This Adventurous Age

May 19, 2017
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1999 Travels July 10

SATURDAY 10 JULY GEMTREE

We decided that today we would try looking for garnets – a red stone that can be cut to resemble a ruby. There is a designated fossicking area – FA9 – to the west of here. This was shown on the map that came with our fossicking licences.

Map showing Fossicking Area 9

Garnet hunting appealed because they are found by dry sieving dirt and gravel, thus one does not have to carry water and washing tubs – or get wet and muddy!

Drove east on the Plenty Highway – unsealed after Gemtree – for about 35kms, then turned south and tried to align the map we had with the reality on the ground. As with other fossicking places we have been to, the reality is that there is a maze of tracks that are not on the maps!

07-10-1999 01 Plenty Hwy and Harts Ranges.jpg

The Plenty Highway east of Gemtree, and the Harts Ranges

We found a narrow, short, dry creek valley that looked pretty dug over. There had clearly been people camped there recently. Regardless, decided to have a go and actually found garnets.

John dug and I sieved. I spent a lot of time picking out small, rough pieces that were crystallized on the outside – but eventually realized that it was the bits that looked like red glass that we actually wanted!

The well-equipped garnet hunter!

John found a pocket in the creek bed that did not seem to have been dug before, and that was productive.

There were many annoying bush flies and we had to resort to the fly nets bought at Alice Springs. It was a challenge to eat lunch without eating flies too! Apart from the flies, it was quite pleasant, beavering away in the creek bed.

We only did about four hours’ work and got a half fruit tin full, to take back to camp for proper sorting.

We drove 87kms today, there and back to the garnet area.

The country around the FA9 garnet fossicking area

Back at camp, after cleaning up, I made zucchini slice for tea. It was time to use up some of the ageing zucchini we had. I thought we’d have some left for lunch tomorrow, but we were hungry after all the work, and ate the lot. I also made pea and ham soup, but that was not done until late – it will be for the next few days.

John has revived his Alpha Centauri computer game and has been playing it until the power goes off and then his laptop battery gets low. It is all over by 11pm – a natural curb to his enthusiasm! He is reading too – no TV out here.

May 19, 2017
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1999 Travels July 9

FRIDAY 9 JULY GEMTREE

It is so nice to wake up “in the bush”, as opposed to the urban-ness of the conventional caravan park. So far, I really love this place.

We had a camp-based day.

John made a shaker stand for the gem sieve – very clever – and a big sieve tray, like we saw at Rubyvale. The materials were bought in Alice Springs, before we left there. He felt a great sense of achievement. Looks like we will be getting serious about these gemstones!

07-09-1999 Gemtree shaker stand welding.jpg

John making a shaker stand – to make life easier on the back

07-09-1999 John making fossicking gear Gemtree.jpg

A large sieving tray in the making – this will increase the amount of dirt we move

I watched his work, and read.

I made steak and kidney stew for tea, with suet dumplings (from a suet mix packet) – much to John’s delight.

May 16, 2017
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1999 Travels July 8

THURSDAY 8 JULY GEMTREE

We had to be at the Office for our tour by 8.45, so it was up at 7.30 for us.

The fossicking tour involved a convoy drive out to the zircon field, so we drove Truck to the Office. There was a limit of eight vehicles for the tour.

We had to line up at the Office to pick up our equipment for mining – sieves and containers of water. The Gemtree operators have “permanent” digging areas reserved at the Mud Tank Zircon Fields, about a 15km drive away. We convoyed east on the Plenty Highway for about 8kms, then turned south and followed a pretty good dirt track south for about 7kms.

We gathered around and were shown what to do: dig dirt and gravel, dry sieve, then wet sieve twice, with sieves of two different coarseness. The zircons are found in gravel layers, not too far down, it seems. There is also a lot of apetite – a yellow/green coloured stone that is soft and of little use. Just a distraction. The zircon is of variable colour – mostly a pinky brown. We were told that it cuts, or facets, like diamonds.

07-08-1999 learning zircon fossicking Mud Tank.jpg

Learning about zircon fossicking at Mud Tank

There were several partly dug holes in the Gemtree area, with big sieves set up already. We went to work in “our” hole. We seemed to find quite a few pieces, but most looked flawed and cracked.

Checking out a stone to see if it is worth having – sunlight helps!

After we had worked through the morning, the Gemtree people departed, but we were allowed to keep going if we wished, with the proviso that their gear be returned when we went back.

We ate a very quick lunch that we’d brought with us, then kept working until 3pm. It was quite warm out on the diggings, with no wind of any note. Maybe winter in Central Australia is over?

A sieve full of gravel ready for washing. This is not a clean pastime!

Before leaving, we did a quick driving explore of the diggings. There were several lots of fossickers camping out at the diggings. But there are no facilities or water out there, so it is rough camping. We decided it was much better to be at Gemtree!

There is an active open cut mine encroaching on the zircon field, where they are mining vermiculite for building with and for potting mix. Hope it doesn’t totally take over the diggings!

Back at Gemtree, we returned the gear and took our stones in to the shop, for sorting. That service is part of the tour. We had four stones worth cutting – 3x4mm and a 4.5mm one. They seemed to think that was OK.

Then we hit the showers, to clean off the dirt. It is a very dusty and muddy pastime, fossicking here. The showers were lovely and warm and most welcome.

We had the last of the vegie soup for tea, followed by pizzas that I assembled on big rounds of Lebanese bread: one potato and garlic and one tomato, capsicum, ham, olives and cheese. Very nice they were, too.

We sat out again, after tea, by the fire, star watching for a while, then had an early night – we were tired! The silence at night, out here, is wonderful.

May 16, 2017
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1999 Travels July 7

WEDNESDAY 7 JULY ALICE SPRINGS TO GEMTREE 151kms

We were up at 7.45 and away at 9.45. Not bad, as John had a lot of stuff around our camp and still to pack into Truck. Plus, we dawdled a bit over breakfast. I ended up doing quite a bit of the outside pack up, to help speed things along. It does not usually take very long to pack the inside – most loose things from surfaces go on the bed, and I now have a system for where everything goes. The electric jug and dishwashing items go in the sink, with the cutting board. Then I put the securing screw in the bottom corner of the fridge, drop the poptop and that is my work done!

We were trying unsuccessfully, to contact our real estate agent, yesterday and today, regarding the new tenant for the unit, but not long after leaving Alice Springs, we were out of mobile range.

It is good to be on the move again.

Some 30kms north of Alice Springs, we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. Again! Is it my imagination, or does it seem hotter today, already?

Truck with its nose at the Tropic of Capricorn

It was an interesting drive to the north on the highway – always hills and ranges somewhere to look at. Once we turned east, onto the Plenty Highway, there were ranges ahead and on our right. The road was sealed, all the way to Gemtree, although the Plenty Highway section was mostly just a single width strip of bitumen.

Just after we crossed the shallow dip/floodway that is the usually dry Gillen Creek, was the entrance to Gemtree campground. The entrance roadway wound around, past a large dam, with water, and then on to the office and reception building. It was a more substantial place than I’d been expecting, not nearly as rustic or rundown.

Gemtree’s weekly rate is $107 for our powered site – not cheap, but it seems a pleasant place. The managers are very jovial. They told us they have allocated us one of their best sites – number 33. We booked onto their zircon fossicking trip, for tomorrow, and that cost another $40.

Found that our site was in between two clumps of mulga, so there was some sideways shade. All the campground is red earth – no water to promote grass. out here. It is very attractive, though, with clumps of mulga about the place and quite a bit of shade, and interesting outlooks to surrounding ranges.

We have our own tap that we can connect to, for washing water and the like. Because we have the dual tap set up at our sink, we can still pump water from our van tanks for drinking. The power comes from their generator, which does not run from 10.30pm till 7am; we will still have lights from our battery then, though. There is no site on one side of us, and the one on the other side is a fair distance from us – so all very nice. We have a fire pit and BBQ plate, shared with a few other sites, in a sort of circle, on the far side of a couple of mulga trees. They supply firewood, which we can gather from a large central heap. I guess that stops campers from denuding their trees.

When I went to explore the ablutions, found them adequate, somewhat rustic and very clean. There is a wood fuelled “donkey” hot water service, which means rather variable temperature hot water. They encourage campers to keep an eye on this, in passing, and to stick in a piece of wood if the fire seems too low.

The Donkey – hot water heater. The stack of mulga logs beside it shows the typically dark centre of this timber.

Set up camp, had late lunch, then set out to do the camp’s Nature Walk, which is a couple of kms long. It took in an area behind the campground and along Gillen Creek and was interesting. Trees were identified. Saw the holes and mounds made by the mulga ants at the entrance to their nest, which we had not seen before; they thatch them on the outside to make them more erosion proof. I picked up some blue coloured parrot feathers to add to the feather collection that seems to be happening.

Mulga ant nest

It was almost dark by the time we got back from our walk.

John lit a fire in our pit for heating water – to save our gas and because the thought of a campfire on the chilly nights was a pleasant one.

Tea was soup, cold roast chicken and vegetables.

After tea sat round the fire, looking at the myriad of really bright stars. It was not too cold.

The route to Gemtree, which is in the rugged Harts Ranges

May 16, 2017
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1999 Travels July 6

TUESDAY 6 JULY ALICE SPRINGS

Truck had to be at the Landrover dealership at 8.15am, for its service. So, it was an unusually early start for us. It meant a day to be spent around the town centre, as it was a bit far to walk back to the caravan park, then return. The dealership is out in the industrial area, to the north of town.

Walking back towards the main part of town, in the early morning sunshine was quite pleasant, although it was still chilly.

We meandered along, looking in car yards and other businesses that interested John. Every time he stopped to look at something, I read – I was trying to finish a library book before returning it.

We had a really thorough look through The Residency – a house that dates from 1928, with a somewhat complex history. From 1926 to 1931, this southern section was a region independent from the rest of the NT, so the Residency was built as a home for the Administrator. Then, when the NT was run as one area, it housed the Assistant Administrator, from 1931 to 1942. At this time, it was taken over by the NT Administrator, a refugee from the bombing of Darwin, until 1945. After that time various officials lived there, until relatively recently. In 1963, renovations were done before the Queen and Prince Phillip stayed for two nights. Extra bathrooms were put in for them! I guess there were no posh hotels in Alice Springs then, but they must have found The Residency rather basic, compared to their usual accommodation.

I found The Residency really interesting. The building seemed a sensible design – something that was not always the case in our earlier times. It is made from cement and sand bricks that were made on site, although they are patterned to look like stone. The roof is corrugated iron. It has big, overhung verandas and a central large breezeway that is big enough to use as a living room. Rooms open off this to each side. Floors are cement, with lino covering.

According to information in the place, Prince Charles contracted gastro after a visit to Alice Springs – from eating chicken or seafood in aspic! Prince Charles and Diana visited – there was much emphasis in the information on how she realized here, the intrusive nature of her public. I wonder if there are many monarchists in Alice Springs?

Then we walked around the town centre. At the Information Centre, bought fossicking licences. I returned my library books. John used the internet at the Library to send S an email.

Browsed in some of the aboriginal art galleries.

Went to a hardware shop where John bought some components for mining gear that he wants to make. I bought a large enamel mug to replace the current small and stained plastic one.

In amongst all that, we had Red Rooster take away for lunch.

Truck was eventually ready when we phoned – quite late in the day. So we walked back to Landrover. They had found a leaking hose, and a radiator hose that was on the wrong way – from the last service! They’d fixed that. But they have to get in the replacement for the leaking hose, so we had to book in for Friday 16, to have that fitted. They also said there was a bit of oozing at the back of the sump – not enough original packing there, or something. That was just noted, with no suggestion of a remedy. It is a busy dealership, but small. There is much demand for the new Defenders, they say. Can’t get one in Alice Springs before Xmas. And, of course, one has to book at least a week ahead for work to be done.

So – we will have to come back to Alice Springs.

Refuelled Truck – 81cpl – at the same servo where we get the discount.

Back at the van, we did some packing up. Then John realized that he was using my keys, and couldn’t find his own. He raced off back to Landrover. Sure enough, they were there! It was a good thing he discovered this in business hours – just!

Tea was rather late after all this, as I had a chook to roast, and vegies. We didn’t eat till 7.30pm.

May 15, 2017
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1999 Travels July 5

MONDAY 5 JULY ALICE SPRINGS

Thought we’d need a quiet day, today, though the muscles and bottom are not as sore as I expected.

We did a big supermarket shop, to prepare for a week, maybe two, out at Gemtree. This is a caravan park and camping ground, some 150kms north east of Alice Springs, on the Plenty Highway, which runs east to Qld. The rationale for the caravan park here is the nearby Mud Tank Zircon fossicking area. While some fossickers rough camp on the actual field, there are no facilities there. Gemtree provides the promise of some creature comforts. We hope to find some zircons.

Picked up the mail from the Post Office and sorted it. There were two letters for John from sister H, but no personal ones for me. It is always a bit of a let down when that happens. There was a postcard from H and C, from India; they are up high in the Himalayas.

I completed some share paperwork and we went back to the Post Office to mail it off.

Bought a Territorian Lottery ticket – these have a big prize. Maybe……..

I collected the most recent film, put in earlier for processing. The Kodak place here does a good job.

Back at camp, John filled the van’s water tanks. There is only bore water out at Gemtree and they ask travellers to bring their own potable water.

I will be quite happy to leave Alice Springs, as I am feeling quite bored after three weeks here. It was too long. Two weeks would have been better, though the time did allow us to hide away from the really cold weather spell.

Tea was soup, lamb chops with vegies.

May 15, 2017
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1999 Travels July 4

SUNDAY 4 JULY ALICE SPRINGS

This is the day of reckoning – we will do the much talked about and deferred bike ride out to Simpsons Gap. This sealed bike path goes for 17kms, from Flynn’s Grave, on Larapinta Drive, 7kms from the city centre, to the car park at Simpsons Gap. It provides a chance to cycle safely, away from road traffic, through the beautiful, arid environments of the Western MacDonnells.

We put the bike rack and bikes on the back of Truck and drove as far as the car park of the Desert Park, leaving Truck parked there. We thought this was a pretty secure place and better than just out by Flynn’s Grave, but it added 2kms each way to our ride.

It was a lovely, sunny day, not too hot. The nasty cold wind was not blowing. This had caused us to put off the ride on some previous days.

The trusty steeds!

The bike track was excellent and wide enough for us to ride side by side. It was gently undulating in parts, with some sharp bends. Each km is marked and there are information signs along the way.

I took the small camera and looked forward to seeing the photos taken along the way.

We side tracked to The Knoll and climbed up it for the view. This added another km to the ride. It was one of several pretty places where picnic tables have been set up.

07-04-1999 bike path view west panorama LHS.jpg

The view to the west from the bike path

07-04-1999 bike path view west panorama RHS.jpg

This outlook fits just to the right hand side of the photo above it

Some of the iconic Central Australian ghost gums along the way featured unusual and contorted shapes. We were intrigued by one that had a burl effect on its side, with a hole in the centre, which we assumed would be attractive to nesting birds.

We wondered how this was formed on the tree?

It was a really large and old ghost gum tree

We stopped a couple of times more, for rests and photos.

Rest and refuel

We ate our late lunch at Simpsons Gap, which was very crowded with picnicking families. One of the lovely things about the ride along the bike path was the relatively few other people on it. Given that it was a Sunday, this rather surprised us.

It was an easy ride out to Simpsons Gap, but harder going back. A breeze had sprung up – and it was a head breeze, and quite pronounced in places. Our bottoms were getting sore enough to be looking forward to the end of the ride, too.

A great day for cycling on an excellent bike path

We were glad to see Truck, and pleased we hadn’t set off from the caravan park, as we had considered! The extra fiddle of getting the bike rack onto Truck had definitely been worth it. As it was, according to the bike speedo, we had ridden 42kms. Quite long enough. It is a while since we have been for a ride and this would have to be one of the most panoramic bike paths in the nation. It was a most enjoyable day.

The bike path route

John decided that he wanted a fry up for tea, so a quick visit to the supermarket was needed on the way back to camp.

Then we hit the showers – blissful.

Tea was soup, then sausages, bacon, egg, toast, mushrooms.

Tomorrow, I expect there will be a few parts of us that complain!

May 15, 2017
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1999 Travels July 3

SATURDAY 3 JULY ALICE SPRINGS

After breakfast, we made a quick trip to the shopping centre, which also netted us the weekend papers.

Had leftover pizza for lunch, leaving the pasties for tea. Still on a pastry binge!

John went to bowls in the afternoon. Again, it was a small attendance – bowls seems to be battling in this town – but he was happy with his game.

I read the papers, cooked a batch of barley and vegetable soup, listened to music on my CD player – this latter is a luxury for when I am alone, as John prefers to have TV on when he is in the van.

After tea, we heard the fireworks display noise and went outside to watch. It was an excellent display, however I did wonder whether all the loud thumps and reverberations – which we could feel – would bring down any rocks in the Gap! I didn’t know whether this display was one deferred from the 1st, or a different one associated with the Show. Maybe they do the fireworks at a different time to those of Darwin?

May 15, 2017
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1999 Travels July 2

FRIDAY 2 JULY ALICE SPRINGS

We had a very late and slow start on a really cold morning, then had an early lunch, because we were off to the Alice Springs Show!

Today is a local public holiday, for the Show. It is clearly a big event in town. We found it a mix of amusing, tawdry and downright grotty, after we paid $8 to get in.

The Show venue was just a little too far to walk – at Blatherskite Park. Isn’t that a wonderful name? Apparently it derives from a nearby hill – Mount Blatherskite – so called because of an old time local horseman who skited and blathered on about the ability of his horse, that was trained around the hill. True!

We parked Truck by the side of the Stuart Highway, then walked across the railway line to the park entrance. Later, were very glad we’d done this, as those who had parked in the grounds or in the approach road, were queued up for ages to get out onto the highway.

It seemed as if all of Alice Springs – and the district – were here.

We wandered about and looked at the displays. Spent quite a bit of time in the art and cookery sections, but I thought they were of a rather low standard. The prison won a lot of prizes for the vegetables grown there – not an easy feat in such a climate, I suppose.

John went off to wander the rides and sideshow alley – areas I loathe – while I went and watched some horse events. Much more my scene, but also a pretty low standard and very few entries. John reported back that there was one ride that was so scary that he saw a number of riders coming off it, having wet their pants! Yuk – that is fun?

We both went to view the poultry exhibits. I was pleased to see some muscovy ducks there – I have a sentimental attachment to these, from my childhood.

It was a chilly afternoon and I’d forgotten to take my windcheater, so I was cold outside, even in the sun.

Came across a stand advertising the school in Adelaide where a former colleague of mine is now Principal. Seems she is aiming to expand their enrolments by recruiting boarders from here. The promo stand brought back memories of similar efforts by my school, at local and overseas education fairs. Another aspect of the job I do not miss!

The show occupied us all afternoon.

There were a lot of aborigines attending the show – many appeared to be the somewhat disreputable town camp types. They were mostly in the sideshow and rides areas. The aboriginal kids obviously went for showbags in the same way as kids everywhere. John tells me he used to take his children to the Melbourne Show every year – they would save up for a set number of showbags. My two were underprivileged by comparison – I never took them!

We were rather weary after all the wandering about, and went out to buy pizza for tea.

April 27, 2017
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1999 Travels July 1

THURSDAY 1 JULY ALICE SPRINGS

That damned cold wind was blowing again!

After breakfast, John made pasties. I caught up on my back diary entries – must get back in the habit of writing these up, every day, before I lose detail from the memory. When John had finished making his pasties, I made some pastry for tonight’s tea.

We ate a couple of the pasties for lunch – so yummy. The man makes a mean pasty! Have enough of them for lunch for the next couple of days.

We took the gas bottle to Boral to get the O ring fixed. Looked around places trying to find a 12amp fuse to fix the solar status panel. John’s fiddling around with that has caused the red light in the fridge on/off switch – which is really handy to have – to go off again. Tandy undertook to get some in for us; hope they are here by Tuesday.

At the Post Office, there was a letter from R. I wish she’d use the mail system we have set up, via home. It is a pest having to check so many times – in case there is a letter from her.

I got some more books from the Library. Put film in for processing.

We were walking up the Mall, to go to the bank, when a man coming out of a shop paused, stared at me, then said he knew me. It was the father of a former student – with whom I’d had to have more dealings than either of us really wanted! He is a teacher, so he was on holidays. With some friends, had just come up the “Ghan Track”. He said the section around Dalhousie, Mt Dare and Chambers Pillar was really rough and deep sandy. We talked travel for a while – John went off to the bank, where he wanted to pay money off Mastercard. Two of the friends arrived, and John came back and told them where to get gas gear repaired.

What is it that they say? That if you sit in the Todd Mall, everyone you know will eventually come by! Might take a long time though?

We continued shopping. Bought wine, beer and some postcards.

Drove out to the historic Telegraph Station, north of town. This was where the settlement of Alice Springs began, when a repeater relay station for the new Overland Telegraph Line was built, in 1871. A waterhole in the nearby Todd River determined the location, as it was thought this was a spring – hence the name. Later, it was found to be just a waterhole left after rain.

The waterhole at the bottom of the rock slab was thought to be a spring

The Telegraph Station operated until 1932, by which time a township had grown up to the south.

07-01-1999 03 Telegraph Station Alice Springs

A restored building at the Telegraph Station

We walked around looking at the old buildings. Admired a couple of tame camels that were in a yard, and got a bit up close with one of them.

My new friend

07-01-1999 02 old telegraph station crane

John was intrigued by the way this hoist worked

Walked up the Trig Point Hill for an overview of the place, then went back to Truck.

The Telegraph Station from the top of Trig Point Hill

There was a group of grey-crowned babblers fossicking about in the carpark and we watched their amusing antics for a while. We had noticed today that there were a lot of birds of prey – mostly kites – circling over the town and the river.

07-01-1999 05 Todd R at Telegraph Station

The Todd River – wide and dry – at the Telegraph Station

Went and collected the repaired gas bottle from Boral and got the empty caravan gas bottle filled.

I made a ham and egg quiche for tea, having made the pastry earlier. It was nice but we are having a dreadfully pastry-heavy day! Not good for us.

Today is Territory Day – 21 years since the NT gained independent administration – self government. Thus, it is fireworks night, according to the NT Times newspaper. As the forecast is for minus 1 degree tonight, we shall not be venturing outdoors to look for fireworks! Tomorrow is supposed to only reach 15 degrees. So cold.