Ormiston Gorge to Palm Valley

This morning saw darling Tim needing a bit of a sleep in as did a few others in the group. We are expecting a top temperature of 27° today and it dosen't feel like it will get to that as there is a nice cool breeze and we had a great night by the river at 2 Mile 4WD camping spot. Perfect sunset with a wine while Tim put up the tent. This worked better for him and was lovely for me.

Food ideas:

1. Buying a baccarat cooker is an awesome idea - Deanna and Gary made amazing lamb shanks for dinner and this will make its way into my next menu plan.

2. Buying already precooked and kryovaced choices like the Coles Lamb Shanks is brilliant. Thanks for modelling for us Robyn.

Today Tim had to spend some time fixing the charger. He checked the wiring and put new fuses in for a third time. He checked the wiring and it is all alright. He thinks it got water in it somewhere and I now know something about fuses. Did you know that fusee make a weak link in a circuit and if there is a short circuit the fuse will burn out which breaks the current. Also, Lee and Paul had trouble starting their car. This meant a later than needed start to the day.

Visits to two beautiful gorges today meant me becoming the brave swimmer and on a warm day this was not a hard thing to do. Firstly we went to Ormiston Gorge and it was a beautiful easy accessed walking path to a great swimming spot. We all decided to go in and get wet, Tim and I had a good swim in the cool water and it really refreshes you. Leah, Irma and I went for a decent paddle and I overcame my fear of black water and cold, iced decents into unknown waters! This place was a pond like water hole that had a sitting area when you first arrive to it. In the first photo here you can see us all wondering what the right thing to do is - so we decided to walk around the rocks and cross the creeky rocks and enjoyed a fabulous time together. It is an intresting feeling to be in such a remote place and to only have to walk 500m to see such a lush, magnificent and peaceful place. We had lumch here today and I think it is time I take on the logistic coordinator and then that way we all know where we are headed. One of our new crew missed this turn off this morning and we now know that we need to all keep in radio touch.

Another 23km onwards saw us arrive at the most amazing spot in my life so far, Redbank Gorge. This was a natural water hole but cut in the rocks between Mt Razerback and Mt Sonder. The walk into the water hole was 1.2km and the terrain was very rocky to go into. We all persevered and were treated to an amazingly spectacular experience. We have seen bigger water holes but when we got the courage to enter this one we were shocked. It was increadibly cold and nearly two hours after being in there I am just warming up now. There  we were entering the most amazing gorge that was mind blowing.

 We swam between these two ridges for about 4-500m where we had to climb over boulders, climb up a tunnel, cross sandy sections and be brave. I have two elbow bruises and and a sore neck but am happy to get over it and toughen up.

We are now 89km from Hermansnsburg and we are passing Gosse Bluff that is 914m high everything just looks spectacularly grand. We spent the night by the side of the Finke river and had an early night. It is tiring work all this travel, camp set up and pack up but the views and experiences are amazing.

Standley Chasm and the day of water...

On Tuesday 15th April (happy wedding anniversary Mum and John), we left Alice Springs to make our way to the West MacDonnell National Park. The indigenous name is "Tyurretye" and stretches for 161km west of Alice Springs. The panoramic views are nothing but spectacular.

The first stop today was the Standley Chasm where we were amazed by the cool breeze and the refreshing shade. This was quite a commercialised venue where you needed to pay an entry fee that went to the Angkerle Aboriginal Corporation ($10 an adult). This gave us (unchecked) access to the nature trail that was constructed by the prisoners from the Alice Springs Goal. I found this sad in some ways as the freedom at Ruby Gap was just natural, untouched beauty where I really appreciated the serenity.  It was a huge height to look up to and just inspiring to consider God's handiwork. This chasm is only 50km out of Alice Sorings and we have gone in the morning so we saw deep reds and our photos will be phenomenal. Ben took a vertical 360° panoramic shot and I hope this will be added onto this at some stage. It was only a short 15 minute walk into the chasm along a creek. The walk was beautiful as we saw cycads four times the size of anything I've ever seen. There were ferns and river gums and with a back drop of majestic cathedral height walls with a small pond at the end.

We made our way to ElleryCreek Big Hole, one of the largest permanent waterholes in the West MacDonnell National Park. It is a popular spot where I am sure we ruined the serenity for three young ladies (from England and France who work and travel around Australia on a 12 month visa) and discovered the lovely water hole where Irma, Joan, Leah, Peter, Amy, Travis and Dave all had a relaxing and refreshing swim. I went in up to my knees while Tim worked on our car. Our in car battery charger stopped working, it got water in they to fuse and shorted out. Rob and Tim repaired that and then it was still not working then they discovered there was another blown fuse going in front of the charger to the fridge batteries. Now we need to wait till the next town so we can fix it tonight.

Lunch (beef and Greek salad wraps) was enjoyed at Serpentine Gorge. This was named because of the snake like course that the creek has cut through the ranges. The aboriginal perspective of this location tells us that this is the home of the large and fierce water serpent and people only ever went there if they were disparate. The Altyerre (al-cha-ra) was the Dreamtime creation period before people and the indigenous people believe that all natural things we see in the world today are descendants of the Dreamtime. All weapons were left behind before entering this gorge and certain songs were sung to calm the water serpent.

We drive onto the Glen Helen Resort to try and get spare parts for the batteries and this is where we found an intresting old Meat House that was built in 1905 by Fred Raggatt who owned the Glen Helen Cattle Station. The building is made of white cypress which is durable and resists termites. It was last restored in 1988 and desperately needs to be rethached. The fuel cost here is $2.22!

Animals spotted today

1. Frog - swam to save his life after a serious accident

2. Wild budgerigars - beautiful to see the brings green fly across the blue sky

3. Lots of ants

4. On the lookout for peregrine flavons - saw the white splash on the cliff face

5. The banded grunter fish - one of five species here at Serpentine Gorge

Funny facts

1. You loose 90 hairs on your head a day - more when you are camping

2. Eyelashes re grow every 90 days

3. Dennis Naphtine is the Premier of Victoria

Garnets, caves and ...

Today is Sunday 13th April and we spent the night in Ruby Gorge where we woke to the pink sun gleaming through the ridges. We had a slow start and a nice sleep in where we woke to the sound of dingoes calling. After breakfast some of us (not Tim) went for the 6km walk to see the Glen Annie Gorge. The walk was worth it and we were rewarded by the spectacular views, sheer pinky red shelf coif face with water in the middle. Some had a swim and loved the refreshing coolness others like me were happy to stay on the side. Walking through the river bed you get tonthenpoint where there is sand and in there I found many of the glimmering red stones to be actual garnets. Just amazing! Thanks to Peter and Dave as I don't think Tim and I would have had a hope to find this track!

As we were leaving the gorge (1:30pm I did say we were having a slow day) tim decided that he had to see what was in one of the caves that can be seen from the side of the road. Needless to say he pulled over and we were second in the convoy to meet the self posed challenge. Happy to report that he achieved this goal and without sighting snakes, ants or getting any scratches. Thanks to Christoprher who cleared the way for me as Tim was like a man possessed, running up the rocks, through the scrub and  up to the cave half way up the hill. I am pleased tim did this though as he had said he wanted to yesterday and he did miss the Glen Annie Goeprge this morning.

We made it to the pub with no beer - Arltunga Hotel - just two days ago road access was blocked due to rains. This area was made famous by the explorer David Lindsay who sparked the first mining fish in the East McDonnells in March 1886. He then formed a mining company because by 1888 there were about 18 gold bearing quartz reefs here. Over the next decade they mined 100oz of gold. By 1898 this town opened a 10-stamper crushing battery and cyanide treatment works that the South Australian Government provided. This was the spot where everyone readjusted their tyre pressures from 25psi in the front to 35 and 27psi to 45 in the rear. This location is also the saddest place on earth for darling Tim (we are celebrating be kind to a Tim day today) who fortunately found a beer in the car!

So we are on the road again, and making our way to Alice Springs via the Ross Higway. All of a sudden we see a sign to Trephina Goroge and considering that a) it is only 6km off the track and b) it is 25° a swim could be in order. I missed th morning swim in the Ruby Gap so this is my big opportunity. I need to overcome the fear of not seeing the bottom of the water, the fact that these waters ar black, snakes, insects that bite, crocodiles, disentry, cholera and anything else I can think of! The track into this area is so lush and green, similar to Chump Creek in some ways in Gary's opinion. Well the rocks were great but there was no water in the gorge today and after surviving a swam of European wasps I was some what disappointed. Great photos to come soon!

Jervois Station to Ruby Gap Gorge

We have filled up after another lovely camp with ammenaties here at Jervois homestead - Tim has used 149L for 784km between Birdsville and Jervois Homestead. Peter Wynd is using unleaded fuel and has used 195L giving him a fuel consumption of 24.85L/100. This makes you see the economical differences between diesel and regular fuel.

The plan for the day was to do Cattleman Station track but we were advised that it has been closed by the police, station owners and the council opted to shut the track due to poor conditions. This renders this track impassable. The story we were told was that a family got bogged and nearly perished so that is serious enough to rethink our plans.

We are on our way to a place called Gum Tree - about 211km away - this is really outback, harsh conditions and very hard ground. There has been rain around us and the weather forecast is for showers clearing but we are yet to experience this. Lee's car was getting hot so we took a coffee break at the Mount Swan turn off on the Plenty Highway. It was nice to get out of the car and have a chat, kick the footy and a huge thanks to Robyn who loaned me a mug and Peter K for sharing some water as I really wanted a coffee! Interestingly there were quite a few trucks coming through and when we got going again there were cars both ways, always nice to see other people and wave. Tim tried to radio them and chat but they didn't respond, perhaps they couldn't hear him as his antenna has been broken since the Simpson Desert.

 We are now driving beside the Harts Range and the mountains are just spectacular to see after so long on flatter tracks, we are making our way past one very small town with one police station and just a few houses - so remote!

We have now entered Binns track 4km before the Gum Tree caravan park. We are passing mount Johnstone, this area has been a good mining area in the past and we have found a fossicking area. Zircon is a clear diamond like stone - interesting, but no we didn't find any. We did find mica, a hard heavy rock and interesting other things such as a huge red headed spider and a pool where you could explore and fossick. And it was one of the few times I did not take my camera! Will be relying on others to add some images to this post!

There has been a lot of rain around this region and we have had a car change from blue to desert red as we have been travelling on Binns track where we have found ourselves driving through 7 mud holes this afternoon. We passed Mount Johnstone, Mount Scott 1052m and are making our way south where we can see the Narbib Range in front of us on the horizon. As Lee just said we have moved from flat driving to mountainous where it feels similar to Lake Eildon. The grasses here are so much greener. We are travelling on aboriginal land and it is part of the Atatyeye community along the Hale River.

We had lunch beside one of the Rocky Mountains and then a group of us decided to climb it. I got half way up which was good enough to see the beautiful panoramic views. When we were up there we saw a windmill and water tank so needless to say we explored them, found them and discovered that it was a working and operating cattle yard so needed to go immediately. We now have 115km to get to Rub Gap Gorge and so far have gone through some really wet and deep mad puddles. We have lost vision in two bog holes and driving through them is scarey and the car is seriously dirty - no window viewing for me now!

The drive this afternoon took us past the private "The Garden" property where there were lots of cows, flocks of budgerigars and again a very different environment from earlier in the trip. The red earth is so red, so so very red and it goes everywhere. Lee in particular loves getting his car dirty every opportunity he can find, when we go around a puddle you know who will be right there in it! There are just so many bog holes and after another two we are seriously needing a wash. We went past another large station called "Ambalindum" along the Binns Track.

We went into the Arltunga Historical Reserve Property and met Keith and Maggie Silver who have been looking after this property for 14months and have been helping on stations for 9 years travelling, mining and work 6-12months around Australia. This property was originally providing vegetables and sheep for the miners -originally built in 1908 with many added extensions. Drought tolerant cattle farm - a bread with semetel and Brahman - 600 head of cattle sold a month. They buy stores - skinny cows and then feed them up and then sell them off. They have a truck and inspects the cattle, checks teeth, weight and then makes a deal to pick up. It is a gamble and 2-3 months later is the only way to know if the risk pays off. They have Argentinian water - underwater 35-36 bores  all needing to be checked. About half of the bores take about 4hours in one day and the other half takes about seven hours. There are not set jobs but you need to have some mechanical ability and the knowledge of the land where you have an eye for looking out for what needs to be done. Keith and Maggie have a brumby foal who's mother was starving and had to be put down when Banjo, the brumby, was only two weeks old. She was hand reared from that day forward and is now a happy and very healthy eight month old brumby foal with a cheeky personality who loved to be pampered. W had a pat and she even had a nibble on my hand, didn't bite and had this cute lip movement that made her very endearing to see. We were officially shown dingo poo and leant that 

Dingo poo is so dark because it is full of blood - they kill 33 dingos a month as they don't eat the calves they just kill them and leave them so they travel with a gun and are allowed to kill them as they are considered vermin. The dingoes had pups (1-2) in December and are dreadful because they only eat part of the calf from its bottom - so sad - while it's alive and then leave it to die. We were taken on a great tour of the historical property and all made to feel very welcome. Keith and Maggie are expecting over 36 people over Easter and often have overnight campers stay at their property. What a lifestyle. Thanks Keith and Maggie, for your generous and friendly hospitality.

We have had a great drive and about 14km away from the Ruby Gap site when Lee's radioed that he had broken two studs and now only has three left on his bad wheel that has been causing so much damage and trouble this last few days. The drive has been rough but we will make our way onto the Gap slowly. This will make it a late set up but the views are amazing and we have been stoping to take some great pictures - even Tim has been using the camera.

Clean, clean, clean

Washing has been a major focus of the past 24 hours. Everyone was in the same boat - we were all on a mission to get all the sheet, clothes and towels washed and dried ready for leaving today. However, we are not moving too quickly and we even had a sleep in.

Fixing cars was the priority of the morning. Lee's car needed a lot of work. They workd together to replace the wheel studs and replaced the front universal left hand front wheel joint. Peter Wynd was a local hero in this case. Today saw us wave goodbye to the Wynd family as they continue their trip in another direction and we will continue to the west and then south. Then Peter K got tyres and Tim fixed his front lights all out he front of Repco Auto. We were a living advertisment for the store! Then we decided to high pressure wash the car and you should have seen what come off in the drains - it was filthy! We walked over to the McDonald's and had a quick bite to eat and we had to wait for everyone to be ready. There was so much that needed to be done - washing and drying of clothes, reorganising the ute, packing the clothes away in a new way for better access and shopping. I went food shopping with Urma, Joan, Leah and Amy. We some how managed to fit all of the three families groceries into the one car! I don't know if I need all of what I bought but I went a bit mad to see such great produce and at such good prices too! Tim went in the the Beferage family and bought a few more things too.

Anzac Point on the hill overlooking Alice Springs and it offers a great 360° view around the whole of Alice Springs. The monument was dedicated to the Rev. Harry Griffiths (1895-1987) in 1934 where the ashes of his wife have been interred. The aboriginal people call thi hill "Untyeyeartwilye" a name derived from words meaning corkwood and story. This hill is the site of the Corkwood a Dreaming and tells of the explanation for the creation of the landscape. Their story is about a woman who lived alone on the hill and avoided the company of women. This site is also associated with the Caterpillar Dreaming where reference is mad to the rocks in the Todd River. The Corkwood tree is a small, gnawed tree with cork like bark and spider like flowers. The aboriginal people suck the nectar directly from the flowers or mix it with water and the bark is burnt and the charcoal ground for medicinal purposes such as sors and cuts. Alice Springs is one of the world's oldest and most stable geological areas. It is biot on the Todd and Charles River flood plains in the heart of the MacDonnell Ranges which extends 400km east and west of the town. These ranges are encircled by thousands of square km of desert. The aboriginal people, the Arrernte, have lived through hunting and gathering in and around Alice (Mparntwe) for over 20,000 years says one sign up on the hill and this makes me think deeply about creation and the sheer amazing power of God. 

We are planning on heading to the MacDonnell Ranges that are intersected by waters. However, after fixing Lee's car, getting two new wheels on Peter and Leah's car, washing, refuelling and a McDonald's  fix we now have new problem - Rob and Urma's car has an issue but fortunately it is Monday afternoon (3:45pm) and Nissan dealer is open so we will wait and see what their diagnosis is, let's hope it is nothing major as this might mean another night here in Alice. I have been sitting upon the hill writing this post today and I am surprised at the high volume of tourists that all come here, some in buses (4 while I have been here) others in expensive clothing smelling lovely who take a few snaps and leave. I have loved reading the stories up here today as I so wanted to visit the Ryoal Flying Doctor Service and see the school of the air that my cousin used to work at. However, between shopping, cleaning, washing, drying, fixing and helping we have not seen much. Everyone says there is not much to see but from here I can see the church, the Our Lady Collage and even a shopping centre with a target sign in the distance. Many people have come from the GHAN which is in the distance and I am sure there was a movie director looking at scenery and discussing shoot locations with a very, very glamours lady who looked like a movie star and she was even wearing stockings...camping is taking its toll on me, miss the creatures of comfort from home a lot today.

This afternoon five of eight cars made their way to the Simpson's Gap. See welcomed Chris and his son Ben who are travelling in a Mitsubishi Pajero. And we also welcomed Kim Mosely and her son Travis who is on his L plates and driving a red 100series Toyota land cruiser. We met them last night in Alice a springs. So together with the Beveridges, Gary and Deanna Chaseman and ourselves we went for a drive leaving  the Krikas family with Lee Youn and Rob and Urma who are awaiting to hear about their car. We went past the John Flynn burial place and had a great discussion about his life chanigning works with the royal flying doctor service. The  Chaseman's went to the Royal Flying Doctor Service Museum this morning so a lot of great information was shared between us all.

When we made it to Simpson's Gap we were all amazed by it's sheer awesomeness. My camera could not fit the grandness into one image.

Batton Hill and the back of beyond

Last night we made it to Batton Hill where we were treated to a real indigenous camp site.

Welcomed by our hosts Wayne and Joan, son of Lindsay, and their two children Sachua a little girl of two years of age and her older brother by one year! Tobias

We followed Wayne (except for Peter K and Lee) out of the property and onto the Batton Hill track. This track at 9:50am is only 25° when we came across a whole herd of cattle with their calves at their waterhole which was beside the track, a line we are following via Mud Maps an app that Peter has downloaded and researched.

Each day brings a new texture, and today we find ourselves on two shaley mountain ridges. We climed both of these and particularly liked the climb to the top on the second one. Tim reversed up the mountain top until we were on a 35-40° angle on the hill - parking on there was amazingly challenging and to get out of the car I was particularly scared. Then we took a few pictures from the base and then the real challenge started - climbing to the top of the ridge. I am proud to say that I did stop half way but then saw everyone up there and took a deep breath and decided to go all the way up. And you've got it - I made it to the top - shale everywhere and my fear of heights overcome for today!

We have been following tracks to Tarlton Station and these tracks are difficult not only terrain wise but they are unmarked and we are trusting Peter and Dave who are following GPS signals and could never follow this on a paper map. Needless to say we found a third hill and just had to go up - in reverse to save the water - then down the steepest hill - but that I am sure it was 45° this time but Tim is proud of the car no doubt.

It is now midday and 31° and we are during along a dried river bed/creek that is aledgedly a graded road as we were told by Wayne last night. So we all get going again to only find ourselves needing to go in and out of the creek bed road! We get to the next one and Tim and Dave  both had wheel lifts happening just to get back in. We all get in and wait until each car can get through even Louise who is driving Wyndy's got through - impressive driving with heaps of flex happening! All of a sudden we find our selves at the Southern Cross wind mill which would pump water for the stock yards but there are so many dead cows that it is quite confronting. This land is so arid and dry - red and browns with black tree truncks. A very hard and harsh lied to live I'd say! Peter K went in the water tank with Robyn and I thinking only of disentry, eye and ear infections and other serious health issues. Then Lee makes his way to the top of the wind mill with the blades going awfully close to his head - report headlines would not be favourable at this point of the trip! All well but definitely not having morning tea today and might have to reconsider my feelings about the beef industry, RSPCA and vegetarianism. All Tim can do is think about ways to cook other animals such as Turkey in the smoker back at the Batton Hill camp base.

So off we go again making our own tracks now to find these mountains, we seem to be getting close when all of a sudden we come to a holt to discover that Peter K has a flat. We couldn't get his spare out so Lee kindly offerd his spare. So we get over that one to only get a little way further when Lee (probably egged on by Tim's enthusiasm) went over another small tree (same as Peter) and got an instant flat tyre. So we decided to climb the mountain (Peter's dream) first and what a view it was.

So we get back to Lee's car who had loaned his spare wheel to Peter, then we got Peters spare from underneath his car and put it on Lees car. But the wheel nuts wer not tightened properly and they damaged the rim. So we had to take that rim off, remove the tyre then put it on another rim. Then we do a tyre change on his rim. It was interesting watching the men all work together and to see the sheer way that they nicely worked together and their combined knowledge come together was a real bonding moment of camaraderie. While all of this was happening the girls could do nothing more than chat about things and I am really loving getting to know each and every one of the 5 other ladies.

We are making it back to Jervois and it is about 73km till we fuel up and pull up for the night. It has been a big day and full of issues with tyres and now Peter K has has a blockage in the fuel system as there is some debris in his tank. No worry for him as he sped off at 100-110km/hour while we carefully traversed the dirt road - Plenty Highway - at a sensible and consistent speed of 80-85km/hour looking out for Lee behind us and keeping in radio contact with Peter W and Gary. We finally made it out of the Tarlton Range to Jervois where we can get fuel and get out of the car.

Animals sighted

1 lizard

1 kangaroo

Heaps of dead cows 

Over 40 termite mounds

A herd of cattle

Food ideas

Great to have cheese and biscuits in the car

Love the Waeco mini fridge inside the car

Premade wraps are a champion set up

New day new experiences

Another lovely sunrise in the middle of the Hay River track. We are about 2/3 of the way through now and it is hard getting up and packing up and setting up each day but it is worth it to experience this. Today is the seven day mark and I can honestly say I am surviving the trip.

As we were leaving Rob had a diesel warning where the carbon needed to be burned off to do a regeneration. But this can not be done while we are 4WD here in the desert. Peter Wynd is a mechanic and was able to educate us all on the science of carbon mechanics - basically I have been educated in a whole new area of thinking.

We have had a trianchular in Peter's car and after the discovery of the world's biggest spider last night I am sure it won't be the last one we find today.

We have been discussing the indigenous history and culture today as we discovered that parts of the track have been burnt. Interestingly Lee and his while family have been made honorary members of an indigenous community. Lee has been able to share many interesting stories and has been fabulous at helping get people out of trouble. Today we have had Peter W and now Gary bogged. We are on the river bed and the sand is very soft making a seven car track quite messy for all - today we are car seven and at 12:30pm we will be using max tracks to enable Gary's car to launch off that and then get going.

Lake Caroline was such a huge surprise instead of water and lush green areas we were delighted to see yet another colour - black carbon or iron ore covered flood planes - an 11km stretch of reds, black, desert rocks and red dried mid flats. While we we're out there we were busy tracking camel foot prints and found camel beds too. With that were then offered lead car position where we were able to see a family of three. They were amazing and I only hope my pictures come up ok as they are on the good camera. Seeing camels in the wild was good and we certainly didn't expect that. Then to be asked to go up the front and be the car that scared them away was nice but at the same time sad because I knew we were why they were fleeing.

Camels before lunch and the again after lunch! This time we found a  complete skeleton on these left side of the track. It was amazing to see the size of the bones and the skull. 

This afternoon has seen us discover a dingo water hole where we were able to full up our 120L roof top tank with bore water. This way everyone will be able to have a shower if there are none at Batton hill when we get ther tonight. At 4;30pm we still have 70km to go so we need to keep moving and we lost quite a bit of time on the sand and filling up the tank. This has led to fuel discussions and I have just realised that we have 2 x 90L tanks in this Toyota land cruiser ute so this 4.5L V8 turbo diesal is coping brilliantly as are all of the cars regarding fuel capacity.

This is Paul filling up a weather bottle to take on the trip. I washed in the water but had second thoughts about drinking it, happy to wash and shower in it though!

So we have been driving north up the Hay River track now and we are on the last 60km

Sightings:

Mt Winkie 277m high named after Charles Winike who explored this region in 1883

Mt Smith 294m above sea level 

Mt Tiekens is the third mountain measuring 311m I think, getting teased for writing facts and blogging like a teacher.