Alice, where the F is Alice

23rd June Saturday

Another very cold and windy night, decided to put tent down and move to other side of campsite

 and sleep in LRover. Put some spuds in campfire coals for later, didn't take long to cook. Rose is wearing 2 Tshirts and a jumper. Wasn't too bad putting tent down in between gusts of wind. We are protected by the LRover from the worst of the wind on other side of site, got awning out ok so can cook in comfort. Had a walk into the Marbles on the east side of camp, not so spectacular heigt wise but just as stunning.

 Was able to sit outside for a while and Rose got sun/wind burnt on her face. After dinner sat in awning with coats on as so cold. Went to bed early - warmer.

24th June Sunday

Much better nights sleep without the tent flapping also was warmer. Still only 10degs but wind not so bad. Take that back wind just got up again, bitterly cold. Packed up and left site just after 9amheading south, wind not making driving easy. Stopped at Wycliffe Well which claims to be the UFO capital of Oz. Inside the roadhouse are newspaper cuttings on the wall of UFO sightings over the years, outside there is a mural on the wall

with green men models

 alongside, very characterful. Carring on south along the HWay the trees are disappearingand you can see red rcky hills in the distance, very reminiscent of the Kimberlys. Stopped at the John Mcdouall Stuart Memorial, he thought he had found the centre of Australia but it's situated just south of Alice Springs on the edge of the Simson Desert. Carried on to the Ti Tree Roadhouse Caravan Pk for the night, had just got set up and Colin walking back from toilet got bitten by a little white terrier, it drew blood(dangerous wildlife in Oz) Rose went to roadhouse and complained, they went to speak with owner. It is still windy but not so chilly. Both had lovely hot showers, but didn't take too long drying off before getting chilled again. Rose has put on her fleece pyjamas bottoms, bit warmer. Rang Dee after 6pm to hear about their cruise and when they are going to tackle the Gibb, she thinks it's hilarious we will have to buy winter clothes in Alice. Went to bed early as it's warmer.

25th June Monday

6degs this morning, it was cold last night, Colin wore his socks in bed. No wind initially but by time we left site it was getting up. Stopped at Aileron Roadhouse for coffee and spring rolls, only charged $8 with free coffee refils, then Rose broke one of their mugs ooops. Outside is the statue of Anmatijee Man on the hill,

 a statue of a woman with child

 and 2 snakes, one wearing a bra

. Scenery still green, wind gusting the LRover around. Have heater on again, so able to take jumpers off. Approx 25kms north of Alice we stopped at the Highest Point Cairn, it is the highest point on the Stuart HWay from Darwin to Adelaide. Arrived at Alice Springs

 just after 12 and decided to go straight to K Mart, where we bought a blanket 2 fleecey check shirts with hoods and Rose also bought a body warmer and 2 pairs of jeans, all in the sale as they are getting in their summer clothes!!! also treated ourseves to chocolate biscuits and bars of chocolate - all in sale. We then drove to the G'Day Mate Campsite for 2 nights, it's a lovely place, very clean. After erecting the tent had a walk to the local grocer and managed to gloves and a beanie hat, now hopefully we are set for thereally cold weather with frosts at night. The caravan park is situated south of The Gap, which is a gap between the West and East McDonnell Ranges. We will be travelling to the West McDonnells when we leave here on Wednesday. Nice hot soup for dinner then to bed under our new blanket to keep warm.

26th June Tuesday

A freezing night, frost on the tent and LRover, temp in LRover was 4degs, good job we have extra warm weather gear.

 Went into Alice to look around, lots of Aboriginal art and culture shops, could have spent a fortune but only spent a little on credit card. After lunch filled up with food at Woollies and meat at a butchers and fuel on way back to camp. Wind has got up but not so bad as last few days. Still wearing 3 layers though. Cooked 2 lovely pork chops with veggies on the BBQ (one way of getting warm), the evening not as cold as last night, so stayed out longer.

27th June Wednesday

Frost again, someone said minus 4. Blanket worked a treat, a lot warmer in bed. Cooked breakfast on BBQ, then had a leisurely pack up. Went into Alice to use internet to upload photos, ended up getting money back as only loaded 1 photo in 30mins. Drove out of Alice on The Larapinta Drive towards the West McDonnell Nat Pk. The Ranges are an ancient landscape sculptured over time by climate. The West Ranges stretches for 161kms from Alice with several gorges along the way, which are important refuges for plants and animals. Our first stop was at Simpson Gap

 which is one of the most prominent in the Ranges, it is renowned for the Black Footed Wallabies,

 we saw several amongst the rocks when we walked into the Gap. The area is a very important spiritual site to the Arrente Aboriginal people. It was a lovely place for a stop. Drove along the Namatjura Drive to our camp for the night at Ellery Creek Big Hole, which is a spectacular waterhole

 in the Ellery Creek which cuts through a gorge that was formed by years of agressive floods. Reading one of the info boards it seems as though these ranges were once the same height as the Himalayas. It is a nice campground. Cooked dinner on the gas BBQ's(on site) as did several other campers. Not such a cold evening

28th June Thursday

It didn't frost last night but still very cold. Kept hearing dingos howling in the night, they sounded very close at times. The sun finally came over the hill so can now try to warm up (8.30am). Left camp at 10 am, first stop Serpentine Gorge, it was a lovely stony walk into the gorge,

very quiet and serene. Further on pulled into a lookout (up a steep hill) where the views were fantastic, from where we had to been

to where we were headed. 

At Ormiston gorge we did the short walk up a very sttep climb (sheer drops) to the Ghost Gum Lookout, you can look into the Gorge where people look like little dots,

 and down to the Waterhole where people are sunning themselves on the sandy bankside.

  Had lunch back at the car, it really is a beautiful place, before driving to Glen Helen Resort our camp for next 2 nights. It is situated beside the Glen Helen Gorge, lovely setting. Sat sunning ourselves before dinner, cooked a chicken curry in camp ktichen, whcih will last us a couple of meals. Late in the afternoon 8 walkers came onto site a set up just behind us, they are walking10-15kms per day along the Larapinta trail and so they don't have to carry too much they have food drops along the trail. After dinner clouds started to build

 up and with the sun setting the sky looked alive,

the colours were stunning. Able to sit outside quite late as not so cold.

29 June Friday

FRIDAY FACT - TEMPERATURES OF -4, ALICE IS OFFICIALLY COLDER THAN HOME

Night suddenly got cold, but sun soon warms you up. Sat out having a cuppa when on of the walkers came over and gave us 2 500g packs of Quinoa (like rice), they were too heavy for her to carry, now getting food parcles from backpackers!. wind has got up a bit, Colin doing maintenancethis morning, whilst in reception Rose weighed herself, she is 61kgs (approx 9 1/2 stone), can't remember when last that weight, but we are both fit and healthy, Colin's shorts are getting big on the waist so tucking his tshirts in to keep them up. After lunch had a walk to Glen Helen gorge, unfortunately due to the rains in the last few years the Finke River has quite a bit of water in it so can only walk to the entrance of the Gorge,

 it is still spectacular. We walked back along the dry part of the riverbed to camp, then sat in sun till dinner. Trying the blanket under the airbed tonight to see if it stops cold coming up from ground, moon is nearly full.