Alice Springs and The MacDonnell Ranges ~ 31st July - 3rd August 2010

We arrived in Alice Springs mid afternoon and spent the time setting up home for the next 4 nights. The kids were straight off and made friends in the playground. The highlight of our stay at this park was the free pancake breakfast on Sunday morning. Huge pancakes and loved by all. Poor Zali nearly missed out after having a big sleep in until 9.15am!! A few more of these needed now after some very busy days!!

Once we were all full of pancakes, we headed off to explore the East MacDonnell Ranges. Not as well toured as the west, but well worth it. Lots of Aboriginal culture, artwork and a clear relationship between the Aboriginal Dreamtime - the land and the people. The places of significances we saw were:

* Emily's Gap - the story of the 3 caterpillars with beautiful rock art....

* Jessie's Gap - the story continues with a view over the emu plain.....

* Corroborre Rock - a meeting place for celebrations....

* Trephina Gorge (where we were very lucky to listen to apparently famous Morris Stewart conduct and record his choir (predominately Aboriginal woman) singing beautiful harmonies). - a very picturesque and serene place to visit.....

Peter was a little worried driving into Trephina Gorge as he felt we needed 4WD to cross the waterways and was worried the Subaru would end up with a flat tyre. No problems at all and excitement for the girls that we were travelling the 'rough' roads.

* Ross River Homestead - where we were greeted at the door and asked what we wanted. A few drinks at the bar seemed like a big effort for the staff, but bugger them, we did it anyway!!

We completed this tour in the afternoon and the kms, the in and out of the car and the walks to see these places left us with a carload of tired people. An earlyish night needed to prepare ourselves for the day trip the next day to the West MacDonnell Ranges.

The next morning saw us head off after breakfast to explore the West MacDonnell Ranges. Similar in feature to the East MacDonnell Ranges, just on a bigger scale. We keep running into the same people at different places and have met people from all over the world. So many are helpful and more than willing to take shots of us so that mum and dad can appear in a few random shots. Along the West MacDonnell Ranges, we visited:

* Simpson's Gap

* Standley Chasm - a pretty place, but disappointed we could not 'climb' as far into the chasm as we had when we visited in 2004. Still a lovely walk and worthwhile sight at the end, especially with the sun shining through the chasm. This landmark has also been reclaimed by the Aboriginal nation which occupies the land and is fully operated by this nation.

* Ellery Creek Big Hole - unfortunately far too cold for a swim in the very inviting body of water!!

*The Ochre Pits - a great time had making our own ochre and then painting the girls' faces. Photos on FB of how good they looked!!

* Glen Helen Gorge and Homestead - we gave the sight seeing a miss here and opted rather for some refreshments in the bar. Ran into Rose and Chris (from Vic and who we have seen nearly every day since Port Augusta) and traded stories of where to go and not to go and the proposed travel itinerary for the next few weeks. Unfortunately, they are travelling at a much faster pace than us.

* Ormiston Gorge and Pound - a supposed 'difficult' walk that would take 2 hours was well worth it and much easier and quicker than the prediction. The view from the lookout, tough and steep in parts for the kids, was over the large gorge and pound below. Probably the most water in any of the places we had seen over the past few days.

A big day out, again. and once again tired and worn out children!!

Our last day in Alice Springs to see all we could saw us head out to the Many Hands Art Centre where we gave Ella the opportunity to create her own Aboriginal artwork. When we organised this, we just thought it would be great to see professional artists at work and to see the techniques and meanings behind their works. We spent about 3 hours at the centre with Ella working the whole time - the biggest challenge - ideas!! Once she was started her artwork took shape very quickly. As we worked we started chatting to some of the women painting around us, totally oblivious to the fact we were in the company of Albert Namatjira's grandchildren and cousins. They were even providing Ella with feedback about her work and then we stayed and had lunch with them. Ella is still not totally aware of how special this was, but we were thrilled to meet and interact with such famous artists.

After lunch, we then headed to the Todd Mall to learn how to play a didgeridoo. Much harder than we would have thought and we were all hopeless!! Lucky escape for me when Zali needed to go to the bathroom. Unlucky that I didn't have the 50c needed to access the toilet and the poor chook had to hold on. Payment for the toilet - this is Australia, not Europe!!

Our final sightseeing destination in Alice Springs was the School of the Air. After the disappointment of it not being open in Broken Hill, I was so glad we had the opportunity to see it in action in Alice. A truly amazing and unique style of education. Unbelievable amounts of work requirements for the students and the role of the teacher is certainly different to our role in mainstream education!! It was certainly interesting to see a lesson in action, especially one on how to create and use databases. Got a few tips for myself, as it certainly not an application I am good at!

A 'big' shop ended our hectic day as we would be about a week making our way from Alice to Katherine. We have just over 6 months to explore this great country and we plan to take our time and..... relax!!