Day 20 West MacDonnell Ranges to Alice Springs, NT

After a quick trip to Redbank Gorge to drop off our new friend Erin, we walked the rocky gorge channel. There was no water and not much to see- give it a miss. We camped at the closest spot- Glen Helen Gorge, about 130kms west of Alice Springs as it was about 3pm and we were tired. In retrospect, we should have camped at Ormiston Gorge where there are only 20 sites and a great cafe run by a Mum home schooling two of the cutest 5 year olds that asked our kids to play in the kindest way. Although you can have fires at campsites at Glen Helen, ours was so close it would have set the camper alight. Although you can get a alcoholic beverage if you take out a mortgage.

Tip for beginners: when travelling on a long dirt road don't put fresh eggs in the fridge - the vibrations smash them. Omelettes for dinner.

Glen Helen Gorge

Up early to do a great walk to Glen Helen gorge which is connected to Finke River- a major water source for the region. If it wasn't so early in the morning, we could have swam around the corner for about 10mins to reach the 'organ pipes' rock formation where a romantic dreamtime story occurred (not this time).

 

A scene from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince when the Weasley's house was destroyed? 

Ormiston Gorge

An absolutely beautiful gorge, peaceful, lush with water and stillness. I was looking forward to the Aboriginal acapella choir singing here on Sunday as part of the Desert Song Festival but found out that it has been cancelled because of the rain - boo.

Ochre Pits

A sacred site where the local Arranta peoples still harvest the ochre for medicinal purposes and ceremonial usage. They mix ochre with fat and paint it on the skin. If you nick any it's a $5000 fine.

Standley Chasm

Standley Chasm is a private reserve owned by the Iwupataka Land Trust and is operated by local Aboriginal descendants.  Entry is $30 for a family which has obviously been spent on building a great walking track and interpretive signage.  A special place formed about 50m years ago by a river running through a crack (basically).

Arrived at the BIG 4 caravan park in Alice Springs. As soon as the kids spotted the water slide into a pool they were off. Yee haaa. Give us a site as remote as possible away from the many teenage school camp tours that are currently following us (errr).

Day 19 Real Outback driving to Glen Helen Gorge, NT

Right here goes. After collecting a hitch hiker that stayed at Kings Canyon camp, Erin from Oregon, we headed off on the Meerenie Loop - the 225km dirt road to Glen Helen Gorge. You travel along Namatjira Drive to arrive at the start of the Larapinta trail, an alternate route to Alice Springs. A few wussies at camp in honking 4WDs were put off by a few spots of rain and took the long way round (600kms) to Alice but not us. Off we went in our Kia Sorrento AWD- Joel and Erin were keen - Mandy the driver was nervous, kids oblivious.

We were not to fear as the drive, which in some parts was corrugated, was OK. We were rewarded with great views of the Larapinta Trail, which our hitch hiker Erin, had flown into to conquer as part of her three month trip trekking around Uluru, Perth and NZ. She is an amazing person, works full on for nine months of the year and spends the rest trekking and writes an informative blog to help others. See her post here about her adventures with us! Erin actually took some good photos of us packing up the trailer http://walkingwithwired.com/2016/09/day-1-nailed-it.html

 

See you on the other side Erin-good luck!

Weird nests on the ground along Meerenie Loop, made by mulga ants

Day 17 - 18 Kings Canyon, NT

Kings Canyon caravan park is pretty basic but choose a non-powered site and you can have a great view. Take food with you as a burger at the restaurant is $30 and a six pack of beer $42! They did set up a cute bar on beer barrels at the lookout (walking distance from the caravan park), to watch the sunset.

We did the fantastic rim walk around the top of Kings Canyon which took 3-4 hours. What a spectacular view. The terrain was varied and rocky which proved to be too much for one teenager who passed us by in a banana lounge (i.e stretcher). Not sure how the medics got her down the steep rocky steps to the car park. We were joined by a lovely family from Newcastle also on tour. This is our favourite walk of the trip so far.

Showing the imprint of water ripples when
 this place was under water millions of years ago

Ava and a new friend relax in style

Garden of Eden

Watch out for dingoes at the caravan park, they don't steel babies just our left over chicken and chip bag from Yulara. Kids decided to build a dingo trap - it eventually had sticks and some camouflage. I doubt it will work- but their ingenuity kept them out of trouble for awhile.

Day 12-16 Uluru, NT

To Uluru

The landscape during our nine hour drive from Coober Pedy to Uluru became more interesting.

  

Day 1 After setting up at the Yulara campground, we rode our bikes into town and listened to local Anangu man Leroy Lester describe the traditional weapons used in the desert.

Uluru at Sunset- one of the most amazing places in Australia

 

Day 2

Up at 5.30am to see the Sunrise at Uluru 

The Cultural Centre at Uluru is one of the best informative centres I've seen. Kids really enjoyed the documentary on the history of the campaign to have Uluru handed back to the local Anangu peoples, which happened under the Hawke Labor Government in 1985 after years of struggle.

Kata Tjuta (Olgas)

Little is revealed about Kata Tjuta on site because it is so sacred. The rocks represent heads of ancestors.

We finished with another sunset view of the rock which was just in our backyard- in the sand dunes behind the caravan park which Jack, the intrepid explorer, found.

Day 3

Took an amazing guided tour around the base of the rock with Park Ranger Mick. There are free daily tours from Marla Carpark. He pointed out various flora that traditional owners used like a tree that cures warts and berries used to make cordial. He explained the rock carvings on the natural outdoor classrooms used to teach young Anangu children. The womens areas around the base of the rock cannot be photographed as they are sacred places.

Mick told us a few dreamtime stories and reinforced the importance of not climbing the rock for many reasons, the most important being to respect the wishes of the Anangu people for which this place is very sacred. They don't climb it. Other reasons include safety, so far 40 people have died during climbing and the brittle nature of the rock is deteriorating. There are large translated signs requesting visitors not to climb the rock but they still do, we saw plenty grappling with the chain that remains on the rock. Under the lease arrangement between the Anangu and the Federal Government, the Government insisted that Uluru be allowed to be climbed for tourism revenue reasons. However this is suppose to end in 2019- lets see if the Turnbull Government stands by the original agreement or renigs.

The pool at the Outback pioneer hotel helped cool the hot day which left Joel and the kids panting on the camper floor while Mandy did the laundry! 

A highlight of the visit was a tour of the "Field of Light" art installation by international artist Bruce Monroe that is on for a year. It has 50,000 LED stems that are positioned like a sea of flowers in front of Uluru on a private property adjacent to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. You have to pay for a tour, no other way to get in. Ours had champers and canapes before sunset- posh! 

A great way to finish off a wonderful experience. Petrol, food are expensive but a must visit.