23/07/2016. Hiking 20km in a day.

Up a little early to get ready to walk the Ridge Walk, the Chain of Ponds Walk and the walk back to the start via the roads. This was 10km mountain walking, 2km of river gorge rock hoping and 8km of dirt road walking to return to our van. A grand total of 20km, with the elevation of around 800m assent. It was a big day’s hike, with great views on the ridge for the first 3’ish hours. There was a visitors book to sign at the very top at the lookout, and Tracy wrote in it for us. The climb down was very steep and I found that challenging.  We all enjoyed a wipe down shower and a veg out for 60 minutes before dinner.

22 July - School and the East MacDonnell Ranges

22 July 2016 – 179 551

School and the East MacDonnell Ranges

Packed up this morning, while Hayden was working on his Science and English for school.  We headed into town and went to the library to continue a school day.  The history utube clips would not play at the library, however they would at the Todd Street Mall free wifi.  After Hayden had finished his schoolwork we headed to Trephina Gorge Nature Park, where we are camped for the next two nights.  After setting up the van, we did the Trephina Gorge Walk which took us up on the ridgeline, looking down into the gorge; and then down along the base of the gorge.  Once again it was beautiful!  Early to bed tonight, with plans for a big walk in the morning. https://nt.gov.au/leisure/parks-reserves/find-a-park-to-visit/trephina-gorge-nature-park

Mum

22/07/2016. Trying to find the Internet.

School day today, so as Tracy and I packed up, Hayden continued his great run at his school work. We drove to Alice Springs town centre and parked ourselves in the public library. This had free desk space, power and free internet, so it was perfect to sit and get back on top of all our online jobs, whilst Hayden continued with his study. We then moved into the Todd Mall to use the free internet as it allowed YouTube and that is what Hayden needed to complete the day’s school work. We then drove East to Trephina Gorge and setup the van in a National Park camp site. We completed the Rim Top walk. This was only a 45 minutes’ walk, however it was a nice way to complete the day.

Week 5 from Hayden

Week 5 from Hayden (10 yo boy)

16/07/16
Today we got up and went to Gosse Bluff, a comet crater from over 100 million years ago.  It was massive! Then we went and did the Ormiston Pound Walk.

17/07/16

Today we went to the Ochre Pits (with caravan) and did the walk there.  Then we moved to Ellery Creek Big Hole and had a swim/dive in and get out.  I got out with amazing speed.

18/07/16

Mum and I did the Dolomite Walk while Dad packed down.  After, we did the Serpentine Gorge Walk as a family.  Then we drove to Standley Chasm and did the walk there, and the Larapinta Hill Walk and the Loop Walk, then we set up camp.

19/07/16

Today we drove to Alice Springs and I did a school work day.

20/07/16

Today I did a school work day and played on the jumping pillow and water slide.

21/07/16

Today we went and looked at aboriginal rock carvings and paintings.  Then we went to the Botanic Gardens, and then the Alice Springs Telegraph Station.  I learnt that there are two types of batteries, who the first blacksmith was, and who the station masters were.  Then we went to the Aviation Museum and played on the flight simulator.  Then we went back to the Big 4 for the games night; chess, checkers and bowls, and there was meant to be a movie but it didn’t happen.

22/07/16

Today we packed up and went to the library to do school, then we went to the Mall for internet for school work and I downloaded Minecraft.

21 July - Alice Springs National Parks

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Alice Springs National Parks

Ewaninga Rock Carvings Conservation Reserve was our first stop for the day – it is aboriginal rock art, but done by chiselling the rock, rather than painting, these are obviously very old, and must have taken many, many hours. https://nt.gov.au/leisure/parks-reserves/find-a-park-to-visit/napwerte-ewaninga-rock-carvings-conservation-reserve Next up was Yeperenye (Emily and Jessie Gaps) Nature Park, which has aboriginal paintings relating to a dreamtime caterpillar story – the individual paintings were much larger and in a completely different style to any aboriginal rock paintings I have previously seen.
https://nt.gov.au/leisure/parks-reserves/find-a-park-to-visit/yeperenye-emily-jessie-gaps-nature-park

We visited Olive Pink Botanic Gardens, however because it is the middle of winter, nothing was in bloom.  We saw a great number of different birds, including Ring Neck Parrots and a Western Bowerbird and his bower; while we had a picnic lunch. http://opbg.com.au/

After lunch we headed to Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve, where we took a guided tour.  This is the best preserved of the overland telegraph repeater stations, and is still in operational condition.  The buildings and furnishings are in excellent condition. https://alicespringstelegraphstation.com.au/ Hayden was keen to take Drew to the Central Australian Aviation Museum, where he showed him the flight simulator.  Hayden spent the evening playing chess and checkers with another boy, who had the ability to challenge him and beat him; sounds like he really enjoyed it!https://centralaustralianaviationmuseum.org.au/

Mum

21/07/2016. Tourists in Alice Springs.

Up and off without the van to see if we could go to a number of locations we were yet to see in the Alice Springs area. First we hit the awful NT dirt roads to visit Ewaninga Aboriginal Rock Carvings. This art was over a large area of rock considering it was all done with rock tools. We then headed to Emily and Jessie Gaps to see aboriginal painting on the rocks. To me this was a poor example of art and there was very little to see. The art was however different to anything I had seen previously. We stopped at the Olive Pink Botanical Gardens to walk around. Again I wasn’t to excited about the gardens. We then visited the Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve. This came with a guided tour, and the visit was very good. Great information both verbal and written, and I learnt a lot. Hayden also learnt more about a person he is doing school work on, so that as a great bonus. This was a must for anyone interested in the history of the area. This is also the location the Larapinta trail starts from, so we had a look. All 3 of us believe we will be back to complete this trail. Hayden then took me to the Aviation Museum to use the flight simulation computer, but we only had 20 minutes. We then did some quick shopping and returned to the van park to let Hayden be involved in the kid’s game night. There was also meant to be a movie, but it did not seem to happen.

19/07/2016 and 20/07/2016. Back to Alice.

As the washing machine was free to use, we did 3 loads in the morning whilst Hayden did some school work. Washing is costing as much as a night stay in a van park, so these 3 load will pay for one night for us. We then packed up and drove to Alice Springs to book into the BIG 4 for 3 nights. G’Day mate was full. BIG 4 is great for kids, so Hayden is getting some kid time. We had great showers and Hayden and I got haircuts, now it is back to warmer weather. The rest of the day and next were dedicated to Hayden doing school work with Tracy instructing, and myself doing maintenance on the car and van, plus I did a couple of runs into town to Woolies, Supercheap etc.

20 July - School Day

20 July 2016 – 179 379

School Day

This morning I started with a swim in the lap pool.  Today has primarily been a school work day, with odd jobs by Drew and I.   I gave both the boys haircuts this morning.   After school work was done for the day, Hayden and I headed to the waterslide.  It is 31m long and goes round, allowing us to get up to a decent speed. We had lots of fun!!  Hayden also spent quite a while on the jumping pillow!  It is a great park for kids and Hayden has got to have lots of kid time.

19 July - Maintenance Day

19 July 2016 – 179 297

Maintenance Day

Today started with a shower, what a lovely way to start the day; followed by three loads of washing.  After packing up we headed to Simpson’s Gap. https://nt.gov.au/leisure/parks-reserves/find-a-park-to-visit/simpsons-gap The Rangers Station here had all the information we might want of the West MacDonnell Ranges and other National Parks near Alice Springs, that the visitor centre in Alice Springs seemed unable to tell us where to source.  This again was a beautiful spot.  We headed into Alice Springs to have a few school days for Hayden.  Unfortunately, we could not get in at G’Day Mate Caravan Park, where we had previously stayed.  We are staying at the Big 4 MacDonnell Range Holiday Park – it has lots of stuff for kids.  https://www.big4.com.au/caravan-parks/nt/alice-springs-surrounds/macdonnell-range-holiday-park We have given the car and van a rearrange while Hayden has been doing school work.  After dinner we had a swim in the van park’s pool – 26 degrees, much more comfortable than the waterholes in this part of Australia.

Mum

18 July - West MacDonnell Ranges – Serpentine Gorge, Ellery Creek Big Hole and Standley Chasm

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West MacDonnell Ranges – Serpentine Gorge, Ellery Creek Big Hole and Standley Chasm

This morning we went to Serpentine Gorge and did a short walk to a waterhole and lookout (2.7km, 204m ascent, in an hour).  
http://traveloutbackaustralia.com/serpentine-gorge-west-macdonnell-ranges.html/
We returned to Ellery Creek Big Hole where Hayden and I did the Dolomite Walk; we saw tiny spiders’ webs in the spinifex, crickets, and some new flowers that we haven’t seen anywhere else.  Apparently this area has very high biodiversity because on one side of the gully is the red rock common to the area and the other side of the gully is dolomite; as a result the soil produced is richer in nutrients than most local areas.  This walk was 2.8km, and involved 179m of climbing.
https://nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/200036/ellery-creek-big-hole-fact-sheet-and-map.pdf

We packed up and headed to Standley Chasm, where we have camped the night.  We headed straight into Standley Chasm as the light only penetrates into this deep narrow chasm in the middle of the day.  This is impressive and the photos don’t do justice to just how narrow and deep this is – it would be amazing to see this with water flowing through. (2.4km, 50 minutes)
https://www.standleychasm.com.au/

The next walk went straight up, and I do mean straight up, to a lookout with an amazing view – Larapinta Hill Lookout – this had views in multiple directions.  This is part of section 4 of the Larapinta Trail, it looks like this would be a challenging section, very steep up and down.  Last up for the day was the Loop walk, which took us through a different type of country and again up to a lookout.  These two walks combined were 4.4km and took about an hour and a half, with 522m ascent.  Then we got to have showers, I feel so much nicer clean!

Mum

17 July - Ochre Pits and Ellery Creek Big Hole, West MacDonnell Ranges

17 July 2016 – 179 141

Ochre Pits and Ellery Creek Big Hole, West MacDonnell Ranges

This morning we packed up the van and headed East.  Our first stop was the Ochre Pits, these contained a wide range of colours and shades, from white through yellow, orange, red, brown and almost black.  It appears to be quite chalky in texture.  From here we did the Aranda Walk which

took us from the Ochre Pits to the Larapinta Trail.  This was 8.8km and took a bit over two and a half hours.  This was an enjoyable walk with a lovely mountain pass at the end, however it was not on the scale of beauty of the last two days' walks.  Hayden spotted a small reptile on the path on the way back which was happy to let us observe for a while. 
http://www.macdonnellranges.com/ochre-pits-visitors-information-guide.htm 
After lunch we moved on to Ellery Creek Big Hole where we have camped the night. https://nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/200036/ellery-creek-big-hole-fact-sheet-and-map.pdf
After setting up camp we went for a swim

(primarily to get clean), we went completely under water and scrubbed ourselves down – the water was freezing, although maybe slightly warmer than that at Ormiston Gorge yesterday.  Thankfully the air temperature today has been much warmer than the last few days and we quickly warmed up.  It is actually warm enough to consider a single short sleeved top, rather than five long sleeved tops at once which has been the norm for the last few days.  Time to relax this evening, ahh!

Mum

18/07/2016. Standley Chasm walks

We drove back to Serpentine Gorge for a short walk to the waterhole and the lookout. Both were nice, however I am glad they were only 2.5km, 50 min, 310m accent. We then drove back to the van and Tracy and Hayden completed the dolomite walk, which was a simple 3 km nature walk around the camp site. I packed up the van as much as I could during this time. We then moved to Standley Chasm. We were lucky as they let Hayden in for free, so with the walk and the overnight stay the cost was only $10 for the night. We completed the chasm, the lookout and the loop with lookout walks. The chasm lookout walk was very vertical, but a great little walk. Standley Chasm is a little run down, and the car park is the van park at night. The showers were very poor, but it was a shower and we did get a very little mount of hot water. There were only 2 vans and the Larapinta walkers, so it was a very quiet evening. 

17/07/2016. Swimming in the big hole.

Still freezing at dawn! We packed up the van and drove to the Ochre Pits. The approximately 100m of rainbow coloured cliffs were indeed a sight to see. I can see that the aboriginals would have loved the dust and how it became a very tradable commodity. We then did the Aranda walk, however apart from the stats, the walk was unremarkable for the region. 8km, 3h20min, 600m accent. We then drove to Ellery Creek Big Hole, and setup the van. We needed to have a good clean so we had a “swim”. When I say swim I mean that we did get in, and fully submerge our bodies, and rub ourselves down in all the important bits, however the stay was brief as the water was freezing. I had my head under the water approximately 5 seconds and I ended up with a brain freeze headache. The camp ground is all but empty tonight as all the locals have gone home at the end of the weekend.

16 July - West MacDonnell Ranges, Tnorala (Gosse Bluff) and Ormiston Pound

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West MacDonnell Ranges, Tnorala (Gosse Bluff) and Ormiston Pound

 Tnorala (Gosse Bluff) Conservation Reserve is the remains of a crater from a comet impact over a 100 million years ago – the comet was more than a kilometre in diameter.  Even after all this time it is an impressive site, the centre of the crater is 5km wide and has vertical walls that go 983m above sea level.  It was amazing to walk around inside and look up at the walls.  The lookout at Tylers Pass also gave a good view at the external walls.  https://nt.gov.au/leisure/parks-reserves/find-a-park-to-visit/tnorala-gosse-bluff-conservation-reserve

We decided to head to Glen Helen Gorge as we could not decide between Glen Helen Gorge or Ormiston Gorge for our next stop. 
https://www.glenhelenlodge.com.au/  
https://nt.gov.au/leisure/parks-reserves/find-a-park-to-visit/ormiston-gorge  

After dropping in at both it was clear that Ormiston Gorge would be our preference.  We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then decided to do the Ormiston Pound Walk this afternoon.  This starts by following the creek line and then heads through rolling hills.  The walk then climbs to a saddle and then down into a massive natural amphitheatre.  From here we hiked into Ormiston Gorge, this involved lots of fun rock hopping on a variety of rocks, from small boulders to large one metre cubes.  The rocks were an unusual pink to purple shade mixed with silver.  Near the end of the walk we needed to wade across the river.  This required removal of socks, boots and jeans, plus tucking up of top – and of course there was an audience.  The water was freezing cold for the first few steps, then numbness set in.  The first half of the crossing was fairly easy as the river bottom was sand, the second half was much harder as the base was a collection of rocks and getting my balance with numb feet was challenging.  Thankfully it did not take long to warm back up once dry and dressed.  We then continued following the creek line over sand and rocks back to the main swimming hole and the car park.  At the swimming hole we saw two White Breasted Herons, one in a tree and one wading in the shallow water.  All up this walk was 9.5km and took just under three and a half hours, with a total ascent of 770m.  Again, we all earnt our dinner.