Dreamtime

Stanley’s Chasm
Ormiston Gorge

Again Stanley’s Chasm
Our truck


Here we are in Alice Springs.  The first thing you see on arriving at the airport is an airplane graveyard.



This place is known because of its position in the middle of the continent. The first white guys had a tough time getting here and so they hired some Afghan cameleers to make the connection trans australien and they connected the telegraph.  Grateful to them when they finished the construction of the north south train tracks they named it the “ghan”.

Yves walking over the Todd river, it’s flooded or bone dry.


The earth here is blood red and from the airplane any scratch into the crust of the land looks like a bloody scar. The ridges of the ranges are like waves of land.  The stories of the Arrernte people tell of caterpillar ancestors in this region so full of myths.

I saw a wallaby up on a ridge at sunset just observing the city of Alice Springs.  Colorful parrots are everywhere and the white bark of the gum trees are so striking against the foliage.  Magical.  

We picked up our ride  and they upgraded us to a 4 wheel drive truck with a tent on top.  I’ve photographed the set up.  We can do the loop we originally wanted to do now that we have a 4 wheel drive.

Tonite we stay in Ormiston Gorge, camping but last night we were in a sort of hostel that was constructed out of old railroad cars. I’ve attached a few photos of the interiors.




Alice springs, small place.  The breaks in the mountains is usually some evidence of a “dreamtime story”.  Here the creation stories are very sacred to the Arrernte people.

 Airplane graveyard.


I wanted to share a myth that is represented in a place we passed today for international womens day.  It is about a group of women in the time of creation that are dancing on the Milky Way. One of them drops her baby and it’s falls to the earth creating a crater which is called “Gosse Bluff”.  The morning and evening stars are the parents still looking for the baby.  I like the part about women dancing on the Milky Way.  We can see it real well in the night sky.


Bruce Chatwin and Strehlow also a writer of this land have great stories to tell.  Some photos of the landscape.

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