July 2018

This update chronicles a very different part of our trip, and its one where we are working hard to make the most of a radical change to the plans. After our 9 days of walking in the West MacDonnells we had a couple of other places to see and we were ready to leave Alice and start the journey home. Fate had other ideas.

From leaving Glen Helen we stopped at Gosse Bluff, an impact crater that looks like a circular mountain range rising out of the flat sand plain. It was formed by the violent arrival of a comet 142 million years ago. The inner core is now about 5 km in diameter, and we had a walk and a good look around the area. As I drove out, I noticed that the van had lost power and wouldn’t go over 80km/hr and struggled to go up hills – it was a strange and ominous feeling. We called Toyota in Alice Springs who gave us a couple of things to try, but we decided to drive straight there and see if they could rectify the problem. They suggested we bypass the additional fuel filter and that seemed to help so we decided to head out to Chambers Pillar. Stayed at Ooraminna Station and had a look around the film set for ‘The Drovers Boy’ movie (intended to go with the song of the same name) but the movie was never made. Almost like stepping back into an old outback town. Stopped at Ewaninga Rock Carvings to see the petroglyphs and then completed the 3 hour drive on rough roads to Chambers Pillar. This 50 meter high pillar of rock was named by the explorer Stuart in 1860. As we camped there we got to enjoy the rock changing colors at sunset and I also saw it at sunrise. Its on the western edge of the Simpson Desert and was formed by weathering between 80 & 20 million years ago. The red top is sand coated with rust (iron oxide). In aboriginal legends the pillar is a permanent reminder of the need to observe kinship laws.

As we left there the trouble began again with two warning lights on the dash (malfunction [engine] indicator and the slip indicator light [stability control]). We were able to drive so we kept going, and after about 80 kms on very bad roads, we started losing power and then stopped completely about 60 kms out of Alice in a place with no phone reception and hardly any traffic. At least people in the outback stop when you are stranded! Some locals from Alice ended up driving me 40kms out of their way so I could get phone reception and call our NRMA Premium Roadside assistance to organize a tow truck. Three hours later it turned up, just on dusk and we were very happy to see him arrive. We got taken to the Big 4 Caravan Park where we had a booking – they just moved us to the breakdown site. That was on the 4th of July.

That’s how we ended up spending the next 22 days in Alice Springs living at Big 4. Our new life was a colorful mix of all that Alice had to offer, plus more walking in the MacDonnell Ranges and lots of time on the phone and skype with friends and family in Aus and overseas; as well as almost daily visits to Toyota to check on their progress and numerous hours on the phone with two insurance companies. We had a rental car and a nice cabin at the Big 4 CP so we weren’t really suffering. We just didn’t know what was wrong or how long it would take to fix, so ended up extending the car and cabin, mostly two days at a time, for more times that I can remember. Dick also continued to work on writing his app and I worked on my Babbel Spanish lessons. Of course we visited most of the restaurants and takeaways in town; lots of lunches and dinners out.

Cultural/historical/social activities included: a Kasey Chambers concert (excellent), the recently opened Megafauna Central musuem (megafauna bones and fossils discovered in the late 1950’s at Alcoota Station), an exhibition of Beanies from the Beanie Festival, various art galleries, a tour of the Old Telegraph Station (first white settlement in Central Australia), the ‘Govies Muster’ (fundraising evening for the School of the Air), a day at the Camel Cup to watch camel races, a Ukranian Dance Performance at the Art Centre and four movies: Gauguin, Tea with the Dames, Mama Mia 2, and The Lorax Project.

Walking excursions included Trephina Gorge in the East MacDonnells, Larapinta Trail-Section 6 Ellery Creek Big Hole to the saddle return, Old Telegraph Station-Stuart & Spencer Hill walk, then later the Wiggly Gorge walk, Simpsons Gap-Cassia Hill walk, Ellery Creek Big Hole-Dolomite walk, Ochre Pits-Aranda Walk to Inarlanga Pass return. All up another 46 kms of walking in a beautiful part of the world.

If anyone is interested, this is what we believe were the issues with the Lestervan. Good section to skip if not a mechanic or 4WD owner.

*Initially a leak in the fuel tank in Birdsville on 2nd of June, which was repaired/welded in Alice on 12 June.

*A fuel filter warning light on 16 June led to Dick changing the fuel filter in Marla. Toyota turned off the warning light on 21 June.

*Loss of power/limp mode on 2 July. Toyota checked it and suggested we bypass the additional fuel filter, which we did.

*Engine and stability warning lights on 4 July. Called Toyota and they said drive in. We broke down 60 kms from Alice & were towed in.

*Toyota diagnosed three leaks in the fuel tank and sent it out to be welded on 9 July.

*Repaired fuel tank installed and engine won’t start on 11 July. Toyota diagnoses injector pump issues so sends it to Adelaide to be tested.

*Test results say we had contaminated fuel and need new injector pump and new injectors on 17 July. Need to order from Darwin.

*New injector pump etc installed on 20 July and van won’t start. Toyota need to consult with head office on Monday.

*New injector pump was faulty so another new one needs to be ordered on 23 July

*Second new injector pump installed and we get our van back on 26 July.

Conclusion: the fuel got contaminated due to leaks in the fuel tank. Toyota warranty will not cover contaminated fuel, Ken Tame insurance will cover contaminated fuel, so our NRMA Premium Roadside Assistance and Ken Tame insurance helped big time to alleviate the financial pain of this exercise.

We learned a lot more about Alice Springs, its history and the current time. We met interesting residents and started to get more of an insight into life in Alice, including lots of comments about the local indigenous populace which make up about 30% of the population. Had we known we had 22 days there we may have even volunteered or gotten involved in something, or left town completely. We found interesting things to do and tried to deal with the uncertainty and delays in a positive manner, but it was a bit stressful and frustrating. Thankfully people were always nice and helpful so that makes it all easier to manage. The staff at Big 4 were particularly helpful and said we were part of the family by the time we left. However we found that we missed being on the road and we missed being in the Lestervan.

Looking towards Gosses Bluff — Looking towards Gosse Bluff

From the lookout, looking into the crater in Gosses Bluff — From the lookout, looking into the crater in Gosse Bluff

The old movie set at Oaraminna Station — The old movie set at Ooraminna Station

Interesting rocks on the road to Chambers Pillar

Our camp in front of Castle Rock at Chambers Pillar reserve

Chambers Pillar – named by the explorer Stuart. See Dick standing at the base.

A final sunset glow lights up the pillar

Sunrise also brings out the colors and was worth getting up for

Passers by to see if they could help when we broke down — Passers by stopped to see if they could help when we broke down

Getting loaded up in the tow truck from Outback Recovery — Getting loaded up in the tow truck from Outback Vehicle Recovery

Ready to do the very rough 60 km trip back to Alice in the dark

The second ride for the Lestervan was from the caravan park to Toyota – Dick had to steer for this loading on

Great life size skeltons at Megafauna — Megafauna Central- Great displays with excellant illustrations and life size versions of Australia’s unique animals from 6-8 million years ago. The Alcoota fossil site preserves the abundant bones of 30 species of animals, including many megafauna.

Realistic displays at Megafauna — Dromornis Stirton-large flightless birds from 25 million years ago, probably the largest bird of all times. The remains of as many as 3000 individual animals were all buried in the same place, at Alcoota.

The Old Telegraph Station, Alice Springs – really highlighted the importance and magnitude of the overland telegraph line which ran from Adelaide to Darwin (3000 kms) and reduced the isolation of Australians from the rest of the world [ie messages from Britain took hours instead of 3 months!] and opened up Central Australia by providing a support and safety network.

Lots of camels at the Camel Cup - this guy was waiting for his turn to race. — Lots of camels at the Camel Cup – this guy was waiting for his turn to race.

This annual event, The Camel Cup, attracted 3000 spectators. We enjoyed watching the race, and all the other race day activites.

Amy’s friend owns this gallery in Todd Mall – we visited often.

Life at the Big 4-these kids gave me a ride home as they were testing out doing a taxi service around the caravan park.

Trephina Gorge-East MacDonnells – view from the top

walking thru the gorge — Walking thru Trephina gorge – view from the riverbed

A lovely lunch spot on the x walk — **Larapinta Trail – Section 6**– Ellery Creek Big Hole to the saddle. A lovely lunch spot at the saddle.

Simpsons Gap – Cassia Hill walk (excellant self-guided walk sheet illustrates local plants)

The Ochre Pits – aboriginal people have extracted ochre from these pits for thousands of years, mainly for ceremonial purposes.

Scrambling thru the rocks along Inarlanga Pass

Looking back at the pass in the distance

Back at the Ochre Pits at the end of the walk

Edited with BlogPad Pro

Over 9 days we walked 77 km’s through some amazing country in the West MacDonnell Ranges. The ranges were named by the explorer, John McDouall Stuart in 1860 after the South Australian Govenor. Since 1993 the area has been known as the West MacDonnells National Park. It is now called Tjoritja (pronounced Choor-it-ja) / West MacDonnell NP but will soon just be known as Tjoritja NP. So many of the places we are visiting in the Northern Territory are being renamed with their aboriginal names. Sometimes its hard to keep up with the changes.

The Larapinta Trail follows the rocky spine of the West MacDonnell Ranges. This time on the Larapinta we decided to pick a selection of walks from the Trail, often starting at a trail head and then retracing our steps back, doing a loop walk or even hitchhiking back to the Lestervan. Enjoyed great bushcamps, NP camps and private campgrounds. We met some hardy Larapinta Trekkers tackling the 220 km iconic trail (which is rated as one of the planets top 20 treks), and had quite a social time as we trekked along. Most were surprised to see us on the track doing day walks, and most were young although the walkers came in all shapes, ages and sizes; solo trekkers, couples, fathers and sons, and a couple of guided groups of women.

Its kind of dangerouse leaving me in the wilderness for too long, as hiking on day nine I got an idea for a book. Must still be some publishing blood running in my veins!

These photos tell the story of our walks………

Day One in Standley Chasm – Walking in the Chasm and doing the loop walk – 5.2 kms