MILLIE TURNS ONE and DARWIN to KINTORE

Hi again

As mentioned in my previous post, we were heading back to south east Queensland after leaving Croker Island and decided to take the 'less travelled route' via Kintore where my brother and sister in law live and work. 

Before we could leave Darwin though, we had a very important event to attend - our granddaughter Millie's first birthday. 

Below some photos of Millie and her brother Noah and parents Kristy and Dean. 

Being Millie's first birthday, this was all new to her however she enjoyed her special day. 

We then drove to Alice Springs, refuelled and did some shopping and headed off to Kintore which is located 520 kms west of Alice Springs and only 40 kms from the WA border. We elected to travel via the West MacDonnell Rangers and not via the Tanami Road.

 

This is a drive we really enjoyed while working at Haasts Bluff in 2016/17.

 I have at times asked people who have never visited this part of Australia and are not interested in doing so, ' What do you think central Australia is like'? Often the reply is similar to this ..... 'Flat, dusty, lots of flies, boring'. Well, at times there are lots of flies however none of the other comments are true. Above is the beautiful Mt Sonder. And below are some photos of the West Mac Ranges as we make our way west. 

Definitely not flat or boring!!

The early morning and late afternoon soft light are the best times to view these landscapes.

Below a photo from 2017, showing Glen Helen in the late afternoon light with the range reflections in the Finke River. 

Recent rain had closed a lot of roads in central Australia. The road below had only opened a few days earlier. 

As we approach Memory Mountain, the large cross (and associated walkways) that were still under construction back in 2017, come into view. Photographer, Ken Duncan and a group of donors paid for the cross and access walkways. Nearby, a very special spiritual event happened over Easter back in the mission days. Since then this mountain has been known as Memory Mountain. 

From my 2016/17 photos, below shows the original Memory Mountain cross. 

Another photo from 2017 - showing the steel walkway leading up to the cross. 

Haasts Bluff to the left and Papunya to the right. Today, we are turning right to head north for a bit to join the Gary Junction Road to Kintore. If you continue west on the Gary Junction Road you would end up in the Pilbara, WA. 

The Google Earth image below shows the previously mentioned places for some context. 

As we continued west between Papunya and Mt Liebig we took the photo below of the range to the south. 

Camels are common feral animals in this part of the world. They can present serious road safety issues. 

Kintore is not the original name for this place. Walungurru is: pronounced War - loo - ngoo - rroo.

My brother Alastair coordinates the local Walungurru ranger group. On a couple of days, I was able to accompany them on their work trips. The first day we headed west to do some asset protection work around an outstation building. 

After finishing we headed further west, crossing the border into WA. The border is still marked by the original mark, placed there by Len Beadell back in 1960 - see photo below. Len and his team made a lot of these tracks across the deserts of inland Australia. 

One of the senior rangers wanted to show us a water hole in this area. Below he shows how the old people would have drunk from this hole. 

Some readers may recall a small group of Pintabi people coming out of the bush in the 1980s. They are believed to be the last traditional living First Nations people. That all happened in this area.

The smooth area on the rock that Camilla is pointing to, is where the old people used to grind seeds to make bread. 

Those hills in the distance in the photo below are the hills near Kintore/Walungurru - about 45 kms away. 

Ranger, Micheal found an old stone knife or axe head. 

Another day we headed to the south east - this time recording and cleaning rock water holes. 

Lunch with the Walungurru rangers, after cleaning the nearby water hole. This area can be very hot in summer however today it was very pleasant. 

Our lunch spot in the desert - viewed from the rocks near the water hole. This area is near the boundaries of the Tanami, Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts. 

Many people think deserts are treeless, sandy places. The definition of a desert is an area that's average annual rainfall is less than 250mm or 10 inches. The plants and animals in this area must cope with extreme hot and cold, long periods of dry and the very occasional periods of heavy rain.

Another water hole. In this area one could pass within 100m of this water hole and miss it. 

Approaching Kintore/Walungurru from the south on the Sandy Blight Road.

One of the rangers had a birthday so Al and Cathy made a special effort. 

Enjoying a BBQ - central Australia style. 

Spinifex seed heads sillouetted against the fading sunset. 

One of life's great pleasures - sitting around a fire with good company, under a central Australian night sky. What a blessing!

Another trip took us to a different area. More beautiful ranges with a speedy brown falcon sitting a rock outcrop.

While Alastair coordinates the rangers, Cathy has taken on the challenge of cleaning the local regional council's accommodation. This is where visiting government people, contractors and other visitors stay while in Kintore. This has proved to be a big job. 

Many locals and visitors have also enjoyed warm hospitality at Cathy and Al's place.

All too soon our visit was over - below we are heading back to Alice Springs.

Approaching Mt Liebig - still over 300 kms to Alice however no traffics delays here. 

While at Kintore/Walungurru the Simpson Desert crossing opened after heavy rain in western Queensland earlier this year. This prompted a change of plans for us - another 'road less travelled'. More about that in the next blog post.

Until then, bless ya all.

Bryan and Nancy