Alice to Daly Waters Day 29 to 33

Alice Springs is a hard place to grasp. The river cuts a path through the MacDonnell Ranges which rise up sharply to the East and West. The town is dead flat and all the buildings low with corrugated iron fences keeping the suburbs hidden. Old Alice is a rough old bird. BIG 4 had us back in the lap of luxury. Hot showers, power, camp kitchen and for the adults, giant jumping pillow. If you are unfamiliar with the term “Jumping Pillow”, let me explain. Imaging a cross between a jumping castle and a trampoline. The pillow shape rises out of the sand and seems to handle an infinite number of bouncing kids.

Lissa had requested a day trip to Palm Valley where she’d been with her Mum 20 years ago. Palm Valley sits in the West MacDonnell Ranges 130km from Alice. It is a surprisingly beautiful drive along a flat road with jagged mountains either side parallel to the road. Swarms of Budgies fly erratically from gumtree to gumtree. After turning off the sealed road the dirt becomes river sand then river rocks. It was a beautiful drive with a few bits of real 4wding as we approached the natural spring. 

We walked along the ridge above then along the valley with its pools and giant palms. The kids photographed their first really noteworthy lizard. 

On our way home we were attacked by a squadron of Budgies. It was the last mission for one of the brave little pilots as he tried to enter our car through the windscreen.

Tuesday night, Kael and I had a crash-course in star gazing with a local astronomer. Wednesday night in the TV room, I single handedly fought off a bunch of uncultured campers who preferred Tour de France highlights to the State of Origin. Barbarians! I stood firm despite their mind games until reinforcements arrived.

A detour heading north saw the kids digging for gemstones in Gemtree. Garnets and Zircon are the main prize along with Rubies and Mica.

One of the surprising highlights of our trip has turned out to be camping at the Devil’s Marbles. This place rocks. No really, it’s too good to credit to the Devil. According to the information bay (even more reliable than Wikipedia) it all began 1700 million years ago with some cracking of the granite layer into columns. Throw in some lava and some chemical weathering and BINGO, hundreds of giant orange boulders. In this explanation there is no mention of the Devil, or the other guy.

 

The campground is surrounded by piles of boulders which appear in pockets all the way to the horizon. It’s a photographer’s dream. Endless shapes and sizes of rock set amongst spinifex and smooth white gums. It is ready made for exploring and climbing. 

They could charge plenty for such an experience and I’d pay happily. What dish would you suggest for such a location? Why, Aloo Matar of course. Potato and pea curry with rice and a campfire. Priceless.

Before Tennant Creek we stopped to assist a stranded local family who’s Falcon had stopped short of town. After a few successful jump starts where the engine soon faded and stalled it became clear that the battery was not their main problem and they weren’t going to make the footy. All we could offer was fruit and water to the 8 of them as they waited for someone from town. 

After passing the rough diamonds of Tennant Creek and Elliot we enjoyed our warmest night so far in Daly Waters Pub campground. The kids fell asleep listening to the storytelling, poetry and questionable jokes of the evenings entertainer. There is not much competition on this stretch of the Stuart Highway but the beef and barra meals were drawing quite a crowd. Sadly our budget does not allow for pub meals, however tempting they look.

There have only been a few stops where we haven’t chatted to someone nice. Plenty of farming families amongst the city slickers and gromads. Dairy farmers from Gippsland, Cotton and Wheat farmers from Goondiwindi, Chook farmers from Emerald and a Poppy farmer from Sassafrass, Tasmania. There is certainly camaraderie between campers. Maybe we are all a bit lonely, or it’s just the fact that we have one obvious thing in common. Maybe I’ve been in the city too long…