The McCookie Travels: October 2014

Hi All

Ahhh, beautiful Northern Territory just gets better and better. We’ve just had a wonderful month around Alice Springs, Uluru and the MacDonnell Ranges. The girls may well remember it most for getting their short hair cuts. With the rising temperatures, cute "bob" haircuts were called for!

After a relaxing week in Alice Springs, we took the long drive to Uluru and enjoyed the magnificence of Uluru and Kata Tjuta. We were there with a lovely family we are travelling with and really enjoyed the beauty of the place and the walks in the area. Steve and I hired bikes one day and we all cycled around the base of Uluru. With the help of some sweets as bribery we all made it around the 10km track!

Rosie was really keen to climb Uluru but Megan took one look at the steep climb, and thought an icy pole at the Cultural Centre might be more fun (quite wise I thought!), so Steve and Rosie went to the top and Megan and I went to the Cultural Centre! The rock climb had been closed most of the time we were there due to high winds but there was a break in the weather so Rosie’s dream came true!

That afternoon, we took a drive out to Kata Tjuta (formerly the Olgas), equally beautiful and stunning walks. We all walked along the Walpa Gorge and then Rosie and I walked along the Valley of the Winds Walk to the Karingana Lookout while Megan and Steve took it easy! Its great walking with the kids as we have some great chats. On this particular walk, Rosie and I got onto the conversation of how her didgeridoo playing is going (we saw a man making a didgeridoo in Darwin and we bought one) and I commented that I’m not as good as Rosie. So I said, that maybe she could teach me, to which she replied….”Mum, its not something you can just learn….its in your blood”!!! Clearly there is some Aboriginal background I’m not aware of !!!

So, after a lovely few days at Uluru, we headed back to Alice Springs in time for a reptile show (and roast dinner at the local tavern!), where Rosie got a kiss from a blue tongue lizard and Megan got to hold a frill-necked lizard!!

After restocking we headed to the West MacDonnell Ranges where we stayed for a few nights and enjoyed the many waterholes and gorges….Redbank Gorge, Ormiston Gorge, Glen Helen and Ellery Creek and then a day trip out to Trephina Gorge. The scenery, walks and waterholes at the MacDonnell Ranges was absolutely stunning.

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Northern Territory and its been an eye opener learning about and observing first hand some of the many issues faced by NT indigenous Australians. Its not an issue we’ve given much thought to previously, so seeing the social issues first hand has been very confronting.

So, it was with some sadness that we left the Northern Territory. We’ve just arrived in Townsville, after the 2000km drive from Alice Springs (stopping on the way at the fascinating Devils Marbles). We took our time, driving for a few hours and then finding a swimming pool somewhere to cool off as the temps were upto 40 degrees. Its amazing how many quaint towns and roadhouses there are between Three Ways and Townsville, that have swimming pools!! Think we found them all. At Julia Creek, the lifeguard at the swimming pool used to be the ferry master for the Palm Beach ferry!! Small world!

So, now we embark on our journey through QLD and we are looking forward to exploring this beautiful State. Until next time…

Take care