Outback Adventure Part 7!

 We went up to Anzac Hill for a great 360 degree view of Alice Springs.

I suppose you could say we were looking south here.

I've zoomed in on this photo. Can you see the two darker places in the centre of the ranges? We were staying on the other side through the gap there.

 

Looking toward the West MacDonnell Ranges.

And the East MacDonnell Ranges.

Each year there is a "boat" race on the Todd River which runs through Alice. It is called the Henley on Todd. The funny thing about the Todd River is that it is almost always dry! To give my overseas readers an idea, these are one of the different kind of "boats" that are raced. What a pity were didn't visit Alice Springs in August! This would have been so much fun.

 

The boys didn't have a boat so they went for a "swim" in the Todd River instead!

Just a little out of town is the Alice Springs Telegraph Station. It opened in 1872. This place was beautiful. 

  

Doris Bradshaw was the daughter of one of the Telegraph Masters. She wrote a book called "Alice On The Line" about life at the station.

 Imagine only getting supplies once a year!

 This was my favourite spot. Where the family lived.

Of course I had to take a photo of the quilt!

Notice the name of the child's book?

Then it was time to start heading back home. We just got up and drove for hours each day heading home. Stopped overnight at Coober Pedy, Burra (South Australia) and Robinvale (Victoria). Next stop home!

 This is at Lake Hart. It is a salt pan lake. Austin has his face covered with a tea towel to keep the flies away. This had to be the worse place for flies. They were horrendous!

Sunset at Coober Pedy.

Austin and Nelson beside the Murray River at Renmark near the border of South Australia and Victoria. Everything was so green again!

At Renmark we came across this very strange boat. We saw it heading up the river with music playing out loud. It was quite a sight. There was junk every where!

 

Coming up to the South Australia/Victorian border.

  

To finish off with, I thought I'd show you this stitchery. It was stitched over four states of Australia! I started it the day we left Alice Springs. That was the Northern Territory, then into South Australia. From South Australia into Victoria. Over the border into New South Wales and back again into Victoria. From Mildura you cross back over the Murray River into NSW to get to our stopover at Robinvale. I finished it about 45km from home. Stitching is a little slower in the car as sometimes, due to the roughness of the road, it takes a few goes to get the needle into the right spot!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of what we got up to on our big Outback Adventure. There is so much to see that we didn't get to see everything! Perhaps we'll get back again one day!

Outback Adventure Part 6!

 

We finally made it to Alice Springs!

Set up camp at the Big 4 caravan park. If you ever go to Alice, this caravan park was fantastic. Lovely grassy site. A bit different from the rock sites at Coober Pedy and Uluru!

 

There was a couple of jumping pillows and Austin and Nelson spent a lot of time there. That's Austin upside down above and Nelson doing a flip below.

We went to the National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame. It is in part of the old Gaol. The above picture is a tapestry of famous women.

This quilt is called Patchwork of Empowerment and has 434 signatures of women who were first in their field.

 You can see how big the quilt is! There were lovely displays of old utensils, sewing machines and it showed you how life was back "in the old days".

 Next stop was the Alice Springs Reptile Centre. You get a friendly welcome here!

 

 Here you were able to hold different lizards and this snake!

 

Shocking photo I know but this proves I actually held the python! As soon as it was put around my neck, goose bumps appeared everywhere! Now I can say "been there, done that and won't do it again!" LOL

We went to the Royal Flying Doctor Service Visitor Centre. It was quite fascinating finding out how the RFDS came into being. Rev John Flynn founded it in 1928.

 This is a quilt depicting the service. The man in the centre is John Flynn. The quilt is behind glass so that's why there is a reflection.

 Here's on piece of the quilting to show you the detail. All the quilting showed other aspects of the service.

 At John Flynn's grave.

 Simpson's Gap. It's about 11km from Alice. Black-footed Rock Wallaby's are known to be found around here and we managed to find two of them.

At the end of the red arrow there are the two of them. If you click the photo is should enlarge and hopefully you can see them. You can see how well they blend in with the landscape.

 

 The dry river bed.

 A little bit further along was Standley Chasm. We waited until about 12 noon for the sun to shine directly down.

 Then it was off to Ellery Creek Big Hole. This is one of the biggest waterholes in the region.

 The boys went for a swim.

 Having a transport business, we had to go to the National Road Transport Hall of Fame. There were certainly some very old cars and trucks here.

 I took a photo of the Michelin Man. When Mitchell was really young, he was a bit tubby and my brother always called him Mitchellin Man! Now Mitchell knows who the Michelin Man is!

Well, I think that's enough for now. We're getting close to the end so maybe just one more post (or perhaps two) to finish off our Outback Adventure.