Chicken Scratchings

Driving towards Mataranka we suddenly switched from arid land and dry creek beds, to low lying water and plenty of grass on the verges. The humidity has taken a step up and the gardens are suddenly carrying many more tropical plants. Plenty of Frangipani and palms too. It’s quite a surprise after all the dry.

The primary feature here was the hot water springs and the secondary their famous pies. Unknown to us there was a 2^nd hot pool which turned out to be 600 meters from a great little caravan park recommended on the Net. This appears to be a farm that has had an area reserved and gardened with vans in mind. Around the park are stunning termite mounds but in a lawn environment. By the way most buildings you see up here have steel beams. Haven’t seen any wooden stuff.

After setting up the van we grabbed our goggles and a free noodle each (loaned out for free by the park) and headed to Bitter Springs, the closer hot pool. This turned out to be very special. There are steps and footpaths added to this area but nothing else appears to be interfered with. When you swim here you do have a bit of algae floating by but hey. This is nature. This was a bit off putting for the fussy folk but not a problem for us.

Because it has been left alone you have a lot of little fish and even turtles or tortoises swimming around. Submerged logs are covered with algae but you simply float right over them with the aid of the noodle as you float downstream. The water is quite warm so you can hang out there for hours. The usable area runs for probably a couple of hundred meters. We loaned our face masks to a couple so they could really see the place to its fullest advantage.

We went to the other hot springs area later and found it a bit more civilised. Concrete edges had been added but the bottom remains sandy. This pool was slightly hotter but a lot smaller in area. It also scores more people so it’s more like a hot tub than a natural spring. One nice feature was the spiders above the water. We were there in early morning and the sunlight through the palms really highlighted their webs just above our heads.

The 2^nd reason for stopping here was a little disappointing. The pies were $7.50 which was a surprise although they probably would feed two. But there was no gravy. It was basically a collection of meaty chunks wrapped in pastry. Tender, but not a real pie in my books.

Photo 1 Liz on the noodle

Photo 2 The walk path back to the starting point. Lots of palms here

Photo 3 Check out this baby. A 130k speed limit up here and folks are still bitching. When one of these can be around the next corner, I'll stick with a more sedate speed.  Some dummies even hammer it at night.

Photo 4 Termite mount with Bougainvillea in the background. In Vic these survive OK but up here they go mad. Lots of colour range too.

Looking for an Aussie bush experience? The Daly Waters pub is the definitive Aussie pub. Although you have to detour about 6 k off the highway, it’s well worth the trip. We had heard about the meals so Liz was ready for the Beef and Barra they are famous for. Yes. It’s pricey but it is miles from anywhere and the food is great.

The van park is very cheap and so you should expect light on facilities. They do have hot showers but the washing up facilities are rudimentary. The toilets and showers are Uni sex. First in, best dressed and lock the door.

The main bar stinks from the smokers just like the good ol’ days but thankfully the eating area is smoke free. A feature here is you book you meal earlier as they have a limit on how many meals they can cook at one time. When it's ready they yell out your name. Don't bother waiting for it to be delivered. If you just wave your hand they yell out "Come closer."

Each night they have music in the eating area (I wouldn’t call it a restaurant) usually the “Chook Man” who does Johnnie Cash covers. He is called chook man because he brings along 2 pet chooks who sit in front of him. Thankfully they did not sink as low as the Chicken Dance. (A chook has got to have some pride.)

The roof of the main bar has old bras and panties stuck to it and the wall behind has all manner of odd bank notes. Yep. It’s a quirky place.

We chatted to a couple of groups of bikies and some were doing long runs every day. I hate to think how much damage they might do to themselves if they zone out.

The next day we were heading to Mataranka. Little did we know we are about to head into country with Water. This was the last of the arid landscape for now.

Photo 1 the main bar

Photo 2 the front. 6 beers on tap and the menu

Photo 3 check out the signs from across the road

A few caravan parks get a bit organised and raise their profile with a theme. A darn good idea I reckon. Wycliffe Wells is a good example. As you approach the place you can see nice green grass, plenty of trees, and a lot of pictures of Aliens. The selling point being they have had plenty of sightings and a log of what is reported.

Of course, the last sighting was the night before and as it turns out the 2 nights we stayed had no events even though I doubled the Ouzo intake on the 2^nd night. But aliens aside, this is a well maintained park and it has plenty of other features to enjoy.

First of all, they have built 2 dams and the well water is pumped into one of them. Geese live here and have night sleeping quarters in the middle of the dam to keep the dingos away. You can catch Red Claw (a freshwater crayfish) and cook it up for tea. The 2^nd dam is unable to be used because the Red Claw dug through the clay pan when the level was low and caused the water to drain away.

A couple of emus live up the back and the female is in the process of laying a batch of eggs. So far they have 4 and they usually lay 6. The male will start sitting the eggs after Mum has finished laying. Apparently the males even test the egg temp on their cheek once the process starts proper. At the moment he doesn't sit the eggs. Something about keeping the hatching time close together.

All around the camp ground you can see alien art. A number of campers have stayed a couple of days to expand the collection with the end result of just about every building has a great paint job.  Now that’s my kind of tagging!!

While we were waiting for dusk to fall the first night, the Manager strolled past with a rifle tucked under his arm. We heard shots earlier that afternoon as he sighted it in. I had to ask what is was. The barrel was bigger than a standard .22 but smaller than the RAAF’s .303. It was a rimfire .222 don’t know the brand. I would have liked to feel the weight and fire a round but I didn’t like to ask.

This guy is also the train driver as well as having to do just about everything outdoors. At 4 pm each day he drives an old diesel loco out to the dam and back. I was pleased to see him do a 2^nd trip when some kids turned up too late for the daily run.

Great place with down to earth folk with plenty of time to chat.

Photo 1 a bridge across the gate between the 2 dams

Photo 2 the camp kitchen and art work on the toilet block near the covered pool

Photo 3 the Femalien toots

Photo 4 the train ride

Here is something I didn't know. According to Radio Nationals Science show, it's an Aussie show.

Science show

Not a bad show at all. I especially liked the one where they exposed the myth of mobile phones in service stations. That old chestnut has been pedaled around for years.

Once we bought the bike we had to have a crack at the ride to Simpsons Gap. We left it off the other day trips with a view to making it a bike ride if we got one. I scored the ride out. About 25 k and in the early morning so the first part found me actually wearing a vest. Damn it was chilly. One thing you can guarantee here though is its going to warm up later.

The ride snakes its way through the smaller hills that run alongside the West McDonnell ranges. There are plenty of info boards too and I used these to make sure I kept up the water intake. The path is well made and for those of you who ride the Fed trail in Melbourne, it’s of superior quality up here. The Gap is worth the trip too.

I got passed by two other riders who looked like they might be going for a speed record. Only saw one coming back though.

Liz went for the ride back. Into a head wind but slightly down hill overall. Still, I think I scored the best part of the deal. She also had many more riders to deal with.

Just one more bike mention. We saw a person riding out of Yuluru when we left there. We saw him again coming out of Kings Canyon. How tough are folk like that? The day time temp is always up in the low 30's and its always more than 100 clicks between towns. So far we have seen two folk riding solo and three pairs. Next week there is a big organised ride coming through too. Wow.

Photo 1 Simpsons Gap
Photo 2 a close up of scarred rocks in the gap
Photo 3 is the best of a bad lot. Took lots of piccys with water reflection in them and the all came out blurry. None of the photos of the Rock Wallabies turned out as well.

About 120 clicks out west of The Alice is Ormiston gorge. Not having a 4 wheel drive means it’s not on the way to anywhere so we had a day trip out there. There are other attractions along the road but some have pretty rough tracks to get to them and we would prefer not to wreck the car just yet. Besides, we have just about seen enough gorges for the time being.

Unfortunately we mucked about most of the morning so we hit this one in the hottest part of the day. That’s fine when you can get under some shade but out in the full glare of the Territory sun it’s a bit uncomfortable. Some of the buildings in other attractions show some pretty rugged living. I'm glad I didn't have to live out here in a tin shed. Ormiston was definitely the pick of locations and would have made a respectable camp site. Hopefully the photos do this justice.

One of the other things we did see along the road out was the ochre pits. The different colors were used for face and cave painting.

Photo 1 Entrance to Ormiston gorge

Photo 2 The limited water in there at the moment and the impressive range behind it.

Photo 3 the Ochre pits

I don’t know what I expected of Alice Springs but it turned out to be a quirky place. The security shutters and lots of Police and Security guards certainly indicated they have a fair bit of trouble at times. On the positive side of things, the Todd river is quite beautiful (for a dry creek bed). It has a lot of Ghost Gums right in the middle of it and fine grade sand. Somehow I didn't get a photo of it.

I’ve got to say I have never seen so many people walking around with slabs of VB on their shoulders. It turns out we arrived here when the indigenous folk got their money so there were lots of them stocking up after payday. Later in the week we discovered we couldn’t by a 4 litre chateau cardboard. For 2 reasons.

Firstly, you can’t buy it before 6.30 pm and secondly, they only sell 2 litre cartons. It’s part of the Intervention. In the outlying towns they get stung $25 for a 6 pack of beer designed to get them back on the missions quickly.

Alice Springs is surrounded by hills. The East McDonnell and West McDonnell ranges and when you come in from the south you come through the gap between them. They really show their age. Like the rest of the NT so far, the rock formations really dominate.

Plenty of shops here but mostly for tourists. It look us a couple of days to find the cheapo stuff we prefer. Looks like they get a few victims flying in then heading straight to the Rock.

We finally cracked on the bike front here. We bought a new bike that fits in the van courtesy of the quick release front wheel. We are really enjoying being able to get on the pushy once again though early morning is best. Needless to say the lock gets employed when the bike is not in use.

Photo 1 is part of The Alice. The West McDonnell ranges are at the back.

Photo 2 is a sign for petrol designed to prevent it's use for sniffing. I think that rates as positive spin.

Back in range so stand by for a backlog of travels.

Upon arrival in Alice Springs, we discovered we had a discount book for some of the local attractions including the Desert Park but it expired on the 30^th. It was late on the 29^th when we rocked into town so we headed out to the Desert Park the next day. With a $20 entry fee, the 2 for 1 was well worth having.

At first blush we were not sure if we might have been ripped off but that was soon set aside as we nosed around the area. The place is designed for you to wander around at your leisure with a set of head phones and a tape unit on which you dial up the number of what you are looking at. During the day they have special events at certain times so you can pace yourself between the features. Very relaxing.

The park is nestled against the West McDonnell ranges that dominate Alice Springs. The boundaries are nicely hidden so it feels like the Ranges are part of the park. Between the big aviaries of birds and the wild ones that also seem to live in the park, you feel like you are out in the bush.

One of the big draw cards is the nocturnal house. We cruised in there just before the ranger started her tour. Magnificent. Lots of marsupials and snakes and we even scored a bat having a good feed of a mouse. The Ranger was full of info and obviously loves her work. When we asked about the possibility of the snake surviving that Liz ran over on the way into Alice she said not many parts of the snake can be run over without killing it “but don’t worry. Something else would have eaten it.”

Another beaut feature was the Birds of Prey display. We took our seats in the amphitheatre and were surprised to see a number of birds of prey flying in for a free feed. I could understand it with a magpie but with birds like Kites I was very surprised. The later part of the show had some nervous performers which the Ranger put down to other birds of prey out on the ranges. Having been watching an eagle up there just before the show started, I can well believe it.

Great little venue and easy to fill a day at.

Photo 1 is the front of the park.

Photo 2 an attempted shot of a bird of Prey swooping in for a free feed. It didn't get any better. they were simply too fast. I included the photo so you can see the display area. If you ever go sit up the front.

Photo 3 Some fools gold. This is a test of the close up feature on the camera

Photo 4 Another test of the close up taken by Liz the day before

Today's T shirt. A memorial to the Aussie Liberal party.

Unnoticed, it seems by the Aussie Press, John Howard's legacy has been the destruction of his party. The current Opposition are running around trying to join up with the failing Nationals in a bid to distance themselves from the Howard era.

With not much success so far. Who knows what the new brand will be but you can bet it wont be the current name.

Poor Dr Nelson has managed single digit approval ratings although he appears to have reached the dizzying heights of 10% of late. The next assumed cab off the rank is Malcolm Turnbull who thinks he might be the Messiah but his efforts so far suggest he might suffer a tad of overconfidence.

I thought Malcolm might be the man when he first threw his hat in the ring but he seems to be missing something. Like a connection with the real world. His efforts to claim the National Wage case had a set dollar value from a Government Department was pretty silly.

If he had had more experience in government he would not have made this error but that wasn't the serious problem. The real eye opener was he persisted with the claim even after the department took the unusual step of publicly refuting the claim. It harkens back to an arrogant Howard who couldn't accept the real world.

If young Malcolm takes the leadership of whatever the Libs morph into, he looks like easy pickings for a sharp operator like Kevin 07.

It's been a while since I did a T shirt due to Little Johnnie getting his marching orders but a new member joining Protest T shirts has inspired me to do a couple more.

To commemorate the 5th year of Bush's war I thought an Aussie flavor might be fun.

I think the origin of the phrase comes from "You Id iot Stimpy" but the Aussie version has been shortened.

By the way, I discovered the A4 format didn't survive conversion when posting so I'm looking for advice on how to get the file ready for printing. This one has even come out lob sided so I think the PaintShop Pro skills are non-existant.

In any case you get the message.