Days 26, Alice Springs to Oolloo Station. 6/06/2015

Left Alice Springs to a fine day with a tail wind on the Stuart Highway and travelled some 160 kms to meet our friends from the village Kay and Ian. The drive to the Olloo farm was some 40kms of red dust so before we left the bitumen we masked all the windows, vents doors, drain holes to keep the dust out.
Some half hour later we arrived at the station home and were welcomed by Kay's daughter Jennie and Chris the Station Manager. Miles from anywhere but an oasis in the desert. Mango Trees, beautiful green and manicured lawns. The house is a queens-lander design and we have access to the shower/toilet next to the van. Chris made himself busy "enyoing" Calinda from top to bottom.
An inspection of the outbuildings reminded us of MRE and brother Peter would have had a ball picking through the shelves and shelves of plant and equipment.
We had a grand performance by brudder Chris was absolutely outstanding followed by an even more amazing sunset.
Kay and Ian really have a special piece of nature. The serenity of it all.

Welcome sign for the Oolloo Farm

Ian, Kay, Jennie, Chris and Oakley the dingo scarer.

The homestead and gardens. Miles of vines in the distance.

The Mangos and the dongas (outbuildings)

Wendy looks at home behind the wheel of the Case tractor.

Cloud formations during the day.

The Village people.

Happy hour. Never seen Ian have a beer before.

Brudder Chris strutting his stuff - wait until you see the movie.

Sunset with the campfire still burning.

Day 25. The West MacDonnell Ranges 5/06/2015

A 2.9 deg start to the day so the warm clothes were on early but it didn’t take long to warm up as the sunshine broke through.

We first drove to Anzac Hill a wonderful memorial precinct that is high on a hill overlooking the township. The markers acknowledged all wars and conflicts that Australia has been involved in including peacekeeping duties that are still being carried out to this day.

Supermarket shopping was next on the list to stock up for the next few days as we will be isolated on the farm at Ti Tree.  After lunch we headed off along the Larapinta Drive that took us away from town through the West MacDonnell Ranges and into the National Park. A short distance out from town we came across the grave site of John Flynn the founder of the famous Royal Doctor Service, who died in 1951. A very interesting story was told about how the large round stone that was used as a marker for the grave came from the sacred women’s site of Karlu Karlu (The Devils Marbles). The traditional owners and the European custodians of Flynn’s grave were in dispute which was finally settled and the first stone was returned to its sacred site and a replacement stone was installed at the grave site.

Continuing on some distance with the beautiful MacDonnell ranges surrounding us we the drove to the Standley Chasm. The walking trail into the Chasm was very lovely and followed a spring fed creek where the pools attract a variety of wildlife particularly birds.  There were beautiful river gums and many species of delicate ferns such as the Cycad palm that have survived here in the shadow of the arid hills from another age. The Chasm was breathtaking with sheer quartzite walls that were of rich colours. A really wonderful experience.
Rod and Jude made the trip to Simpsons Gap. Breathtaking. The waterhole at the base of the the cliffs looked very enticing. No crocs here.
As we are leaving Alice Springs tomorrow we did some preparation for our departure. later day.  Ours stay here has been absolutely wonderful. 
We would recommend the Big4 MacDonald ranges park to any that travel this way. Try to get sites 57 or 58.
Looking forward to break at oolloo farm. The remington will be coming out with bunny on the menu.

The town of Alice springs.

Some details

Grave site of John Flynn.

Hiking into Standley Chasm.

Further up the walk.

Playing games behind a palm.

Nearly at the top. Well worth the effort.

Most spectacular chasm.

Right to the end. A magnificent walk.

At the Anzac hill lookout.

Some details

 

Day 24. Exploring the Ross River Catchment. 4/06/2015

Another warm sunny day greeted us this morning so we decided it was the perfect time to wash the floor of Calinda. She was looking a bit grubby, red dust around her edges, smears and balls of fluff hiding in her corners. She now looks a treat. Nearly as good as the Grid Girls roaming around town yesterday.
Had lunch before setting off on a 200 km drive along the Ross River Highway in the direction of the Ross River Resort.  The scenery on both sides of the road was stunning,  the beautiful McDonnell Ranges, changing colour and texture along the way.  We stopped at Emily Gaps Nature Park which was a very pretty gorge. The rock art featured 3 caterpillars who are beings of great significance to the Arrernte people. At this spot Intwailuka, an ancestral hero, is said to have cooked and eaten caterpillars on his dreamtime journey.
We continued on to see Corroboree Rock then Trephine Gorge before arriving at the Ross River Resort. The present Hotel is the remains of the first homestead in the area and was built in 1898.
On our return journey we came across some brumbies who weren't frightened and posed for a photo.
The drive along the Ross River Highway reminded us of the Flinders Ranges with many creek and river crossings that were all dry.
Early dinner tonight so we could enjoy some free entertainment in the park tonight.  The evening was called Songs of the Outback and featured a singer/songwriter Barry Skipsey who also is a photographer of some note and many of his photos formed the slide show on a very large screen.
We missed The Ghan passing through town but our fellow traveller Don was on the job and managed a photograph for us.

Our drive to the Ross River Resort.

Aboriginal significance.

In the bed of the dry Ross River.

Stunning cliff face in the gorge.

Very significant artwork.

The corroboree rock.

Off road towards the ranges - very daring.

The Ross River Homestead.

The old bar and dining room.

The original homestead dining room.

Rough old bar.

We think they were brumbies.

The Ghan leaving Alice Springs.

Free advertising.

Day 23. Alice Springs 3/06/2015

Had a sleep in this morning before heading to the laundry for a big wash.  Beautiful sunny day with temperature about 22 early. Drove to the Golf Course and caught up with Rod and Jude and George and Julie on the 9th green for a photo shoot. A short drive away from the golf course there is a very flash Casino, the Alice Springs Convention Centre, a number of flash hotels and resorts. We then drove into the town to have lunch and settled on buying a subway that we could take to a park area to enjoy the surroundings. The town has many lovely grassed areas with beautiful gums, wisterias, bouganvillias and vines lining the streets and the Todd Mall which is the centre of Alice Springs. We had lunch in the area of the John Flynn (pioneer of the Royal Flying Doctor Service) Memorial Church and Adelaide House, the first hospital in Alice Springs both famous historic sites.
Whilst strolling down the Mall we found the Finke Desert Race promotion, John was very impressed with the bikes, buggies, and more particularly the Grid Girls, lovely, lithe, svelte bodies!
The Finke Desert Race is celebrating it 40th year and is believed to be the largest desert race in the world.  The course roughly follows the former Ghan Railway Line along a winding corrugated track which snakes through typical outback terrain of red dirt, sand, spinifex, mulga and desert oaks. The race is over 440 kms and this year 600 motorcycles and 140 cars (Buggies) will compete and over 12000 people camp beside the racetrack sleeping under the stars in their tents and swags.  The race starts in Alice Springs and goes for 220 kms on Saturday to Finke and returns to Alice Springs on the Sunday. Pity we won't be here to see it. A must do for any racing enthusiasts that are reading the blog.
We then did a tour around the city area that included the Alice Springs Race Track, and then returned to the caravan park for Happy Hour followed by a lovely barbecue dinner with George and Julie as guests.

Rod, George, Jude and Julie at the Royal Alice No.1 Course.

The beautiful Todd Mall.

A long way from everywhere.

The grid girls - very special.

The start of the Finke Desert Race.

The course.

Andy, Dan, Blair and Michael preparing for the big race.

I can see Dave Kershaw on this next year,

George and Julie enjoying drinks on the patio.

Day 22. Uluru to Alice Springs. 2/06/2015

After saying farewell to our campsite neighbours who just happen to be Wendy and John, we left Ayers Rock Resort in bright sunshine which was a very welcome start to the day. The journey ahead was to be 470kms starting on the Lasseter Highway heading back towards the Stuart Highway. We stopped for lunch at Erldunda again and bumped into Rod and Jude's friends from Riversdale Golf Club, George and Julie who are also travelling north (but without caravan).
The road to Alice Springs is much more interesting than the road to Uluru. There were gentle hill climbs through craggy outcrops, some sweeping bends that made it difficult to overtake slow moving vehicles and the vegetation varied greatly. We saw 4 wild camels climbing an escarpment that we first thought were goats until we got closer.
After settling in we drove over the dry Todd River to the city centre and we were surprised at the size of the city. We saw a number of very large and modern buildings including a huge hospital. The population has increased so much in recent years that it has forced such development. The golf course is surrounded by very beautiful and large homes.
The caravan park here, the Big4 MacDonnell Range Holiday Park is the best we have encountered so far.  It is a little distance out of the township but at the foot of the Ranges and we have a lovely grassy site for the first time.  The amenities are excellent, lots of things on offer so we are going to enjoy our stay.

Our site with grass and concrete pad.

Dry bed of the Todd River

No bush camps or cans in sight.

Day 21. The Olgas ((Kata Tjuta) 1/06/2015

After packing a picnic lunch we left the park about 10 am. with Jude and Rod our passengers on this trip.  The drive to The Olgas took us about 45 minutes and as we got closer, the magnificent  Olgas were making a huge impact on  our view.  We stopped at the Kata Tjuta viewing area first before continuing on to the the area of our first hike for the day at Walpa Gorge.  A very interesting hike along very rocky path that was climbing steadily. The composition of the Olgas is quite different to Ulura and appears to be composed of huge boulders. The vegetation along the way featured all the same plants we have seen before and are coming quite familiar with such as the mature Desert Oak and the inmature Desert Oak.  The Gorge itself is quite spectacular.  The return trip took us about an hour, so on completion we decided to have our lunch. We shared the shelter with a lovely young French couple who have been travelling and working their way around Australia for the past 12 months and have applied to extend their visa for another 12 months. They were delightful and very interesting to talk to.
Our next stop was the Valley of the Winds Walk. Another rocky terrain walk but nearly as difficult as the Walpa Gorge walk. True to its name when we reached the Karu Lookout it was extremely windy but a very lovely view. The continuation of this walk to the Karingana Lookout which would have been more difficult was closed because of a reported rock fall. I must say we were not too disappointed as we were all a little tired from the hiking we have been doing in the past 2 days.
On our return, we did a little shopping before watching an Aboriginal culture event that was being held in the gardens of the village centre. Four young men demonstrated several of their dances depicting the animals that over the years they have hunted. Each dance was explained to the audience and the importance of it in their culture. Members of the audience were invited to participate and were shown short versions of the dance that they then performed for the rest of us. A fun time was had by all .
We returned to camp and waited for the last sunset at Uluru. The sky was finally clear and the final minutes of sun on the rock was quite beautiful, something we were looking forward to.
Tomorrow we head to Alice.

The Olgas

With Rod and Jude before our hike.

Into the Walpa Gorge.

More breathtaking as you venture up.

An oasis awaits.

As far as we can go.

Our second hike was the Valley of the Winds.

At the lookout and the wind was howling.

The view was amazing.

A cultural experience - very entertaining.

Finally a view of the Rock at sunset.