This morning's discovery was that the locking cap to our water tank was missing - suspected to be somewhere between Alice Springs and Yulara. Very little point in going back to look for it, so we headed out to see if we could find a replacement. First stop (actually only stop) was Desert Dwellers - a camping store and one of our favourite adverts from the Imparja days because - according to the add - "If we don't have it - you don't need it!" Well apparently we didn't need it, because they didn't have it and I suspect we'll probably be taping up that hole in the side of the van to keep the dust out until we get to Darwin at least.
It was then on to the West Macdonnell Ranges for a look around. The ranges that flank Alice Springs and beyond are imposing but also no doubt offer protection from extremes of weather in terms of wind particularly. The soil varies too from a sort of sandy colour through to red, but nothing like the depth that you get at Uluru. Along Larapinta Drive which continues out of town and through Hermannsburg and on to Kings Canyon there are a number of tracks and driveways that are marked in various ways, including tyres and/or bottles on trees, obscure signs and then there are just tracks that lead you to wonder exactly what is down there. Old caravans and sheds can be seen from the road but not much in the way of houses. And of course - a scene no doubt to be repeated many times before we get to Darwin - abandoned cars.
More garden edging!
Our first turn off was to Simpsons Gap and while the drive to the gap is quite pretty the real turn-off was the flies that attacked you the moment you left the car and wouldn't let up until they had driven you back to it. I wandered down to the riverbed to take some photos but that was enough for me. Going further in to take more photos didn't seem like much fun if I couldn't stop waving the flies off to press the shutter.
We drove on to Stanley Chasm which was so overrun with tourists we didn't even stop as there was barely a parking spot to be had. I figured between the tourists and the flies it was probably best to keep driving so we headed back to Alice as it would have been too late to go as far as Hermannsburg which Shane only described as a depressing place when he visited on our last trip.
Before heading back to the van we did a quick drive out the northern end of town and saw the matching "welcome" sign which clearly wasn't patronised as much as that at the southern end judging by the limited parking available.
On the way back to the park we spotted two creative home businesses. On the one hand, having your job in your front yard is very convenient. On the other hand, having your business in your front yard is a bit tacky! The other business opportunity had us wondering if these wheels might match nicely with a red car.........
It was a lovely evening to sit outside, have dinner and a couple of wines before packing up in preparation for our departure (and more importantly getting my head around extracting the van from the site). It was about this time our neighbours stopped by for a chat and mentioned they were off to the Camel Cup tomorrow. Darnit - we'd completely forgotten about the Camel Cup!
145 km
Total - 3,581 km
Top today 23°c - expecting overnight 2°c
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