First Camping Trip

There are endless camping and hiking possibilities here. I absolutely love it. At the end of July, we decided to get into the car and head east, along Ross Highway, and into the East Macs (East MacDonnell Range). We packed our tent and sleeping bags and headed out.

From a prior drive out this way, we knew there was a nice little spot for lunch at the Ross River Resort. It's located at the end of the Ross Highway, about 83 km from home. 

After lunch, we backtracked just a little to get on the Arltunga Road. We drove for about 2 hours along a dirt road, stopping a little before 3pm. We wanted to make sure we had enough time to explore the area and set up the tent before it got dark.

As you can see, we're sort of in the middle of nowhere. 

And it was great. After we set up the tent (in the clearing below), I wanted to do a little climbing. So we climbed the hill (pictured) opposite the hill where we pitched the tent.  

We climbed for about an hour. The views at the top were stunning! 

That night we saw the Milky Way! 

The next morning we packed up the little tent, and headed out to Arltunga. 

Arltunga was officially founded in 1887 after gold was discovered in the area, and it was Central Australia's first town. Miners came from all over to mine for gold, but the harsh landscape would prove to be too difficult to manage. The lack of water was the biggest hardship, making even basic survival a challenge. This ghost town once supported 300 people and there was a community that was established, equipped with their own police station (below). 

It was a great weekend! For the full album of pictures, check them out here: https://goo.gl/photos/8FSoeP3sWRtv7DM6A

Henley-on-Todd

A couple of weeks ago we witnessed an event called Henley-on-Todd. Every year, people build "boats" for this specific event. Some people build their boats in a week's time, others probably take months to make theirs. And some must have thrown theirs together mere hours before the event.

These "boats" are paraded through town, and then eventually raced Fred Flinstone-style in the normally dry riverbed known as the Todd River. It's quite a sight to see and one I'm glad we didn't miss!

This event started in 1962 as a fundraiser for the Rotary Club, and has continued ever since. We actually volunteered to help out at the event. Kevin was on traffic duty and I did ticket sales. After helping for a couple of hours, we were relieved from our posts and free to watch the festivities. 

There were food trucks and stalls, and plenty of places to stand and watch the event. In addition to the boat racing, there were a number of other unique games. One involved shoveling sand into a big barrel, and another involved racing each other in big hampster wheels down the River Todd. It was all pretty fun to watch. 

At the end of it all, mechanized "boats" battle each other. They have firepower and water canons and try their best to defeat the other two boats. 

We've started to say "only in Alice Springs" a lot ...!

For some more photos and a video, go here: 

https://goo.gl/photos/yjCSMsMQ3MYBoZdP6

One month

Hi from Alice Springs! We've now been here for a month! As always, time is a funny thing. It feels like we've been here ages, and also like we've just arrived.

So far we've gone camping, and have ventured out for various local hikes (pictures to come). We've even seen a kangaroo! 

I've been spending a lot of time learning about this little town, about the people and about their history.

There are two different historic timelines for this place. The first is about the Arrernte people, living in a place called Mparntwe. They have lived in Central Australia for thousands of years. They are believed to be from one of the oldest races in the world. They explain their beginnings through a series of stories known as dreamtimes or dreamstories. In these dreamtimes, the Arrernte people explain their beginnings, how certain geological formations came to be, and why the world is ordered the way it is.

Very close to here are places called Emily Gap and Jessie Gap. Those are the white Australian names for the sites. They are know to the Eastern Arrernte people as Anthwerrke and Atherrke. Anthwerrke holds special importance because it is part of the Caterpillar Dreamstory. The Yeperenye, the Ntyarlke and the Utnerrengatye are descendants from the caterpillars who helped make this area. They are called the Three Caterpillars. In the artwork depictions (thousands of years old), which has been preserved at Emily Gap, they are telling the story of the Three Caterpillars.

These caterpillars became the mountains ranges. As the ranges are the caterpillar bodies, the gaps in the ranges are the results of the stink bugs (Irlperenye), attacking the caterpillars and tearing off their heads. If you're interested, this is a great place to hear more about the Caterpillar Dreamstory.

There's a lot more for us to learn about and explore - we're excited to spend the next 3 years doing so!