13. – 28. July

East MacDonnell and beyond

We didn’t stay in Alice we kept driving into the East MacDonnell Ranges and camped in the Trephina Gorge. This area offers three camp site, two good accessible and one not so easy. We opted for the easier one as the walking tracks are starting there.

Unfortunately we had to return to Alice and it started to rain in the morning. This meant we could see the Todd river with water and even notice that some streets were closed due to flooding. When we returned to our tent we noticed once more what a flash flooding is. The Ross Hwy had a lot of water on the road which meant several cars had to wait but we crossed without much effort. We even saw something positive in the rain – the campground was deserted – only us and the nature.

 We did the Trephina Gorge walk three times or so. You’ve to get the best of the different lights in the morning, at noon and in the afternoon. The walk went along the gorge rim so the views were included. We had to cross a little creek (ice cold and clear water) which formed little waterfalls. To finish the walk we had to wade through water again – luckily the sun was out so it didn’t feel that cold.

The historic town of Arltunga we visited as well. This was the first town in Central Australia but now only some relicts are left. We had a look at the visitor centre and watched the DVD before going to the sites. At the government works you could see some official buildings like the gold house, the crushing battery, the blacksmith…. Then we drove to the Old Police Station where the office and the gaol are visible. This buildings are not original – they were reconstructed in 1985. I’m not sure what I did that I had to go into the gaol.

 

Then we had a look at the mines. First we drove to the Great Western  Mine which was the second profitable mine (the got around 600 ounces of gold). They are even reworking the waste hoping to find something. Then we walked to the MacDonnell Ranges Mine, an underground mine. You could even climb some leaders and have a close look for yourself. On some days you can even watch a demonstration in panning for gold and having a crushing battery in operation.

  Back at the campground we walked the Panorama Walk which goes up and a round a little hill on one side of the gorge. Of course you can look into the gorge but also follow the creek in both directions. The other available walk (Ridgetop walk) we didn’t do as we’ve been on many rims so far and it was just connection one camp area with the other.

Then we drove to Rainbow Valley again to participate at the camp fire talk with the ranger. We were six people around the fire and she talked for an hour showing us pictures of a wet and dry Rainbow Valley as well as pictures of the flora and fauna. We’ve learnt that the annual rainfall is around 300mm (they will have much more this year) and the evaporation is about 3m per year. The frogs and other animals have perfectly adapted to that weather. Some frogs bury themselves and surface only if enough water is available to form a new generation of frogs. They need around 2 weeks from egg via tadpole to frog… If it’s wetter for longer the frogs grow bigger. Other animals lay their egg in the corner of the claypan as they have to dry out completely before they can hatch.

Now we’re in Alice Springs again and not sure how long we’re going to stay as we got a cold and flu…

Bye, bye,

Tom and Anja