There are some wonderful places not too far from Alice Springs and we're going to run slap bang into a lot of them on our drive back - I'll make sure of that! I wonder if I should dig out a map for you at this point. I know this place like the back of my paw, of course, but it's all new to you white fellas. (That's a joke - aborigines actually know this place like the back of their hands, just about literally, and affectionately, or not so affectionately, as the case may be, call non-aboriginals white fellas.) We're driving along at a cracking pace now, on a sealed road, travelling due east. There's a turn off around here somewhere... Ah, here it is! About 100 miles out of Yulara, we turn left along an unsealed road and can be spotted somewhere in the middle of a cloud of dust as we make our way north. We could have kept going east for another 60 miles or so, turned north and kept to the sealed road all the way to Alice, but I didn't want to miss anything! Here is where you get some options. Remember the day we flattened the battery and the rental company gave us an air-conditioned car for the day? And how some of you chose to come and drive around the base of Uluru, then we had a 'fantastic' drive to Kings Canyon. Well in the interests of accuracy, I wanted to give you the chance to visit now, in the rightful order. Be warned though - if you leave the main group now you'll have to find your own way back here. It's pretty easy - just click Back on your browser. Normally I do everything in my power to make navigation as user friendly as possible on this website, but today I don't think it would hurt to test your mettle a bit and see if you've learned a thing or too about finding your way around in the wilderness. Now are you clear? Click the following link if you want to visit Kings Canyon. Then, when you're ready, click your browser's Back button to return here... don't follow the Next Chapter link, or even follow me on that page. You'll find me still there in some mysterious way, but don't be misled... the Back button is the only way back here! (If you forget and lose your way, we're in Chapter 14 - Back to Alice.) Ok, if I haven't scared
you off here's the link to Kings Canyon Next... How about we head north-east and visit Palm Valley? We can all meet back at this spot later. The national park is not easily accessible so just hop in this four-wheel drive and off we go! Everybody ready? We've got to do a bit of a dog leg now to get ourselves over to the north-west, to Glen Helen Gorge. Remember Chapter 6 - "Gorgeous Gorges and Gaping Gaps"? Now we can discover what inspired the name. Glen Helen Gorge is located 85 miles west of Alice Springs. We'll start our tour of the Gorgeous Gorges and Gaping Gaps there I think. Glen Helen Gorge Now this is a really nice spot. I can remember camping out under the stars here. There was some sort of lodge nearby but we despised the creature comforts and chose to rough it. What's that? You want to do it, too? OK, then!! That's what I like to hear. Let's set up camp and go exploring until it gets dark! This is where the ancient Finke River begins it's course through the MacDonnell Ranges. The river bed can be followed along the edges and is a great walk. Lets see how many wallabies we can spot. I think I just might have a swim while we're at it. If anyone is feeling particularly energetic they can go for a walk along the top of the range and soak in the beautiful view from the top. Just keep in mind, though, we have quite a bit of walking to do over the next few days. I'm saving some of my energy for Ormiston Gorge just down the road. The walk into the pound is breathtaking.
The red
colour of the rocks
Tonight we'll have a nice campfire and make some billy tea after tea. What's that? What is she talking about!? Well in some parts of Australia, we call our evening meal "tea", the same as that world famous drink. So, in other words, 'after our evening meal, we'll have a nice hot cuppa, made with water heated in a billy can.'
Time for a sleep under the stars... Zzzzzzzzzzz
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