Grampians - Sunny Sunday

The weather was much better today and we wandered back up the twisting mountain road up amongst the peaks and views. The first view today was so much better than the cloud blanket from yesterday with the vista over the valley and town below.

Wandering back down the road we arrived at another great lookout right next to the car park, and a 1km walk along a well groomed path we arrive at, yup yet another lookout, this time with the Jaws of Death as an added attraction. These are two rock fingers sticking out, looking like a pair of the titular Jaws. People used to be able to walk the 4-5 ft out on the lower one but this is now discouraged: probably in case you slipped and fell the 200 ft to the valley, although to be fair it looks like you could break the rock by jumping up an down a few times.

Bored with the vistas we now reversed the process and went to look at McKenzie falls. Great views, and other than some steep steps down the side of a gorge, an easy reach from the car park. For those of a lazy disposition the Grampian's so far were great: let the car do the work, park at the 1,500 ft view point and admire.

Clearly this was too easy and we drove the hour north to Hollow Mountain. I lost the road to this mountain car park a couple of times and badly judging the petrol gauge suddenly panicked and drove back down the road we had come. Staring for 30 mins at a fuel gauge at zero, shallow breathing and waiting for the hiccuping of a car running out of fuel. We somehow made in to the "petrol station" which consisted of a shed and 2 pumps in a caravan park, and the need to ring a bell to get the warden out. Suitably replenished (the kids also managed to wheedle chocky bars out of me) we returned to Hollow Mountain.

Banished was the easy walk to the view, this time taking on some pretty serious scrambling, for 1.5 hours to reach the top. The mountain gets its name from the endless fissures seeming to run through it, creating a couple of interesting caves we had to traverse. The girls did really well and the views were worth it, the weather by now providing typically Aussie, cloudless skies with a glaring sun.

Rockclimbing was popular here and we met some climbers on their way down carrying what looked like gym mats. I've climbed (very badly) in the past and this was an odd replacement for ropes, carabiners etc. All became clear when we went through one of the largest fissure/caves. Loads of climbers were practising a form of extreme climbing, trying to follow the impossible grooves in the ceiling while having their little mats below them for their backs!

The Grampians

They're not far from Melbourne, you can fit them into a long weekend, and they're recommended. The Anzac day weekend was ideal, as Melbournians all stayed at home being far more patriotic than the Brits - well actually watching the Anzac Day matches. Unfortunately the Long Weekend weather was like a UK Bank Holiday and turned for the worse just in time.

3.5 hours later and one Devonshire cream tea stop later we arrived in Halls Gap, and drove slightly out of town to our Eco Cabin. The Eco credentials I think extended to snaring the customer, but it was clean, nicely laid out and made a good base. The wood burning stove wasn't quite the roaring log fire Shaz wanted, and due to certain idiosyncrasies, Caitlin got far and away the best room.

We had been guaranteed 'Roo's here, but the same guarantee at the Red Centre had delivered nothing but road kill in various states of disrepair. However 2 mins on the road into town, 2 large Grey's leap out from the bush and proceed to charge down the road in front of us. We slowed a little watching as they continued to bounce madly down the road at 40kph. 2 large bouncing legs with big claws are great for the bush but not wet and greasy roads, and twice trying to run back into the bush they came crashing down onto the road. Eventually both managed to leap off into the trees and undergrowth somewhere. In retrospect I think I may have actually hounded them down the road, and Ciara was disappointed and not having two 'Roo's to eat.

Driving into town we saw it for the tourist trap it was and took the winding road up into the mountains to look at the views. We were driven back in dismay as each view stopped ten feet in front of us at a wall of cloud. Back to the Eco lodge for wine and wait for Sunday.

Alice.

It's taken me awhile to put down some words on Alice: the most difficult part of the holiday in many ways and a shock to me. Grant, as you have probably gathered, did the research for this holiday leaving me unprepared for the places we were due to visit.

So in Alice Springs I am shocked to find two societies living in extreme contrast. The affluent Westerners drive around or walk with purpose, live in attractive accommodation , eat in pleasant restaurants and pretty much exist as most other Aussies. The other section, the Aboriginal part, are like a people time forgot.

They meander around, often in small groups, walking at a snails pace, looking for something... The men wear familiar sports wear; trackie bottoms mostly and tee shirts. The women, nearly always overweight, carry plastic shopping bags although after an incident at the supermarket watching one lady try to barter for food in a language the cashier did not share, I wonder what is actually in these bags. It was not pleasant to watch someone who does not have enough money to buy a roast chicken walk away empty handed. I want to go across and offer to make up the difference but I am frightened as to how it will be taken, I know, nothing of these people.

Not once did I see an Aboriginal smile, not even the occasional child that we see and often there are hostile stares at the passing cars. not hard to realise why when you find out that Alice Springs houses a large Aboriginal community effectively living in a shanty town. It is made up of tarpaulins, tin shacks and old run down houses on the Todd river's dry bed. This runs straight through town so there is no getting away from it.

The lack of good housing may explain the encampments we see under trees or any place there is shade; groups of intensely dark skinned people sit in groups resting. I never see mixed groups. It seems wrong that modern day society can find no answers to the integration of people so obviously in need. Caitlin is distressed too, feeling intimidated by the groups that pass her. I am upset I cannot explain why things are like this, as I do not know the reasons myself and turn to the guidebook. This informs us that most of the Aboriginals in Alice have been sent away from surrounding villages because of alcoholism or other difficult issues. I know it is not as simple as this.

I realise all the media images and sanitised version of Aboriginal life I have seen so far in Oz have not prepared me for this, and I wonder at the lack of publicity this situation seems to get. Would it be the same in a similar sized town in the U.K. if this was going on? I get a real taste of how Australian mentality is different.

It feels like a symbol that a wide dry riverbed runs through the heart of Alice.

The Red Centre

Wonderful selection of photos to go with the "lovely" blog.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36445314@N08/

King's Canyon

Off we go set for pastures new leaving Ayers Rock Resort far behind as we drive to King's Canyon. The long leisurely breakfast this morning means we leave a little later than planned and arrive for today's walk late meaning it will be conducted in full Northern territory sunshine. As Caitlin and me ponder the alternatives to the 3 hour rim walk which the signs suggest should not be attempted at midday(we arrived at 11am ) G dismisses all alternatives with a shrug of his shoulders and a " Suck it up!"
So I now have: a sulky teenager complaining of all manner of serious gi disturbances, a small child in fine fettle in front as she feels she has the moral high ground being keen to attempt the walk, a deranged commando like husband and a steep climb in 31 degrees heat. Yes it wasn't called the rim walk for nothing. The terrain is interesting and once on the rim there are some spectacular vistas even if we have drunk 1/3 of our water into the first half an hour in the mistaken belief there will be water stops on the way- well there were at other sites.

The two standout sections are: ' The Lost City', mmmm, I think they may have exaggerated somewhat but the beehive like rock formations are intriguing and ' The garden Of Eden' . Now I wasn't around in biblical times contrary to my children's views but I'm not sure the Garden of Eden would have been filled with stagnant brown water resembling an over sized farm puddle, flies and a bunch of Japanese tourists wearing white gloves...Are they all Michael Jackson fans?
It does seem eerie however to yet again be faced with an oasis of plant life in what is essentially a dry rock! Some of the plants here are found nowhere else in Oz and are prehistoric a little like my walking boots which have once again let me down resulting in, as I write, a big toe nail that looks like it is not long for this world.

After going off the beaten track a few times for extra views ( I think you can guess who suggested these detours)I finally put my foot down, yes not the one with the sore big toe, as we realise we still have a quarter of the walk to do and no frigging water. Now I become the commando and insist there's no more dawdling along , making the children feel guilty by giving them the last drops of water in the bottle and putting the fear of god in everyone on the horrors of dehydration. We finish the walk in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

So now begins the part of the holiday G is really looking forward to(are we all getting the picture) as he announces, " Buckle up , we now start the drive on the Mareenie loop" effectively an off road 150km short cut to Alice. Initially this is fun so much so that we let Caitlin drive for a quarter of an hour on the gravel only taking over when she hits 70kph passing a road train coming the other way!What then follows is G supposedly trying to avoid corrugations in the road surface by driving over the edge, and going for it big time, " Is that a ditch ahead , slow down, ..........!!!! too late " As Ciara bashes her head of the interior roof of the Nissan and believe me this is quite high. Still even he has had enough of his jollies after two hours of driving as he narrowly misses another giant lizard, this one looking like a horizontal T Rex.

Now it really feels like we are in the middle of nowhere and I start to get a little concerned in a 'Wolf Creek' like way as we begin to see things hanging from trees. I have my glasses on but it takes a little time before I realise these are not dead tourists put there to ward of other venturers but old bits of tyre and rubbish which for some reason are always hoisted into trees directly along the roadside.
Are we being told something... Like take your ....!!! rubbish back with you.

As we finish the Mareenie Loop and look forward to an upgrade , a section of unsealed road according to the map is a ======= as opposed to the------of the aforementioned Mareenie Loop, I ask myself why did they bother to write=======. Is this some impossible wish for the future? because=====is exactly the same as------and it takes another....!!!! hour of blender driving to reach the town on the map marked by *. Now you think I would be starting to learn. I mean * looks substantial doesn't it but a familiar feeling starts as we draw up to the ' town' and I see no procession of cars in and out and no beverage advertisements to speak of. "Lets drive through it anyway" says Grant . Oh yes lets !!! Well most of the towns buildings are now in a museum , no really they are! Behind a chain in between two metal poles and the derelict bunch of churches and houses look like something out of the Victorian era which they are because H was a missionary town in the middle of nowhere in !!!!!1860. Now there are few broken cars and a couple of shacks one which apparently sells beverages but after Mt Ebenazer I'm not taking any chances so we continue on to Alice.

The Night Sky and Tom Cruz...

One of the highlights of the trip for me was the tour we went on one evening to the Ayers Rock Observatory.

We had been told about an organised evening meal with astronomy for pud even before we had left Blighties shores but this turned out to be a full course, a la carte, open air affair and wouldn't have fulfilled potential with two restless and at times food fussy children. So instead we opt for the feed my mind not my stomach astronomy tour.

The night sky away from cities and town's light pollution has the ability to take your breath away and even before the tour really gets going I find myself ogling the theatre above. We witness not only the milky way but also see a jet black area devoid of stars right in the middle of its spiral arm which turns out to be The Coal Sac Nebula not the cold suck nebula my initial interpretation, although I think my name has some merit. We also see the Magellanic clouds, two galaxies visible to the naked eye under the right conditions ie Southern Hemisphere with no moon. We are then led thro an array of constellations and planets and spot a shooting star! Finally we are allowed to look thru the observatories telescopes where my gasps of delights at seeing Orion's nebula and Saturn complete with rings embarrasses Caitlin greatly; at last it begins.

It is amazing to note there is always a certain geek attraction to these things and this tour was no different. Our geek on the bus back impersonates a Brit from Essex, can't possibly be a real Brit . Then I realise there is something a little Tom Cruz about him and not in the appearance way as I hear,

"Did You know there are tribes in Senegal," he needed a couple of go's at getting the right country, well it's difficult when so many begin with S," whose astronomers hold ancient star charts."

" OOhh , AAAhhh"from gathered less knowledgables. He continues in more subdued but still discernable Essex accent,

" Modern Astronomers who visited were shocked to see they had correctly identified Alpha Centauri as a binary star and all without telescopes. When asked how they knew, these tribes people replied the ' visitors told us!'

You could see where I was going with my Tom Cruz thing and I was dying to ask why these visitors didn't release more useful information than Alpha Centauri is a binary star but guess their decision making was somewhat questionable as they did go on to make Ron . L Hubbard their spokesman.

Uluru

Well it's what we came for and G makes us get up at 6 am so we can drive and photograph the Monolith at dawn. Despite feeling that he is being a tad unreasonable on first full day of holiday, it being Good Friday to boot and I haven't even had breakfast let alone a hot cross bun, I am duly impressed by Uluru. Everything they say about its ability to change colour every few minutes is true and it is fascinating to watch the rock's surface flow from dark brown to red to orange and to melted chocolate - my favourite hue, though it could be hypoglycaemia settling in at this point.

We return after breakfast and decide to respect the Aboriginals request not to climb to the top as this is 'not what Uluru is about.' I am mightily relieved as I watch the line of ant soldiers inching along a rope fence gripping the steep side of the Northern territory's most spectacular icon, knowing in my heart that if it had not been for the local people's request I would have been forced along with the other gloved Japanese tourists( no I don't know why either) to ascend to the summit by my ever keen adventurer of a husband.

Instead we choose to do the base walk , some 10km jaunt in 30 degrees plus. Maybe just the Mala section would have sufficed.

It is during this walk that Ciara tells me she ' is not a schuman being' and Caitlin gives G his diagnosis OSD - obssesive sunscreen disorder which she has changed by the end of the walk to OWD- Obssesive Walking Disorder. We jolly the kids along by pretending we are a clan on a special walk to find a new home and we all assign ourselves jobs. When I ask Ciara what job she wants, I get' To annoy my sister!'

We do return to Uluru to photograph it once more this time at sunset where once again it does it's colour morph thing and I am equally fascinated by this and watching the throng of tourists arriving in interesting forms of transport and all types of traveller from the: O.k it's 1 minute after sunset lets go, to the lets get out the barbie and chairs and park down for a night of eating and no doubt guitar playing, to the somewhat lost looking Japanese tourists still wearing gloves and inappropriate attire i.e white!

Still Uluru has not disappointed.

Interesting Oxymorons and a winge

• No you can't go on a hot air ballon ride over Uluru anymore as it's sacred but I can book you on a helicopter instead.

• Yes you can take photos of Uluru except these two little areas here because they are more sacred than all the rest of it which you can't climb because it is sacred

• No you can't stop on this 200 metre stretch of road but you can anywhere else. Why? And here I am waiting for the sacred bit of road argument, but the best we can come up with is that this piece of road gives the best distance shot of Uluru that you see from all professional shots and so you can't stop the car here because....

• No you can't have a glass for your beer by the pool but no we won't decant it from the glass bottle it comes in, you can do that yourself by the pool into the plastic beaker provided.

• This is only a gravel road for 150km then it becomes an unsealed road....yes and your point, it still feels like driving in a blender!

• You must pay to visit Standley chasm because it is a sacred gap between two pieces of rock....

Why not just say, it's our land and you must pay!

• This is the estimate for your vehicle hire on tininternet but the bill will really be$$$$$$$ because you have driven it so much in this desolate desert country where we have no public transport and why else would you hire a 4x4 from Alice but to travel to Uluru and yes we do have unlimited mileage if you hire in a city so if you had hired the 4x4 (without snorkel, winch or shovel) in Melbourne and driven it here we would have only charged you half the price. Oh yes and that is an additional tax we call isolated area tax to cover this being an isolated area !!And yes it is a percantage of the whole bill with additional extortiant mileage fee added on.

The Red Centre and my husband's mistress...

So safely landed in Alice Springs, G rushes off to meet his dream date, a 4x4 Nissan Patrol. However, he is heart broken when they meet, realising Big Bertha is missing a snorkel, a winch and of all things a shovel, although I would be very upset if we needed any of these items!! Suitably calmed by this thought we persuade him not to go back into the airport and demand his conjugal rights and head out instead to start 'his' outback adventure.

Our first stop is Alice, whose description I will return to later....., to pick up 6 weeks supply of lollies( sweets) and water supplies before the five and half hour drive to Uluru.

Flies!

They deserve a whole paragraph by themselves.

Do not underestimate the annoyance of the outback fly. They descend on you as soon as you open the car door and once they have you in their sights they follow, incessantly, proclaiming your arrival to another hundred of their mates who have been waiting somewhere -where I do not know, suspended motionless it seems, waiting just for us. And then this paperazzi are not content til they have blocked every avaliable orifice, searching for what????Do they feed on carbon bloodie dioxide, ear wax, bogeys and dried eye mucus?What is it they want from us that they can't get from 10 tonnes of animal dung?

As you can see they have an effect.

The landscape we drive through is not what we expect. I have tried not to look at too many pictures: I wanted to experience it all first hand. But I expected red soil, a bush here and there and very little else. Instead I give you green! And not just isolated patches but a covering over most of the reddened earth and we witness a huge variation in plant life over the next five days driving.

The animal life is equally awesome and on this one trip alone we see: a giant lizard crossing the road in front of us; a wedge tailed eagle that is so intent on catching its prey, it nearly hits the windscreen of the car and boy are they big; grasshoppers large and green, some red others brown, stripey ones but no spotty ones; butterflies at least five obvious types and sometimes their caterpillars which are juicy and fat with big black spikes like car aerials stabbing upwards; beetles galore,iridescent green ones, black ones with round bodies, large flying ones , eeek!; more lizards, this time somewhat smaller but again all different one even wearing a red helmet; frogs and tadpoles; camels -I didn't think these were indigenous to Oz but you might be fooled into thinking they are as they seems to roam around the desert unhindered by harness or human keepers, and kangeroos. No stop, freeze , go back one! Did I say kangeroos? Yes I was expecting to finally see large numbers of them hopping across the landscape, I'd been promised them after all but not one did we witness that didn't need scraping off the tarmac! Where were they all? Oh yes on the tarmac!

Apart from signage, the road itself is the only man made thing we see and looks like someone has dumped a trail of grey down on wilderness. The edges of the road are not straight and at times the red soil can be seen creeping onto its surface trying to reclaim its territory. It seems very War of the Worlds.

We stop twice on the Stuart highway. Firstly at Henbury Meterorite plains where craters from falling pieces of kryptonite have turned into thriving oasie, or whatever the plural is for this. I am awed by the amazing 'miracle gro powers of said exotic space minerals until G explains that any depression in this flat landscape collects water and washed down minerals-well he could read the bloodie sign , my eyes were too full of flies.

The second stop is at a cafe, though I use this term loosely, at Mount Ebenezer. Here we order coffee and get given 2 empty mugs (is this symbolic I ask myself). I am very relieved however that I don't make a fool of myself by asking for a skinny latte and a long black as a finger points to the hot water urn and instant nescafe jar around the corner. How Melbournian I have become as I can't bring myself to drink more than a mouthful without gagging and suggesting a quick getaway.

Then finally just as we begin to tire we see a large mountain in the distance. It does look truly impressive but alas turns out not to be the end of our journey but Mt. connor which if it wasn't for its size I would believe someone had constructed as a joke to play on the long line of tourists making their pilgrimage to Uluru. Still we did eventually arrive and see the real thing but more of that later.....