Kata Tjuta 26/4

Following our base walks at Uluru we drove about 50Km through the National Park to see Kata Tjuta, the rock formation better known as The Olgas.



The Olgas consist of 36 steep sided domes and are as red as Uluru itself.



Their formations looked pretty impressive as we drove up towards them.



We took a walk through The Valley of the Winds, but as you can see we still needed to wear the head nets to keep the annoying flies off our faces. We didn't care at this stage how silly we looked as everyone else was wearing them too.



We then took a walk through Walpa Gorge, which was formerly known as Olga Gorge. Walpa means windy and part way through the gorge you could feel the wind blowing around you, it was quite refreshing.



Climbing up through the gorge you could see the vastness of the range and the sheer rock face of the domes. The midday sun also gave the rocks the glowing redness associated with Uluru, it's closest neighbour.

Uluru 25/4 to 27/4

We felt like we had reached a milestone in our trip as we arrived at Uluru, formerly known as Ayer's Rock. It was always going to be a long journey to reach this destination and we had finally made it.



We had 2 chances at seeing 'The Rock' at both sunset and sunrise to try and capture the notorious colour changes at those times of day. These are the sunset photos from the first day, unfortunately the weather was against us and remained cloudy so we didn't get to see the full effect.





We arose at 5.30am the next day to witness the sunrise. Our first sunrise turned out to be the most successful, but not that much. We got to see 'The Rock' glow it's infamous red for about 30 seconds before the clouds again ruined the glorious technicoloured show.





Following the sunrise we went to the base of 'The Rock' to see it up close. This is where you can climb up 'The Rock' but it was closed due to extreme windy weather at the summit. There are lots of health recommendations to anyone wishing to climb 'The Rock' as it is very steep and deaths have occurred due to heart attacks and falling off the edge.



Instead we happily embarked upon 2 base walks, the Mala Walk and the Mutitjulu Walk.



'The Rock' has many strange formations around it, it is not as smooth as it looks from the distance.



There are many caves and crevices where water runs down the rock face into waterholes.



Our second sunset was a little more successful than the first, but as you can see the clouds remained.



Although we didn't see Uluru in it's full glory we did get to see it at varyious times of day which makes it appear to be different colours. It has a strange effect of drawing you to it, and it is still a majestic sight whatever time of day you see it.

Excellent viewing and highly recommended to anyone travelling here. Just be prepared for the long road journey to reach it through the lush green scenery reminiscent of Wales in springtime, through an area infamously known as 'The Red Centre' !

Alice Springs 24/4

We saw the famous Ghan train leaving Alice Springs station. The train runs from Adelaide to Darwin through the centre of the country.



The Royal Flying Doctor Service does an excellent job in providing health care for the outback communities and travellers. They cover a vast part of the country and rely on donations in order to cover their capital costs. The base here in Alice Springs has just 2 planes but is solely responsible for an area larger than the whole of the UK.



The view from Anzac Hill (the day before Anzac Day) over Alice Springs, towards Heavitree Gap where we were camped.



The telegragh station was why Alice Springs was formed. We met some old 'Diggers' (Australian soldiers) who showed us how the telegraph system worked. They used morse code to relay messages and had learnt and used this method themselves during the war for the Australian army.



Here's the spring from which Alice got it's name, "Alice Spring". This was near the telegraph station where the first Alice Springs town was built. There were still a couple of original buildings remaining. The town was moved to it's current location as it grew.



Having seen enough snakes on the road to satisfy Jayne for the rest of her life she took a well deserved rest, whilst David ventured to the reptile centre. Here there were all of Australia's venomous snakes. This one was having its tea.



There were also a wide variety of lizards.






And the first sighting of a "Thorny Devil".

West MacDonnell Ranges 23/4

We arrived in Alice Springs and took a day trip to the West MacDonnell Ranges. Alice Springs to our great amazement is nestled between the East and West MacDonnell Mountain Ranges, maybe we should have looked at our map a little more closely. First stop was Simpson's Gap.



We were disappointed that we couldn't take a swim in the creek, but you have to obey the signs here.



Here's Jayne at the end of the gap where there was a little waterhole.



Next stop was Standley Chasm. Here we had to pay an extortionate $8 a person as it was on aboriginal land. Poor value considering other attractions and National Park charges. We went a walk into the "jungle" in order to reach the chasm.



Here is the chasm itself. The walls were red when the sun was shining on them, but it was slightly overcast most of the time. After months of good weather, it took a turn for the worse now that we were in the 'hot' red centre.



Here's Jayne at the top of the chasm having warily trekked the "jungle" and climbed the boulders.



The Ellery Creek big hole was next. We didn't venture into the freezing cold water as we didn't know what else was in there.



The Ochre Pits were amazing colours and are where the aboriginies get their coloured ochre from for their drawings and rock art.

Ormiston Gorge was quite spectacular and very red in its appearance. We ventured over creeks and rocks to reach the gorge...

...but it was well worth it, the view when we turned the corner was quite breathtaking in the afternoon sun.

Road to Alice Springs 21/4 - 22/4

We left Katherine heading down the Stuart Highway towards Alice Springs. This was a 1200km (750 mile) journey over 2 days.



After 660km we arrived at Tennant Creek where we set up camp failing to notice the largest spider we've seen so far above our heads. Can you spot it ?



Here it is up close, the size of a human hand. Thankfully it was still there in the morning and not joining us for the rest of our trip.



On the second day we broke up our journey with a stop at the Devil's Marbles. They are boulders of granite which were formed over 1,640 million years ago. Aboriginal legend believes that they are the eggs of the main Dreamtime character, the Rainbow Serpent.

Here David attempts to rearrange them.



Jayne attempting to push a boulder onto the annoying tour group that arrived at the same time.



And celebrating her success.



We spotted a local resident.



And a precariously balanced marble.



Here's another local resident, standing proud on the top of a cliff in Aileron at 13 metres tall.



After travelling 550km on our second day we arrived at Alice Springs very tired.

Katherine Gorge 20/4

Whilst staying in Katherine we took a cultural river cruise on the Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge. It took us through 2 of the 13 gorges sculpted out of the sandstone rock. The aboriginal guide showed us how to make paint dyes out of local stones, weave bags out of local plants and he played the didgeridoo.



There is usually the option to canoe or swim through the gorges, but this was not offered to us today as there were still a few saltwater crocodiles in the waters from the wet season. There were traps along the banks of the gorge to catch the aggressive 'salties' of which they are currently catching about 1 each week.



At the end of the 1st gorge we had to get out of the boat and walk across the rugged terrain to enter the 2nd gorge, where our next boat awaited.

The 2nd gorge is said to be the most spectacular of all 13 of the Katherine gorges.



The views were quite magnificent.



The rock colours varied throughout the trip.



The Katherine gorge is always home to freshwater crocodiles which everyone keeps telling us are docile and unlikely to attack unless provoked. This was one we spotted on the sandbank and was thought to be about 3 years old. He was quite small in comparison to his saltwater cousins.



The locals swim without any fear in the waters where the freshwater crocs live, but as you can see here we were happy to keep our distance from the waters edge.