Wednesday 3rd May was a full day of sightseeing. The morning was taken up with a trip out to the West MacDonnell Ranges to visit Simpsons Gap and Standley Chasm. Gaps and Chasms (and bigger 'Gorges') are passes through the mountains - a chasm is bigger than a gap. Simpsons Gap was a beautiful place, much revered by the Aboriginees. 
From there we travelled a few kilometers further to Standley Chasm, a deep red cleft crowded in on either side by craggy slopes that rise 80 meters or so.
The 20 minute or so walk to the chasm from the coach park follows a creek where spring fed pools attract a great variety of wildlife and we saw many amazing trees and plants. The walk was quite a difficult one, as we had to negotiate many rocks and large 'puddles'
The afternoon trip was a 'city tour'. Whereas I loved the surrounding areas, I was not too fond of Alice Springs itself. I was expecting something older and more historic (although there are lots of historic buildings there).
Our first stop was at the Reptile House where I actually plucked up the courage to handle a large python - another 'first' for me
From there we visited the historic Telegraph Station. Connecting Australia with England by means of a single wire in 1872, the overland telegraph line was a huge achievement, making contact with 'the mother England' much simpler and quicker (before the telegraph, messages could take up to 3 months by ship).
We then visited the Royal Flying Doctor Service Museum and information centre. I hadn't realised before what an important part of outback life (and other medical emergencies) the RDFS played. The Royal Flying Doctor Service was established in 1928 by Reverend John Flynn. His vision was to provide a 'mantle of safety' for the isolated communities of inland Australia. Using air links and radio, the service provided medical aid to people living, working and travelling in the outback. Today it operates 21 bases and covers more than 7,150,000 square kilometres. The Alice Springs base was opened in 1939 to provide emergency and preventative medicine to outlying communities and stations throughout Central Australia.
Our final stop for the day was to the top of Anzac Hill where we had a 360 degree view of Alice and surrounds.
Alice Springs was an interesting place to visit but I would not hurry back there, although I loved the surrounding countryside and mountains
On Sunday 1st May we left Adelaide for Alice Springs. This time we boarded 'The Ghan' - the iconic train which runs from Adelaide, up through the centre of Australia, to Darwin in the north. www.trulyaustralia.com/rail/ghan
We travelled as far as Alice Springs, about half way, but even that took over 24 hours. The train departed at 12.20 and we were called to lunch soon after departure. Kangaroo steak was on the menu so I had to have that. It was nice, not too different to a beef steak. Life on this train was very similar to the Indian Pacific and our compartment was just the same. It was just the scenery outside that was different. We travelled through the desert and I thought I would be seeing miles and miles of nothing but red sand, but after all the rain that has been experienced in Australia over the recent months there was far more green than I expected:
From there we travelled a few kilometers further to Standley Chasm, a deep red cleft crowded in on either side by craggy slopes that rise 80 meters or so.
The 20 minute or so walk to the chasm from the coach park follows a creek where spring fed pools attract a great variety of wildlife and we saw many amazing trees and plants. The walk was quite a difficult one, as we had to negotiate many rocks and large 'puddles'
Our first stop was at the Reptile House where I actually plucked up the courage to handle a large python - another 'first' for me
We then visited the Royal Flying Doctor Service Museum and information centre. I hadn't realised before what an important part of outback life (and other medical emergencies) the RDFS played. The Royal Flying Doctor Service was established in 1928 by Reverend John Flynn. His vision was to provide a 'mantle of safety' for the isolated communities of inland Australia. Using air links and radio, the service provided medical aid to people living, working and travelling in the outback. Today it operates 21 bases and covers more than 7,150,000 square kilometres. The Alice Springs base was opened in 1939 to provide emergency and preventative medicine to outlying communities and stations throughout Central Australia.
Our final stop for the day was to the top of Anzac Hill where we had a 360 degree view of Alice and surrounds.
On Sunday 1st May we left Adelaide for Alice Springs. This time we boarded 'The Ghan' - the iconic train which runs from Adelaide, up through the centre of Australia, to Darwin in the north. www.trulyaustralia.com/rail/ghan
We travelled as far as Alice Springs, about half way, but even that took over 24 hours. The train departed at 12.20 and we were called to lunch soon after departure. Kangaroo steak was on the menu so I had to have that. It was nice, not too different to a beef steak. Life on this train was very similar to the Indian Pacific and our compartment was just the same. It was just the scenery outside that was different. We travelled through the desert and I thought I would be seeing miles and miles of nothing but red sand, but after all the rain that has been experienced in Australia over the recent months there was far more green than I expected:
There was even some water in the Finke River:
We arrived in Alice Springs on time on 2nd May and were taken to the Crowne Plaza hotel. We were some way out of town and later in the afternoon we wandered in to get something to eat. There was not much choice as it was a public holiday, so we found a pizzeria which was open. I was not too comfortable sitting outside eating as there were a lot of aboriginal women wandering around that I didn't like the look of too much. I am sure they were all harmless, but I clung on to my bag evenso!
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