.  She was the first non-Aboriginal woman to visit the chasm.

Next we visited Simpson's Gap, which is known for the rock wallabies who frequent the area.  They are hard to spot because they blend well with the surrounds.  It was a beautiful spot, in a lovely part of the national park and only 18 kilometers from Alice Springs.

When we got back to our campsite we caught the tail end of the didgeridoo show put on by the Park.  All in all it was a really fun day.

Yesterday we had a great day at The Alice Springs Desert Park.  It's a huge park and they have a great self guided audio tour which takes you through various desert habitats (sand country, woodlands and desert rivers).  As you tour you learn about human survival in desert climates as well as the plants and animals that live there.  Most people think that deserts are just sand, and little else.  It was surprising how much life is supported by such a harsh environment.

They had fantastic walk-through aviaries, and a huge nocturnal exhibit.  Here are some of the creatures we met along the way.  By the way, the first picture is of wild parrots.  They were not in an aviary or any type of enclosure, and can frequently be seen in this area.

The next two photos were taken in the nocturnal exhibit.  They were there along with goannas, possums, desert rats, bilbies and various other critters that go bump in the night.

It wouldn't be much fun to bump into this prickly fellow in the night!

The were various shows and presentations scheduled throughout the day.  There were two that we especially enjoyed.  The first was about the survival of Aboriginal people in the desert climate over thousands of years.  We saw and handled various Aboriginal tools, and implements used for gathering and storage of food.  We also saw some bush tucker and medicinal plants.

No amount of convincing could talk Mike into eating a witchity grub. :)

Unfortunately rain was once again imminent so upon return to our camper we pulled down the annex so we wouldn't have to wrestle with wet canvas when packing up.  Today was spent servicing the car, writing this long overdue blog entry, and doing our best to stay dry.

There's more rain forecast for the next day or two, so we'll be packing up in the rain tomorrow morning and heading up North.  I don't know what the internet availability will be until we get to the next major-ish town, but will update you on our soggy adventures when I'm able.  In the meantime, think dry thoughts.

Rain rain go away!

It Comes With The Territory

There's only one place in Australia where you can buy fireworks legally, and on only one day.  That day is today, here in the Northern Territory in celebration of Territory Day.  As I write this, there's a bonfire and a fireworks display being put on by the park owners.  In the spirit of sharing Territory day with you we took a few photos of the fireworks, none of which came out very well, before the cold got the best of us and we headed for the warmth of the camper.

Speaking of the weather, yesterday's drizzle turned into pouring rain overnight and a cold rainy day today.  We were amused, though not surprised, to hear on the news that it's warmer in Melbourne than here in Alice Springs today!  At a mere 9 degrees, we just missed the record low temperature of 7.8 degrees set in 1948.

Needless to say, we are not impressed, and we're looking forward to thawing and drying out tomorrow afternoon when sunnier skies are forecast.  The locals, however, couldn't be happier, and have been joking on the radio about plans to open a marina and perhaps a yacht club as well.

We spent the day concentrating on indoor activities.  We visited the Museum of Central Australia, The June Marriot Gallery, and did a bit of shopping.  The photos below are of the Yeperenye Sculpture depicting a caterpillar significant to local Aborigines.  As we walked through it Aboriginal music played.

With all this cold and rain we've decided on a change in travel plans. We were going to head to Uluru and then across to WA (on approximately 1000 kilometers of dirt road) before making our way up to the tropics of the North Coast.  In an effort to get to a warmer climate sooner, and to avoid their high humidity season later on, we're going to head on through to Darwin from here and travel anti clockwise around the coast of Western Australia, saving Uluru for when we loop back later.

This will give us nicer weather in both areas, and avoid a long ride through muddy tracks.  The only downside to this is that we may miss the whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef.  Since there was no guarantee that they'd be there when we passed through anyway, this seems like a sensible move (says she who is huddled by the heater listening to rain pelt the canvas).

Leave it to us to somehow manage to be in Alice Springs during such freakishly cold and wet weather.  It comes with the Territory...

Happy Territory Day everyone!!

West McDonnell Range Gorges

Yesterday we headed off to the McDonnell ranges to have a look at some of the gorges throughout the range. We started out with a drive to Glen Helen Resort for a look around and some lunch at the lodge near the Glen Helen Gorge. It was chilly with occasional drizzle. We're lucky we had a beautiful day for our walk through Palm Valley yesterday.  It would have been far too dangerous to do in the rain.

On the way up to Glen Helen we stopped at a free campsite to stretch our legs and snap a couple of photos.  How'd you like to wake up to this view?

There are several gorges within the range, and we chose a few to visit based on what we'd heard about them and access.  We weren't keen on doing serious off-road driving in wet weather, and chose our walks with the rain in mind as well.  We didn't want to have to scramble over potentially slippery rocks, and some of the walking tracks require swimming/wading over some sections.

The first gorge we visited is Ormiston Gorge.  It was stunning, and the general wetness seemed to bring out the colours of the rocky hills.  It's really so difficult to capture the beauty of the place in a few photos, but we gave it a try anyway. :)  If you click on the photos you can see a larger version.

That's Mike in the distance.

West McDonnell Range Gorges 2

I was determined to get to that little island in the distance.

Luckily a couple that I'd met earlier in the day were there to hold my hand (literally) as I walked across a log.  A quick hop and I was there.

West McDonnell Range Gorges 3

Our next stop was at the Ochre Pit. This pit has been used by Aborigines in the region for thousands of years.  Only Aboriginal men know the full dreamtime stories of the pit.  The ochre is mixed with fat (i.e. emu fat), and used as body and face paint.  Green and yellow colours are used primarily for decoration/cosmetic purposes and red is used for more religious and ceremonial purposes.  Ochre is also used as a coloring agent in Aboriginal art, and has medicinal benefits.

The gorge below is Ellery Creek Big Hole, and wow it was big on beauty.  We gasped as we rounded the bend and the gorge came into view.    It really was awesome.  This would be a lovely place to go for a swim!

Mike said that the parting of the mountains looked almost like an entry to the lost world.