Half-Lap Day 79: Karajini

I was awake before the sky started to lighten. I did some karate practice in the dark (I haven’t done much for a while, it always helps me feel so much more centred and I’m glad that I’ve started it up again) and then walked down to the lookout above Fortescue Falls to watch the sunrise. I took a cup of tea with me and was the only person around. I had a couple of crows for company and other than that it was still and quiet everywhere.

It was a cloudy morning and the sky to the east was soon filled with oranges and pinks. I was facing south and could see the edge of the gorge and the hills beyond, to the south and west, becoming clearer in the morning light. I didn’t know if I’d get any sunlight, then the tips of the hills started to glow yellow. The light slowly moved down the hillside and soon it was not far from the top of the gorge. As I watched the rim of the gorge lit up and then I could actually see the edge of the sunlight creeping down the cliff wall, it was amazing. Soon the sun reached the cloud cover and the shadow started to creep down the wall like it was following the edge of the light. It didn’t take long for the gorge to be all in shadow again, it was pretty cool to watch. The falls looked beautiful throughout the whole process – the sunlight didn’t reach down that far at this early hour, but I think it could get there later in the day if there were no clouds.

I walked back to camp and started to get breakfast for people. LiAM and Caitlin were up as they were hoping to go walking with our Kings Canyon friends. I packed a bag for them and made sure they were fed, then wandered over to our friends’ site to see what the plan was. She was happy to take the older 2 with her to walk down into Hancock Gorge, and Millie and Tony and I would meet them over there for lunch, then we’d walk Weano Gorge together. These other gorges are about an 80km drive away, we have to leave the National Park and drive west, then enter the park at the other side. There is a quicker road through the park, but it is 4WD only, so we’d be taking the sealed road. I asked if Millie’s friend wanted to stay with us for the morning, she wanted to go and do the walk with the others instead.

They came over once they were ready and Millie’s friend said she would stay and play with Millie, then at the last minute changed her mind and wanted to go with her mum and do the walk. Millie was pretty upset and we had a big cuddle on our double chair until she felt like playing again. Tony played with her for a while, on the iPad and with her animals, while I got the 3 of us ready for the day. Tony put up the annex in case it rained while we were out – best to have the tent door in the dry area, and have somewhere dry to put our chairs and things.

We stopped off at the rubbish trailer to dump our bags of rubbish (so glad we don’t have to take them all with us to dump at the next town) and then drove to the other end of the park. Millie played on the iPad and Tony and I listened to music from his iPod, it was great to have music playing again. I’m loving listening to the Harry Potter books, I’d forgotten how much I love listening to music when I’m in the car, especially on long drives. We listened to a bit of Radiohead then put it on shuffle and got a bit of everything.

As we drove and I was looking at the large hills to the south, I was once again wondering which one was Mt Bruce. We drove around a slight bend and Tony said ‘I’m guessing it’s that one…’ and there was a much larger, stand alone mountain that was obviously the tallest in the region. We could see the mine behind it as well. I’d vaguely considered climbing Mt Bruce (a 6 hour walk) – looking at it I could see that the vegetation was pretty low and sparse, so there’d be no shade for most of the walk, not really worth it on this trip I think!

Heading back into the National Park the road was good (and still sealed) for a while, although had a few areas that had recently been damaged by floods. There was rain as we drove into the park and we thought we might not be able to walk in any of the gorges – but it cleared as we headed further in and we were fine. We reached the unsealed part and it was pretty good too until after the Eco Resort, then it became more corrugated. There was 13km of dirt and we drove it very very slowly otherwise everything in the car rattled and bounced and it hurt our heads. Most of the time there wasn’t any part of the road that was easier to drive on. It was quite exhausting, even for me as the passenger. Tony really didn’t enjoy it.

There was a car behind us and we soon realised it was the others, so we arrived at the lookout at the same time. We got out and had lunch, and we could see gorges all around us (on 3 sides). The kids had loved the walk into Joffre Gorge, had done it in half the advertised time, and had a cold swim at the bottom as well as walking or swimming around to Joffre Falls and standing under them. LiAM’s camera seemed to be suffering a bit from having been in the very cold water – it can go underwater but was having condensation problems from the changes in temperature, so he was a bit worried about that.

As we put our stuff back in the fridge after lunch Tony discovered that the fuse in the cord had blown again. We didn’t have a spare as the parts place where we bought the replacement only had that one in stock. We tossed up what to do and decided to buy some ice at the Eco Retreat on the way home, freeze our freezer packs in our friend’s fridge overnight, and just use the fridge as an esky for the 2 days until we go through Tom Price on our way west.

We walked out to the lookouts, stopping at Junction Pool lookout first. Nearby there was a cross, a memorial to an SES worker called Jimmy Regan, who had drowned in a flash flood trying to rescue some walkers. The kids were fascinated to see my surname on the memorial and wanted to know if he was a relative (not as far as I know). The gorge dropped away very suddenly and was 100m deep. I approached the lookout very cautiously, there were 3 gorges branching off from underneath the lookout and the vertigo started a fair way back from the edge. It got worse the closer I got, as I still couldn’t see the bottom! Eventually I did make it to the railing and the view was magnificent. There was a pool directly down below the lookout, with a large column of rocks rising from it that was only attached to the gorge wall for about half way up, the top was leaning way from the edge. At the base of the column the gap between walls was very narrow, and there was another pool on the other side of the gap. The water was flowing through the gap and continuing on past the pool down one of the gorges. The opposite gorge wall was reflected in the pool beyond the column, and at first glance that seemed to be where the bottom of the column was as well – but that was only halfway to the base of those rocks, it was a long way down from there to the narrow gap. It was a weird illusion and messed with all our heads a bit. I had to keep looking up to the horizon from time to time to stop from feeling dizzy, but I was able to stay out there for a while, soaking in the incredible sight of all these gorges, carved out of 2,500 million year old stone. This is the oldest stone we’ve seen and the whole scene was awe inspiring.

We all walked around to the Oxer lookout and could see another 2 gorges as well as the 3 we’d already been looking at. Again the view was incredible (and a little scary). The boys pointed out to me that the lookout we’d been standing on was suspended beyond the edge of the cliff wall – I’m glad I didn’t know that when I was first there, but it didn’t bother me in retrospect. I was even able to go back out there later and not worry about it. The younger girls were playing in the middle of the look out and it amused and impressed me that in the midst of this amazing panorama they’d just settled in to being together and playing their games like they wanted to. I love how they live so completely in the moment and don’t worry about what they ‘should’ be doing base on anyone else’s standards.

From there we drove up to the day use area and used the toilets, then the 9 of us set off to walk down into Weano Gorge. Millie had forgotten her runners so Tony went back to the car to get them, and the others went ahead. We walked down fairly steep but easy rock steps to reach the bottom of the gorge, then followed the water along the gorge floor. We soon caught up to the others. Twice we reached points where we had to either hold on to the rock face and walk sideways around the protruding rock (not too hard because of the flat, terraced rocks again) or take our shoes off and walk through the water. Most of us did a combination of the two, and walked barefoot for most of the rest of the track so weren’t constantly taking our shoes on and off. Other water crossings had stepping stones so our feet didn’t get wet.

Edging around the rocks and walking through the water

We reached a point where the gorge narrowed considerably – the trail changed here from a Class 4 to a Class 5. Talking to people who were coming back the other way, we decided to leave our bags here, and change into our swimmers if we were considering swimming. The kids and the other adults went barefoot, I decided to put my shoes back on as I’m really not confident on slippery rock. I left my camera behind too, I wanted to be carrying nothing so I could concentrate on balance. Tony and the others had gone ahead, and LiAM and I followed last.

The trail here followed the creek down between the gorge walls, which were now only about 1.5m apart. There was room on the edge of the water to put our feet so that they didn’t get wet, if we were careful. It wasn’t too hard but required concentration. LiAM was ahead of me and rounding a slight bend said ‘ooh Mummy, I don’t think you’re going to like this…’ I followed him around and saw what he meant (although I’d been expecting it so wasn’t too freaked out) – there was a handrail attached to the wall for the last part of the narrow chasm, and then the water and the ground dropped away and we couldn’t see what was below it. I asked LiAM to go slowly so I could still see him, and we gradually made our way to the handrail and then could see beyond. There was a very tricky corner to navigate as the gorge walls opened up again and ground dropped away into a waterfall. Once I could see it I told LiAM to go ahead and I’d take my own time. It was slippery but there were places to stand, and the handrail made it steady and safe enough. Once around the corner there were stones jutting out of the wall so that we could climb down the almost sheer wall, holding on to the handrail. I was pretty scared coming around the corner, but made it easily, then going down the wall was hard but not too scary.

Path to Handrail Pool

At the bottom was a beautiful round pool, with the cliff walls rising all around it, the waterfall splashing into it at the end we’d entered, and another narrow chasm leading off from the other side. Along one edge there were terraced rocks so we could walk around that side quite safely and reach the water’s edge. Caitlin had been in by the time I arrived, and I joined her. It was cold and it took me a while to become completely submerged – colder than the Circular pool I think, although a fantastic place to swim. I got straight out and felt rather warm, then decided to go for a bit more of a swim. Caitlin and I swam across the pool to a beachy sort of area (shallow water with small stones slowly sloping down on the far side of the pool) where the others were wading. It felt great to be swimming around in here and really experiencing the location. The boys and Tony came in as well.

The little girls wanted to climb back up the handrail and back down because it was fun – they climbed up and our friend took some photos of all the kids on the handrail – they wanted to go back around the corner but I said no, not just for fun, we could do it on the way out. A couple who we’d seen at Fern Pool yesterday were there as well – they’d been down into the further chasm, all the way to the end of the allowed trail. Caitlin wanted to go but they said it got very narrow and dark and cold and they had to swim most of the way. Tony went a little way down and said that the kids could join him there so LiAM and Caitlin went on. I stayed standing in the water in case they needed help getting out – it was cold staying still so I tried to move around a bit, then found a rock to sit on which was more comfortable. The kids headed back after a while and Tony went all the way to the stop sign, he said it wasn’t too hard and a bit exciting. He saw the top of a waterfall and it looked like it would be scary beyond that.

LiAM had had a couple of slips on the rocks and was feeling scared coming back so I swam into the chasm to help him. I saw something that looked like a twisted rope on a ledge in the rocks then realised it was probably a snake (checked it out later and it was most likely a python). I pointed it out to LiAM and he panicked a bit and fell into the water again. I swam out with him hanging on to my back, and we clambered over the rocks at the chasm entrance then quickly out of the water. Our friend and all the kids started heading back up as they wanted to do one more walk, Millie and I waited for Tony and we left not far behind the others. I was a bit scared about getting back around the top corner but I took my time and did it without incident.

We got dry and changed – I was shivering pretty hard – and headed back along the gorge, LiAM and behind the others and he soon ran ahead to catch up. I trudged along at my own pace – my hamstrings had started to cramp again in the cold water and I was feeling a bit sore now. I caught up with the other couple at one of the water crossings and walked out with them. It didn’t take long, and Tony and Millie were waiting for me at the top. The rest of our group had gone to to the Hancock Gorge walk, a Class 5 all the way with a Spider Walk along the bottom – another narrow part where you can walk through the water or like spiderman, with hands and feet on either side of the chasm (I’d done a bit of the handrail trail like that). Millie and Tony and walked back towards the lookouts as I’d seen one from the Handrail pool and wanted to look down at the pool – we couldn’t find the lookout though, and ended up back at Junction Pool and Oxer lookouts. We enjoyed the view again then walked back to the car, and headed our bumpy way back out to the Eco Retreat.

We drove in and were able to buy ice from the café (for $10!!!) and put that in our fridge. We waited there for the others, as Millie’s friend wanted to come back in our car. There were a group of French girls there who had had an accident that morning and their car was written off, they were looking for accommodation for the night and we were relieved to hear that someone had lent them a spare tent.

Millie had an ice block while we waited, and when the others arrived our friend bought me a hot chocolate as a thank you for waiting in the cold. The kids had all done really well on the walk, and Caitlin and the oldest boy had had another swim in more very cold water. There were some very tricky bits in this gorge and they’d had to walk or swim through water quite a bit. LiAM wasn’t tall enough to do the spider walk and hadn’t gone all the way to the end with Caitlin and their friend, but he’d enjoyed the bit he’d done. Three hard gorges in one day – that’s so impressive, although the kids didn’t think it was that big a deal.

Millie’s friend came back in our car and they played I-Spy for a while then watched a DVD. Our other kids went back in the other car. We drove home in the dark, with a full moon popping out from behind the clouds occasionally. We got phone signal as we drove past the mine and received a couple of texts before it dropped out again. Back at the tent the other kids stayed with us while their Mum cooked tea, then she walkie-talkied to tell them it was ready and they walked back. Millie was thrilled to finally have a good play with her toys and her friend today.

We had soup and noodles for dinner then got ready for bed. I read a couple of chapters of Inheritance and everyone was asleep fairly easily after an extremely exhausting day.

Half-lap Day 76: DeGrey -> Indee Station

I was up at 6, just as it was getting light, to get all the food we’d bought yesterday organised into tubs so we could pack the car and the trailer and move on. It was beautiful working in that early morning light amongst the trees. The others came out as they woke up, and we had breakfast then the kids went back up to see the sharks again. Tony discovered some green stuff at the bottom of one of our water containers, so he spent a bit of time cleaning that out and sanitising the container. I had wanted to get away early and was starting to worry that we didn’t ever seem to be able to do it – then realised it didn’t matter. We have relaxed evenings and mornings, there’s no stress and little rush, and we can do this trip at our own pace. Just because most people are up and out between 7 and 8 doesn’t mean that we need to do that as well. And if there is ever a day when we really DO have to be gone that early, I’m sure we will manage it at the time.

So we got away by 10, feeling happy and relaxed and still not sure what our plans for the day were. We’d been thinking of going straight to Karajini (about 400km) but were slightly worried about getting a campsite unless we got there early, and the girls really wanted showers – after 3 days without one here, and with no showers at Karajini, they wanted a shower stop in between. I’d been told there were free public showers near a beach in Port Hedland, so we decided to shower there and then figure out the rest of the day later. We stopped at the railway bridge again because the digger was up on the sand pile and I wanted to get a photo of it – then we jackknifed the trailer as we attempted to back out of our spot. Looks like it’s only cosmetic damage though so it shouldn’t impact on our trip. We reached the beach and it was a beautiful spot, with a creek winding in from the ocean and gorgeous sand hills either side of it. The showers only had cold taps though and no one wanted a cold shower. We filled up all our water containers at the drinking tap there, and Tony rang a station stay we’d heard about to see if we could get in there with our 2WD car – no problems, they said, so we decided to stay there tonight and head to Karajini tomorrow.

We popped back into Woolworths to get bread and cash and petrol, then back out over the railway bridge for the last time, then out of Port Hedland. We only had another 70km or so to go to get to the station, so it was a short days driving today, but makes the trip to the National Park easier tomorrow. On the way to Indee Station we saw more 4-trailer road trains than we have seen on our entire trip so far, they’d be coming past 2 or 3 at a time. I counted the wheels – 84 altogether! They are amazing – although often quite disconcerting as the back 2 trailers often wriggle about a bit as they drive. They always stay well within their lane, but it looks a bit scary as we approach.

There was a big road train in the driveway as we turned off to the station, so we were able to have a good look at it. We drove the 9km in off the highway quite easily. This is dry country, red dirt, sparse trees but with lots of magnificent white gum trees. We saw a few areas where mining workers are obviously staying, and I think there are several mines on the station. Eventually we reached the homestead and were taken out to the camping area. It wasn’t flash, but as usual once we’d put the tent up I felt right at home. The kids played under a big gum tree, LiAM did a magic show, the girls ground up some of the rocks to use as makeup, and we wandered around and explored the place a bit. There were calves wandering through the campground although after LiAM’s cow incident earlier the kids all avoided the cows. They met some people with a dog and chatted to them, I talked to a guy who used to work here and had come back to get his swag which he’d left behind. He said the station was bigger than the whole area of Perth!

Later in the afternoon we drove another 9km into the property to see Red Rock. We had a map to get there, but a couple times we seemed to cross trails that weren’t marked and it was a bit sobering – it would be easy to get lost in country like this. The kids were joking that we were going to see Uluru – and when we saw the rock it felt like we were! It was nowhere near as big, but is a large red rock rising up out of the ground, a similar shape in profile to Uluru.

At the end of the rock was a beautiful rock pool, full of water and reflecting the big rock in it, as well as reflecting the rocks all around it’s edges. The water was freezing! Caitlin had found a path up to the top of the rock, and then saw an easier way up, which LiAM took. Tony followed them and Millie and I walked around the back of the rock looking for the Aboriginal engravings that we’d heard about. Millie decided to go and join the others, so we headed up to the top. The view was fantastic – most of the country was flat with the occasional large rocky hill, and a couple of small mountains in the distance. There was a river which wasn’t flowing but there were many many water holes. The white gums stood out amongst the spinifex and lower vegetation. We could see the big road trains traveling along the highway in the distance. The sun was getting low in the sky and the light was amazing. There was a flat, grassy area about halfway up the rock that Millie thought would be great to build a cabin on – a beautiful, peaceful place to live.

We wandered back down and Millie and I saw a sign that said ‘etchings’ so found one of the engravings in the rock – large emu tracks we think. The boys walked the rest of the way around the perimeter of the rock. Caitlin wanted to go for a quick swim and went to get changed, and found some more etchings – a couple of lizards this time. They were quite cool to see. Caitlin spent a short amount of time getting wet in the rock pool. I put my feet in and felt quite refreshed.

We headed back to the campsite, seeing more cows and a couple of kangaroos on the way. We went over to the homestead for happy hour at 5.30 – byo alcohol, and they provide nibblies. It was fun to sit around a large table and chat to the other campers – most of them were heading north and had just come from Karajini, so we had tips for the northern part of Australia for them, and they told us lots about the National Park. There was a lot of talk about football too – there was enough signal for Tony to watch the Collingwood game on his phone, and everyone was interested in the progress of the game.

LiAM and Millie and I headed back once they’d had enough, and Tony and Caitlin followed soon after. The girls and I went over to have our showers – nice and warm and good water pressure, everyone was happy. We had cup-a-noodles for tea and then set up the beds. Tony watched the rest of the game (with a disappointing result) in the camp kitchen. It was a very cold evening, possibly the coldest we’ve had since we headed north. We got everyone snuggly into their beds and read a couple of chapters and the tent warmed up a bit with us all inside.

Half-lap Day 26: West MacDonnell Ranges

A strongish wind came up during the night so Tony and I were up for a while making sure everything was secure. In the morning the sky was cloudy and the air a bit cool – very different from the day before. Originally we had planned to stay in Alice Springs only 1 more night, then head out for a couple of nights along the West MacDonnell Ranges. Then we’d discovered that there is an AFL game here in Alice Springs on Saturday, and Tony was keen to see it, so we decided to stay an extra night in Alice, and just do a day trip to the ranges today. We were worried that the cloudy weather might make that not as good, as Standley Chasm is particularly beautiful around midday on a sunny day. We decided to go anyway, since waiting for the weather can sometimes mean missing out altogether, and we often have quite different, and very fun, experiences when the weather is not what we’d hoped for. Also, we were going to be driving 50-130km out of Alice Springs, so the weather could be quite different out there.

We left a bit after 10.30. The MacDonnell Ranges are an impressive range to drive along – they extend for so far (a couple of hundred kilometres) and are constantly changing. Sometimes they are craggy escarpments with red rock, other times covered in low spinifex and Mallee bush, sometimes they are more like mountains with hundreds of water eroded creases in them. I enjoyed the drive out to Standley Chasm immensely. We arrived close to 11.30 and I was a little eager to get going because I really wanted to be at the Chasm by 12. We got shoes and sunscreen and hats on and threw a bag of supplies together, Tony bought our ticket (you have to pay to enter this area) and we set off along the path. It was a fairly easy, recently surfaced path, along a mainly dry creek bed, with craggy hills rising on either side, lots of ghost gums and other trees. I went pretty fast and the others came along at their own pace. I rounded a corner at the end and could see a brilliant red almost sheer wall – one side of Standley Chasm, with the middle of the day sun shining on it. It was so bright, very cool to see. The Chasm is only a couple of metres wide, with very tall sheer rock faces on either side. The clouds had cleared by now and there was a brilliant blue sky above the shining red cliffs. We walked through to the end of the chasm, there were some (very slippery) rocks we could climb up on to look beyond the cliff walls – it was fenced off for walking beyond that point. There was a small waterhole at the base of the rocks, the kids paddled their feet and played with the many small rocks on the chasm floor, making little cairns. We stayed long enough for the sun to come to centre of the chasm, shining on both walls. The slippery boulders strewn throughout the base of the chasm reflected shinily onto the walls when the sun hit them. It was a pretty special place.

Standley Chasm in midday sun

Kids exploring the rocks at Standley Chasm (LiAM is on the left, blending in to the rocks)

The kids climbed up some rocks at the start of the chasm and watched the sun changing the colours from there, and then we headed at a more leisurely place back along the path. Back at the car we had some ham, cheese and avocado sandwiches, and admired the biggest caravan we’ve seen yet – it was being pulled by a little truck and attached to it’s trailer bed rather than being towed. Again it was funny to watch everyone admiring it (like we were) as they walked past.

We continued west along the ranges, which continued to change as we drove. At one point there were thin walls of rock sticking up at intervals, which had a curved top. They looked exactly like stegosaurus fins, and I was fascinated. We arrived at Ormiston Gorge a bit after 2pm. We could see a lookout on the hill nearby, and the platform seemed to come out over the edge of the cliff. Caitlin had been asleep in the car, and got out and said she was NOT going up to that lookout. We’d thought we’d walk to the lookout and back and then have a swim in the waterhole to cool off – LiAM and Millie said they weren’t doing another walk. So I took the kids straight to the waterhole and Tony went up to the lookout. It was only 5 minutes to get to the waterhole – I had been worried that by just walking that far we wouldn’t see any of the cool bits of the gorge – I didn’t need to worry. The waterhole was long and started at the base of cliff where the lookout was, and wound it’s way around to the base of the extremely large cliff that was the northern wall of the gorge, and it was easily visible from where we were. It was an incredible spot. Deep green water, with towering red and black cliffs, a sandy beach, ghost gums, quartzite boulders with amazing patterns in them all over the ground… I loved it.

We arrived at the beach not long before Tony arrived at the lookout and we could wave to him and even have a bit of a conversation. We changed into our swimmers behind a tree, LiAM and Caitlin were straight in the water and made their way to the middle where Caitlin could only just stand up, then over to the beach on the other side. I took a little longer to get in, and Millie wasn’t keen on going very deep so I stayed close to the edge with her until Tony arrived. The water was very cold when we got in, but it soon felt comfortable, way warmer than the pool back at the caravan park. It would have been warmer still except by this stage the sun had moved behind the cliff so the waterhole was in complete shade. I went in further – the depth changed constantly, there were bits where I couldn’t stand up then suddenly I’d be standing on rocks and only be knee deep. I think the water level was on the high side following the fairly recent rains. We could see watermarks on the rocks and obviously it is sometimes higher. It’s a semi-permanent waterhole so there is usually some water, but it would vary with the seasons. I swam a bit with the kids, and we admired a heron who was hanging around on the nearby trees and rocks and occasionally swooping over the water. I made my way across to the cliff side shore and slowly edged my way towards a kind of cave – I really wanted to swim in there – it wasn’t really a cave, more a depression in the rock, but it was a bit scary. I moved a bit at a time until I was at least under the edge of the overhang, then decided that was far enough, and swam back across (the widest part of) the waterhole to the beach. It was great to be able to swim a bit of distance – and it was such an amazing place to swim. Lying on our backs looking up at the cliffs, so so cool.

Tony at the Lookout and Caitlin on the beach

The overhand I swam a little way under

Once I got out Millie and I got dressed and Tony walked along the beach to have a look around the corner, further into the gorge. I was going to go up to the lookout while everyone finished swimming and got changed, by the time Tony came back all the kids wanted to go up to the lookout as well, so I waited and we went together. It worked quite well, the walk up the hill warmed us up after our refreshing swim.

The views from the lookout were pretty amazing. We could see a fair way in to the gorge, and see the river following the base of the cliff all the way, with varying amounts of water in it. There was a beautiful ghost gum just near the lookout, and it was also cool to see all the little trees with a hold in the cliff faces. Tony and LiAM were making jokes about climbing over the fence of the lookout, or dropping cameras off, which freaked me out a little, but once I got up there and right to the edge I was fine, even Caitlin was ok. The lookout did extend a bit over the edge of the cliff, and it was made of a metal grid so we could look right down, but it wasn’t too scary. So glad we all got up there and saw the view. We all were impressed by the size of the cliff and the peacefulness and the combination of water and rocks, so so glad we made it out there.

Back to the car and we had a bit of a snack, then drove a little further west to Glen Helen. We didn’t walk in to the gorge, just down to the river (the Finke, the same one we swam in 2 days ago!) and watched the sunset on the cliff face – even redder than anything we’ve seen so far I think, and very cool with the water flowing past the base. We explored the kiosk and gift shop a bit, and the kids wanted ice blocks and sticky date puddings, I said we could get some from Coles on our way back through Alice Springs and they were happy with that.

Glen Helen and the Finke River

We drove back to Alice mainly in the dark, listening to The Enchanted Castle (by Edith Nesbitt) on the way. We stopped at Coles to get our promised treats and a few more supplies, then back to the tent and had leftover sausages with egg and cheese on bread, and then sticky date puddings for dessert. Everyone was pretty tired so it wasn’t long before we all headed for bed and read a couple of chapters of Brisingr.