Alice Springs to Kununurra
Go
East Young Man…. In the East
MacDonnell Ranges
only 10 kms from Alice Springs are Emily and Jessie Gaps
National Parks and by
chance we came across a Ranger talk.
These talks can be quite interesting as you can learn how different
plants survive in different areas. It
can make the nature walks so much more interesting. Again we visited Trephina Gorge
National Park and did the
Panorama Walk (picture) taking us up to the top of the gorge with a view right
down into the gorge. Trephina also
contains another gorge, John Hayes Rockhole.
The drive into this one was much more adventurous and definitely 4WD
only. We came across the Rockhole with a
bit of water in it but not clean enough for swimming. All gorged out, we returned to Alice Springs.
It was time to say goodbye to Denise and
Steve and Jim and Wendy who were leaving the next day to go their different
ways. We went to a really nice
restaurant called Casa Nostra. Highly
recommended and a favourite of the locals as well. We had been there previously and it was just
as good this time and the best vanilla slice dessert in Australia.
A Reunion Of Sorts….. Our friends from Ballarat, Bob and Cheryl Lockwood
arrived at the park and it was arranged that we would go off camping with them
and Jim and Lee who they had met along the way.
We set off into the West
Macdonnell Ranges
and walked the different gorges along the way.
Standley Chasm (picture-Cheryl Lockwood in Standley Chasm) is rather
spectacular with the sun shining down into the chasm which is reached by
climbing over some rather large rocks.
The colours on the walls of the chasm are just brilliant. There was such a difference from when we were
here in 1999. The water levels were down
quite a bit but there was still some water in the waterholes. Ellery Creek Rock Hole, Ormiston Gorge and
Redbank Gorge would have to be the favourites.
Redbank Gorge is a further 25 km from the end of 
the bitumen and the road is very corrugated so a 4WD
is recommended. We decided to camp here
for the night and after setting up our tents, we lit the fire and had a dinner
sitting around the camp fire talking. We had the whole camping area to
ourselves so there were only our voices to be heard. (Picture Liz with Bob Lockwood)
The next morning
was pancake morning in our camp site so after packing up we had pancakes for
breakfast and then a 25 minute walk into the gorge to work 
off the pancakes.
Again there is a bit of rock climbing along the dry river bed.
It was then on to
Gosse Bluff (picture below), a crater created by a comet that hit the earth
142.5 million years ago. The aborigines
have a dreamtime story of their own but we are not convinced as yet. This was an adventure on its own as we took a
4 WD track which ended up going forever and never really reached the
crater. We ended up turning back and
finding the right road into the crater but on arriving there for lunch, we were
surrounded by bees hovering all around us.
It was decided that lunch would have to wait until we could find a safer
area. At 2.00 pm on the side of the road
we had lunch and were watched by a very curious wild brumby who kept his eye on
us the whole time. It was then on to Palm Valley
where we left the other four and we returned to Alice
Springs to get ready for our big adventure the next day to
Gemtree.
A Hard Way To Make A Living….. Gemtree is
140 km northeast of Alice Springs on the Plenty Highway. We arrived in the morning and set up the
caravan. Lots of red dirt greeted us but
this is where you come to fossick for garnets and zircons, and we were ready to
make our fortune. We decided to look for
zircons and have a bit of fun and get filthy dirty- which we did.
We were up the next morning ready at 9.00 to go off
fossicking for the day. We were taken
out into the gemstone area and had a quick lesson on how to fossick. We were then left with 2*25 litre drums of
water, a spade, a pick, two sifters and two big buckets. First of all you use your pick to break up
the top 6 inches of ground, then you shovel the stone rubble into a
bucket. It is then sifted through a big
sieve then into a smaller sieve before being immersed in water to remove all
the dirt off the stones. It is then
dunked a second time in cleaner water.
Then you spread all the cleaned stones on a board and look for the
zircons which glitter like glass in the sun.
We actually found some in the four hours that we were there. There are some people in caravans in the
zircon and garnet fossicking areas who have been there for weeks on end, but we
found four hours was enough for us city slickers. A reminder for people with bad backs –
give it a miss.
After four hours,
we decided that a good shower was something to look forward to. We had a great day and enjoyed the experience
but we were definitely not going to take up a career of gem fossicking. You can have your zircon collection assessed
and fortunately we did have some good zircons that are being cut and set in a
ring for Liz for her birthday and also to remind her of all the hard work done
to find the zircons.
We
Found Our Marbles… On the road the next day, we travelled back
the 70 km to the Stuart Highway
and turned right for Tennant Creek. It
is a fair hike to Tennant Creek and we were fortunate that it was a side wind,
not headwind, which made the trip easy going.
The trip to Tennant Creek is fairly boring with long stretches of
straight road and no radio contact, so we listened to our CD’s and just
took in the scenery. Liz gave herself
an Italian lesson. The one highlight in
this section are the Devils Marbles (picture left) which are only about 1 km
off the Stuart Highway.
Of course you have to make the compulsory photo stop which appears on all the Northern Territory
tourism brochures.
We arrived at
Tennant Creek and the caravan park for the night. Ended up going out for a meal with some
people we had met earlier on in our trip, Jan and Kevin from Ballina. A new restaurant had opened up two weeks
earlier at the Sporties Club in Tennant Club called Woks Up. It was the best Chinese/Thai/Malaysian
Restaurant we had come across on our trip and the best salt and peppered
calamari we had ever had. We wish them
the best of luck in their new venture.
Stopping
Is Compulsory… It was then another long haul to Mataranka
– 560 kms. There is really nothing
worth stopping for except on this section except for the Daly Waters Pub. Again we had to call in and have the
customary beer (or two) at the bar. This
time it was really busy. We arrived in
the middle of the day and there were caravans everywhere – some staying
for the beef & barra meal at night and others just calling in to see the
memorabilia in the pub. We moved on an
hour later and traveled the last 173 kms to Mataranka and to the Elsey National Park
and thermal hot springs for an overnight stop.
Age Will Not Weary Us….. We set up the
caravan in the camping area around 5.00 pm and on our return from having a look
at the hot springs, we found we were surrounded by a tour group called Heritage
Tours from Cairns. This small group of
twelve people were in their early 60’s to late 70’s or older and
were having the time of their lives roughing it in tents. They had travelled from Cairns
across the Great North Road
to Borroloola, Cape
Crawford and Mataranka
then were travelling onto Katherine and Darwin.
They got on with the job of setting up their tents, doing their washing
and having a quick swim in the thermal pool.
This was all done by dinner time at 7.30pm. Rob and I watched in awe and had to agree
that “you should live your life to the fullest”. Rob did suggest that he could rent out our
porta potty to them for the night, but I’m sure they wouldn’t have
taken up his offer. Two of the ladies were sisters aged 76 and 78 and in the
last 4 years they had been to the tip of Cape York, travelled the Gibb River
Road in the Kimberley and crossed the Nullabor all on camping safaris.
The message from
this group was clear, they are: “Dying to Live, not Living to
Die”
Definitely Therapeutic…. The next
morning we went down for an early morning swim the in thermal pool and guess
what – the Heritage Group were all up and packing their tents away for a
10.00am departure. The thermal pool is
the same as our last visit but this time the Parks and Wildlife Group are in
the process of putting in place a huge
water sprinkling system to control the bats that invade the area after a
“Big Wet” season. These
sprinklers are placed high up in the palms to keep the bats away. During our time there we didn’t come
across any as it hasn’t been a “Big Wet” this year. The water is crystal clear and just beautiful
to laze around in. It’s supposed
to be quite therapeutic as well. After
breakfast and another swim we moved on our way to Katherine.
We had an easy run
into Katherine arriving at lunch time.
Here we caught up with our friends Bill and Liz Binns who were traveling
with two other couples. It was great to
see them and catch up on their travels. Unfortunately they had hit a kangaroo
two days before and had to have some of the damage repaired in Katherine, but
leaving the main panel beating work until they get back home. They were very lucky that the big roo
hadn’t caused more damage than it did.
It was champagne and a BBQ that night and the next morning the four of
us were off to canoe the Katherine Gorge.
What a day that was.
How
Old Do You Have To Be To Take The Scenic Cruise???? We hired the canoe for 4 hours this time and
not 8 hours as Rob and I had done in 2000.
Mind you, we were 5 years younger then!
We set off at 8.45 am with a head wind which made it a little more
difficult but all was OK. About 200
metres up the river we saw a 2 metre freshwater crocodile sunning itself on the
bank. The freshwater crocodiles are not
man/woman eating. A couple of other
canoeists decided to get closer when all of a sudden it takes a mighty turn and
splashes into the river right near us.
The looks on everyone’s faces said it all.
We continued along
our “intrepid” way. Bill and
Liz’s canoe kept going its own way to the left and our canoe 
kept taking in water, but we continued on. We then came to some fairly strong rapids and
there was no way you could haul or push your boat through these rapids. This meant that we had to carry each canoe up
over rocks and along this path to reach the upper gorge. This proved to be very strenuous especially
for the boys who did a marvellous job.
One of the canoes was heavier than the other as well but we all made it
to the upper gorge and paddled along. It
was worth it too as the gorge became more spectacular.
It was time to
head back and this time we decided to tackle the rapids. Liz and Rob got stuck on a rock and
couldn’t move so ended up out of the canoe and made their way carefully
through the strong current. Liz felt
more in control out of the canoe than in it, but she was very happy to get down
to the calmer water. Bill and Liz
decided to stay in their canoe and even though Liz looked like a
“carnival clown” with her mouth wide open, they did make it through
safely (picture right). Bill did a very
good job steering while Liz just sat very still in the front seat. I don’t think “riding the
rapids’ will be a hobby of ours.
It was a really fun day though and something to remember, although a
couple of us were a bit bruised.
Ride Em Cowboy…. After a
snooze in the afternoon to recover, we were off to the Katherine Rodeo. Jan and Kevin came along with us to soak up
the country atmosphere (and the dust) and experience a rodeo. We managed to find seats in the makeshift
stand and enjoyed a steak sandwich and a beer whilst cheering on all the
competitors. Some of the bulls were huge
big things and the poor rider either held on for the 8 seconds for dear life or
fell off and scrambled away before the bull could butt them. There were three rounds with points being
allocated. The rider with the most
points being declared the winner at the end of the night. This is a big night for the local schools and
sporting organizations to raise a bit of money for their different causes. We returned home a bit dusty but a great
night was had by all.
The
Nicest Spot In Australia…. Sunday 29 May
saw Bill and Liz leave for Timber Creek and onto Kununurra and Kevin and Jan
head off to Litchfield
National Park. We went off for a day at Edith Falls. This is one of our favourite places. It is about 60 kms north from Katherine in
the Nitmiluk National Park. We went up to the Upper Pool which is a 30
minute walk. It is just the same with
the water tumbling over the waterfall into the pool. We were in the water in a flash and enjoyed
the day just swimming and lying on the warm smooth rocks then into the water
again to cool off. You can swim right up
to the waterfall and the current just brings you back into the centre of the
pool again. It is absolutely a magic
place as you can see from the picture left.
Hello Again…. Our time at
Katherine was running out and it was time to move onto Timber Creek and the Big
Horse Creek off road campsite. We
arrived just before lunch and by 4.00 pm the camping area was pretty full with
caravans and campers. We had to go back
for old time sake to the Timber Creek Wayside Inn which we had visited in 2000.
We couldn’t believe our eyes when we walked in and the same local couple
that were there in 2000 were in the same seats at the same time this year. This couple obviously enjoy the comings and
goings of the pub whilst enjoying a beer or two each afternoon, every
afternoon. Timber Creek consists of a
motel/hotel/petrol station, a pub, a couple of caravan parks, the
“croc” shop and not much more, all leased and run by the one person
from the aboriginals.
The next day saw
us travel onto Kununurra and set up the caravan at Ivanhoe Village
Caravan Park. We caught up with Bill and Liz and had a
Barra (Barramundi) and Chips night with them.
They had had a busy few days previous traveling to Wyndham for the day,
and had enjoyed a day trip to El Questro.
Rob & Liz
Plenty of highlights from this section of our
trip but what really stands out was the gem fossicking for Zircons at Gemtree
and our day at Edith Falls at the top pool swimming, sunbaking and taking in
the scenery.
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