Mt Gillen

We drove back to Alice Springs today and Dad dropped Mum, Kade and I at the Botanic Gardens. We had to do that because dad was going to get the car checked at the mechanic.  While waiting for dad to give us some news we walked up a small hill.  As we were walking up we saw a few rock wallabies and 1 had a little Joey in its pouch.  The view at the top was very pretty since Alice Springs is surrounded by mountain ranges.  After we picked up the car because it was all fixed, we drove back to the beautiful place we had stayed at when we first visited here.  We set up the caravan and then went to find Mt Gillen, where we wanted to do a massive climb to the top of the cliff.  By the end of the walk I almost fell asleep.  It was really tough but it was worth it.  When we got up to the top we had a 360 degree angel of the surrounding mountain ranges an town.  We spent some time up there making sure we saw the view from  every angel.  Back at the caravan I was exhausted, but for a treat we had a Milo after dinner.

It is very steep, this isn't even the steepest part.

Arltunga

Today we drove into a place called Arltunga, Central Australia's first town.  It was built because of a Gold Rush.  Once we got there we had a look at some old tools and kids toys.  We then drove to an area were there were some old ruins of the village there.  We walked through the ruins of the Post Office, Police Station, Gaol Cells and Managers Buildings.  We also went for a few walks and they including climbing down into some Gold Mines.  I found learning about the past very interesting.  We also drove to a place called John Hayes Rockhole for a look.  While we were there we also climbed up to a lookout to get a good view of the spectacular landscape.  Then we stopped again on the way back to the caravan for firewood so we could have another fire that afternoon.  I enjoyed sitting around the fire and it kept me nice and warm.

Trephina Gorge

We left Alice Springs today and drove into the East MacDonnell Ranges.  We decided to camp at the Panorama Campground at Trephina Gorge.  We set up nice and quickly and then went and did a walk at Trephina Gorge.  We first walked along the ridge top of the gorge and then did a U-turn back along the sandy creek bed.  Then we climbed up a mountain and had a spectacular panoramic view.  The rolling mountains, cliff faces and gorge really made the view so beautiful.  After climbing down the mountains and having lunch we drive off on a 4WD track to do the N’Dhala Gorge Trail Walk.  We walked along the trail and saw some more Zebra Finches and our first petroglyphs.  Petroglyphs are Aboriginal rocks carvings.  They were quite hard to make out but we found some.  Then we drove back to the caravan and collected some firewood.  Late in the afternoon, as the sun set, we lit a fire and sat around with some other travellers.

Simpsons Gap and Lantern Parade

We first drove today to a place called Simpsons Gap.  A beautiful gap in the rock cliff with a little pond in the middle.  Then we went to the Aviation Centre and had a close up look at some big planes.  The largest plane was open for the public to go in and take a seat while watching a movie about the planes history which was playing at the front end of the plane.  We then went to 2 more cliff gaps, Emily Gap and Jessie Gap they were smaller both than Simpsons Gap but still pretty and one of them had some aboriginal rock art too.  Then we went back to the caravan for a while.  Later in the afternoon we went to the Lantern Parade which was part of the Alice Desert Festival.  We followed Drummers, lanterns and a float which was just something crazy (I didn't know what it was) up through the streets to a stage where we listened to some Live Aboriginal Music after dark.

Alice Springs

We left GemTree today and drove all the way to Alice Springs.  Once we set up at Temple Bar Caravan Park we met the owners.  Kade and I got set a task to move 2 piles of rocks to a larger pile, if we did that we would get 5 dollars each.  We we spent 30 minutes wheeling the rocks from place to place and ended with a 5 dollar note in our hands.  

Then we left to drive around the town.  We chose to visit the School of the Air.  School of the Air is for kids who live in remote outback areas that cant drive all the way to school.  They instead go to school on the internet with their teaches broadcasting live on the kids computer screens and their worksheets come in the post.  We watched 1 of the teachers in the studio talking and teaching a year 9 maths class.  Kids in the range of 1.3 million square Kilometres all do School Of the Air where they are at home and their teaches are in Alice Springs.  The size of the (classroom) is double the size of Texas, 10 times the size of England, 3 and a half times the size of Germany and a little over twice the size of France.  Kade and I donated a book for one of the kids and left a little note.  It is expensive to keep the school running because each student needs a large satellite dish set up in their backyard and the school pays for it all.  We also drove past the old Telegraph Station.  

This is an actual online lesson.

This is the radio they would have used before the internet.

(This is one of the teachers giving a maths class on a whiteboard, there is a webcam above.)

Back at the caravan we got ready to go back into town for the Night Market.  We walked around a few of the stalls and tried a few pieces of food.  We also watched some amazing street performers do some amazing things.  One of the men holds 11 Guinness World Records and beat one of them while we were there.  Then a man put a spiral spring up his nose and spun it until it came out his mouth.  They also did amazing tricks with Cigar Boxes, then one lay on on a small bed of nails while the heaviest man stood on top of him.  It then became late so we drove back to the caravan.

Gemtree

Today we did some fossicking for gems.  We got a bucket of dirt (which hopefully contained gems), a bucket of water and 4 sieves.  We started our first scoop of dirt then washed the pile of dirt in the sieve.  We were told that if you lift up the sieve towards the sun you would see bright, transparent red things that were Garnets.  So we lifted up our sieves and saw heaps of little red lights.  So we started picking up all the Garnets and putting them into a separate can.  Most of the Garnets were little but we got some larger ones.  We kept going for 2 hours until our little dirt bucket was empty.  We got heaps of gems in the end including a few Quartz and Mica that we threw in.  We then took our gems to a sorter who picked 4 gems to turn in to earrings back home.  The rest we put in a jar together.  

We went for a walk in the afternoon and saw a beautiful Zebra Finch (a beautiful bird).  Then we lit a fire again to sit around later.

Devils Marbles

Today we had a big drive from Banka Banka Station all the way to a place called GemTree.  On the way we stopped at a place called Devils Marbles.  It was a place where there was beautiful, large, circle rocks stacked in the middle of a rockless range of rolling mountains.  Some of the rocks were split in half and one was so perfect you could see the inner coloured Granite.  

Then we stopped at a town called Aileron where there were some giant statues of Aboriginals.  A man was on top of a hill and a mother, child and lizard were at the bottom of the hill and we stood beneath them.  On the way we saw a strike of lightning from the clouds and saw our first rain in about 2 months.  In the afternoon we lit a fire to keep warm from the cold night.  That night there was a storm.  There was super loud thunder crack and lots of it.  Though it was pitch black in the caravan, every now and then I could see flashes of light from the lightning.  

Banka Banka

We left Daly Waters and drove to Banka Banka Station.  We set up and then walked over to find an adorable 5-7 month old donkey called Don Key.  He was so adorable that we had to feed him my carrot that was supposed to be my snack.  We visited Don every hour or so to keep him company.  Then one of the staff, Mike, let us walk along side the donkey as he went for his walk.  The donkey kicked with all feet in all directions and rolled in all the red dirt to make his fluffy white coat orange.  Then at sunset, we listened to some live music around the fire while we cooked some Marshmallows from Mike.

Mataranka and Daly Waters

Yesterday we left Kakadu and drove to Mataranka.  We set up and then walked to Bitter Springs to have a swim.  Bitter Springs is a Thermal Spring that you float down and then walk back to the start.  We floated down the warm waters with our noodles and snorkel gear.  We saw a few small fish and I saw one small Turtle.  

Today we left Mataranka but as we were leaving we had a swim at Mataranka Thermal Pool which was very nice.  We then drove to Daly Waters to camp.  We set up and then booked our dinner next door at the historic Daly Waters Pub.  Then we went back to the van and relaxed for a while.  Then later that afternoon we went over to the Pub and listened to some live music before and after a delicious dinner.

Maguk and Gunlom

Today we left and drove to our next stop Gungurul. After we set up we drove to Maguk.  We did a walk and came to a beautiful pumping waterfall with a very big swimming hole.  We jumped into the water and found it the perfect temperature, which came as a surprise since most of the swimming places we’ve been to lately have been freezing.  We swam around for a while and found some good ledges to jump off.  Then we climbed up to the top of the waterfall and swam in the pools up the top.  While we were exploring the pools, I found a small snake curled up on one of the ledges.  We also jumped off into the deep pools up the top.  We sat on the top of the waterfall and looked down to the pool below.  Then we left and went and had a swim at Gunlom Falls which was much colder and the waterfall was only a trickle.

Twin Falls

Today we first drove to Twin Falls after packing up the tents.  On the way we went though a deep creek crossing, it was the deepest one we’d been in.  It was so deep that a little bit of water came in through our doors, it was 600mm.  

Once we got there we had to catch a little shuttle boat and travelled peacefully along the crystal clear waters of the gorge while watching the fish and turtles swimming beneath us.  Then we arrived and climbed across rocks and travelled across sand and bridges until we finally arrived at the stunning Twin Falls.  There wasn't much water coming down the falls but it was still super pretty.  Then we walked back and drove all the way back to the caravan and then went to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre and we walked around the displays. 

Jim Jim Falls

Today we had another massive learning morning with the ranger Christian again.  We learnt more about the Art, Culture, Language, Land, Archeology, Moiety and Tools of Indigenous Australians.  We stayed there for a whole 3 hours and then went back to the caravan to pack the car. We were going to leave our caravan behind and go to Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls in our 2 little tents.  

After the drive on the dirt road was over and we had set up we drove to Jim Jim Falls.  We scrambled across large rocks until we came to the plunge pool but the falls were nothing but a slight drip.  That didn't make a big difference to how beautiful it was.  It was the biggest cliff face we had been at the bottom of.  The cliff was just magnificent.  We swam in the ridiculously cold pool and then went back to camp.

Ranger Talks

Today we got up early because we had to pack up up and drive to our next stop Mardugal Campground.  After we set up we went to Nanguluwur to do a Ranger Guided Walk with a guy named Christian.  We learnt loads and loads of things on plants and Aboriginal Culture.  Once we got to the end of the walk we ended at a wall filled with rock art dated from 30,000 years ago to 55 years ago.  There was lots of different kinds of rock art from different periods of time.  We stayed there for a while and learnt about a new Invertebrate as well as the art.  We then slowly made our way back to the car.  While we were at the caravan a dingo walked through our camp and then walked into the bush.  We then went to Yellow Waters watched the boat cruises take off.  We went on a short walk and saw 2 Brolgas (a large kind of bird), lots of Egrets and a big fire going in the wetlands surrounding us.  Then we went to Nawurlandja and did another Ranger Guided Walk with the same Ranger Christian.  We first went down Anbangbang Billabong and saw lots and lots of Birdlife.  We saw 2 Jabirus, 2 pelicans, lots of ducks, some Egrets and a wallaby.  Then we climbed up on to the lookout which was very special to me.  It looked out over woodland bordered by tall cliffs.  Then we went back for dinner.