ROLLING INTO KATHERINE

A mere 105 Km north from Mataranka brings us the the first "civilisation" we have seen for some time - that is if you quantify a city with a Coffee Club, a Subway, a Maccas and an actual hardware store as "civilisation".

It is nice to be able to buy consistently good coffee and be provided with pleasant surroundings to drink it.

The view through the windows of the Coffee Club brings us back to earth, , hey we're not in the Blue Mountains anymore !! Massive triple road trains roll through the main drag and, of course, that's just normal here, no-one even notices!

There's a very high percentage of 4WD vehicles as you would expect and lots and lots of grey nomads in a wide assortment of caravans and other recreational vehicles.

There is a heavy vehicle bypass to the main drag, but that does not seem to stop triples rolling through town

Katherine definitely relies on tourism and it is clearly a happening place that is really taking advantage of its natural assets. The city's parks and gardens are reasonably well looked after and well presented, history is well promoted with an excellent museum and, of course, there's the gorge

Katherine Gorge / Nitmiluk is the standout attraction and most visitors take a cruise as we have done on the last two times we have visited. This time we just visited the gorge, spent some time at the interpretive centre, had a very nice lunch and chased some birds around the bush.

CHASING BIRDS AGAIN

We were fortunate to find a bower of the Great Bower Bird complete with a resident that I took to be a juvenile or, more probably a female. They stand around 35 Cm high.The male Great Bower Bird has a lilac coloured rosette shaped crest just behind his head  (called a nuchal crest says he reading from the bird book !!) when displaying, and this bird did not have that.

A Great Bower Bird at Katherine Gorge / Nitmiluk looking a little alarmed that I am checking out the bower

Our resident Satin Bower Bird at home in the Lower Blue Mountains collected blue objects - pegs, milk bottle caps, straws, blue plastic and lots of pieces of all sorts of blue stuff.

This Great Bower Bird collects light coloured objects - stones, straws, pieces of glass and all sorts of white stuff including (if you look in the bottom of the picture slightly left of centre) a four inch (or so) silver screw!

The bower of a Great Bower Bird.

It is within and adjacent to the bower that the male entertains females by performing an elaborate song and dance routine. The females are enticed to the area by the displayed objects. Many males spend hours arranging and the re-arranging items in the bower. I have seen Satin Bower Birds add freshly collected flowers and leaves that are then changed on a daily basis just to impress the female. 

When it is considered that the only tools available for building the bower are the bird's beak and feet /claws, it's an impressive construction and display job.  

THE GHAN

I have always had a fascination for trains and, living not far away from the main western rail line through the mountains I see many. I have also been fortunate enough to ride in a number of locos over the years

I have been trying to get up close to the Ghan since our first trip around in 2008 and something always went wrong - the train was early or late, or I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This time I nailed it in Katherine.

The Ghan stops in Katherine for four hours or so so that passengers can do a quick trip around town and do a quick cruise on the gorge, so I did a little exploring and came up with a good site for a pic or two - from a level crossing just as the train had crossed the Katherine river.

Recognising a train tragic,  the loco driver gave me quite a few blasts of the horn as well !!

I didn't get to count the cars, but there were a lot.

The Ghan crossing the Katherine River Bridge

THIS BLOG

When I worked in the features section  of a major newspaper a few years ago you could tell if we were short  of editorial material, the number one sign? big pictures, few words!

This blog is a clear demonstration of that !!

We are heading to Kakadu and then to Darwin, so I expect to have lots of pictures to show you in the next blog, lots of birds and, hopefully, lots of crocodiles.

till next time,
Regards

TJ

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DALY WATERS and MATARANKA

Ready for a fairly long day's driving we had left Tennant Creek early, but lost quite a lot of time at the Three Ways firstly looking at trucks and chatting to their drivers and then having a huge breakfast.

Maybe I should have been a truckie -  I just love the atmosphere at this major crossroads that's really in the middle of nowhere, it's an absolute mecca of trucking activity, currently with thousands of cattle being moved through daily, and an ever increasing number of refrigerated units  transporting food and other perishables through the heat and enormous distances to the north. Add to that the huge numbers of units carrying "general" freight and the huge amount of mining equipment and other wide loads on the move and it becomes a spectacle of major proportions. 

One clear advantage of all of this large  transport activity is the ever- increasing range of fresh food and fresh fruit and vegetables now available in most of the small towns  up the highway.

The difference between our first trip around in 2008 and the present day is astounding, where five years ago we were flat out finding edible salad items like lettuce and good tomatoes , there is now a choice (vine ripened anyone? how about some bok choy?). We don't remember being able to buy quality fruit like grapes and citrus, now there's a good variety in most towns, all thanks to the truckies of Australia.   

The Threeways Roadhouse. Traffic from Queensland via the Barkly Highway meets traffic from north and south on the Stuart Highway

370 odd Km later we rolled into Daly Waters and went straight to the Daily Waters Pub - as you do!!. The pub is another one of the quirky places on most travellers' itineraries on the trip up the Stuart Highway 

The caravan park attached to the pub is nothing to write home about, it's very dusty from overuse (already - and so early in the season) even though much watering is carried out before the daily influx of regulars and newcomers. The amenities are OK and the beer is icy cold. 

Their main claim to fame is the pub itself - established in 1930  it is now  decorated  with an eclectic mix of memorabilia including a huge assortment of bras and other undergarments, plaques and letters of appreciation from local and overseas armed services, badges and patches from all types of emergency services, a large number of banknotes from all over the world nailed to the wall and what is claimed to be Australia's first thong tree.. 

Each evening the pub puts on a Beef & Barra dinner. Quite nice but getting a bit pricey at $28 a head plus drinks. The entertainment the night we stayed was not up to the standard we had previously enjoyed - evidently their usual performer had not yet arrived this season - but we had a good night anyway.

Daly Waters' principal claim to fame is that it has Australia's very first international airport, pressed into service to refuel aircraft in the Australia to England air race. The local sealed airstrip is some 10,000 ft long and still in use today. 

The Larkin Hangar (spelt "hanger" in material produced by the National Trust LOL !) houses an excellent history of the airstrip, particularly its wartime use - well worth a look.

The Larkin Hangar at Daly Waters.
No, the Patrol has not mysteriously changed colour! This is a pic from our second trip through here in 2011.





The airstrip was used extensively during WW2 as a transit point for Australian and US aircraft carrying the war to New Guinea and the Pacific Islands. The situation was thought to be very grim with Darwin, Broome and even Katherine bombed by the Japanese. Additionally, both before and after the fall of Singapore there was a strong feeling that invasion was imminent, this thought was probably increased by the Japanese presence in New Guinea.

Robyne's late father Alan Dent could have transited through here on his way to Horn Island off the tip of Cape York with his comrades of the RAAF radio / radar sections, where they endured quite bad conditions including intense heat, food and water rationing and regular bombing and strafing from Japanese aircraft.

Onward and upward, (well, up the map anyhow) it was a short stroll of 169 Km through to Mataranka and the delights of their hot springs.

NT National Parks have done quite a nice job of improving access to the hot spring, as well as chasing away many thousands of flying foxes that also claimed the area as their own. Parks rather cleverly used the non-lethal method of placing sprinklers in the tall palms where the flying foxes chose to roost. The method was successful and it is now possible to visit the area without the screeching and the guano.

The pool area of the hot springs is also well designed and user friendly - well done, Parks, although they  had to exert their authority and introduce an alcohol free  policy at the springs.

 The Mataranka Hot Springs, the no alcohol policy works a treat !!

The water from the hot springs flows into the Waterhous River around 75 metres downstream from the springs. Luckily there is a screen preventing local wildlife like this fresh water crocodile from joining in the fun.  

It is usually possible to take a canoe and to swim in the Waterhous River (the fresh water crocs are harmless) and Parks provides an entry point to the river at the end of the walking track but this year there has been evidence of saltwater crocs in the area and a trapping programme is underway so swimming and canoeing is out..

NEXT STOP Katherine.

Regards

TJ
.  

The Alice Springs Desert Park, then Tennant Creek

The Desert Park is another must see for visitors to Alice Springs.

Located about 10 minutes drive from the centre of town, the Park displays hundreds of species of plants and animals and, more interestingly displays them within their normal habitat. there is also a nocturnal house and excellent reptile display.

The Park presents three main habitats - Desert Rivers, Sand Country and Woodlands and the birds, reptiles and animals that inhabit them.

Here is a small selection of some of the birds I was able to shoot, some inside the Desert Park and some just around Alice

A large flock of these corellas flew into the Alice caravan park a couple of times a day, they were there every evening making a terrible racket before settling down for the night.

Dusky Grasswren, Alice Springs Desert Park

Painted Finch gathering nesting material  Alice Springs Desert Park

Grey-Crowned Babbler searching for insects under the bark. Taken in the street, Alice Springs

Masked Woodswallow, Alice Springs Desert Park

Southern Boobook Owl in spinifex country,  Alice Springs Desert Park

Orange Chat (looks more yellow to me!) Alice Springs Desert Park

White-winged Fairy Wren, Alice Springs Desert Park

MOVING RIGHT ALONG

Time to hit the road once again, northwards in the general direction of Darwin. Not a great deal to see on this leg, so it mainly drive, drive, drive. At Aerilon there is a giant statue of an aboriginal warrior......... at Ti Tree a stop for lunch (glad we brought our own), then we decided to stop overnight at Wycliffe Well, reputedly the UFO capital of Australia.

Big 4 Caravan Parks are generally a cut above the others, but Wycliffe Well is the exception. It's old, it's scruffy, the amentities were dirty and its quite noisy, being located right on the highway. 

I was even moved to drop Big 4 an email of complaint. I could probably write the park's reply as well, ................oh sorry Mr Jones it was just that our cleaner was taken ill on that particular day  LOL.

I was impressed to have an acknowledgement and then a reply from Big 4  before lunch the next day, I'm sure mine is just one of many complaints re this place.

I guess each Big 4 park pays to belong to the chain and maybe Big 4 needs the money and thus takes it from sub-standard (in my estimation) places like Wycliffe Well, oh well, no harm done and no UFOs sighted.

Next stop the Devil's Marbles, only 20 or so Km up the road, thought we may stay overnight.  We drove in and found the normal type of National Parks camp ground, ie fences everywhere and over-regulated and decided we wouldn't stay. then drove straight out again and continued up the highway to Tennant Creek for another couple of overnight stays.

Tennant Creek is worth a stop if only to visit the Nyinkka Nyunya Interpretive Centre, an excellent presentation. The town itself has little else to offer, but the caravan park on the east side of town is fine.

We hear from many other caravanners that they won't stay in Tennant Creek "because of the aboriginal problems" to which we always say  "what problems".

Yes, there are large numbers of Aboriginal people in Tennant Creek but in the three visits we have made in the last few years we have never seen, let alone had, any difficulties or problems.
We spent a hot afternoon at lake Mary Ann three or four Km north of town, a very pleasant break.

Also, the fuel is cheaper in Tennant Creek, we were amazed at the number of caravanners and others refuelling at the Three Ways, 20 odd Km north of Tennant Creek. 

We decided to stop at the Three Ways (we invariably do) to drink in the culture of this iconic truckstop, it has a great vibe with large triple roadtrains of every description and an interesting mix of truckies, 4WD adventurers and grey nomads. The breakfast was good, too. 

The iconic Three Ways Roadhouse, at the junction of the Barkly Highway (from Camooweal Queensland) and the Stuart Highway.

Always give way to the triple roadtrain on the right, on the left, coming towards you on the dirt or overtaking on the highway !!! Their drivers are generally well skilled and give caravanners a fair go when overtaking.

Next stop Daly Waters and then Katherine

Regards
TJ  

A quick addition to the ARALUEN CENTRE post

I have found a way to show the stained glass window from the Araluen Cultural Centre, it is, of course, to be found on the web, together with an explanation of the panels. The picture below does not do it justice, it is outstanding.

To view it properly at the centre it is necessary to sit quietly with a copy of the explanation and take it all in.

Here is the description. If you travel to Alice Springs you must visit.

The magnificent stained glass windows in the Araluen Foyer are a feature of the Centre. The major window was designed by local Aboriginal artist Wenten Rubuntja and is based on the painting hanging to the left of the window.

  This painting is about Mparntwe dreamings, the traditional stories for the centre of Alice Springs. They belong to the Arrernte (Aranda) people and connect with other stories belonging to Aboriginal people all over the country.

  The window is like a large map of Arrernte (Aranda) country around Alice Springs of which all Arrernte (Aranda) people are a part.

  It contains three separate, yet interrelated stories:

  1. The three panels across the top depict the story of three larrikins.

       (left)       artwe atnyentye (a moon man)

       (centre)  artwe yerrampe (a honey ant man)

       (right)     artwe ametherrke (a carpet snake man)

  They are irresistibly attracted to the yerrampe (honey ant) woman at the base. They paint themselves and sing special songs with their pirlpe (music sticks) and totemic animals to help them, but all in vain, as her sacred powers are far superior to theirs. She threatens to sing to them and make them sick if they persist. The action takes place between Papunya and Alyape (Supplejack Dam), represented here by the large circles where the participants are sitting.

  2.   All around the red country are the white dotted tracks of the yerrampe (honey ants) as they move from Papunya to Alyape to their nests. These journeys are also shown on the accompanying map. Alyape is the word for both honey ant nest and Supplejack Dam. The honey ants, painted black, are traveling to their nests and are meeting with each other in the centre.

  3.   From the left, two Yeperenye (caterpiller) women come from Uyenpere atwatye (Sadadeen) and Ntyarlkarletyaneme (near the Todd River) to the centre. The two others come from the right, from Amtwirnteye (Mt Blatherskite) and Ntyarlkarletyaneme (near the hospital). These journeys originate further out at Urletherrke (Mt Zeil), Imarnte (near Maryvale), Alherampe (Napperby) and Warretharre (Atula Station).

  In the four corners, on ceremonial grounds of feathers are depicted tile iotemic animals -arlure (gecko), arntetherrke (carpet snake) and iparipe (blind snake) and traditional weapons -irlpakerte (no. 7 boomerang), urrempere (fighting spear), alye (boomerang) and alkwerte (shield).

  The smaller stained glass windows were designed and made by students of Yirara College, a local secondary school for Aboriginal students.

Regards

TJ

---

In and Around Alice Springs

We ambled up the highway from Cadney Park and  crossed into the Northern Territory just south of Kulgera. After a further 75 Km we stopped for the night at Erldunda.

The Erldunda Desert Oaks Roadhouse is the turnoff for Uluru / Ayers Rock, the rock being a further 250 Km to the west, but we didn't feel the urge to revisit, having explored that area in 2008. I guess not much would have changed except the prices would have gone up!  National Parks used to charge $25 a head for a 3 day pass, the caravan sites were also fairly pricey....it all adds up.

I guess Uluru and the spectacular Olgas / Kata Tjuta are places that everyone should try and see at least once, we've done it.

Alice Springs is only a couple of hundred Kms up the road, a mere hop, step and jump, so we continued northwards

We decided to stay in Alice for a few days to give us time for a good look through the West Macdonnell Ranges, time to check out the Namatjira exhibition at the Cultural centre and spend the best part of a day at the Desert Park.

The West Macdonnell Ranges were the first trip.

There's certainly plenty to see in the West Macdonnells 

I don't know anything about butterflies, but this one caught my eye at the Ellery Creek Big Hole

The Ellery Creek Big Hole, a real oasis on a very hot day, and the water is freezing! (strange name, strange but to the point, definitely named by a man!)

This tortured piece of the landscape must have a story to tell!  It looks to me like the rock surface was liquid at some stage. I should have paid more attention to those geology lectures. This was taken quite near to the rock hole.

We were not able to discover the name of this feature. The colours were spectacular.

We decided to visit Glen Helen Gorge and also to stop and have a drink at the Glen Helen Gorge Resort. Well, the Gorge itself is spectacular, another very enticing place on a very hot day, but the "resort" has certainly seen better days and does not really live up to the pictures and description in its brochures, but what the hell,  the beer was icy cold and the view spectacular.

As we were returning to the resort from the gorge we were passed by a number of young tourists, well OK probably best described as backpackers, heading down for a swim. They were in such high spirits I didn't have the heart to tell them that there was a dead kangaroo floating off to one side - all part of the rich tapestry of travel in the outback!!

These Gouldian finches were an absolute delight, some 30 in all, all living quite happily in a very basic aviary at the Glen Helen Gorge Resort. Gouldians are notoriously fussy in captivity and quite difficult to raise. Clearly this does not necessarily apply.

About 5 minutes from town, the Alice Springs Cultural Centre is a must see when visiting Alice. As well as the Namatjira gallery the precinct houses an excellent museum, the Strehlow collection and an aviation museum., 

The main building has a spectacular and very colourful stained glass window with Aboriginal motifs. The building also has a number of large works by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. Unfortunately cameras were not permitted at the gallery, so I can't show anything from there, but the works are on line. 

Maybe it's an age thing (my age that is), but I get the strong impression that Albert Namatjira's work is not that well known these days, which is a great pity. 

Here is one of his works that I lifted from the web. It is copyright of course and no doubt worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Albert Namatjira probably received just a few pounds for it, or maybe he swapped it for something.

Albert Namatjira, Ghost Gums Mount Sonder, West Macdonnell Ranges

Underneath is one of a number of works by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri displayed at the Cultural Centre.This also  has been taken from the web.

This section shows ground and body paint designs associated with the rock hole and water soakage site of Nyinyalingi. The ‘U’ shapes represent the men and women who took part in the ceremony in mythological times and then travelled south. The bead necklaces worn during the ceremonies are also depicted. The ceremonies are associated with the secret-sacred Maliyarra cycle, which could not be revealed.

That's all for now.

Next time, Chasing Birds in Alice.

Regards

TJ

  

Cadney Park, the Painted Desert and Oodnadatta

We left Coober Pedy to bake in the sun and disappear under its mounds of old mining equipment and other detritus and headed up the Stuart Highway to Cadney Park, another truckstop / caravan park.

Before we left we filled our drinking water tank with passable water from the caravan park's supply at 20 cents per 40 litres - well worth it for quality water. 

If you're planning to visit Coober Pedy  (and it's worth it just for the Breakaways alone) our tip would be to stay in the Stuart Range Caravan Park near the Highway - it's far enough out of the town to avoid the disruptions often caused by our indigenous brothers and sisters, although it is clear that many of the troublemakers evident in our  trip 4 years ago have moved on.

We have noticed a vast improvement in the standard of amenities since our last trip, it is clear that the operators are reinvesting in their sites. 

Cadney Park, while basic as far as the park  goes, has excellent amenities and good facilities in the roadhouse itself. It's clean and tidy with a good variety of freshly cooked meals.

Cadney park is the gateway to the Painted Desert, its about 130 km along a sometimes sandy, stony and corrugated track - I'd definitely recommend a 4wd with reasonable tyres for the trip, On the way to the Painted Desert is the Arckaringa Hills, very scenic country. There is basic accommodation available at Arckaringa Station and I understand the area is popular with artists.

Here are some pictures of the area.

Part of the Arckaringa Hills on the Painted Desert Road

Looking back on the Arckaringa Hills  on the Painted Desert Road

The main feature of the Painted Desert

 Once we had explored the Painted Desert i noticed that it was only another 50 km or so to Oodnadatta, another iconic town to cross off the list, but as it turned out a bit of a disappointment.

I don't know if I have become particularly fussy lately, but I must say that Coober Pedy could win a tidy town award compared to Oodnadatta, maybe I'm expecting too much !

And, of course, no trip to Oodnadatta would be complete without a visit to the famous / infamous Pink Roadhouse , oh well,  now we can say we've been there! I had read somewhere that Lynnie the owner was talking about asking a million dollars for the place. Unless there is something about it that I have missed, I don't think she will get it.

A million dollars??? I don't think so!!!

 Well folks, that's four blogs in two days. We are about to drive off into the never never and I doubt we will have phone coverage for a while. I'll post some more when I can.

Regards

TJ

Hello Coober Pedy !

This must be the most photographed piece of old mining equipment in the known and unknown universe !!!

I wish I could remember the Aboriginal name for this area. In any event, a rough translation of the original Aboriginal words gives us "Coober Pedy" meaning "white man in a hole."

There's one thing I've often wondered about this area and that is why is it so untidy? I understand that it is something of a hot , dry frontier town built by tough people who live underground etc. etc. blah blah blah but do they have to leave all their old mining equipment and other rusty junk just lying around? And another thing - is it really necessary for each shaft to have piles of earth, rocks etc around it? I'm sure that mining companies are required to rehabilitate their areas once mining has been completed - why is Coober Pedy any different?

Anzac day in Coober Pedy was an interesting, yet very solemn affair. For me, used to the 04.30 Sydney or the later Canberra dawn services, it was a real eye-opener. Starting at 05.30 with a gunfire breakfast (I love the smell of Bundy in the morning !) the service started at 06.30, still before dawn in that part of the world.
While the service had an audience of only a hundred or so (including many grey nomads and other blow-ins like myself) it lacked nothing in solemnity or meaning. Well done to the members of the Coober Pedy RSL.

Another excuse for me to stand nonchalantly in front of my latest Nissan Patrol (this one is number six).
I have fitted this one out especially for this trip: colour coded ARB bullbar, ARB foglights, IPF spotlights Warn winch, dual batteries, GME CB, snorkel, Yokohama Geolander tyres, Waeco fridge / freezer on a slide, Rock Tamer mudflaps (they don't by the way, but more of that later) aluminium roofrack with an additional spare tyre, an extra 20 litres of diesel and 20 litres of water.

Behind the Patrol is part of the dingo fence, this section is some 2,500 km long and it remains in pretty good shape- it is my understanding that it is still maintained. The dingo fence is one of the boundaries of an extraordinary area just outside Coober Pedy known as The Breakaways. It is spectacular country as you can see.

Part of The Breakaways, just outside Coober Pedy

Hope you enjoy the blogs, more soon.

Regards

TJ

This is a better layout :-)

Another photo of part of our family from Stuart's 50th in Adelaide.
All of those in the picture (except, of course, Stuart) travelled from interstate for the party including our first great grandchild, the gorgeous Krystal-Lee.

Our site at Wentworth NSW on the banks of the Darling

There's a  story associated with the picture at right.
I wanted to get a picture of our van in its site on the banks of the iconic Darling River so I drove out of town across the river and along a track that follows the river on the other side. I still had a distance to walk through the bush to be in the right spot. The area is quite dry with quite a lot of fallen timber around the river red gums and fairly thick scrub.

While wending my way through the fallen timber I just caught a movement off to my left and saw a king brown snake in its S shaped position ready to strike and then it did strike. Fortunately I jumped back and to the side in time to avoid being bitten but it did give me a surprise. I was very lucky, particularly so because I was wearing shorts !! I kept going and took the picture carrying a large stick and making lots of noise.For the uninitiated, the king brown is one of our most poisonous snakes and very agressive.  




The trip north from Port Augusta was, as expected, hot and dry. first overnight stop was at Glendambo, just a truckstop with generator power available but no water. We are used to carrying sufficient drinking water within one of our two on board tanks - it's no good filling both tanks extra water equals weight and weight equals more fuel equals more $s. Additionally we  carry a 10 litre cardboard cask of drinking water just in case.

We know from previous experience that the bore water generally available for showering is extremely hard and doesn't lather all that well. A friend mentioned that special soap is available for use with bore water but I haven't organised that yet.

The caravan area at Glendambo Roadhouse - functional but sparse!








That's all for this post, more later

TJ