Alice Springs (Trephina Gorge and Arltunga)

DAY 17 – ALICE SPRINGS (TREPHINA GORGE AND ARLTUNGA)                   Tuesday, 19^th July

Again, a cold morning, but an absolutely stunning cloudless day with brilliant sunshine.  Off to Trephina Gorge this morning where David worked with the Northern Territory Conservation Commission back in the summer of 1981/82.  (Yes, I think I was just finishing Grade 4!!)  He is very excited about returning and seeing how much it has changed. 

Trephina Gorge was just stunning.  Just a short walk of a couple of kilometres on the plateau above the gorge with just stunning views out to the East.  We saw beautiful crested pigeons and many signs of other wildlife (lots of different poo!).  We then went down the gorge to the riverbed and there was enough water that we needed to take off our shoes and walk in the river back to the carpark.  The kids just had so much fun tying their shoes together and throwing them over their shoulders, walking through the sand and water, laughing at Mummy squealing with the cold!!  The River Red Gums along this sandy river bed are just stunning, especially set against the red rocky gorge.  The photos and my descriptions just won’t do it justice, I’m afraid.  Just so peaceful.  It was also the scene of our very first Geocaching experience (without the help of the Gordons, that is!). 

We then had to go into 4WD again for the trip out to Arltunga.  Although nothing like the 4WD driving we did yesterday the kids still loved driving through the creek beds and “Go Faster, Dad” was the chant from the petrol heads in the back!  Arltunga was the home of a minor gold rush in the 1880s.  It was amazing to hear of the men who pushed their wheelbarrows from Oodnadatta in South Australia all the way to Alice Springs and then out to Arltunga in pursuit of gold – a distance of more than 600kms.  Arltunga has virtually no water and so all goods brought into the settlement were transported from quite a distance away which made them very expensive.  The enormous difficulty of the lives of these, primarily, men was just stunning.  The crude houses built and the difficulty just surviving, let alone making a living, makes us all look a bit soft these days!

The caravan park has a “star talk” on Tuesday nights so the kids were able to hear from an astronomer and look through a big telescope at Saturn and its rings.