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Our arrival in Alice Springs after an uneventful 4.5hr journey from Yulara was a very pleasant surprise. I'm not sure what I was expecting - maybe a barren town with drunks on every corner - but having the MacDonnell ranges greet you a few km's outside Alice, with lush green parks, manicured verges, artistic sculptures and roadside art was not what I had anticipated at all. We checked into the MacDonnell Ranges Big 4 caravan park - upgraded ourselves to an ensuite site! - and it had 2 big pools, toddler pool, plus 2 jumping pillows to boot, plus plenty of activities like Sunday pancakes (just missed them), Star Talk with a very knowledgable astronomer on Tuesdays, games nights etc. They even had someone escort you to your site and could help you reverse if required (think we're getting the hang of it now). Girls were thrilled!Our first mission in Alice Springs was to complete some much needed repairs to the gas valves, and our 12V system decided to play up too, so we dropped it into BT Remote Solutions whom we'd made an appt with from Yulara on recommendation, and could not speak highly enough. The guys made some very helpful suggestions and kept our camper all morning while we had a self-guided tour of town. Excursion #1 was to the famous "School of the Air", servicing 119 students in remote cattle stations, indigenous communities, northern islands and tourist destinations (like Yulara) up to Year 9 level. It was an amazing set up - each year gets a new teacher, and older year levels have specialist teachers for specific subjects; with communication done via their own satellite link (no drop outs like skype). All kids have a home tutor which might be a parent or another person (such as a work experience student teacher) who assists when not online. The school showed a great video about the history of the school which the girls found frankly quite boring and long, but they were entranced by the lesson itself viewed behind a glass screen into the studio with a monitor so we could see the teacher, which students were online, and the book she was reading. Subject of the day happened to be my girls' current obsession - animals that live in ice and snow (very appropriate for desert dwellers) - and she read a book about penguins and polar bears and discussed it with each student voicing their interest.Afterwards, we adjourned into the centre of town (parking atrocious) for a very decent coffee and lunch, before venturing into some of the vetted art galleries. Alice Springs is a bit of a mecca for people from all over the world with an interest in Indigenous art. We spent a while looking at various different works before settling on 3 different female artists. The friendly fellow gave us a pretty reasonable price I thought and wrapped them up for delivery due when we arrive home. Can't wait to see them up on our walls.A bit more of a look around town, and back to pick up our repaired camper for set up #2. I headed up the hill at 7pm to attend the Star Talk, hosted by a very knowledgable astromer poining out the finer points of the night sky. We had 3 planets and a 1/4 moon to view in his telescope and also were in luck with the International Space Station flying overhead for a short while.Day 2 in Alice started cold but turned into a beauty, so we packed a picnic lunch and headed out to the West MacDonnell ranges for a small taste. First stop was the beautiful Simpsons Gap about 30km from Alice, complete with tadpoles and rock wallabies, and also the site of the grave of John Flynn, founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Our helpful repair guys had suggested this spot as a good spot to take the kids and they weren't disappointed. There was an easy walk into the Gap and we spotted about a dozen rock wallabies on the opposite bank. Next stop was the wonderful Standley Chasm, a further 30km, which is set on private land and therefore had a fee. Apparently it was the site for 'secret womens business', and a very pleasant 2km walk through leafy gullies and over streams took us to the Chasm itself. Very pretty, even with quite a few Russian tourists en route.On arrival back into Alice, our last port of call was the Alice Springs Reptile Centre. I was a bit dubious parking outside as the entrance fee was a whopping $40 and it looked like a bunch of tin sheds, but the set up inside was fantastic, with loads of snakes, all sorts of lizards, turtles and a freshwater croc. The girls had a cuddle with an Olive Python, held a Bearded Dragon, and patted a Simpsons goanna called Ruby who wandered around the floor getting underfoot. A very worthwhile afternoon.Stopped at the local butcher on the way back to camp for some excellent sausages, and bought up a few bits and pieces, and arrived back just in time to meet our friends from Wilpena Pound who'd spent a few days at Kings Canyon. Everyone spent the rest of the afternoon catching up by the jumping pillow and later at camp; it's most likely the last time we'll meet up again and we're heading off early tomorrow and don't think they'll catch us, so a final goodbye.The 520km drive from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek was a lot more interesting than expected. We'd hoped to get a bit further, but after stopping quite a few times, we decided that a proper caravan park, rather than a roadside stop was the go. Around 120km north, is Aileron (our second BIG thing on the trip with Amatyerre man on the hill and his family outside the gallery next door); then we stopped at the Red Centre Farm for some mango icecream, dried mangoes, and some takeaway lunch (they make mango wine and regular wine here too, but didn't try); then the obligatory photo stop at the "UFO sighting capital of Australia in Wycliffe Well (if you're a small town struggling to make ends meet, this is a great idea); and finally a pretty quick walk around the Devil's Marbles (amazing large round rocks piled on top of one another) before we called it quits at a very nice caravan park on the outskirts of Tennant Creek.
- comments
Lee Goller Fabulous photos! and loved the commentary! I have only been to Alice Springs twice, I realise - once when I was 14, and once when Geoff and i drove through there to get to Darwin. Changed a bit, I guess! The paintings look terrific!
Julie R So very pleased you are a;loving the trip. The girls will be growing by the minute with the experiences they are having. Lots of lovely memories are flooding back each time I open the slide shows. Cant wait for the next one. enjoy every minute you have out there, we have the best and most diversified country in the world. More need to get out there and explore
Miles Super dooper space troopers. It all sounds really cool. The night sky must be clear with no light pollition. Seeing Space Station must have been a high light. Polar Bears and Penguins, keep an eye open for them. Happy Travels Space Troopers !