Darwin and surrounds Part I

Darwin is a city I really like. This is now my second visit and I feel quite at home here. The weather’s been good - around 35C most days, with the humidity around 85% so it’s tropical - no doubt there !. Current population is around 136,000 with what looks to be a significant ethnic diversity. Sadly, along the Esplanade, which is the main road that runs along the foreshore of Darwin Harbour adjacent to the CBD, you still see groups of Aboriginals sitting around in the more shaded areas for most of the day, doing not a lot. It’s really sad because there seem to be two quite distinct mindsets within the general Aboriginal community. One group, seemingly unrelated to any particular tribal group, seem to be able to have a foot in both cultural camps; ie their own and that of Western society. And then there’s the other group that seem to be welded to the traditional culture of their origins and they don’t seem to be able to cope with a modern western-type society. In Alice Springs, I got talking to a local shop owner, and he was telling me that the last Aboriginals that came in from the desert where they’d been living since birth as hunter/gatherers, was in 1980. So when you look at it in that context, 30 odd years isn’t a lot for people with thousands of years of cultural heritage and traditional ways of living behind them, to then accept a paradigm shift in the way they live. I’d heard a lot of criticism of the Aborigines  before I left for the first trip in 2011, but when I got to see for myself what was actually happening, I felt then, as I do now, very sad at what must be for many, a hellish existence. Alcohol abuse is an obvious and very visible problem.

Darwin Plaza Area

When you drive into Darwin these days, the first thing that strikes you is the degree to which development is going on. The number of new building sites on the go and the ever expanding road system seem to be a constant feature, not that the road system is shabby, because it’s anything but. The Stuart Highway, which starts in Port Augusta, ends in Darwin, petering out at the very end to become Daly Street, which after a sweeping left leads you straight onto The Esplanade, the road that divides the CBD from the Esplanade Park and Darwin Harbour. The CBD is a grid with Darwin Plaza at the centre, and the road system leading away from the CBD is well designed, with wide main roads and excellent signage. Darwin International Airport is probably 8 to 10 km from the CBD and is also home to RAAF Base Darwin. In addition, there’s a Naval Base (Coonawarra) - Naval spelt “Navel” on the official tourist map of Darwin -  and an Army Base ,Robertson Barracks, near Palmerston, which although a suburb of Darwin is more like a sister city to Darwin with around 25% of the total population of Darwin residing there. 

Charles Darwin

The origins of Darwin began in 1839 when the HMS Beagle sailed into what is now Darwin Habour, the Captain at the time naming the area Port Darwin in honour of Charles Darwin, who had sailed on the Beagle on the previous historic voyage which provided him much of the evidence to formulate his conclusions concerning the theory of evolution. About 30 years later, the first settlement of Port Darwin was named Palmerston after Lord Palmerston, a previous PM of the UK. In 1911, after the NT was transferred from South Australian Administration to the Australian Feds, it was renamed Darwin. 

Since that time, Darwin has undergone two major rebuilds, the first following the 58 odd bombings it received in 1942/43 during WWII, and then again following cyclone Tracy on Christmas Eve 1974. As a result of the last rebuild, Darwin is a relatively modern city when compared with it’s more southern cousins. According to currents statistics, Darwin appears to be growing at an average rate 2 to 3% annually. It's also starting to become expensive to live here, with rents exceeding those of Melbourne and Sydney.

How close we came

Charles Darwin National Park, to the south west of Darwin CBD, houses a very interesting collection of military stuff from WWII. During the war, Nissan huts were constructed and then covered with earth, leaving only the entrance doors free for access. This was prior to the bombing of Darwin and the fall of Singapore, which only happened 4 days apart. The Navy used these huts to store their munitions. The alternate plan was to store them on a stores ship - based in Singapore - and we all know how that ended !. 

But I picked up an interesting bit of trivia from this display - the origins of the Digger’s slouch hat.

The broad brimmed Digger’s slouch hat began life as the hat initially worn by the Victorian Mounted Rifles in 1885. The brim was turned up on the RHS in the cooler climates, and turned down in the warmer climates for shade all round. In 1903 when the Australian Army was established following Federation in 1901, they adopted the same hat - but turned the rim up on the LHS. So, for those keen spotters of Army trivia, if you didn’t know that before, tuck that one away for future use .....

Tom Roberts Etching Print - NGA

The Museum and Art Gallery of the NT (MAGNT) - north of the CBD - is an excellent museum - I like museums, they have really cool stuff - and combines an art gallery with original and traditional Aboriginal art, modern art by the likes of Albert Namatjira and at the time we visited, a display from the Australian National Gallery of some Fredrick McCubbin and Tom Roberts originals, amongst others. Included in the display was an original print of the famous etching produced by Roberts of the formal opening of the first Australian Parliament in the Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne in March 1901 by the then Duke of  Cornwall and York - later to become King George V. The detail in the etching is mind-blowing, with the likes of Barton (Australia’s first PM), Deakin, Hughes and other future PM’s evident in the front row audience. Also included in the display was the original painting of the ceremony Roberts used as the basis for the etching. According to one of the museum curators, the etching was a private commission and almost ended in the death of Roberts over the two year period it took him to complete it. The final result, on close examination, is awesome. I never knew that Roberts was capable of such fine artwork. 

Tom Roberts - Shearing the Rams

I always thought he was more of a brush and canvas artist, such as you see in his iconic paintings of shearers (Shearing the Rams, The Golden Fleece) and his depiction of Bushrangers (Bailed Up). Of the two artists - ie McCubbin and Roberts - I have a personal preference for Roberts over McCubbin as he seems to capture the “liveliness” of the scenes through the action of the figures, rather than through the action of the brushstrokes. Anyway, that’s a personal opinion.

The museum Aboriginal art from across the top end appears to differ from what you see in central Australia. The line work is finer, construction of the images seems more refined but the colours are not quite as rich as those you see in the artwork of the central. The symbology, however, is similar with the Kangaroo, Goanna (or monitor) and snake appearing universally. What I can’t recall seeing in central artwork is the fish and the crocodile, which you do see in artwork from the top end. On the point about crocodiles, it’s interesting to note that there’s a big resort at Yulara - the resort adjacent to Uluru in central Australia - that is shaped in the form of a crocodile when viewed from the air. Now, according to my understanding, crocodiles are confined to the northern parts of Queensland, the northern parts of the NT and northern WA. So I think someone’s telling “porkey’s” about where these animals come from ....

Back to the artwork of the Aborigines: Rightly or wrongly, I have the impression that artwork and the manufacture of artifacts from the Aborigines in the top end appear to be slightly more sophisticated than what you see in the centre. Maybe that’s because they had better materials to work with, like Pandanus reed which you see used in the manufacture of intricately woven carry bags, matting etc. This is just a personal observation because I’m no art critic. You see, a straight line is a cause for celebration to me, coming from a technical background where drafting skills were encouraged over the more creative swashbuckling of the artists paint brush ... You don’t design bits or aeroplanes for aesthetic appeal - so there’s no ....“so what the artist (Engineer) had in mind was ....”; it’s just simply ...... “yep, it’s an aeroplane” - end of discussion. So that’s where my interpretive skills start - and finish.

News report at the time of Cyclone Tracy

Another section of the museum is dedicated to the story of, and devastation caused by cyclone Tracy, which hit Darwin in the early hours of Christmas day 1974. The exhibit contains many aerial photos of the before and after effects and has a sound chamber you can enter where an actual sound recording of the cyclone is played out over a few minutes. The chamber is darkened to give you a similar environment people would have been subjected to - ie no power and therefore no lighting - and the recording goes for several minutes. 

The rebuild of Darwin

The rumble of the 200 mph winds, the screeching of metal sheeting being dragged over hard surfaces and the ever-present sound of hard objects slamming into other hard objects. Scary experience, especially if you close your eyes and try and visualise what might be going on. They also play a short film, shot by a cameraman accompanying the first Journalists on site (ABC bloke) following the cyclone. Seen from street level, it’s a very poingnant study in what must have been an horrendous experience for anyone who experienced it.

The renovated War Museum - New Entrance Building

Out at East Point is the War Museum dedicated, in the main, to the bombing of Darwin during WWII. When I visited this museum in 2011, I thought it was good. Since that time, the museum has undergone major refurbishment and now it’s not just good - it’s excellent. The refurbishment was carried out at the request of the NT Government - that was a request that came attached with no money - so that the museum could be upgraded in time for the 70th Anniversary of the bombing of Darwin, which was held on the 19 February, 2012. You may recall the visit by Barack Obama (US President) at the time and the ceremony that took place in The Esplanade Park. Well, the refurbishment has turned this into another “must” for Darwin. The museum is located adjacent to one of the 9.2” gun emplacements, which is incorporated into the museum grounds, and houses a fabulous collection of newspaper clippings and photos taken at the time of the bombing of Darwin.

Newspaper report of the bombing of Darwin

An interesting snippet of information came from one of the newspaper articles in the museum. The Federal Government ordered an enquiry after the bombing of Darwin, based on evidence that there had been many issues with communication, leadership - or lack of - by the civilian population and general alert readiness of the town for any potential attack. According to the report issued by those conducting the enquiry, prior to the bombing, military communications personnel had detected morse code - in Japanese - emanating from the Daly Waters area, which is south of Darwin by around 600 km. Approximately 40 minutes later, incoming morse code - in Japanese - was detected around the same area. It was never determined from whom or from where these communications were coming however, some Japanese living in and around the Darwin area at the time disappeared without a trace following these communications. So there you have it; perhaps Australia had, at the time, its first incident of 5th Columnists in our midst. 

Red Circles Showing Main Towns Bombed
(May have missed a few between Broome and Exmouth)

Yet another morsel of information from the museum was just how far down the WA coastline the Japanese bombers attacked. The initial attack on Darwin on February 19, 1942 was followed by 86 more attacks on targets ranging from Darwin, Katherine, Derby and Broome, all the way down to Exmouth, which is about half way down the WA coast. These attacks continued through 1942 and into early 1943. 

So, having read through all this stuff, you could be forgiven for thinking that we’re on a “blood and guts” tour of Darwin with all this talk about war, bombings, secret morse code and the like. But Darwin’s history is steeped in the bombing and it’s aftermath. And on the way up from Katherine in particular, you simply can’t miss the signage along the way referencing various WWII sites - it's in your face the whole trip. And then there are the WWII airstrips right beside the Stuart Highway, all the way up to Darwin’s doorstep - about 4 or more from memory - from where they operated Hudson bombers, Spitfires and Hurricanes.  The story of the development of the Stuart Highway is a story in itself; suffice to say that the military, out of sheer necessity in order to support Darwin during the war, transformed what was essentially a dirt track that ran between Alice Springs and Darwin into a hard surfaced highway that provided the vital link for movement of military hardware and other support needs between the south and the north of Australia.

So you see, your brain is already geared to the war experience before you get here. We didn't hear anything about this when I was at school. In fact, we didn't hear anything about Australian history generally - if at all, it was mostly British and French history. Pity because my reading over the last few years convinces me we have a very rich history concerning the exploration of both our coastline and, in particular, the interior. But that's another story - and a long one better told by historians .....

Alice Springs to Darwin

We left Alice Springs on Saturday May 4, just in time to escape the long weekend which we knew nothing about. Apparently, there is a horse race meeting over the weekend and everyone descends on the town. So we were fortunate in getting away before the onslaught.

When you leave Alice Springs for the north, the road takes a bit of a climb for a few km and then you seem to level out - but it’s strange, you have this feeling that you’re continually climbing as you drive on. I remember I had this same sensation on the last trip, and it continued for 100's of km. I’d like to see a survey map of the Stuart Highway and plot the variation in elevation above sea level along the way. Even TJ commented on the same sensation.

TJB Inside the Barrow Creek Roadhouse

We stopped at Barrow Creek Roadhouse - which is adjacent to the old Telegraph repeater station for the original OT Line and latterly, infamous for the location where Paul Falconio met his end - and his girlfriend had a lucky escape. Got talking to the lady behind the bar who is originally from Ireland and was just “sitting” the store for a family member. She told us a bit about the Telegraph Station and how both the Stationmaster and a Linesman were  speared and killed by the Aborigines in 1874. 

Barrow Creek Telegraph Station 2013

Their grave sites are adjacent to the Telegraph Station, which is in surprisingly good condition, and you can wander through at your leisure - which I did. It’s interesting to wander through places like this - you get to see some really cool stuff, especially the inventions that came out of the Blacksmith shop. Some very clever ideas, executed with some seriously good workmanship. The walls on the residential buildings are about 12” (300mm) thick and built from local rock. Even in the heat of the day - it was about mid afternoon when I wandered through and around 35C - the rooms were remarkably cool and I would say about 10C cooler. 

Barrow Creek Telegraph Station 1906

But given the location, which is beyond the back of no-where, I’m guessing you’d have to be very comfortable with your own company - or mad in the first place. Imagine living where there’s nothing and no-one, other than the people who work at the station (and there’s no guaranteeing you’d like them anyway), the local Aboriginals who probably don’t like you being there in the first place (hence the odd spear through the window), and about every 6 months, you get a supply wagon come through with provisions - weather depending. And finally of course, there are the ever present flies - those bloody buzzing, crawling, irritating little sods - besides the mosquito, the most useless insect to inhabit this earth - and they all live in Australia because I’m sure word got out about my visit and they all decided to descend on Barrow Creek mid afternoon on May 4. As a firm believer in Evolution, how did this branch of the evolutionary landscape go so wrong ?. That fly-in-the-ointment comment must have come from Darwin as he reached for his Aeroguard.

Next stop was Wycliffe Well. It’s claim to fame ?. UFO’s ..... now I’m all for questioning these weird things that float about in our skies, but I have to question why Aliens choose to show themselves at Wycliffe Well these days rather than Roswell in the USA which is, after all, UFO central. Now in Roswell, it is claimed, an alien spacecraft crashed nearby the town in July 1947, and the occupants - extra-terrestrials no less - were killed. These Buck Roger types of Planet X reportedly had no ID so they were immediately suspected of being Aliens. According to State law at the time, these blow-ins should have been deported back to where they came from ... but then, as the story goes, they were then sequestered away by the US Military for the purpose of performing medical examinations etc etc .... and on and on the story went. So in the end, the whole episode made money for some , such as newspapers and other comparable Carpetbagger organisations, and simply made others mad, like the US Military who denied any of this ever happened. 

So who are we to believe; the Journalists who reported the story - those moral and ethical gate-keepers entrusted by the public at large to report factually, without bias and without any consideration of increasing circulation through emotionally charged sensationalism; or the Military, who, on the odd occasion, kill people. 

Tough call .....

So Australia now has its own Roswell in the form of Wycliffe Well. Perhaps  ET  called Wycliffe Well when he phoned home.

Devils Marbles - upon arrival

We overnighted at The Devils Marbles, just north of the town of Wauchope. This is a NT State Park and has the most interesting formation of rocks you’ll ever see. The camp site is behind the main rock formation, although that being said, there are many rock formations covering I would guess, around 50 to 100 acres. There are rocks perched on other rocks that you would swear had been placed there by someone. But a wander through this marvel at both sunset and sunrise is well worth the effort. The camping area has a toilet (a “long drop” loo - no more explanation necessary) and has solid iron fire-places for those  folks that want a BBQ or just want to sit around a fire at night chatting. We had no lighting - other than a torch - but it was a great experience and I would encourage anyone who is traveling through this way to take the time and explore what Mother nature can provide - although we still reckon some bloke with an excavator placed all these rocks there before Stuart came through the area around 1862 ..... putting that doubt aside, I've included several photos because these rock formations cannot be represented by just one photo - they are a mind boggling collection of boulders supporting other boulders - and it's all natural erosion. 

Devils Marbles - with a Wycliffe Wellian UFO Light Source

Devils Marbles - Sunrise - note the sky colouring.

Sunday May 5 saw us on the road again, heading for Daly Waters. Well, it had to happen at some point and sure enough - we got ripped off at the Three-Ways Caravan park - paid $6 for a bloody cold shower because the hot water system didn’t work, something they forgot to mention when we handed over the money. Even their fuel price was 14 cents per litre higher than more remote places like Elliot and Mundarra further north. And the drop-kick behind the counter, besides having totally soul-less eyes, was hovering near the bottom of the scale on the service geiger counter. So I now understand why they call it Three-Ways; they find three ways to rip you off; ie $6 cold showers, high petrol prices and soul-less service to the point where you feel like a bit of self inflicted wrist slashing - just to make you feel better. So if you’re traveling up this way, I strongly recommend you accelerate past this blight on the Stuart Highway landscape.

The trip to Daly Waters was uneventful, except for Three-Ways of course, but as we travel, I’ve noticed a lot of Wedgetail Eagles along the way this time, more so than last trip. They are magnificent birds, with huge wingspans up to 2 metres I’m told, but they’re very shy. They operate in pairs, with one feeding on the ever-present road kill of Kangaroo or Wallaby while its mate stays in a tree not far away as a lookout. The approach of a car causes the one in the tree to fly off, which signals the other that things aren’t safe - so away he/she goes as well. Perfect harmony - I’ve seen this every time I spot one feeding by the roadside. I’ve also seen the result of a few that were late in leaving.

Daly Waters Pub - Exterior

When we pulled in to Daly Waters, there was a Rodeo that had just finished and the participants were in the throes of getting ready to leave. The guy at the park was complaining about the noise they’d been making the previous nights. On the night we were there (May 5), these Rodeo blokes took over the pub - as well as taking over ownership of a 20 litre container of fuel which at the time belonged to me - problem was, they omitted to ask me; ie the bastards stole it. We heard them coming past the van late at night - swearing, loud and obnoxious - we were the van right by the path leading from the pub to their campsite. So, all the noise must have been a cover for some low-life to sneak up to the back of the van and steal it. 

Daly Waters Pub - Interior

So the next morning when we realized we’d been ripped off, we showered, packed and were gone by 7.30am - couldn’t get away fast enough because the episode left a really bad taste for both of us. We thought about confronting them, but with 30+ of them and just us two weaklings (by comparison), our hospital expenses would have far outweighed any misplaced bravado ..... needless to say, our opinion of Rodeo types is not high.

Our next destination was Darwin - a 570 km trip, which we did easily. Nothing more eventful along the way - thankfully.

Alice Springs and Surrounds

Downtown Alice Springs - From Anzac Hill

Alice Springs is located around the geometric centre of Australia, and lies some 1500 km to the south of Darwin - our next major destination. Running to the immediate east and west of the town are the MacDonnell Ranges, named after Richard MacDonnell, Governor of South Australia (SA) at the time of their discovery. Over millions of years, weathering and erosion at what is now called Heavitree Gap enabled a breach in the range through which the Todd River now flows, the Stuart Highway traverses and the Ghan railway line passes. The gap is no wider than a few hundred metres and is the single access point by which Alice Springs is approached from the south.

Old Telegraph Station - Alice Springs

Alice Springs came about because of the establishment of a Telegraph repeater station about 3 km north of the current town centre. The story of the building of the Overland Telegraph line (OT Line) through central Australia is an epic in itself. But in short, with the opening up of a route through the centre of Australia to Chambers Bay near Darwin by John McDoull Stuart in 1862 - a Scottish Civil Engineer turned explorer - building of the OT Line by the SA Government began in 1870 between Port Augusta and Port Darwin, and was completed in 1872. Along the route, 11 repeater stations were built, one of which was located at Alice Springs. We took a stroll through the station and it’s been maintained in excellent condition. The buildings have been stocked with period furniture, the telegraph office has the original equipment and outside, the blacksmiths shop has the whole box and dice. There are also the stable buildings holding saddles - both horse and camel saddles - and buggies from that era. Even the cattle yards still exist. Adjacent to the station is a dip in the Todd river where the original founder of the site, as part of an advance party looking for the most suitable route for the OT Line, thought he had stumbled on a natural spring. In reality, it had rained for the preceding weeks and water had been retained in the dip which, with a base of solid rock, prevented water from soaking through the natural river bed sand. The name “Alice Spring” was given to the site, Alice being the name of the wife of Charles Todd, the SA Superintendent of Telegraphs who was also responsible for construction of the OT Line. The main river running through the current and original Alice Springs was named the Todd River. A tributary of the Todd river was named the Charles river.

About 3 km south of the original Alice Spring, the town of Stuart was established around 1872 and named after John McDouall Stuart at about the same time as the Telegraph station started operations. In 1933, a referendum of the people of Stuart was held and they agreed to the renaming of Stuart to Alice Springs.

To me, this is a sad reflection on the character of the people who opened up this country. John McDouall Stuart spent two years and 6 attempts in order to cross Australia from Port Augusta to Chambers Bay new Darwin. He suffered terribly with his health during these exploits, returning to Scotland in 1864 and dying 2 years later at the age of 50. For his efforts in all these exploits, he was awarded the princely sum of GBP3,000 and even then, because he was an alcoholic, he was only allowed access to the interest on that amount for his daily needs. And to top it off, they name a Highway after him ....

Alice Todd on the other hand was the wife of Charles Todd - the main driving force behind construction of the the OT Line and a person of some importance in the SA community. So by mere association rather than involvement, her name is now part of the Australian landscape. And to top it off - Alice Todd never paid a visit to the original Alice Spring.

But then we do have the Stuart Highway ......

John McDouall Stuart

Unless you missed it, I am a huge fan of Stuart. An alcoholic yes, but leaving that aside, when the man was in the bush, he could read it like a book. He had an uncanny knack of finding water sources where others couldn’t and was the quintessential bushman - and this in 1860. He was at his best in the bush and his worst on return from his 6 exploration trips to the interior - that’s 6 - with his final trip being the breakthrough he and his two financial backers, Chambers and Finke, had hoped for. And as someone I bumped into the other day remarked, he’s the least known Scottish explorer in Scotland, even though he discovered and traversed more harsh country than the African explorations of the famed Dr Livingston. If you’ve ever been into the central parts of Australia, especially those of northern SA and the northern parts of WA and the NT, you’ll understand just how hard that must have been back in 1860. No air-conditioning, internet and Tellie then folks ....

Photo from the Strehlow Collection

Also took a trip through the Central Australian Museum, which is part of a Cultural Precinct that comprises an Art Gallery and Centre with a Gallery dedicated to paintings of the famed Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira and members of his immediate family, The Museum of Central Australian which is dedicated to the natural geography and fauna of the NT (fantastic Museum) and also includes many photographs from the Strehlow collection (another story in itself), and of course the Central Australian Aviation Museum. In the Art gallery, there was a collection of lithographs from Roy Lichtenstein on display, courtesy of the National Gallery. A very interesting artist - his art is a commentary on the political and social norms of the day during the 1960’s through to the mid 1990’s. He passed away in 1997 at the rather youngish age of 74.

Connair DeHavilland Heron

The Aviation Museum was good, primarily based around an excellent display of aircraft from Connellan Airlines, which was an outback airline headquartered in Alice Springs. Long short, the airline was founded in 1939 by Edward Connellan and in 1970, it underwent a name change to Connair (remember the movie ???) . In 1980, as the result of financial difficulties, it was sold to East-West Airlines but not long after the sale, it went into Liquidation. During the good times, it operated the 4 engined DeHavilland Heron as its mainstay aircraft, which underwent a re-engine program after Edward Connellan decided that, although a good aircraft, it was, like many British aircraft at the time, underpowered. So and against advice from the original designer, he installed American manufactured Lycoming Engines with higher power, finally producing an aircraft that was lighter by 800 lb and had markedly increased fuel efficiency. Another interesting aspect of the airline was that way back in the 1970’s, Connellan employed a lady as the Chief pilot. An interesting man was Edward Connellan. He died around 1987.

Ormiston Gorge - West MacDonnell Ranges

When you come to Alice Springs, there are many “musts”, but one is to spend some time in the MacDonnell Ranges. They are referred to as the West and East MacDonnell Ranges, the demarcation being the Heavitree Gap referred to earlier. So TJ and self took a trip out to both on different days - there's a fair bit of driving, especially in the West MacDonnell's. For the West MacDonnells, there some very interesting places to visit, among them Glen Helen, which although a resort, has an interesting Gorge and quite large water hole, as part of the Finke river. Ormiston Gorge is a natural spring water hole and aside from the Ellery Creek Big Hole water hole, is perhaps the most picturesque of the river Gorges. 

The Boofheaded Rock Ape

Another interesting weathered feature is Simpsons Gap, only about 18 km out of Alice Springs. It was originally considered as a potential way through the MacDonnells for the OT line, but the line was finally routed further east. The gap has similar weathering and erosion as Heavitree Gap south of Alice Springs, but has very steep Gorge walls and is no wider than perhaps 6 to 8 metres. It’s also a natural habitat for the Black Footed Rock Wallaby, one of which I saw at Ormiston Gorge. These are timid creatures, seem to be very fine boned, unlike their cousin the Wallaby and Kangaroo. Simpsons Gap is also host to the Boofheaded Rock Ape who fortunately, only visit on occasion and are characterised by their inability to read Park signs, have a noisy aural habit and a brain the size of a Walnut. I saw more of these than I needed to.

Finally, in the East MacDonnell Range, there are similar delights, such as Trephina Gorge - very picturesque, Jessie Gap and Emily Gap, both of which are culturally important to the local Arrernte Aborigine tribe. Emily Gap is particularly significant because it has rock art on the Gorge wall that dates back many years. Last time I visited in 2011, this Gap had water in part of the river. This year it’s bone dry. According to the locals, 2013 has been the “driest wet season” in 27 years.

So tomorrow (Saturday May 4th), we head north for Darwin, with a few other interesting stops in between.