I ended up staying just over five weeks in The Alice. I settled in at Kate and Julia`s very comfortably thoroughly enjoying the company, conversation, golf, walks, weather, tourist attractions and general NT lifestyle. And, with a bit of help from old mate Bertie who lives up the road, did some running repairs to the dunny which suffered two separate failures while the van was parked on the girl`s verge. Firstly the flush stopped flushing. It had happened previously whilst I was in Covid lockdown at my daughters`s place in April and my son in law fixed it then. Fortunately I had assisted and Youtube also offered great guidance. I pulled it apart, unseized the pump and, you beauty, it worked!
The second failure was a much bigger problem. There was a breakdown in the mechanism used to open and close the poo/wee hole in the storage tank. It was stuck open.....smelly and not good (even worse if I was towing)! I emptied the partially full tank, removed the part and cleaned/disinfected it, then set about discovering the issue which, with a bit of help from Google, I was able to do. While I didn`t have the tools to fix it Bertie did and between the two of us we got it up and working better than ever.
So now the shitty stuff is done let me talk about my fantastic time in The Alice. We played golf, golf and more golf. Some days it was pretty hot and some mornings quite cool. One day there was even a bit of early fog strung along the range. It was beautiful. The only downside was that I played a whole heap of absolute crap for the entire five weeks!
Aside from playing golf I explored, over the course of several days and in company with Julia and her friend Caroline, the MacDonnell Ranges. Simply amazing! Firstly we headed out to the west for the relatively short 51 km drive to Stanley Chasm (Angkerle Atwatye). The deep red cleft in the West MacDonnells (Tjoritja) has been gouged through sandstone by millions of years of floods creating a narrow chasm 80 meters deep.
From Trephina we continued a little further east to pay a visit to the historical Ross River Resort. It`s a little run down these days but full of character, especially in the original Loves Creek Homestead built in the 1890`s. It now serves as a reception, restaurant and bar for guests camping or being accommodated in the bunkhouses.
On our way home we dropped into Emily and Jessie Gaps (Yeperenye). These are sacred sites of the Central Arrernte people and part of the caterpillar dreaming story which tells the tale of how Alice Springs was formed.
The day before I left Alice the three of us girls hit the road before dawn to drive 135 km to Ormiston Gorge in the west MacDonnells. The temperature was forecast to be in the low 30`s so we aimed to be on the Pound Walk track by 8am. The 9 km trek, some of which was over very rocky terrain, would take between 3 and 4 hours. We carried plenty of water and food and set out on time. The first part of the track took us on a climb to the top of the Pound - so quite a bit of uphill. At the top we stopped for a cuppa and some morning tea.
We then descended into the pound to cut across into the river bed and enter the gorge.
We then followed the predominantly dry river bed through the gorge and back to the carpark. The scenery and experience had been awesome but we were pretty bloody buggered and hot by the time we got to the car 3 hours and 20 minutes later. The aircon in the Jeep was a huge relief!
On the way back to Alice Springs we stopped for lunch at Ellery Creek Big Hole (Udepata). It`s one of the more popular spots visited in the area as it has permanent water in which swimming is allowed and is very accessible without a big walk from the car park. We decided to refrain from a swim as the water is extremely cold - the lap pool back at Kate and Julia`s held much more appeal!
I was lucky enough during my stay in The Alice to experience a couple of major local events - Red Centrenats and Parrtjima. As a bit of a motor racing enthusiast I was excited to be able to attend my first ever drag race and burnout competitions. The cars on display were beautiful though the burnouts and racing were very noisy.
Parrtjima is an authentic annual Aboriginal festival showcasing the oldest continuous culture on earth through the newest technology. Utilizing in part the 300 million year old canvas of the MacDonnell Ranges, the free event, which runs over seven consecutive days, is not only a digital light spectacle but also has a program of performances, interactive workshops, music, films and talks. It was fantastic!
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