Sunday 6 May
A pretty full day today had us starting at Simpson’s Gap about 15 kms west of Alice in the west MacDonnell Ranges. A very pretty walk along the sandy river bed past old ghost gums next to pools of water edged with reed and rushes. The cliffs this time had huge rock falls that looked as if they could have slipped down any time from yesterday to millions of years ago. We stopped and took in the scenery looking out for any wildlife they may have been around. We were rewarded with sightings of some black footed rock wallaby bounding over the rocks. They are so well disguised that the only reason we saw them at all was we caught their movement. One hopped from a great height down the rocks at a remarkable pace, each hop must have covered 3 metres straight down. Once again the place was magical and we took heaps of photos.
Next stop Standley Chasm about 40 odd kms further along. This time the river bed we walked along was incredible rocky and narrow. We clambered up the rocky river bed for about 1.5 km. The chasm was formed by the river eroding out the softer rock leaving an opening about 2 to 3 metres wide with the cliff walls 80 metres high. We were there around midday which is when the sun is directly overhead highlighting the orange colours of the walls. Totally different from anything else we have seen.
We decided to continue on to Hermannsburg, the site of the first Lutheran mission in Australia – for that manner the first mission of any flavour -that started in 1877. The old whitewashed building are scattered around a compound which included the old church, pastor’s residence, meathouse, tannery and school. It was in use 'til about 1976 when the lands were handed back to the Aranda people. The town today seems to be an aboriginal community and Sunday seemed to be a day of sport as it seemed the whole town was out participating/watching footie and baseball and generally having a good time.
Snap of the day
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