Day 1 – Alice Springs to Wallaby Gap Campsite (Section 1 Larapinta)

 Up at 5:30am for showers , breakfast and pack up. We dropped our bag of items we did not need for the hike at reception to store until our return.

We left The Diplomat Hotel at 6:50 am and walked alongside the Todd River to the start of the Larapinta Trail at Alice Springs Telegraph Station. We did not stop to explore the Telegraph Station as we have done this previously (see 21 July 2016). Here we encountered a group of hikers from our flight yesterday who were also about to start the hike, as a fundraiser for The Cancer Council. 

https://diplomatalicesprings.com.au/

https://nt.gov.au/parks/find-a-park/tjoritja-west-macdonnell-national-park/larapinta-trail

https://nt.gov.au/_media/docs/parks/bushwalking-and-hiking/larapinta-trail/larapinta-trail-section-1-information-sheet-and-map.pdf

https://alicespringstelegraphstation.com.au/

https://www.cancer.org.au/

Today we saw a lot of people on the trail. The views changed rapidly as we progressed along the trail. The trail loops around and goes under the Stuart Highway north of Alice Springs. Between the Geoff Moss Bridge and the railway line we saw the Ghan pass along the railway track.  Further along the Larapinta Trail cross the railway tracks with a simple warning to “look for trains”. 

https://www.journeybeyondrail.com.au/journeys/the-ghan/

The trail then rises giving views in which the road trains on the Stuart Highway appear like matchbox vehicles. We saw several Australian Ringneck Parrots, also known as Port Lincoln Parrot (Barnardius zonarius).

Courtesy of the good rains earlier in the season (Alice Springs had flooding) there was an abundance of wildflowers in bloom. We crossed several dry creek beds, before beginning the climb to Euro Ridge. The climb has a lot of ascent and descent with a false crest and amazing views. We stopped here for lunch while taking in the big open spaces. Parts of the trail here are quite close to the edge of the ridge and not for those fearful of heights.

We arrived at Wallaby Gap campsite about 2:45pm. We set up camp, filled our water bladders for tomorrow and had our electrolytes by 3:20pm. The flies were much worse in the campsite than while walking.  The campsite has a shelter, water tanks, pit toilet and several table/platforms in the open, with space for plenty of tents.

We took an afternoon walk to Wallaby Gap, there was water present, but it did not look drinkable. The rocks had an interesting white growth or deposit on them; possibly some sort of mineral salt deposited from the water??.  

I knew the ground would be hard but nonetheless the soles of my feet were very sore from today’s hike. The rocks on solid rock do not give at all when walked on and all the impact goes into the foot. I was glad to take my boots off and switch to my Crocs for the evening.

At around 4:30pm the temperature rapidly fell. Not a lot of sleep was had due to a very noisy snorer in camp.

Statistics

Hike Distance         18.97km

Hike Time                 6h 17m

Ascent                       514.2m

Descent                     443.0m

Walk Distance         0.46km

Walk Time                0h 29m

Ascent                       5.4m

Descent                     3.3m

Pre Day - Home to Alice Springs and Hike Preparation (Larapinta)

 Saturday 19 July (Pre-day)

 This morning, we were up at 4:40am, packed and picked up by a friend at 5:15am. We all headed off to Minnippi parkrun to run together. This was a nice parkland course with a good number of runners.

https://www.parkrun.com.au/

https://www.parkrun.com.au/minnippi/

Breakfast was at the Hive Café, Carindale Leagues Club, where we enjoyed breakfast burgers. 

https://www.carinaleaguesclub.com.au/dining/

After a wash and change of clothes our friend dropped us off at the airport (thank you Catherine). We rearranged our bags to distribute the weight evenly and checked in. We were at the departure gate at 9:50am reading for 10:05am boarding.

We were on board by 10:15am and then waited. At 10:36am, after our scheduled departure time, we were advised we would need to change planes due to mechanical problems. Always happy to get off a plane the mechanics don’t think should fly.  As it was expected to take several hours to repair, a substitute plane was found. We disembarked and relocated to a different boarding gate, from which a bus drove us out to a parking area for planes which appeared to be in the middle of the airport.  The plane then drove quite some distance on the ground to the runways. At 12:20 we were off. Due to the late departure and wind conditions, we were advised we would be flying lower than usual – this gave us view of the channel country with its bright stripes of green from where rain earlier in the season had travelled down from the Gulf of Carpentaria, and also views of the rows of red sand dunes of the Simpson Desert. 

 

We arrived in Alice Springs at 3:30pm (NT time) and took a bus to our accommodation, The Diplomat Hotel, on the edge of the main town center.

https://diplomatalicesprings.com.au/

After checking in, we went shopping for food supplies for our trip and picked up Subway for dinner. On returning to the hotel, we sorted all our food supplies for the hike and packed our drop boxes ready for collection and delivery by Larapinta Trek Trail Support (LTTS). We had prebooked a E2E Duo Essentials package which covered three food drops (including containers and key to storage points), gas and our return transfers to Alice Springs at the end of our walk. A personal locator beacon was also included in the package and while we took this with us in one pack, we also had our Garmin InReach to message our emergency contact at the beginning and end of each days walk.

https://www.treksupport.com.au/larapinta-trail-e2e-trek-packages

Off to bed with the hope of a good night’s sleep, unfortunately music played nearby until 6am the next morning – ah well.

Brisbane Valley Adventure

This morning we set off early (4:30am) to Esk with a plan to do Parkrun and then hike at both Ravensbourne National Park and Crows Nest National Park.  Most of the way out to Esk it rained, and rained.  It rained some more while I did a warm up.  Thankfully it stopped raining while parkrun was on - another tourist run to add to our collection Old Esk Railway Station Parkrun.  It is a flat two lap course on a mix of concrete, decomposed granite and grass.  In wet conditions it felt like heavy running, but I am confident this would be a nice run when not wet.

https://www.parkrun.com.au/oldeskrailwaystation/

Breakfast was at Brisbane Valley Roasters - lots of people, but prompt service, nice atmosphere and good food. 

https://brisbanevalleyroasters.com.au/

We then decided to brave it and head for Ravensbourne National Park with the plan of doing all the walks.  Before leaving the car we smothered ourselves in Aeorgard. We set off on the pretty Rainforest Circuit, followed by the Palm Creek Circuit.  After stopping numerous times to remove literally hundreds of leeches, we decided not to walk to Buaraba Creek, but to turn around at the Sandstone Overhang.  On returning to the carpark we stripped down in the bathrooms and conducted yet more leech removal.  When we got in the car we saw the only other people in the park doing exactly the same "dance" in the shelter shed.  It was not the day for walking in the rainforest - way too many leeches!

https://parks.desi.qld.gov.au/parks/ravensbourne/things-to-do#toc-1

Change of plans - we headed back to Esk to visit the Glen Rock Gallery - beautiful Phil Lister photographs currently. 

https://www.sasiart.com.au/glen-rock-gallery

We had lunch at Lars Anderson Historic House which contains the Nash Gallery and Cafe - a lovely well priced serve of risotto.

http://nashgalleryesk.com.au/

Then on to Toogoolawah to see the inside of The Condensary, which holds the Somerset Art Gallery. The interior of the packing shed was burnt out in the past and it has been converted into a gallery space while retaining as much of the historical structure as was possible, including the bomb shelter built during WW2 to protect important documents.  I was glad to see this space - I had wanted to when we hike the BVRT but it was closed by the time we got there, so great to finally see how they had preserved this.

https://thecondensery.com.au/

Then the lovely drive through the country home.  Another great day's adventuring, even if did not follow the original plan.

Walkabout Creek Discovery Centre and Show, D'Aguilar National Park

 A local adventure today, another aspect of D'Aguilar National Park.  

https://parks.desi.qld.gov.au/parks/daguilar

This park is diverse and spreads from the Brisbane suburbs up into the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.  Today we visited the Walkabout Creek Discovery Centre and saw the Walkabout Creek Discovery Show, near the Enoggera Reservoir.  

https://parks.desi.qld.gov.au/parks/walkabout-creek-discovery-centre

https://parks.desi.qld.gov.au/parks/walkabout-creek-discovery-centre/things-to-do#wildlife_discovery_show

The Discovery Show was very informative and as advertised, catered for all ages.  The children present asked a variety of questions that were pertinent and well answered. The Wildlife Ranger explained the different types of National Parks Rangers as well as the goals of National Parks in protecting diverse habitats.  All the animals at the Centre are rescued animals and not suitable for release. The striped possum is one of only three in captivity in the world and was badly injured - it is believed he was dropped from a height by a bird of prey.

 

After the show we took a walk through the centre to see the other animals.  The tree kangaroo was very fast moving. The Wildlife Centre is set against the backdrop of Enoggera Reservoir - where you can swim.  It does not feel that we are just a minute or two from suburbia. The emu was very calm and stately, standing his ground quietly on the path and waiting for us to go around so he could continue on his stroll.

Reflections on Jatbula Trail

This hike is stunning – if it is on your bucket list – go and do it! It is a hike with plenty of down time and exploring time. The landscape reminds me that I am just a tiny blip in time and space (as are my challenges) and I stand in awe of the wonderful natural world!  Due to the limited numbers this hike allows you to really feel the location.  It does mean it books out very quickly, but if you can go at relatively short notice (few weeks) a cancellation during the season is definitely an option. We went with 15 days notice.  There are no decisions to make regarding the walk itself as the campsites are set for you, so just food and logistics to organise.

Lessons learnt: Greek yoghurt nut bars work better than chocolate ones in hot climates, a wet wrap placed around bag of liquid chocolate in shade will allow it to set and be eaten, look higher for arrows – most are 6 foot plus above the ground, jellybeans cope with heat much better than other jelly lollies like snakes

What would I do differently: take an underwater/waterproof camera, take antihistamines (if allergic to wattle), don’t bother with fly for tent (we had been advised this but it seemed impossible to us that there wouldn’t be dew – we were wrong), hang food in all campsites, take moisturizer – all the swimming dried my skin out, take a groundsheet with strings to create shade, investigate lightweight seating options

I collected a variety of “rubbish” on this hike – most of which appears to be forgotten items, most likely due to people leaving in the dark and not spotting an item.  I collected assorted scraps, 2 x tent pegs, Jetboil stove stand, pair of ladies underwear, D-shackle and a complete set of tent pegs.

We did this hike during the late August heat wave of 2024, temperatures in Katherine were 37 degrees or higher each day. On the high stone country they are considerably hotter.  My tips for this walk are:

• 1.     Carry lots of water – much better to be carrying too much than worrying that you will run out in the heat.
• 2.     Leave early – many of our fellow walkers left in the dark.  I really wanted to see the country between each waterhole, so we left each day between first light and sunrise. This was right for us.
• 3.     Rest regularly – better to take a little longer to get there and arrive in good spirits. Even with stops we arrived in camp by lunchtime every day.
• 4.     Swim fully clothed when you first arrive in camp, then set up camp while your clothes dry off, they will keep you cool as they dry.
• 5.     Protect these beautiful swimming holes by using clothing to protect yourself from the sun rather than sunscreen which contaminates the water.

Enjoy!