The Red Centre

Yulara - Curtin Springs: 87km
Curtin Springs - Kings Canyon: 213km
Kings Canyon - Redbank Gorge: 225km
Redbank Gorge - Ormiston Gorge: 35km
Ormiston Gorge - Alice Springs: 145km

We are now in Alice Springs and have been out of contact with the world for the past 5 days - what bliss! No politics, no annoying politicians, no footy, no news about Greece, no share reports, no news about the house, no contact with family and friends - actually we felt quite isolated from family and friends and realise how important regular contact with them is to us. We don't think we could be on the road for years as some of the folk we have met have been.

What have we done? you may well ask.

We have done heaps!  Seen lots, walked miles (kilometres) and taken dozens of photos - thank goodness for digital cameras.

Thursday started with an early morning pack up, then a 10km walk around and lunch next to Uluru - lots of green grass, red rock and blue sky.

Then it was of to Curtin Springs for a free night on the cattle station - with about 20 others.
En route to Kings Canyon we stopped at Kathleen Springs and walked into a beautiful deep waterhole. We arrived at Kings Canyon Resort and set up on a grassy unpowered site. Drove back to the Canyon road and then walked up Kings Creek to a lookout from which the great walls of the canyon can be seen. On dusk back at camp there was a dingo checking out our clothes horse and we watched it do the rounds of other camps and then howl at a girl cooking some meat in the outdoor kitchen.

Next day, after breakfast (including coffee), we drove to Kings Canyon and spent the morning and early afternoon doing the Rim Walk. Domes of the Hidden City, Garden of Eden, awesome rock walls - a good walk.

 

In the evening I went to the shop for an ice cream - Magnum Classic for $5, and Merilyn collected hot water for the dishes and when she returned there was a dingo at the van lapping the water that was soaking the skillet!! She managed to get in the van, grab the camera and photograph it.

Dingos howled several times during the night and the toilet blocks have iron gates that have to be kept closed to keep the dingoes out.

On the road again travelling on the Mereenie loop towards Glen Helen. Classed as a suitable for 4WD it presented some challenges with long sections of  corrugations, rough rocky sections and some sandy bits. It passed through aboriginal land and we had to purchase a permit and were not allowed to stop on the way apart from one rest stop. We lowered the pressure in the tyres, took out time and had no problems. We passed one 4WD, stopped and replacing a tyre, and caught up with another who had stopped and found the microwave in their large van on the floor. For lunch we drove in to Gosse's Bluff on a 6km  4WD only road which was quite easy. This is quite an awesome place. It formed when a comet (ice and gas) exploded when it hit the flat surface of the earth about 140 million years ago. Debris from the explosion formed a crater 20km wide which has now eroded away. The 5km wide crater which is exposed now actually formed below the surface in the layers of rock and has been exposed as the surrounding land has eroded away. I suggest you type Gosses Bluff into Google Earth and have a look. Zoom in and you can see the rugged 5km crater and as you zoom out you can see the wider debris layer.

Gosse's Bluff from 30km away

Inside the crater
We went on to Redbank Gorge in the Western Macdonnel Ranges for the night and we were the only ones there. Bright eyes (Merilyn) suggested we walk down to the waterhole for a look and to rinse a bucket of washed clothes - it took us one and a half hours. The things I do!!

The next two nights were spent at wonderful Ormiston Gorge - one of our most favorite places. We had a relaxed day of reading by the rock pool with a short walk up to the Ghost Gum Lookout. Next day we walked up to and into the Pound and on to the first waterhole and chose to retrace our steps rather than wade/swim through a waterhole which blocked the route back through the Gorge. Many people did wade through the very chilly water but we weren't convinced it was best for us. Just on dusk from our van we could see a dingo outlined on a ridge above the camp howling, we presume for a mate. Most impressive, He must have had some success because there were two dingoes howling in harmony early next morning - sounded a bit like the Pomonal singers.

Now its Alice Springs - washing, cleaning, shopping, and also noisy, people, traffic and no dingoes. Still there are things to discover over the next few days.