Outback Adventure - Day 4

Alice Springs - Trephina Gorge

Today is an admin day. Not far to go.

We sleep 'in'. Till 8 o'clock. I awake somewhat worse for wear. I blame the chemicals in NT Draught and vow never to drink it again. (Except for emergencies, of course). Anyway, Panadol to the rescue.

We need to get moving, since we need to check out at10, have all our gear clean, dry and packed, and get our 'complimentary' breakfast of coffee and toast down our necks. All done and we check out on the minute. Get a taxi to Britz Rentals where our Land Cruiser awaits.

This beauty has a built-in fridge, storage cupboards, full complement of cutlery and utensils, gas stove, ground tent, roof-top tent and last but not least, a 4.2 litre diesel engine. (As it turns out, she can also suck an oil well dry all by herself, but that's another story.) Initially, she handles like a boat, but we soon form a rapport. Drive back into the Alice to stock up on food, drink and some camping gear.

My babes.

Alice Springs is the second largest settlement in the Northern Territory and pretty much in the middle of Australia. It is surrounded by the Simpson Desert, Great Victoria Desert, Gibson Desert and Tanami Desert. As you can imagine, it gets quite hot in town, but it is mitigated by the tree-lined roads and wide verandahs everywhere. For the hungry and thirsty, there are plenty restaurants, grill-houses, bars and cafes. The town has a laid back feel, but also a certain vibrancy. I could easily visit again and stay longer.

We eventually manage to get out of Alice at 16:00. A bit later than expected. We head into the East MacDonnell Ranges.

First stop is Emily Gap for a short walk (accompanied by millions of flies of course), then back in the Land Cruiser for air conditioning and a magnificent trip to Trephina Gorge. According to the locals, one of the three caterpillar ancestors that created these mountains came forth from the earth here at Emily Gap.

We are surrounded by ancient mountains and scrubland. Constantly changing vistas catching the late afternoon sun. I think I counted about 5 cars during the 1.5 hour trip. It is quite difficult to describe the combination of solitude, overwhelming ancientness, harshness and beauty of the countryside. Eli is doing the driving, so I get to stare in awe.

We find a deserted camp site and set up camp. We are the only people in the entire national park! The campsite is in a narrow valley with well laid out stands. Some communal barbies and a few individual ones. A few loos dotted around, but no showers. Setting up camp is the easiest thing in the world: Open the tent's retaining canvas and fold the tent out. Get the camping chairs from the rear foot well. Open the rear car doors, slide out the fridge, open it, grab a beer, open it. Done. At this stage I have to comment that drinking beer while wearing a fly-net is an art, but perseverance pays off.

Last light catching a long Ghost Gum. Notice the dead branches? It is a surival strategy: During drought, in order to conserve water, the tree will cut off the sap going to certain branches. It sacrifices its own branches, in order for the tree have a chance at survival.

We go for a walk in the late afternoon sun. Trephina Gorge itself is a magnificent break in the range, where the force of water has carved a channel over millions of years. Here we marvel at the sheer, red-brown rock faces, white river sand and waterholes. River Red Gums grow everywhere.

A waterhole, gums, and the last rays catching the cliff face. (Crap pic, but there was very little light left.)

Moonrise over the rim of the gorge.

Back at the campsite we find that there are wood barbies, but we don't have any wood. The gas barbie doesn't work too well, since the wind keeps blowing out the flames. Eventually we settle for the camp stove. Chilli con carne, rice and red wine goes down really well while we marvel at the clear stars and night sounds of the desert.

Out here it feels as if we are completely alone in the world up on top of the Land Cruiser. This is our first night in a roof-top tent. It's not very comfortable, but we'll get used to it. In the meantime we get to listen to the sounds of the desert at night and the wind tugging at the canvas.

More on Day 5...