18-Jun-2007 |
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Alice SpringsSunday - 20th June Departed Kings Canyon at about 9:00am and headed for Alice Springs. ULP was $1.37/litre, most expensive so far. Travelled with Bruce and Elaine and as soon as we got CDMA coverage booked into the MacDonnell Range CP. We got the last sites. Forgot about NT school holidays. Arrived at the park around 4:00PM set up had a beer and settled down for a bit of a rest. We are booked in for 10 days. Monday - 21st June Monday dawned sunny and clear but very
cold. 0C overnight. The wind was pretty chilly. Wednesday - 23rd June Another quiet day around Alice. Did some shopping, got some new clothes. Just veged out. Thursday - 24th June Spent the day at the Alice Springs
Desert Park. What a great place. The "Birds of Prey" display was
spectacular, but the highlight was Vincent, a local aboriginal elder, who
demonstrated and explained the medicinal uses for a lot of local plants. He
also told us stories explaining the history of his people and of the
surrounding land. He was marvellous, I could have listened to him all day. Saturday - 26th June Climbed up to the lookout behind the
Heavitree CP, halfway up the Ghan arrived from Adelaide, got some great shots
of it going through the Heavitree Gap and also scared up some kangaroos that
were grazing on the slopes. View from the top across Alice Springs was
spectacular, worth the climb. The kangaroos scared us up on the way down,
suddenly popping up just ahead of us. Monday - 28th June Minus 2C overnight but warmed up to a beautiful day. Went down to the railroad track to watch the longest Ghan to date go through the Heavitree Gap. 47 carriages, a really big one, took ages to go past. Had a quick lunch then went out to the Artilunga Historical Reserve for the afternoon. Lots of ruins associated with the mines. We went into the Great Western Mine hoping to strike it rich, but no luck. The local pub had unfortunately closed, cause it looked like a great spot for a drink. Tuesday - 29th June Quiet day round the camp. Bit of shopping, then off to see the latest Harry Potter movie. Wednesday - 30th June Up early and off to Gemtree to catch up with John and Margaret. Great caravan park up there. We all went out to the zircon diggings and watched the fossickers at work. Looked like good fun. We went back to the CP and bought a wheelbarrow of garnet "stuff". We spent the rest of the afternoon sifting it for garnets. Got lots of little chips and about a dozen good gem sized ones that we'll have cut and set when we get back home. It was a great day. Thursday - 1st July Stayed around Alice, did some shopping, all the washing, amazing how it stacks up. The CP built a huge bonfire to celebrate Territory Day so we went over with our sparklers. Great fun, lots of fireworks. Friday - 2nd July Lovely warm day. Spent the day at the Alice Springs Show. All the usual stuff, arts and crafts, agricultural equipment displays, line dancers, livestock, sideshows, rides, show bags and arena events. A great example of a bush agricultural show. We had a great time. It got fairly hot and dusty in the afternoon so back to the park for a few convivial wines with Vic and Angie next door.
This site was last updated 18-06-07 |