The starting point

The starting point

Wednesday 21 September 2016

21/9/16 Onward to Alice

We hit the road again this morning , it was a bit remiss of me to forget to mention , that we are currently in the most central point of Australia !!!
 That would mean this is the most central peacock in Australia !!


 Leaving Ti Tree behind , the highway called us and off we went - only 15klms to the Territory Grape Farm - they grow mangoes and grapes - neither of which are ready at the moment , more's the pity . The mangoes aren't ready till December here , not like Darwin where they are harvesting now !!
 The landscape was pretty much the same as yesterday for about 100klms , then we saw some mountains in the distance .


 Since leaving Devils Marbles yesterday , we have been in the unlimited speed zone , but no-one has gone past in either direction going any faster than about 120 - 130klms/hr . That's not such a bad thing as the roads we drove on today were only suitable for around 80 klms /hr  !!
  The scenery today was different to what we'd expected , there was green grass , wildflowers and lot's of water still lying around , some creeks were flowing with muddy orange water !!




Next stop was the small community of Aileron , with the giant sculptures of an aboriginal man , woman & child & goanna .


 We pulled in thinking we may get some diesel as we were down to quarter of a tank , driving up to the bowser changed our mind $1.99.9 a litre - no thanks , we'll risk it .
 Back out to the highway , vegetation started to get a bit sparser , one ridge looked like it had dust blowing over it - it was the lack of vegetation and the red soil & rock exposed .


Mountain ranges started to appear on the horizon , it had to be The Macdonnell Ranges , we were getting closer to Alice Springs !! More water lying around and wildflowers lining the road .
 Crossing the Tropic of Capricorn again signalled the change in temperature , it probably also had something to do with being a bit higher above sea level as well - 576m above sea level to be precise - only 72m lower than Moss Vale !!!! No wonder it only got to 21 degrees today from an overnight 6 degrees !!




 They don't call it the red centre for nothing , check out the colour of the soil !!


 We arrived at Alice Springs not long after the fuel light came on , so first thing was to get some diesel , which we did .
 Next was to find the park and check in for a week - we got a 20% discount - have to be happy with that !!!
  From the higher part of the park , there are views over the Macdonnell Ranges and the gap between the ridge where the highway and the Todd River goes . Speaking of the river - it has some water in it at the moment - that will be in tomorrows photo's maybe !




 We have broken out the warmer quilt and the tracksuit pants tonight , as we are expecting a cool night - that wasn't in the plan !!
 Here's a map link :-https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nfoWJ_uZawpCPYXe2ON89O5Ttew&usp=sharing





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