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| Standley Chasm |
As we had travelled to the West MacDonnell Ranges last week we had bypassed both Simpson Gap and Standley Chasm with the plan to return from Alice Springs. On Sunday morning I baked some fresh marmalade muffins and we headed off to Standley Chasm stopping first at the grave of Rev John Flynn who founded the Royal Flying Doctor Service. This was a distance of about 50 kms and is an Aboriginal Reserve so was the only gorge we have had to pay to visit - $10 adult. On arrival at the reserve I realised that I was going to be in real trouble with Peter – I had left my walking shoes behind in the caravan and would have to walk to the Chasm in my sandals. He hates me doing this as it is very easy to slip. We had been told that the best time to visit the Chasm is between 11 am and 1 pm so we planned our visit during that time. We took the 20 minute walk in. The Chasm is a very tall gap between two rock walls and the sun only reaches the ground around midday. We were certainly dwarfed by the height of the walls.
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| Simpsons Gap |
Our next stop was at Simpsons Gap where we firstly had our picnic lunch and took the very short walk to the Gap. It was here that we saw a black footed wallaby amongst the rocks high on the hill opposite the trail. It was impossible to get a photo as it blended so well with the colours of the rocks.
We planned to have a leisurely time in Alice Springs as we had been on the move for some weeks and it is three weeks since we have stayed more than two nights in one place. The only disappointing thing was that Alice Springs was surrounded in smoke most days. There is smoke drifting in from fires raging out in the Simpson Desert to the east and now beyond the West MacDonnell Ranges to the west. In addition there are small bush fires starting around Alice Springs. This has resulted in think smoke and Peter is finding that it is affecting his breathing somewhat. It also meant that we were not able to take many photos as the views were affected by the smoke haze.
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| Royal Flying (RFDS) Doctor Service Alice Springs |
On Monday we went to the Royal Flying Doctor Service base in Alice Springs and took the tour which included the museum. This was very interesting. While there we bought a couple of tickets in the raffle. Two ladies from Victoria had handmade a quilt for the RFDS to raffle and fundraise – not sure if it matched the quality produced by our good friend, Pauline, but we thought it was really nice and be a lovely prize for someone to win.
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| Womens Hall of Fame info |
From here we went next door to visit the gold Stuart gaol and the Women’s Hall of Fame. Alice Springs was originally named Stuart. The gaol was in use from 1938 until 1996 and housed both men and women. The famous artist, Albert Namatjira, who was the first Aboriginal person to be granted Australian citizenship in 1957, was charged with supplying alcohol to local people and was sentenced to six months. He didn’t serve his sentence in the gaol but after a few days he was taken to a little hut in a local area so he could continue his painting. The gaol is well preserved and worth visiting. It also houses the Women’s Hall of Fame for Australia which acknowledges all women in all walks of life. Although we didn’t know many of the women it was surprising just who we did know of. In addition there was a collection of home items of historic interest. Peter was concerned about the number both he and I recognised from being in our homes during our childhood!Wednesday we decided it was time to move on again but as the smoke had cleared a little we decided to do a little more sightseeing first. Our first visit was to Anzac Hill to try and take some photos – to the south of Alice Springs there is a gap in the ranges and this is quite an impressive sight as apart from the surround range the area is flat desert. We then went into the township and first visited “The Residency”. This was the official residence in Alice Springs and where Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip stayed during their 1963 visit. It is beautifully maintained and has a veranda surrounding the house and was lovely and cool inside. It was particularly interesting to talk to the volunteer manning the house about her life in the Alice Springs and surround Aboriginal communities for the last fifty years. What a great woman she was!
The Rev. John Flynn was the founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service and there is a Uniting Church in Todd Mall, the main shopping centre area, named after John Flynn. There were a group of local people selling their art outside the church but I was careful not to include them in my photo as they do not like their privacy being invaded.
The Hartley Street School was next which was the original school built for European children and then extended mainly to half cast Aboriginal children. The school was in use until the 1960’s so was much like the classrooms both Peter and I remember.
As we left town we made a stop at the Transport Hall of Fame – this museum is mainly trucks and is beside the Ghan Museum. Peter really enjoyed wandering through the many exhibitions and the huge number of trucks and vehicles on site. I was grateful for the few seats that were scattered around as I soon lost interest in looking at trucks and it was very hot. They did have a very late model Kenwood truck on display that was a display model and basically split in half to show the internals of the cab and sleeping area. This was quite interesting! We were quite late in the day so didn’t have time to go to the Ghan Museum so will keep that for the next visit to Alice Springs.
It was a very hot day (around 35 deg) and very windy. Everyone was hopeful that the wind would blow the smoke away. We decided to just head a short distance out of town and stay overnight and continue south towards Kings Canyon and Yulara (Ayres Rock) tomorrow but a lot will depend on whether the roads are open as we understand the road to Kings Canyon is closed today due to fire and smoke.
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| The founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service - Flynn's grave |
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| Rev Flynn's grave |
Standley Chasm
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| Within Standley Chasm |
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| At the base of Standley Chasm |
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| Beyond Standley Chasm into the gorge |
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| As far as we were able to venture - Standley Chasm |
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| The end of the road at Standley Chasm |
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| Looking up |
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| The sun comes into the chasm around midday only |
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The sunlight in Standley Chasm
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Simpsons Gap
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| Simpsons Gap near Alice Springs |
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| An unusual sight! |
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| Closer into Simpsons Gap |
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| Rock slide at Simpsons Gap |
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| Colours of the rocks at Simpsons Gap |
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| Reflections at Simpsons Gap |
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| Simpsons Gap waterhole |
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| Small tree growing in rock wall Simpsons Gap |
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| Flowers in rocks at Simpsons Gap |
Royal Flying Doctor Service
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| Within RFDS museum |
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| Flight simulator at RFDS Museum |
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| Types of planes previously used |
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| Quilt depicting RFDS |
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| Current type of plane in use |
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| Pilatus PC12 |
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| Peter the radio man |
Womens Hall of Fame
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| Gaol plan Alice Springs Womans Hall of Fame |
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| Hints to the business girl from 1906! |
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| Meat safe type baby's cot |
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| Rules for teachers - especially for Amber but may be a little late! |
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| Within the Women's Museum |
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| Cell in men's gaol Alice Springs |
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| No privacy in the showers! - For gods sake don't drop the soap! |
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| Mens cell wing Alice Springs |
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| Womens on left men on right |
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| Entrance to Alice Springs Gaol |
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| Outside fence of Alice Springs Gaol |
Todd River
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| The dry Todd River in Alice Springs |
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| Todd River Alice Springs where the annual yacht race is held |
Anzac Hill
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| View of gap Alice Springs from Anzac Hill |
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| Westerly view of Alice Springs from Anzac Hill |
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| West MacDonnell Ranges from Anzac Hill |
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| Northerly aspect from Anzac Hill |
The Residency
Misc
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| Rev Flynn Memorial Church Alice Springs |
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| John Flynn signage |
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| Aboriginal and Australian flags |
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| Todd Mall Alice Springs |
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| Hartley Street School sign |
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| Hartley Street School sign |
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| Hartley Street classroom |
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| External of Hartley Street school |
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| See the flames - commencing on yet another hill |
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| Old Ghan Train |
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| Old Ghan info |
Road Transport Hall of Fame
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| Military Jeep |
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| Early Bus |
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| Early days garage setup with Holden being worked on |
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| Bitsa Car |
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| Old Dodge like Dad used to drive in Auckland |
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| Kenworth Hall of Fame |
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| Kenworth Freightliner |
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| The first truck had done over 2.5 million k's |
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Would like to have a try in this one, they are better equipped than
your caravan, they are luxury on wheels |
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| The bedroom |
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Ok so I give you to its only a demo model apparently
worth over a mil great demo though |
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Brand new truck donated in memory of Kevin Forbes
pity about the colour |
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Peter's first good car was one of these as a station wagon
fantastic as a teenager!! |
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| Malcolm just for you |
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| Malcolm has one of these in his collection I think |
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| Car with a Gas callefont for power |
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| Waiting their turn for restoration |
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Reminds a little of Southwards Museum in Waikanae in New Zealand
however with a focus on tracks
Camels were used as a form of haulage to open up the areas |
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Distance to cover over the next 4 weeks that is if
we don't go left or right to have a look |
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