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Exploring the outback! April 19th
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After sleepily crawling out of the tent at 04:00 into the dark and cold night, we packed up and caught an 08:00 flight from Brisbane to Alice Springs. We rented another car and on the advice of a woman at the tourist information centre, we decided to head to Namatjira Drive, which has various things to see in the West MacDonnell ranges region.
Firstly we went to the supermarket in Alice Springs to stock up on supplies. It was here that I first saw aborigines. For indigenous people they seem very outcast, poor and unkempt with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Some of them seemed to be a happy and wayward mix. We went to a bottle shop and noticed that there were no wine casks and discovered that this is because a law had been put in place, where wine casks can only legally be bought after 18:00 in an attempt to curb the huge problem they have with alcohol and antisocial behaviour in the area. There is even talk of them becoming a dry town because the problem is so bad.
Alice Springs, although the largest outback town, was still fairly small with only one main shopping street and a couple of supermarkets. It's pretty much a frontier town, in the middle of nowhere!
We set off at about lunchtime on our journey through the outback, driving along the empty highway, surrounded in a desert of bright red sand, which tends to change colour to burnt orange and deep red brown colours depending on the brightness of the sun. The sky was bright blue. Apparently, until recently, there never used to be speed limits on the outback highways because there are hardly any cars but they have now imposed a limit of 110 or 130. It was amazing to see such a unique and different landscape and the MacDonnell ranges, which stretch for 400km, as a backdrop were stunning. These ranges used to be a sea bed but massive earth movements pushed them up 300 million years ago.
We stopped at Ellery Creek Bighole, which is popular swimming hole surrounded in two massive round fiery red rock formations. The first thing we noticed were the amount of flies constantly buzzing in our faces. Some people were wearing fly nets - something we will need to get! It's a very hot and dry climate in the outback, which makes you thirsty - we needed to drink lots of water.
We then continued and ended up at Glen Helen resort, which has a campsite, accommodation and a bar/restaurant with live music - a very lively place considering it's in the middle of nowhere. It is a beautiful location, with the MacDonnell ranges as a backdrop. We set up camp and had a BBQ, just after the sun set. The sunset in the outback is amazing as it makes the colours of the rocks even more vibrant.
All sorts of campers turned up - people with tents, camper vans and even people sleeping outdoors in bivy bags! Very brave as it got really cold at night! The sky was really clear at night and we saw lots of bats flying around under the moon and stars.
Latest Comments (2)
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Hiya! (reply)
Apr 30, 2008 07:24 EST by domhines
Yes babes, it sad. The poor Aborigines - outcasts in their own land after having their country stolen, their women raped and being stripped of their resources. Then after all that the bloody Aussies expect that giving them a bit of land and money back that they should now integrate easily integrate into society. Don't get me started on those zenophobic, racist Australians...
Anyhow, babes your... show all
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