We went to the Araluen Cultural Centre today. They have the Albert Namatjira art gallery there. Wow. Read his story (Hermannsburg school, his tutor Battarbee) and got to see some of his works. A real highlight of the trip for me. Next door is the Central Australia Museum. Saw the crocodile fossils, some of the ancient geological history of the area and the Strehlow Research Centre. There are displays about archaeology in the area. TGH Strehlow was a mis...

J is not feeling great again, and everyone is a bit sick of driving, so we're staying in the Alice for 4 days. J and C elected to stay in the van most of the day. A and I went for a very nice walk along the bike/walking path along the Todd River into town. Heavitree Gap is an amazing bit of geology where the East and West MacDonell Ranges almost meet but for a natural gap no more than 100m wide. The river, the road and the Ghan railway all squeeze though ne...

A bit lazy on getting going for another long day. We drove into pretty stiff headwind today: it increases the fuel consumption quite dramatically and makes the van dance around. It's flat and red most of the way. The trees are typically just small wiry things and there's not much grass. I don't recognise most of the plants now. We pulled up by the side of the road to put fuel in the tank and there were the biggest ant holes in the ground, with an opening a...

Early start and long day in the car but made it all the way to Tennant Creek by late afternoon. Tennant Creek is dust and wind and not much else. It's only a small place with a rather sad and unwelcoming main street. The van park similarly dusty and drab. They did have a show on, "Jimmy Hooker, Bush Tucker Man," where an old bushy told stories and a few bush poems around a fire. Then he showed us a variety of bush tucker items including kangaroo tail cooke...

Got up way before dawn to go on the dawn cruise on Katherine Gorge. Wow. This is a spectacular place. Much bigger than Lawn Hill. The rock walls rise up 20 metres on all sides and are made up of 'blocks' of red, orange, white and yellow. The colours changed as the sun came up, being darker reds in the beginning, fading to yellow and white once the sun was well up. We had a local guide who explained some of the important cultural stuff, like places where h...