Queensland's Channel Country and Central Australia had experienced above average rainfall during December and January due to several cyclones and because of all this rain, the floodwaters were flowing down the Diamantinia, Eyre and Finke Rivers and the Cooper Creek into Lake Eyre. Only three times since European settlement has Lake Eyre been completely filled with water though about every twenty years some water will flow into the lake. On most occasions when these rivers do flow, the Simpson and Sturt Stony Deserts absorb the water before it can reach the lake.
Lake Eyre is a dry salt lake for most of the time and it on average only receives less than 120mm of rain a year. It takes up to six months for the waters to flow from the Channel Country into Lake Eyre and when it does the lake changes from a barren flat salt pan to the 14th largest fresh water lake in the world and the aquatic life, which has often been in hibernation for years, comes out of the burrows where they have been sleeping and reproduce rapidly. This attracts a large number of bird life to the region and once the desert starts to bloom the reptiles and various marsupials also rapidly increase to make good use of the food while it is available. It can take up to three years for the lake to empty and as the hot sun evaporates the water, it leaves the salt behind so it becomes saltier than the sea. While some of the fish can survive in these conditions, the wild life moves away or dies from starvation as the food supplies dwindle.
Some animals have adapted to these conditions such as the Ten Year Frog that will fill itself with water then dig a hole for itself in the salt and hibernate until the next lot of rain wakes it up and the cycle starts again. Others such as the Lake Eyre Dragon, a lizard, can live all the time in this hostile environment, tolerating high levels of salt. It burrows into the salt during the heat of the day and can walk on the tips of its toes to keep its stomach off the hot salt.
This exceptional rainfall had also allowed the desert to bloom and while many desert flowers have a short life span, others can survive for a long period. It was to see this rare occurrence that a trip was planned to visit Lake Eyre and also Innamincka where the Burke and Wills Dig Tree still survives. This was one of the earlier explorations to attempt to cross Australia from south to the north and return. This well funded and rather lavish venture left Melbourne in August 1860, and travelled to Coopers Creek via Menindee. At Coopers Creek a base camp for the 40 strong expedition was established, and four members (Burke, Wills, King and Gray) pressed on for the Gulf of Carpentaria with inadequate provisions. The group reached the Flinders River, which they mistook for the Albert, and turned back without ever having reached the Gulf. During their return, along the eastern edge of the Simpson Desert, most of the party died from starvation and fatigue. John King survived to tell the story of an expedition that really achieved nothing.
DAY 1 Darwin to Tennant Creek. 994.5 kms.
However due to Christine starting the school holidays by being sick, the route had to be changed and with only two weeks was now available, the trip was amended at the last moment to fit it all in. Finally, on the Monday everything was packed into the Land Rover, tent, sleeping bags, food, cooking equipment, water and the necessary equipment to last us for the period. As the trip to Tennant Creek had been done many times before we did not stop to visit any of the places of interest. Katherine is the largest town with a population of around 5,000 and we stopped here for lunch. The other towns are small with a population of less than 100 people, and several were originally telegraph stations on the Overland Telegraph line which was put in during the 1870s between Adelaide and Darwin where it connected up with the cable to Java. This connected Australia to the rest of the world and its construction was quite a feat considering that it passed through what was then unexplored country.
Just before Tennant Creek is Three Ways, a petrol stop and store, where the Barkley Highway from Queensland joins up with the Stuart Highway. There is also a memorial cross here to John Flynn who was the founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, an organization which still provides essential medical service and doctors to the remote areas of Australia. By 10 PM we finally reached our destination. Tennant Creek started life as a gold mining town in the 1930s and while gold is still mined here, it is also an important supply centre and stop over for travellers as it is a long way from any other town.
Christine's notes. We stayed at the Safari Lodge. The soil around Tennant Creek was red. It is amazing the difference between Darwin and Tennant Creek. The Darwin air smells salty at times while the air down here smells dusty.
Day 2 Tennant Creek to Alice Springs 511.8 kms.
By now the countryside was a lot drier and the vegetation more scattered with only the occasional stunted tree, generally mulga or mallee, to be seen. It is cattle country and as the highway is not fenced, one needs to keep their eyes wide open for cattle or kangaroos that have a habit of dashing across the road. This is a problem more at night-time but the road kill provides food for large number of eagles and other birds of prey which live in this region. The Wedge-tail Eagle is the most common and it is a large bird up to a metre tall. As it is very sluggish when taking off, one has to slow down when they are sighted feeding on the road, as a collision with one of them could damage the car.
Our first stop was at the Devils Marbles where thousands of huge rounded boulders are scattered over a wide valley, precariously balanced one on top of the other. Their colour changes through the day becoming red at sunset. According to Aboriginal mythology, the Rainbow Serpent laid them.
Lunch was at Ti- Tree which now produces many vegetables for the southern markets due to a reliable water supply from bores and some fertile soil. From here it was a steady run into Alice Springs.
Originally established in 1888 (and near the Overland Telegraph station which was built near a spring), as Stuart, the town developed slowly with the building of the railway. Renamed in the 1930s, “The Alice” did not bloom as a city until the Stuart Highway was fully sealed in 1987. Now it is a popular tourist destination, especially during the winter months when the climate quite pleasant the whole time. It is also the starting point for trips to Uluru (or Ayers Rock as it was also known as) a days drive away and the many gorges nearby including Palm Valley where there are palm trees found no where else in the world and they date back to the last Ice Age when this area was a lot wetter. The perennial Todd River course flows through the town's centre and it is the scene of the famous annual (waterless) Henley-on-the-Todd regatta. The race had to be cancelled once because it rained and the river flooded.
To leave Alice Springs there is only one pass through the MacDonnell Ranges where the road, railway line and river all squeeze through the Heavitree Gap. Our camp was in the caravan park just beyond the Gap where we have often stayed before. Christine likes it as at dusk, the rock wallabies come down the hill and they can be fed pellets. All of them are wild but sometimes the older ones will come close enough and eat from one's hand. A walk up the stony hills surrounding the campsite gives a view over to the MacDonnell Ranges.
Heavitree Gap where the road, rail and river pass through a narrow gap in the Ranges.
Christine. We stayed at the Heavitree Caravan Park. It has wallaby feeding, lizards, a swimming pool and walking trails up the hills surrounding the park. I fed some of the wallabies with pellets, some of them would eat out of my hand if I kept very still. The wallaby that I fed had a joey (baby wallaby) in her pouch. I reached out and touched it a few times and eventually it retreated into the pouch. Later, when its head was sticking out again, I offered it some pellets and it picked them up in its paws and ate them. The pellets that were left over I kept in their bag and eventually when I came home, I offered them to my chicken that I got later in the year but it refused them.
Day 3 Alice Springs 23kms.
Today we visited the Desert Wildlife Park which has not been opened for long but it has received world wide acclaim as it is the first of its kind to display the plants, animals and landscapes of the Australian deserts and their traditional use by the Australian aborigines. It covers 1300 hectares with the MacDonnell Ranges forming a backdrop and it contains 120 species of animals, many of them in a special nocturnal house so they can be viewed during the day. The animals also include the endangered Bilby, Mala and Quoll as well as many birds in large walk through aviaries. It also contains more than 400 species of plants, many of which were in flower, including the striking black and red Sturt's Desert Pea.
At different sites throughout the day, there are demonstrations and talks on the different aspects of the flora and fauna living in the desert regions including a demonstration by free flying Wedge Tail Eagle, a Black Breasted Buzzard and the Brown Falcons. Each of these birds hunt in a different fashion, the Buzzard often eats eggs especially those of the Emu which are very big and strong so it breaks it open by dropping a stone on it so as to crack open the shell. The Falcon catches its prey when it is flying and it then it passes the food to its mouth while still in the air. This was done at a low level by the Brown Falcon as it flew overhead.
Christine. Today we went to the Desert Wildlife Park. I saw lots of birds, mostly finches and a few Budgerigars. I also saw a bird of prey. Mum searched all over trying to find the Sturt's Desert Rose but none were to be found. I enjoyed it there. There were lots of wild birds and we saw some building nests. The eagle display was good but as they were a relatively new park they only had a few performing birds of prey. They relied on the local Kites to aid in the display.
Lake Eyre is a dry salt lake for most of the time and it on average only receives less than 120mm of rain a year. It takes up to six months for the waters to flow from the Channel Country into Lake Eyre and when it does the lake changes from a barren flat salt pan to the 14th largest fresh water lake in the world and the aquatic life, which has often been in hibernation for years, comes out of the burrows where they have been sleeping and reproduce rapidly. This attracts a large number of bird life to the region and once the desert starts to bloom the reptiles and various marsupials also rapidly increase to make good use of the food while it is available. It can take up to three years for the lake to empty and as the hot sun evaporates the water, it leaves the salt behind so it becomes saltier than the sea. While some of the fish can survive in these conditions, the wild life moves away or dies from starvation as the food supplies dwindle.Some animals have adapted to these conditions such as the Ten Year Frog that will fill itself with water then dig a hole for itself in the salt and hibernate until the next lot of rain wakes it up and the cycle starts again. Others such as the Lake Eyre Dragon, a lizard, can live all the time in this hostile environment, tolerating high levels of salt. It burrows into the salt during the heat of the day and can walk on the tips of its toes to keep its stomach off the hot salt.
This exceptional rainfall had also allowed the desert to bloom and while many desert flowers have a short life span, others can survive for a long period. It was to see this rare occurrence that a trip was planned to visit Lake Eyre and also Innamincka where the Burke and Wills Dig Tree still survives. This was one of the earlier explorations to attempt to cross Australia from south to the north and return. This well funded and rather lavish venture left Melbourne in August 1860, and travelled to Coopers Creek via Menindee. At Coopers Creek a base camp for the 40 strong expedition was established, and four members (Burke, Wills, King and Gray) pressed on for the Gulf of Carpentaria with inadequate provisions. The group reached the Flinders River, which they mistook for the Albert, and turned back without ever having reached the Gulf. During their return, along the eastern edge of the Simpson Desert, most of the party died from starvation and fatigue. John King survived to tell the story of an expedition that really achieved nothing.
DAY 1 Darwin to Tennant Creek. 994.5 kms.
However due to Christine starting the school holidays by being sick, the route had to be changed and with only two weeks was now available, the trip was amended at the last moment to fit it all in. Finally, on the Monday everything was packed into the Land Rover, tent, sleeping bags, food, cooking equipment, water and the necessary equipment to last us for the period. As the trip to Tennant Creek had been done many times before we did not stop to visit any of the places of interest. Katherine is the largest town with a population of around 5,000 and we stopped here for lunch. The other towns are small with a population of less than 100 people, and several were originally telegraph stations on the Overland Telegraph line which was put in during the 1870s between Adelaide and Darwin where it connected up with the cable to Java. This connected Australia to the rest of the world and its construction was quite a feat considering that it passed through what was then unexplored country.Just before Tennant Creek is Three Ways, a petrol stop and store, where the Barkley Highway from Queensland joins up with the Stuart Highway. There is also a memorial cross here to John Flynn who was the founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, an organization which still provides essential medical service and doctors to the remote areas of Australia. By 10 PM we finally reached our destination. Tennant Creek started life as a gold mining town in the 1930s and while gold is still mined here, it is also an important supply centre and stop over for travellers as it is a long way from any other town.
Christine's notes. We stayed at the Safari Lodge. The soil around Tennant Creek was red. It is amazing the difference between Darwin and Tennant Creek. The Darwin air smells salty at times while the air down here smells dusty.
Day 2 Tennant Creek to Alice Springs 511.8 kms.
By now the countryside was a lot drier and the vegetation more scattered with only the occasional stunted tree, generally mulga or mallee, to be seen. It is cattle country and as the highway is not fenced, one needs to keep their eyes wide open for cattle or kangaroos that have a habit of dashing across the road. This is a problem more at night-time but the road kill provides food for large number of eagles and other birds of prey which live in this region. The Wedge-tail Eagle is the most common and it is a large bird up to a metre tall. As it is very sluggish when taking off, one has to slow down when they are sighted feeding on the road, as a collision with one of them could damage the car.
Our first stop was at the Devils Marbles where thousands of huge rounded boulders are scattered over a wide valley, precariously balanced one on top of the other. Their colour changes through the day becoming red at sunset. According to Aboriginal mythology, the Rainbow Serpent laid them.
Lunch was at Ti- Tree which now produces many vegetables for the southern markets due to a reliable water supply from bores and some fertile soil. From here it was a steady run into Alice Springs.
Originally established in 1888 (and near the Overland Telegraph station which was built near a spring), as Stuart, the town developed slowly with the building of the railway. Renamed in the 1930s, “The Alice” did not bloom as a city until the Stuart Highway was fully sealed in 1987. Now it is a popular tourist destination, especially during the winter months when the climate quite pleasant the whole time. It is also the starting point for trips to Uluru (or Ayers Rock as it was also known as) a days drive away and the many gorges nearby including Palm Valley where there are palm trees found no where else in the world and they date back to the last Ice Age when this area was a lot wetter. The perennial Todd River course flows through the town's centre and it is the scene of the famous annual (waterless) Henley-on-the-Todd regatta. The race had to be cancelled once because it rained and the river flooded.
To leave Alice Springs there is only one pass through the MacDonnell Ranges where the road, railway line and river all squeeze through the Heavitree Gap. Our camp was in the caravan park just beyond the Gap where we have often stayed before. Christine likes it as at dusk, the rock wallabies come down the hill and they can be fed pellets. All of them are wild but sometimes the older ones will come close enough and eat from one's hand. A walk up the stony hills surrounding the campsite gives a view over to the MacDonnell Ranges.
Heavitree Gap where the road, rail and river pass through a narrow gap in the Ranges.Christine. We stayed at the Heavitree Caravan Park. It has wallaby feeding, lizards, a swimming pool and walking trails up the hills surrounding the park. I fed some of the wallabies with pellets, some of them would eat out of my hand if I kept very still. The wallaby that I fed had a joey (baby wallaby) in her pouch. I reached out and touched it a few times and eventually it retreated into the pouch. Later, when its head was sticking out again, I offered it some pellets and it picked them up in its paws and ate them. The pellets that were left over I kept in their bag and eventually when I came home, I offered them to my chicken that I got later in the year but it refused them.
Day 3 Alice Springs 23kms.
Today we visited the Desert Wildlife Park which has not been opened for long but it has received world wide acclaim as it is the first of its kind to display the plants, animals and landscapes of the Australian deserts and their traditional use by the Australian aborigines. It covers 1300 hectares with the MacDonnell Ranges forming a backdrop and it contains 120 species of animals, many of them in a special nocturnal house so they can be viewed during the day. The animals also include the endangered Bilby, Mala and Quoll as well as many birds in large walk through aviaries. It also contains more than 400 species of plants, many of which were in flower, including the striking black and red Sturt's Desert Pea.
At different sites throughout the day, there are demonstrations and talks on the different aspects of the flora and fauna living in the desert regions including a demonstration by free flying Wedge Tail Eagle, a Black Breasted Buzzard and the Brown Falcons. Each of these birds hunt in a different fashion, the Buzzard often eats eggs especially those of the Emu which are very big and strong so it breaks it open by dropping a stone on it so as to crack open the shell. The Falcon catches its prey when it is flying and it then it passes the food to its mouth while still in the air. This was done at a low level by the Brown Falcon as it flew overhead.
Christine. Today we went to the Desert Wildlife Park. I saw lots of birds, mostly finches and a few Budgerigars. I also saw a bird of prey. Mum searched all over trying to find the Sturt's Desert Rose but none were to be found. I enjoyed it there. There were lots of wild birds and we saw some building nests. The eagle display was good but as they were a relatively new park they only had a few performing birds of prey. They relied on the local Kites to aid in the display.
2 comments:
Chris said Darwin's air smells "salty"...i begin to wonder how is that smell or it actually has other meaning....????
ooh...can't imagine the size of the Wedge-tail Eagle...1m is really tall!!
Looks like Chris has been 'trained' or inherited from u to love such natures!!
It's amazing to see how she loves feeding the wallabies...i would have bounce metres away if stumble upon these creatures, hahaha !!
Over here, it's quite unlikely that children would appreciate these nature of lives. Unfortunately & even if we don't like it...i foresee them to be more of the technology/internet children!!
Hi Jaccs
By salty I would say that Christine was refering to the fact that as Darwin is by the sea the air here has a different smell... of the salt air as against well inland where it is so dry and dusty.
The wedgetail is a big bird and when you get up close to them they look majestic and perhaps a little cruel with their large hooked beak. Come here to the Wildlife Park and you can get up close to one!!
With children being exposed at an early age to animals, then they become used to them. Normally wallabies are very timid and you cannot get close to them but with the feeding they can tolerate humans, some are more used to them than others, but no one can go beyond the gutter else the wallabies quickly go. I am sure that Sean and Scot would love to be very quiet and also feed them?
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