Just Whippin' in Mataranka
A couple of videos from Nathan "Whippy" Grigg's show in Mataranka.
Olivia learning how to whip!
Nathan "Whippy" Griggs whipping to Pink Pony Club
Day 32: Mataranka
Today we got up early to look for turtles at Bitter Springs, it was warm. I saw two but they scared me, but Theo might might have only seen one. Then we went to have breakfast and then went to the Springs again. Then we had lunch and I got to video chat with Hattie. Then we went to the Springs with Dad again. Then we went back to camp and had toasties for dinner.
Then we went to the whipping show again and it was better. I got picked to learn how to use a whip and I managed to get the whip to crack both ways. The first was around over my head and the other was up and down by my side. Theo caught a stubbie holder and got it signed after we both danced to "Cotton Eye Joe" on stage. We helped move the mats for the fire tricks and Pink Pony Club was one of the songs he whipped too.
Day 31: Larrimah to Mataranka
Today we drove from Gorrie Airfield to Mataranka. We went to the Bitter Springs and me and Theo were afraid of the crocs but luckily there were none there. We used pool noodles to float down the hot spring river then we got out walked to the top and floated down again multiple times. Then we had lunch and went again. This time with Dad. We also went to a whip show (Nathan "Whippy" Griggs). It was cool. He used lots of different whips even neon ones. I wanted a whip but we didn't get one 🙁.
Day 30: Karlu Karlu / Devils Marbles to Larrimah
The kids and I were up early today to catch the sun rising over the "marbles". Then it was back into the ute for a very long drive. We covered 627km (10% of our total millage so far!) in 7 hours and 45 minutes with stops at Elliot, for lunch, and Daly Waters, for a quick drink, before camping on the Gorrie WWII Airfield just north of the town of Larrimah.
This was a pretty cool free camp. It was a ~1.8km long dirt runway that everyone had just pulled over to one side or the other to camp for the night.
Day 29: Alice Springs to Karlu Karlu / Devils Marbles
This morning we were at Alice Springs then we drove to Devils Marbles.
At Devils Marbles we did a walk that went to see most of the Marbles there was a bunch of balancing Marbles that did not fall over and a bunch of cracked Marbles. At the end of the walk there was a look out where we saw the sun set then me and Olivia played soccer while we waited for dinner.
Day 28: Ormiston Gorge to Alice Springs
Today we drove to Alice Springs. Then we played at the pool and playground. Only 1/4 of the pools were warm and the water slide pool was cold. We went shopping and Dad bought me a chocolate. We also went out 4 dinner and got pizza. We also had sushi 4 lunch.
Day 27: Tjoritja / West MacDonnell Ranges (Day 2)
I got up early today for my turn to do the Ghost Gum walk. It was gorgeous to watch the sunrise into the gorge. I found lots of wildflowers and rocks to soak in with the track all to myself. Once back down to the river I decided to wade through the water rather than returning the same way. This meant there was a bit of rock hopping but there were a lot more birds down by the water than on the walk in.
Back at camp we all loaded into the car to go check out the Ochre Cliffs. This was a much better view of the ochre outcrop then we saw in South Australia, as we got to walk along the base of the cliffs and could see the different colours (all due to the amount of iron - or not - in the mudstone and siltstone). It was pretty cool to see the near vertical layers of ochre deposits.
Next stop was Ellery Creek Big Hole for a freezing cold swim and lunch. This time, although Theo was the first one in, all of us went for a "swim" (more like quick submersion then out again). While drying off we watched the zebra finches flit around the waters edge.
After returning to camp we headed off in the late afternoon to go on the Ghost Gum walk as a family. Once again taking the gorge floor route to return to camp. I really enjoyed seeing the gorge at both sunrise and sunset!
Day 26: Tjoritja / West MacDonnell Ranges (Day 1)
Today we explored a few of the western highlights of the Tjoritja / West MacDonnell Ranges Park. After seeing the Tnorala Conservation Reserve (Gosse Bluff) from the lookout the previous night we decided to backtrack and drive out to have a proper look inside the crater itself. This is the site of an impact crater from a 600m wide meteorite, that crashed here 142 million years ago. We went on a short walk to a lookout for a good view from just above the crater floor to the surrounding rocks.
Next we headed back into the National Park stopping at Larapinta / Finke River for lunch and to hang out next to the river. Theo was the only one brave enough to go for a swim in the very cold water.
Back at camp John went for a walk up to the Ghost Gum lookout and down into Ormiston Gorge before dinner. He manged to see a Euro (small wallaby) amongst the rocks.
Day 25: Watarrka / Kings Canyon to Ormiston Gorge
We hooked up once again this morning and headed west through the Watarrka National Park until we reached the rather bumpy dirt roads of Larapinta Drive (formally the Mereenie Loop and now the Red Centre Way). From here we headed north than east through a few smaller ranges and even found our first field of wildflowers. Eventually we hit the bitumen again at the western end of Tjoritja / West MacDonnell Ranges. We stopped at the Tylers Pass lookout for a 360 view of the ranges and the Tnorala / Gosse Bluff.
We pulled into camp at Ormiston Gorge just before sunset with enough time to have a quick look at the gorge before dinner.
Day 24: Watarrka / Kings Canyon
Today we headed out on the Kings Canyon Rim Walk, which was a 7.3km walk (3-4 hours). It started with a steep climb up some very impressive rock steps. Then continued along the northern wall of Kings Canyon, through bee hive rock formations, some great examples of cross-bedded alluvial sandstone formations, and paleo river ripples. There were also lots of flowering plants that I'm still learning the names of! We then dropped down into the Garden of Eden, which is a small oasis at the head of the canyon. We were lucky enough to get about 10 minutes at the large pool at the end of the canyon to ourselves, despite how busy the track was. Once we climbed back out of the head of the canyon we headed along the southern rim back to the car park.
Then it was back to camp for the afternoon. The kids spent the rest of the day at the playground until we collected them to walk up to the local lookout and watch the sunset. We then treated ourselves to dinner at the Kings Creek Station Cafe (beef burgers for the kids and camel burgers for the parents).
We finished off the day with a campfire and marshmallows as the full moon rose over camp.
