Going south.......... and 2 nights in Alice Springs...................

 Our night spent in Tennant Creek was very 'interesting' and it was rather late when we got to sleep. The 'locals' were quite vocal, not far from the park and there were lots of crackers going off too. The caravan park was fenced well, with razor wire along the top and the gate locked at night. There has been a lot of media publicity lately from Alice Springs and Tennant Creek about the problems these towns have. Alice Springs recently had a curfew in the CBD. I don't think there are any easy answers to this problem

.We had packed up and left Tennant creek by 9.15am, put fuel in the car and headed south again. The weather has turned cool and windy with a few clouds............

The countryside changed again, and there were more 'hills' as we drove south........

We made a quick stop at Aileron again and snapped a pic of the man and woman from a different angle this time...........and made a couple of purchases at the Art shop there.............

......back on the road again and there were plenty of vans on the road still.........

.....and here is the approach to Alice Springs............

We arrived about 3.30pm and settled into the same caravan park as the one stayed at on the northern journey. I took the opportunity of our early arrival to head to the laundry and put some washing in the machines. Somehow the washing doesn't take a holiday does it?? We cooked tea and I spent the evening on the laptop sorting photos for a Darwin blog post. 

The weather had turned very cold now, and the night temperatures were down to 2 deg, so the heater and the electric blankets are out again. The aircon has not been used for a couple of days, after going non stop for about 10 days!!

I spent some time sorting clothes in the wardrobe. The summer ones are now at the back of the cupboard and the winter woolies have come to the front!!

Next morning the heater was turned on at 4am!!! .......and we did not surface very early. We decided that we would go to church and headed off after putting the address into the car navigation............but once again it let us down, and my phone maps was no better, and we were unable to find our destination at all.........???

I did find this street art near the shopping centre...........

So it was onto Plan B, which was earlier than intended. As we had missed Standley Chasm on our north trip because it was closed, we decided to have another try.............

We headed about 40km west of Alice into the MacDonnell ranges.......

......thankfully, this time the gate was open........

There were many caravans parked here and people in tents, a shop and cafe. It was a very busy place, and the weather was lovely.

Walking access to the dramatic 80m sheer rockface of the chasm is along a well-maintained trail (1.2km/15 minutes each way), following the natural creek bed.

I took lots of photos and can't decide which ones to post, so enjoy our walk through the gorge to the chasm.....................

This photo was taken before the sun was overhead.................

....and this one when the sun was in the gap, which is a bit dazzling......... there were lots of people waiting for the optimum time for a picture..........

This sign was at the entrance to the path, and after we walked the track, I would have to question the statement about being wheelchair friendly, with assistance???

How friendly is this path for a wheelchair??

I loved the chasm and felt it was a beautiful place, very serene, and an amazing part of God's creation.

We had lunch at the kiosk and then drove back to Alice, where we did some shopping and then returned to the park. Barry did some jobs on the van and I did some meal prep for the next 2 days lunches as we travel further south.

Be back with further updates of newsfromjude soon.

We have been gone for 30 days now, so are on the homeward run of what has been an awesome experience.

Blessings,

From Jude