Days 4 -6
On Saturday we drove to the Northern Territory. Here we are at the border between South Australia and the Northern Territory.
On Sunday we ate pancakes for breakfast at the caravan park. There was a bouncy pillow and a flying fox. There was a swimming pool but it was too cold to go swimming.
We went to Simpson’s Gap. There were little patches of water here and there but the rest of the river bed was dry.
This is a black footed rock wallaby. It was up on a rocky slope.
Che clung to a tree like a koala in the dry river bed. You can see Simpson’s Gap behind him.
Matt sat on a tree like it was a swing. The first time he fell off but the second time he managed to get onto the branch swing.
Then we went to Stanley Chasm. We played ‘I Spy’.
On Monday we drove to Palm Valley along a river bed. Dad drove through water. We stopped here because we couldn’t get the car over a rocky steep bit of the track.
This picture is Matt and Che standing on a big rock near some cycads. Some of the cycads had been around for 200 to 300 hundred years, which means they have been alive since before Captain James Cook arrived in Australia.
We walked into Palm Valley. Red-Cabbage Palms grow in the valley. They are the only naturally occurring palm trees in Central Australia. The highest one was around 26 metres tall.
We walked up to the top of the cliffs. This is what we saw from there.
Here is where Palm Valley is
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Is it warmer in the Northern Territory? Grandma and I went to Simpson’s Gap and saw rock wallabies, but we didn’t go to Palm Valley. Your photos show that it is a very beautiful spot. I like the photos of Che and Matt on the trees.
Hi Grandpa,
Yes it is warmer in NT than in Adelaide.
Mum had forgotten that you and Grandma went to Alice Springs. When was that?
from
Matt and Che
I am following the Martin Bigham family from Guam! It looks very remote and beautiful. Thanks for the posting! Interesting note: Guam has cycads too. They are an indigenous plant here in the Pacific.
Hi Cathleen,
Glad you are following the blog. Do you know if Dar has seen it?
Hope all is well.
Kristin
Hi Che and Matt
I went to all those places when I was about your age, Che. It looks the same in your photos as when I was there – it’s as though it hasn’t changed a bit in all those years. It’s amazing that the landscape is so permanent even though it changes all the time. Leaves fall, animals come and go, rain falls and the sun dries it up, but underneath all that the landscape remains strong and silent.
I hope you are enjoying your trip. Seeing your wonderful photos really makes me want to take Ryan and Katy there so that they can see these amazing places.
Thanks for your blog, I am really enjoying reading it.
Lynette
Hi Lynette,
It is fun here. Ryan would like it in the NT. We think Katy would like the hot springs.
from Che and Matt