Day 3 - Serpentine Gorge to Counts Point - BIG views

Day 3 began with a gentle stroll in to Serpentine Gorge

 

The five friends: Loretta, Peter, Marie, Mick and Jill

Wildflowers, many and varied and so pretty were a real feature today on the long walk up and up to Counts Point. Have a look at the wildflowers tab at the top of the blog to see more wildflower photos.

We had a long walk along a ridge with views on all sides.

The rippled stone in the foreground below is natural. We saw similar stone several times. It is caused by water flowing over silt on the bottom of the sea which covered the area prior to the orogeny.

 Pete and the view west from the top of Counts Point.

 More views from Counts Point

We ate lunch under a couple of small stunted trees near the summit and then it was a long rocky walk down to the valley floor to find our new camp for the next three nights.

Vegetable curry with coconut rice
Mini pavlovas

Day 2 - Simpson, Standley and Alice Town Camp Aboriginal art centre

Day 2 A relatively easy day following the long walk of Day 1. After an early breakfast we had a pleasant 9km stroll with views across the valley to Simpsons Gap.

 

Simspons Gap is another one of several places along the Larapinta Trail which had a road in to it, so we piled in to the bus for a short drive back toward Alice Springs to visit the Alice town camp which is another Aboriginal community which is using art to bring meaning and income to its people.

They have won awards for their soft sculptures made from blankets dyed in an unusual way as shown below. They also dye scarves and create in other artforms such as painting and video making. We were shown three short videos, saw how they dye the cloth and were treated to a bbq lunch.

Then it was in to the bus again and driven to Standley Chasm, which was just a short walk in to the chasm and a short but steep climb to a lookout and then back to the café for afternoon tea/coffee. Imagine the chasm walls going up twice as high as you can see in the photo below.

A brother and sister photo of Pete and me.

 

Noodles and stir-fried chicken and vegetables

fresh fruit salad

The Camp

The Larapinta Trail is 223km long. We only walked 88 km over 6 days. Our Larapinta Classic walk with World Expeditions - fully catered, staying in semi-permanent camps, only needing to carry a day pack each day, but it was still pretty rugged walking. (see examples of wrecked boots on my facebook cover page)

We were driven by bus to and from some of our days of walking.

Our wonderful guides: Oscar ("today's walk will be undulating"), Aran ("foot clinic is open" and "orogeny" - it is a real word, google 'Alice Springs Orogeny') and Shannon ("gluten free people only")

What is it about Tasmania and guides? Annabelle, our guide from the first week lives in Tassie, and both Oscar and Aran (www.tasmaniansafaris.com to tour Tassie with Aran) are from Tassie too! Oscar was by far the youngest person in our group and as head guide, he got tell everyone where to go. Not bad - getting paid to boss around people twice and three times your age. Oscar and I know each other from Tasmania, as we both ride downhill mountain bikes back home in Tassie. Oscar, Aran and Shannon all did a fantastic job at looking after all us old people.

We had 2 nights at Nick's Camp and 3 nights at Charlie's Camp

 

Each campsite in a collection of tents around the orange covered living/dining/kitchen, and a green toilet tent with two shower tents nearby.

Cooking on gas. Amazing meals came out of this kitchen.

 Pre-dinner drinks, nibbles and chatting and laughing every day.

Standing around the heater at breakfast time. There is no way I could do this at any other time of the year as it would be too hot. Even though the nights were very cold (my wet socks froze on the clothes line one night!) it warmed up very quickly when the sun rose and we got hot and sweaty hiking up hills during the daytime.

Sleeping - either in the tent on a swag and stretcher, or you could put the stretcher outside and sleep under the stars which several people chose to do.

Most people shared their tent. I had the luxury of being alone.

 Notes from the first (and typical) night:

Lying awake, in the dark, no idea what time it is as my phone has died. It is quite cosy in my tent. The camp stretcher and swag and sleeping bag are comfy. As I lie in the dark, my bladder is beginning to insist I get up. Finally, after tossing and turning and listening and trying to ignore my bladder, I give up. I pull on my warm coat and slip my feet in to my walking boots, no socks, laces done up very loosely. I use my head torch to navigate the tussocks of buffle grass and tents to find my way toward the toilets. The sensor light comes on and near blinds me as I approach.

After I return and snuggle back in to my sleeping bag, lying in dark, I hear a tent zip, and another, and another, and footsteps. I must have started the nightly toilet procession.

Back in bed, I can't sleep. I still have no idea what time it is. The sky outside is dark except for millions of stars and the air is still. I read for awhile and then the temperature drops. I can feel it so I put my thermal top on and turn my torch light off. I will attempt to sleep.

Dosing fitfully I hear "Where is that bloody alarm? Who put the alarm on?!!" It is Loretta's voice, in Mick and Marie's tent - trying to find the alarm in the dark while they have gone to the toilets!

Then I hear the most melodious musical bird. On and on he sings. No one replies. He is alone, singing in the day.

Toilets - one on each side - non-flushing camp loos - a bit smelly.

When there is no plumbing, this is a very clever set up for washing hands. Cut a plastic water bottle in half. Make a handle with wire. Punch several holes in the bottom. Fill it with water from the bucket and hang it up on a hook. Wash hands in the water pouring out through the holes.

Having a hot shower with no plumbing involved filling a bucket with cold water, pouring it in to one end of the "donkey". You can see the fire lit in the tray under the barrel. Hey presto! Hot water comes out the other end in to the bucket on the ground. Carry your bucket of hot water to the shower.

 Pour hot water in to the bucket in the shower and hoist it up by the rope. Flick the lever and you get 2 1/2 minutes of hot water - which is enough to shower, wash your hair, and your clothes! It works - I did it! I got under the water fully clothed, shampooed my hair and let the soapiness run down over my clothes, then stripped off to rinse myself and my clothes. OK - maybe not as clean as at home with a plumbed shower and a washing machine, but still, not bad.

Day 1 - Larapinta trail

Look at all these smiling faces. What innocence! Little did we know what lay ahead of us over the next six days of our Larapinta guided walk with http://www.worldexpeditions.com

Average age 57.6 (Loretta was the youngest at 46 and Tim, the oldest at 67) 

 

Our journey began at the Telegraph Station which is the original site of the Alice Springs settlement.

Leaving Alice Springs behind.

The first of numerous waterholes.

 

The highlight of the first day was walking along the very edge of the escarpment of Euro Ridge.

Big, very big, views.

23km later, we staggered in to camp - definitely earned my glass of red wine!

Barramundi, steamed potatoes, beans and tomatoes
gluten free berry and cake pudding

Quad biking? Well - why not?

I can ride a motorbike and a downhill mountainbike. I should be able to ride a quad bike, and yes, I can. WOOHOO! It was a lot of fun and the scenery on the Undoolya Station, east of Alice Springs, was dramatic and beautiful.(http://outbackquadadventures.com.au/) 

Not only did we learn how to ride quad bikes along sandy river beds, and up and down steep banks and around rocks, but we were also told about life on the station and how it is run. They only have a couple of quarter horses for recreational riding.  For working the station and rounding up cattle they use quad bikes, motor bikes and helicopters, plus a clever system of fenced in dams with one way gates for the cattle to enter and exit. When they want to trap the cattle, they simply lock the exit and within days they have thousands of cattle enclosed. The station has been operating since 1872 and the main house is one of the oldest buildings in central Australia. The family run Undoolya and the neighbouring station, Garden Station; a total of 3500 square kms, and have been doing so for 6 generations since 1907.

We rode about 85kms over about 4 hours, and ended up covered in red dust. It got in everywhere!! But we didn't care, we were having way too much fun!!

Camels and copping a feel

Between the camping tour and our Larapinta trail walk in the second week, we had two days in Alice Springs. The second was a shopping and rest day. We also said goodbye to Nada and Ryan, and hello to Loretta's sister and brother in law, Marie and Mick. The first day was a big day of action - camel riding and quad biking! Two things I had never done before.

 

My camel was called Sahleh and was a beautiful blonde boy.

For three hours we meandered through mallee scrub and spinifex, covering about 13km. The camels were tethered together in a line and followed the lead camel ridden by the guide, James. It was pretty easy as all we had to do was relax and enjoy the ride. And it was very relaxing. The camel's stride is a bit like a horse taking extra long steps, a bit like a rocking horse. It is quite comfortable, but when they go downhill the rhythm becomes faster and less comfortable. Apparently, when they run it gets very uncomfortable, but we only walked. And there was no spitting and very little grunting and groaning. I think these camels at Pyndan Camel Farm (http://www.cameltracks.com/) are pretty happy and contented camels.

We were told that Sahleh did not like being patted. However, Ryan kept breaking off branches and feeding him throughout the walk. By the end Sahleh thought Ryan was very nice and was quite happy for Ryan to pat him.

We stopped for morning tea and dismounted. The camels eyes all lit up when they realised we had apples. They LOVE apples.

 

As James was helping us all to remount our camels, Loretta's stood up too quickly before she managed to get her leg over his back. This left her hanging precariously off his side and laughing away out loud. James was also laughing as he had his hands on her bum to hold her up so she didn't fall as he told the camel to lie down again. It was all very funny!