1995 Trip Part 3

Simpsons Gap and waterhole.

From here it was only a short run of a couple of hundred kms to the highway and Alice Springs. The town started originally as a repeater station for the Overland Telegraph station when it was constructed during 1871. As there was water available it served as a centre for the pastoralists and explorers when they moved into this area. The coming of the railway strengthened the town's role as a support centre and with the expansion of the tourist industry it became an important road rail plane stop serving Central Australia. Now it is starting to look like most other inland towns and with the erection of several large air conditioned centres the character of the town has changed. It is still the second most popular tourist destination after the Barrier Reef for overseas visitors who want to see the Red Centre and visit Ayers Rock.

Standley Chasm nearly at mid day.

The second day that we were there it rained during the night and the following day was very cold, so the clothes planned for Victoria had to be used! At night it was below freezing but it would warm up during the day to a pleasant 25C. Some trips were made to some of the local creeks which have cut spectacular gorges into the Macdonnell Ranges which form a barrier on the southern side of the town. Standley Chasm is one of the more popular sites and here the creek had cut a narrow cleft in the ranges. At midday the sun shines down the gorge and lights up the surrounding red walls. Unfortunately there wasn't time to visit the Palm Valley which is situated near the Finke River and it is a rugged drive in. The Finke rarely flows but geologists consider it to be one of the oldest rivers in the world. Palm Valley is unique for the species of palm which is still found there and no where else in the world. The palm is a survivor from an earlier age when this area was wet and fertile.

Christine meet her first steam train at the Ghan museum where part of the old 3'6" railway line is preserved along with relics from the steam era. Its passenger train was always known as the Ghan after the Afghan camel drivers who provided the majority of transport in this area and through the interior of most of Western Australia. Technically the people originally came from Pakistan, Iran and Turkey rather than Afghanistan. Travel on the old Ghan was a leisurely trip, it rarely got to Alice on time and one trip took 3 months when floods damaged a lot of the line. Now generally a diesel takes the passengers on a short 2 to 3 hour trip and when we arrived the steam train was fired up ready to do some publicity shots on NT tourism but it had to go out and haul back the diesel which had broken down.

There are now a lot of artefact shops catering for the tourists, selling many aboriginal items mainly for the overseas market. It has changed the traditional aboriginal art as they now use the designs that the tourists expect. While some were nice, a painted boomerang by a named artist would fetch over $500, some didgeridoos had a $600 price tag on them. There was very little of their traditional objects using the natural bush items. The town now boasts a surf wear shop though the nearest waves are 1,200 kms away! However the surf style wear is popular recreational wear. But it does have a Yachting Club which is putting a yacht in the Sydney to Hobart race which starts Boxing Day. A few nautical types have been transferred there though for their boat and training they all have to go to Sydney.

Camels at farm near Alice Springs.
As well as the above items Alice Springs does have many other attractions such as the date farms which still has the date palms dating back some 50 years, the old Australian Inland Mission hospital designed by the Rev John Flynn who also founded the Royal Flying Doctor (RFD) Service, Flynn Memorial church, the RFD base, various galleries and museums including the Strehlow Research Centre with its extensive displays of the Arunta people, the old Telegraph Station, the School of the Air which brings the school to all the children living on the stations within a couple of hundred miles radius, Old Timers museum, camel farm and the Chateau Hornsby which successfully produces wines yet it has summer temperatures of 40C. At picking time the workers start at 4 AM and work to about 8 and the grapes are transported to the winery a short distance away in refrigerated trucks. As well as producing table wines, port is also now produced. Surrounding the town are many gorges, some containing aboriginal rock carvings dating back thousand of years and the old gold mining town of Artlunga.

We headed south to Adelaide but at Eridunda where the Lasseter Highway goes to Ayers Rock. Anne decided that we ought to visit it so we headed west through Mt Ebenezer station and after a few hours driving we passed the flat top Mt Connor then Curtin Springs and finally the small township of Yulara which nestles between the sand dunes. The settlement by Ayers Rock was demolished about 8 years ago and some high class hotels built just outside the park boundary and they were designed to blend in with the surrounding landscape. This they do quite effectively but the town is not very big, it is there solely for the tourists and support staff. The 5* Sails in the Desert Hotel looks spectacular with the white 'sails' of shade cloth against the red dunes and its native gardens are highly acclaimed. We were able to get a room at the Outback Pioneer Hotel so we enjoyed the luxury of air conditioning for a change. There are a variety of restaurants around catering for the luxury traveller down to the backpacker but the nightly BBQ is good value.

Uluru, climbing down. The chain starts near the top of the photo which is just the start of the long climb.
Ayers Rock or Uluru as it is now known is probably the most popular destination of tourists after the Great Barrier Reef and near by are the equally spectacular Olgas or Kata Tjuta with its huge 36 rock domes. Both rocks change their colours during the day and generally have a spectacular show at sunset Most tourists want to climb the Rock and there was a steady stream of buses and cars to the parking area where the climb starts. The rock is quite smooth and steep and because there have been several deaths on it there is now a chain up its steepest part.

At the base of Uluru near the start of the climb.

Christine only climbed a little way and enjoyed the view from below the chain. The drive around the rock is also spectacular with the rock dominating everything. After rain there is the spectacular sight of water falls off the rock, some falls being the highest in Australia though they last only for an hour.
There are now strict controls over access to the various sites, some are aboriginal cultural sites but the general area is very fragile and the sheer number of visitors was affecting the vegetation. Now elevated walkways have been constructed at key vantage points so as not to disturb the fragile environment. Instead of driving to the Olgas we stopped at one lookout on the top of a sand dune and here the vegetation has been successfully regenerated and again the arid zone wildflowers were blooming.

View to the Olgas from about 5% of the climb up to the top of Uluru.

Leaving here in the afternoon it was a steady trip to Kulgera which is on the NT SA border. On the way in to Yulara we had passed a couple of the cyclists pedalling down the highway. It would be a hard way to see Australia as there is no water except at the isolated settlements and the shade is non existent We didn't see them on the way out so I wonder how far they managed to get.

Olgas from a roadside stop.

After Kulgera the countryside becomes even more barren and approaching Coober Pedy the landscape appears lunar like with all the mullock heaps from the opal mines. Many are open cuts using bulldozers and mechanical shakers to separate the opals from the soil but there are still many small shows where a couple of miners still dig manually. Because of all the holes around the area is quite unsafe at night. There are now some smart modern buildings in the town including an part underground hotel. Many of the old homes are underground in disused workings and this way they had a cheap house which was very cool and quiet especially during the long hot summers that this area would experience with the temperature above 40C for months on end.

Main Street Coober Pedy

Both the Catholic and Anglican churches are underground in that they are built into the side of a hill. However with the increase in tourism, which has been helped by the sealing of the highway, there are some improvements in the town and a few stores are now catering for the visitors. Opals both cut and in the raw are available everywhere and the town is more civilised than it was a few years ago, though the supermarket is still the only place where the miners buy their explosives!

Woomera: Canberra jet bomber and rocket (probably Black Hawk)

The next settlement was Pimba some 200kms to the south. It is at the turnoff to Woomera where for many years the rocket range launched British and Australian rockets and tested other military equipment, and the Andamooka opal fields. It is set in a flat treeless landscape and is exposed to the wind from which ever direction it blows. After here we passed the large salt lake of Island Lagoon and it was this and the Lakes Torrens and Gairdner which stopped the earlier explorers who though that there was a large inland sea. These lakes cover an extensive area and are dry except on the rare occasions when it rains.

Woomera: Jindivik pilotless target plane.

Port Augusta is at the head of the Spencer Gulf and is an important railway town as the lines to Perth Alice Springs Broken Hill and Adelaide all come together here. Due to the different states having their own railways and different gauges and for many years there were three different gauges here. With the recent upgrading and rationalisation of the railway network the only 3'6" line is the tourist railway through the Pichi Richi Ranges to Quorn. The 5'3" line to Adelaide has now been replaced by standard gauge. Several highways leave here; to Perth via the Nullarbor; to the iron ore and limestone mines and steel works at Whyalla then the Eyre Peninsula; to Alice Springs; or to Adelaide.

The first section to Port Pirie (with its massive lead smelters and its railway station that shares the street with cars and trains), passes through flat salt bush country but it soon changes to the more fertile countryside with green fields and contented looking sheep. By mid afternoon we were in Adelaide where we stayed a few days with Anne's brother in Magill which is at the base of the Mt Lofty Ranges. While it is suburban there are still vineyards around.

Rocking Horse Gumeracha near Adelaide. It is a lookout as well as a shop.

A few trips were made to local sights including a trip around the Barossa valley with its multitude of vineyards. There is a very wide array of wines available here, mainly the whites, and they are very popular overseas and even in France they have won many awards. While we were in Adelaide we enjoyed excellent weather even though it was still winter but on the day we left large storm clouds followed us across the state. The Murray River was crossed at Murray Bridge then we followed the coastal road past the Coorong where the haunting movie Storm Bird was filmed. Where the Murray enters the sea it is blocked by large sand bars which stopped ships sailing up the Murray from the sea, and these dunes over thousands of years have built up some large lakes and marshes which are still home to many waterbirds.

The Big Lobster Kingston.

We beat the storms to Mt. Gambier which is known for its Blue Lake which overnight changes colour from grey to blue each November and back again in March. The lakes are part of an ancient volcano and the town is built around its edge with a large park around the lake. In addition this area is also noted for its limestone caves and cheese production. In the town there is a full scale replica of the brig Lady Nelson which Lieutenant Grant sailed around the southern coast of Australia and it forms part of the tourist centre with its interesting working displays of the surrounding area's history and geography.