The Many Heads of Kata Tjuta

Posted on August 14, 2011 by onlinewheatleys

To round out our Red Centre exploration, we ventured out to Kata Tjuta, formerly know as The Olgas. Kata Tjuta means “many heads” in the local vernacular, a far more logical approach to naming than using a random Eastern European ladies name, Following the big walks of Ormiston Gorge, Kings Canyon and Uluru we took a far more leisurely approach to our assault on Kata Tjuta, encompassing some of our own rock art of the sketch pad variety (in lieu of graffiting the rocks).

Another Trek ??

Inspiriation for the artists

Namitijira, eat your heart out!

While only 40km apart, Kata Tjuta is quite different to Uluru but equally spectacular. We were fortunate enough to be able to eavesdrop on a passing guide’s explanation and as the odd Geologist and Rock Doctor might swing by this post…….Uluru and Kata Tjuta come from erosion and deposits from the Peterman Range.  Yet the alluvial fan for Uluru was homogenous forming one monolith, where as Kata Tjuta was heterogeneous forming a conglomerate, (very much like giant Rocky Road). Both were then pushed up over time and with the different erosion of the exposed forms, the result is now there to see.

Wow, rocks !

Compare and contrast with Uluru !

Whilst savouring our last Red Centre destination, we sketched, sat and strolled amongst the many heads of Kata Tjuta.

Goodbye Red Centre

Posted in Spike | Tagged | 2 Comments

The Big Red Rock

Posted on August 13, 2011 by onlinewheatleys

We have finally reached the point where we are actually excited about a road trip! Well that’s because it is to the big red rock.

After a few hours driving, we saw a very big rock which we thought was Uluru. When we looked again, we saw it was much more square-like.  It was actually Mt Conner.

Its not Uluru....it's Mt Conner !

We got back into the car and kept driving. We finally saw a BIG RED ROCK !!! It was really big, really red and really rocky. It was much bigger in real life than we thought. In the evening we went to the Rock to see the sunset. There were heaps of people there and we took heaps of photos.  Here are some of them.

Sunset on a Rock 1

Sunset on a Rock 2

Sunset on a Rock 3

In the morning we drove out to the rock and we did a giant walk around the base. It took ages and Spike picked me up half way around and I got a lift back to the start. But mum did the whole 10km walk right around.

Base Walker extraordinaire! Are we there yet ?

We saw many wild flowers when we were walking around it and we were stunned! There were yellow, pink and purple flowers all over the ground.

Pink flowers WOW!

There were lots of sacred sites for the indigenous people and we saw lots of rock paintings. My favourite ones were the paintings of the leaves. Special rocks and water were used to make the paintings.

Looks good so far. . . What about some yellow?

We heard that Uluru is like an iceberg and it is actually only the tip of a gigantic rock.  It is made of arkose which is a type of sandstone. On one side of the Rock there were all sorts of patterns. One looked like Santa vomiting.

What can you see? And who is that AWESOME girl??

Up close at Uluru

It was such a fun day. Tune in next time.

BloggiE ©

Posted in BloggiE | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Kings of the Canyon

Posted on August 11, 2011 by onlinewheatleys

By axo1000

I’m the King of the Canyon, and you’re the …….Hmmmmm, what rhymes with canyon ?

If you’re a teacher don’t get any ideas about starting an HSIE unit or having a geology lesson on Kings Canyon. Instead why don’t have a look at my pictures and send any questions through on the comment box.

You start your Kings Canyon lesson with a really steep climb !

At the top it all looks rocky.

So rocky that it must be ninjared!

Wow, Axo1000. That was pro ninjaring !

Then, Spike spotted a spectacular sp....well - canyon.

It was really big! Bigger than 269m! OK - it was 270m down..

and had big red walls.

In fact they were massive. But wait.....what is that little spec on top of the wall ??

Oh, it's just someone looking for the express route to the bottom. (Anyone seen a brain she could use?)

Hidden on top of the mountains, we discovered the lush Garden of Eden (no.2) It feeds into the big canyon bit.

But whatever you do, do not take from the apple tree. OK, not the Ghost Gum either.

No matter how good it looks.

After a rest in the Garden of Eden, we started looking for the slow route down.

There were more rocks....but we made it safely down.

and we all lived happily ever after (except for the girl who was on the cliff!).

Posted in axo1000 | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Rock Formations 101

Posted on August 10, 2011 by onlinewheatleys

Gap? Chasm? Gorge? Canyon? Which is which? And are they made of igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic rock? Who knows????

But the Northern Territory has them all and these are the questions we’ve been wrestling with lately…

Simpson’s Gap is just 18kms out of Alice Springs and it is literally a gap in the West McDonnell Ranges. In between the two red rock faces runs a sandy river bed that was by no means full. In fact kids were climbing in the wide River Gums that grew on the river bed floor.

A Gap

A perfect family picnic spot, the rocks from a recent landslide (ie this century) provide a playground for Black footed Rock Wallabies. Lots of signs saying “Do Not Climb the Rocks”, and we were thus surprised, as we tried to keep quiet and make no sudden movements, to see two bikini clad teenage girls rise up from the natural habitat of the endangered Wallaby and stroll back down the carpark!

Natural habitat of the Bikini clad Rock Wallaby

Standley’s Chasm is a cleavage in the rock walls of the ranges about 5m wide. From top to bottom – about 30m – maybe. If you get there in the middle of the day and walk for 1.5k along a rocky (dry) creek bed, you are rewarded with a beautiful view of the sun shining directly into the chasm and making the red walls glow a fiery colour. The floor was sandy, and we suspected erosion! So we sat and had lunch with the 75 other people who had decided to check it out at midday… Must get off the beaten track.

A Chasm, of the Standley variety - sandstone - sedimentary it turns out.

At last some real earth upheaval at Ormiston Gorge. 340 million years ago something big created a rock sandwich and some spectacular walking tracks. We even know that the gorge is made of Quartzite (igneous possibly???) and the lovely layering effect created by limestone, dolomite and mudstone.

Upsizing to a Gorge - camping at Ormiston.

Our campsite was nestled at the foot of the gorge and came complete with howling dingoes at night. We did a fantastic loop walk, up to a lookout and on to the riverbed, where we scrambled over lots of rocks to make it back to the start. There is an almost permanent waterhole at Ormiston Gorge and although we thought it a little cold, it didn’t stop a bus of tourists holding races there one afternoon, or axo1000 perfecting his rock skimming skills.

Ormiston Gorge Waterhole


The Loop Walk


Ghost gums - GORGEOUS!


Taking it all in.

And Canyons? Well tune in next time….

Posted in Kate | 7 Comments

Friends in Dry Places

Posted on August 9, 2011 by onlinewheatleys

It’s been six weeks on the road now. We know that not many families have this amazing opportunity to take a break from their real lives and go together to explore this incredibly diverse country of ours. After six weeks, we can back into just about any campsite. We are quite proficient at putting up the camper, and learning when to hold our tongues on pack up days. We can handle 3 hours in the car and have the knack of finding amenities, milk, bread and bike rides wherever we go.

Six weeks is also long enough to start missing people who are part of our everyday lives, family, friends, colleagues and teachers. And so we have loved hearing from people via email, text, comments and phone. We kind of limped into Alice Springs after some long drives, in the hope of refreshing supplies and ourselves. We booked into the BIG4, complete with jumping pillow, and phoned Michael’s relatives.

So it was our good fortune to pitch our camp directly behind a fantastic family doing just the same thing as us! Within about 20minutes, the kids were off to the jumping pillow and we were left to put up the camper ourselves!!!

We so enjoyed 4 days with our S.A. buddies, swapping stories, supervising our kids at the pool, sharing a drink – and that was just the adults.

Alice Springs School in the fresh air.

Driving 'round the BIG4

Enjoying our excursion to Alice Springs School of the Air together.

Team Alice! Happy Travels to Captain and the Trons! See you in S.A.

It was also time to catch up with family, visit St Philips College to check out the Fred McKay Centre and the Peace Garden where Fred & Meg are interred. Local family resident and tour guide Liz sorted us out and came along on the visit. It was great to see where most of Fred’s stuff ended up and check out the College where Fred was a patron.  Could be an opportunity for some boarding in later years should things get unruly !!!!

Family visit to Fred & Meg's Peace Garden

Marnie also spent some years growing up in Alice, living in Adelaide House which is now a museum on the Todd Mall.  Axo1000 and BloggiE got to have a “sleep” in the same room Marnie slept in as a child.

Adelaide House

Marnie's bedroom

Our arrival in Alice coincided with the birth of baby Joshua. It was great to catch up with cousin Emily, Tony and Liz, and meet the second cousins for the first time !

Hanging out with second cousins

Now its time to do some outback trekking and camping in the West Macs. Our pilgrimage to the big rock also looms large.

Posted in Kate, Spike | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The Devils Marbles

Posted on August 3, 2011 by onlinewheatleys

On our way to Alice Springs we stopped at the Devils Marbles. I thought the Devils Marbles would just be a couple of rocks balancing in about 4-5 big columns but no, I get big masses of rock all over the place in the most amazing formations!  

We got to the campsite early and found the best spot with a bench and two gumtrees. It was bonza.  The campsite was right inside the Devils Marbles and next to the biggest rock formations.

Cracking spot for a campsite

When we were setting up we had the urge to go up and climb all over the rocks, so we spent a few hours exploring all over the rocks.

Climbing heaven!

Rock hopping

In the evening we went up the rocks and sat at the top to watch the the sunset. We had some drinks and spotted a rock wallaby up on the rock with us.

Sunset on the Marbles

One of the most amazing things about the Devils Marbles is the colours of the rocks. The were so epically orange.

So orange, you could eat it !

A Marble

We had a dinner and stories under the stars. They were so bright, we saw satellites passing overhead and even saw a shooting star! Spike told stories about the legendary Screaming Banshee that used to haunt the Devils Marbles, and then tried to scare me when we went out to the bush toilet in the dark of the night.

In the morning we got up early and Spike filmed the rocks changing colours as the sun rose.

 

 

It has been one of the best things we have seen so far. I really enjoyed jumping and ninjaing around the Marbles but now have legs full of scratches, cuts and bruises.

So if you happen to be passing the Devils Marbles you should ninja in and check out the awesomeness for yourself.

Posted in axo1000, Spike | 13 Comments