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The dingo's got my baby - revisited

In 1980 a baby disappeared from a tent out in the outback of Australia near Uluru or Ayers Rock. While the parents claimed a dingo had taken her baby, public opinion was that the mother had killed her 9-week-old infant.

The baby was sleeping in her basinette in the tent while Lindy, the mother, was preparing dinner. Nearby campers said they had heard a growl and a baby's cry just before the mother discovered little Azaria missing. She cried out, "The dingo's got my baby!" That line was immortalized by Meryl Streep in the movie, "Cry in the Dark."

Not having watched the movie, we heard about the line and the story while in Uluru. In fact, the sign on the laundry room indicated that dingo attacks are possible and if so, get out of your tent and run for this concrete block structure. I did not sleep very well, waiting for sirens to go off and then having to spring to the building! We got bit by ants when outside the tent but heard no dingos. An RV would have felt much more secure on this trip.

In spite of spots of blood on the bedding and dingo prints outside the tent, which led credance to her story and a torn and bloody jumpsuit later found in the desert, many people thought Lindy guilty.  Police said spots of blood had been found in the car also. Lindy was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Later, with improved techniques, the blood in the car was found to be milk and dye from the vehicle. She was released.

Three cornoner's inquests have been held, all of them returning with inconclusive findings. They did not believe a dingo would behave that way. However, there have been fatal attacks since then so now a 4th inquest is being held. Maybe this time they will come to a definite conclusion. You can read the Associated Press article with more detail here. According to the article, most people still do not believe a dingo could kill a baby and drag her off into the desert. We'll see what happens. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

Signs you don't see in the U.S.

Australia had some interesting signs. Here are a few road signs and informational signs I got photos of.

We saw a few of these in the Northern Territory, while in South Australia we saw signs prohibiting camping in rest areas and pullouts. And, we got a kick out of these signs on washboard dirt tracks in the Northern Territory.

This is the "feral" menu at the Prairie Hotel at the edge of the Flinders Range. They served camel, emu and kangarro! The second sign was an attention-getting sign on the door of a roadhouse as we approached Uluru.

The first was in the restroom at Palm Canyon - a different way to say "pack it in, pack it out." The second is a sign for the Dog Fence, the fence that is designed to keep dingoes out of the southern sheep country.

Speaking of dingoes, I did have this sign in an earlier post. It was on the door to the laundry room at Ayers Rock Resort campground. We were told they would sound the alarm if a mob of dingoes attacked. They did not. Apparently, in 1980 when camping was still allowed near Uluru, an infant disappeared and the mother claimed, "A dingo ate my baby." The parents were charged and convicted of killing the 9-week-old infant. They were later exonerated. (See an update on the case here.) Dingoes have been known to attack humans. The second sign took me a minute to figure out. Alice Springs does have a drinking problem so don't forget your designated driver!

 I did miss taking photos of some good signs like "Roo Tails" over the frozen food section of an aboriginal store. No photos allowed in their villages.

It is fun to see an English-speaking culture's ways of communicating information. We could figure it out- just the words were different. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

Ancient cycads, red-cabbage palms and Alice Springs!

We were still at least 125 km (75 miles) from Alice Springs with a few more stops on our list. As we packed up, George walked the wash behind us. He spotted what was probably dingo tracks. It had been almost a full moon, but we heard no sounds to verify. His lens cap at the bottom is to give it scale.

The day before we had seen a huge mesa as we drove the last 30 or 40 miles before we stopped to camp. It is called Gosse Bluff, Rick told us. We would get a good view in the morning. Just a few miles up the road from our camping spot, in West MacDonald National Park, was a viewing area. Gosse Bluff is a huge comet-impact crater believed to have hit the earth 140 million years ago when Australia was still part of Gondwana, the southern super-continent. There is no sign of metal so the object that hit was probably a frozen ball of carbon. High clearance vehicles can drive up into the edge of the crater. It was quite impressive from a distance.

 

We then drove to the Aboriginal village of Hermannsburg for fuel. No photos allowed. Here I did see a sign at the meat freezer section for Roo Tails, but they were fresh out. We then drove a few miles back to the turnoff to Palm Canyon in Finke National Park for a hike. The road is definitely 4WD, winding through the sandy Finke River bottom . If you had a 4WD caravan, you could make it out there and camp. They had nice restroom facilities. Out of several choices, we took the shorter Arankiaa hike loop.

We hiked above the canyon, then descended and returned along Palm Creek, which feeds into the Finke River. This canyon includes the tall Central Australian red-cabbage palms, which are rare. Taller ones are 100-300 years old. These are the only naturally occurring palms in Central Australia. The short, squat trees are cycads, a holdover from the age of dinosaurs. Individual trees here are older than the cabbage palms, though not as rare. We saw cycads in Kings Canyon and they are scattered in wet areas throughout these ranges. (They look like fantail palms to me.)

We saw some interesting things in the ponds. My camera battery died - the extra was in the truck- and George had his camera on the wrong setting so we didn't get photos. We saw a dragonfly larvae eating a tadpole in a small pond. The other tadpoles rushed in to get the pieces it dropped. Another even larger larvae that's mouth opened as wide as its body also had a tadpole and was consuming it. We weren't sure what kind of larvae that was. We saw zebra-marked fish with red tails like you often see in fish tanks swimming in the ponds too.

We made it to Alice Springs about 5 p.m. We drove past some caravan parks as we entered the city. We all agreed to meet for a farewell dinner at 7. Alice Springs is not a safe place after dark and we were cautioned to take a taxi. Aboriginal groups have a conflict going on that has escalated to violence. Plus, no alcohol is allowed in the villages, but it is available here. George and I took taxis to and from dinner, though we felt safe walking into town the next day. Alice Springs is pretty small. There were a couple of things that looked interesting but we opted for a relaxing day walking in the pedestrian shopping mall and shops and lunch before heading to the airport. One more stop in Cairns and we fly home. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

 

Wild horses, dingoes and Kings Canyon - Aussie style

The day after exploring Uluru and Kata Tjuta took us to Kings Canyon in Watarrka National Park on the western edge of the George Gill Range, northeast of Uluru. Looking at the mountains, you'd never guess what lies in the canyon. Before hiking the canyon, we first had a coffee and tea break at Kings Canyon Station. The station provides services for the area, including camel rides. In addition to a dozen adults, they also had a baby camel.

The mountains looked pretty nondescript until you get into the canyon. The red rock becomes visible as you enter. Ancient cycad gardens (similar to fantail palms), leftover from when this was an inland sea, surround an inviting waterhole deep in the canyon.

Almost immediately we climbed a steep trail to the top of the canyon. At the top we watched a couple of crested pigeons courting. They were not afraid of humans and did not fly away.

 

On the top were beautiful old trees. This tree was probably hundreds of years old but was tiny due to its home in a crack of the red rock. From the rim, we could see miles out into the flat plains.

 

Hiking way up along the canyon rim, we finally descended stairs to the bottom and crossed over the stream that flows through the canyon. Before climbing back out, we detoured to the swimming hole. Though signs at the entrance tell you "no swimming," at the waterhole itself, they have cautions about no diving, etc. It was hot and a welcome break in our hike! In the photo, George is busy photographing after his swim. Once we got everyone out, we climbed up stairs and hiked back on the opposite rim.This dragon (lizard) we encountered on the way back posed nicely for dozens of photos.

 

 

All too soon, we were headed up the road. Up to this point an RV or caravan could travel on paved roads. However, we took the Mereenie Loop, which is dirt and rough at spots. It crosses aboriginal land and requires a permit. If you're driving an RV or caravan, you'd want to make sure it is dry and check on road conditions, plus have your permit, before attempting it. Otherwise, an RV would backtrack to the Lassiter Highway that leads to Uluru, then head east to the Stuart Highway and to Alice Springs that way.

On this route, we saw dozens of wild horses in several groupings. Unlike the usually scrubby mustangs in the U.S., these brumbies, or wild horses, were in excellent shape and had good confirmation. Here is a stallion and his group of mares and foals. We saw many colors plus paints and even a couple of Appaloosas. Apparently some nice breeding stock has been turned loose to roam.

Wild burros and camels also roam this area. We only saw two white burros, not as cute as the gray one we'd seen earlier, and no wild camels. Rick said that when it is dry, the camels hang around the road, but when it is wet, they disperse. We were also thrilled to spot a dingo! George got several photos, though I had to crop this, even though it was taken with his longer zoom lens.

 

 

We camped between two national parks in no-man's land, our last night in the Outback! Tomorrow we had several more stops and another hike, but would sleep in Alice Springs. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

The 3rd formation - Kata Tjuta

Our sunrise photos would be of Kata Tjuta, the third sandstone formation located in this vast plain. Kata Tjuta is larger, and composed of a series of connected sandstone rocks. From a distance it looks like one huge rock, but different angles show its true nature. Later we would be hiking in them.

While most of Uluru was a relatively smooth sandstone, when we hiked, we saw that Kata Tjuta sandstone is a conglomorate. The formations are massive, you notice that especially from the bottom of the canyons. We took the Valley of the Winds trail.

When you see tall eucalyptus trees, it also helps put the size in perspective.

Near a spring, we saw more nests of zebra finches. Later some sort of dragon, a lizard-like reptile.

 
The wattle, or acacia, trees were in bloom. Next to it is a desert oak. We saw fields of them. I could not believe it was an oak. Its leaf is nothing like a North American oak. It reminds me of the tarmarisk tree introduced into the Southwest in the U.S.

After a stop at the Aboriginal Cultural Center in Uluru- Kata Tjuta National Park, where four groups have arts and crafts on display and for sale, we headed to the backside of Uluru for lunch and a walk. We saw aboriginal rock paintings done with ochre and the Mutitjulu Waterhole that figures in the aboriginal creation story of one group. The backside isn't often seen and presents a much different appearance that the front. Few tourists visit the back unless they do walk around the entire base. The parking lots at all of these were accessible on paved roads and could be driven by caravans and RVs.

We slept out under a nearly full moon on the road to our next stop - Kings Canyon. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

 

 

Fooluru and Uluru - the tourist side

Ayers Rock is now called Uluru. The resort is Ayers Rock. That was our destination. We drove a short distance on the paved Stuart Highway from Kulgara to Eridunda, where we turned off on the paved Lasseter Highway to Uluru. We stopped at the first roadhouse for coffee. Parked alongside the fuel station was a sight I'd never seen before. It was a road train! Road trains can pull up to three 52-foot trailers. George counted 70 tires! Rick told us that before the 1970s, six trailers could be hauled in one road train. Too many accidents caused the law to be changed. No way I'd even want to pull two or three!

 

About 75 miles from our destination we pulled over at a rest stop - was that Uluru. This is actually Mt. Connor, often called "Fooluru" because it is mistaken for Uluru. You could park your RV or caravan overnight for up to 24 hours here. The Northern Territority is much more friendly to boondocking.

 
Finally we pulled into Ayers Rock Resort where we'd be staying at an actual campground. Showers! Washing machines! However, as we drove towards our group campsite, Rick pointed out a building that turned out to be the Laundromat. "If a siren sounds during the night get yourself to that building as fast as you can!" Yes, the dingoes sometimes mob up and invade the campground. A tent isn't much protection. Actually, I never found out the likelihood of this happening or if this was a "CYA" posting. Still, all of us were a bit nervous even though the night was short because we were getting up at 4:30 a.m. to watch the sunrise over Kata Tjuta, another sandstone formation in the national park. After dark, we discovered a equally disturbing pest. If you stood near our packs or on the kitchen cement slab - or pretty much any bare ground or cement- tiny black ants would start crawling up your feet and legs and bite. Some made it all the way to my neck! Ouch. The sting didn't last more than a few minutes, but even ant spray was not a deterent. You pretty much had to avoid them or stand in place lifting your legs faster than they could climb. We slept in the tent to keep them off us.

Prior to sunset, we went into Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park. The Tjukurpa and Anangu groups consider these areas sacred. After taking a few photos of Uluru, we parked up closer and walked along the trail in front. This is not one smooth rock. There are caves and crevices which the Aborigines used for various purposes. One was an area for "secret women's business." Even today, Aboriginal men must avert their eyes when walking by. Another warriors' area was also restricted; no women could come near or look at it. (George used Photomatix to combine the three brackets shots he took of Uluru in this position - left photo.)

We then drove quickly to the tour bus parking area to observe the actual sunset. This was culture shock after so many days with minimal people, plus a little disappointing. Several rows of big tour buses were lined in the parking lot. Along the roped off areas, hundreds of tourist gathered with cameras in hand. Part of the tradition is that you have refreshments. We stopped and bought our own choice of beverage well before we arrived in Ayers Rock, where it was cheaper. We had an assortment, plus hor dourves and cooked sausages  Next to us the Asian tourists drank champagne while their attendant whipped up a dish in a wok! The number of people was overwhelming. Here in the parking lot, Uluru felt like a tourist trap rather than a sacred Aboriginal site. Fortunately for us, most of the tour buses left promptly after the sun went down and never went any closer to the Rock.

 

 

Turning the other direction, the sunset was just as pretty. I could show many more of both directions, but this should whet your appetite! I'm also including a photo of a thorny devil. We kept hoping to see one in our travels. The only one was in a display case. Reminded us a but if a horned toad.

 

Tomorrow we see the sunrise over Kata Tjuta, a few kilometers away, and visit the backside of Uluru. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

To the geographic center of Australia!

We were so close and almost didn't make it. When we left the Simpson Desert we stopped at the aboriginal town of Finke. No photos were allowed once we went into town. Rick wanted to get an iced coffee plus let us see a typical grocery store that usually carries "roo tails" in the frozen foods section. Yes, that's kangaroo tails.The owner was gone so we drove around instead. The town comes to life during the Finke Desert Race. Sort of like the Baja Race, bikes, quads, cars and buggies and all sorts of vehicles race a grueling course from Alice Springs to Finke on day, then back to Alice Springs the next.

This description is in the competitor's booklet:

“Finke” as it is known, is now one of the biggest annual sporting events in the Northern Territory. It is recognised as the richest Off Road Race in the Southern Hemisphere with the added reputation of being one of the most difficult courses in one of the most remote places in the world.

As we headed back to the track towards Uluru, we saw that the men of the town were set up with tents, probably conducting "men's secret business."

Then we turned down a 4WD track. We would be able to stand in the geographic center of Australia! After 12 km, we'd also fix lunch. About 8 km in, we were whipping through the deep sand when we heard a loud noise. I glanced back and saw some of our swags on the road. Rick stopped the vehicle. We got out and found that our trailer was over on its side! Needless to say, you would not take a caravan or RV down this track.

 

I'm not sure how far we were from a roadhouse with a fuel station and possibly a mechanic, but we were a long ways away. After assessing the situation, we moved the swags off the road and then worked at unhitching the trailer. Fortunately, the trailer had a universal, swival hitch or it might have flipped the truck too. The pin was bent but Rick and George got it out. Then Rick drove into the bush, attached a come-along and pulled the trailer upright with the truck. Then we saw that we'd had a blowout.

Next step, change the tire. First all of us had to stand on the back of the trailer to raise the front of the trailer to attach the hitch. That accomplished, it took a couple of tries to jack the trailer up sufficiently. Actually Eddie, our muscled 26-year-old German fellow, dug out underneath the tire so they could remove the old tire and put on the spare. One safety chain could be reattached; the other was too short and would need welding. Rick hoped he could get that done in Uluru.

An hour and 15 minutes later, we continued to the Lambert Geographic Center of Australia. I don't think  the young women had a clue that we could have been stranded for hours and possibly overnight had Rick and George not been able to right the trailer, rehitch it and change the tire. We had lost our water and much of the food was under the trailer. It would have been an unpleasant stay. The women were mostly interesting in photographing the event!

After lunch, we made it to the Kulgera Roadhouse. We were about running on fumes with only about a litre left in the tank from all that driving in sand. We camped near there by beautiful sandstone rocks. We did pass an aboriginal sacred women's area- no photos- but saw two kangaroos, slept next to gorgeous rocks and beautiful views. During the night it started to rain. We put up the tents for the first time, tracking stickers into our sleeping bags we would find for days afterwards.

 

Tomorrow we are driving on pavement for the first time in days. Uluru is our destination. In some ways it turns out to be disappointing after five days in the Outback. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

Into the Simpson Desert

Our destination this morning was the Simpson Desert. Before we got there, we crossed from South Australia, where Adelaide is, into the Northern Territory. Australia has five states and three territories on the mainland so each is pretty large. We wouldn't get all the way north, but it was fun to  cross into yet another area. The skies as we traveled were once again gorgeous.

The Simpson Desert is 20th in size in the world but one of the best examples of dunal deserts. It's a sea of parallel red sand ridges ranging from red to white and covers more than 65,600 square miles. The section of the Simpson in the Northern Territories is actually under three different jurisdictions: Witjira National Park, a regional and a conservation park.

 

People like the challenge of crossing the Simpson by vehicle but because you must take all your water and fuel with you they close the desert in the summer when it would be risky to do so, especially if you underestimated what you need. After a stop at Mt. Dare Hotel and Campground, the only services within the desert, we headed into the park. This becomes a 4WD road so you would not want to take an RV or caravan further unless it were so equipped. Some areas were pretty sandy and we crossed a dry, wide river bed.

I had expected something that looked more like the Sahara but the dunes were covered with vegetation. Wildflowers were blooming because of recent rains.

 

There were bare spots and, upon closer inspection, we could see signs of lizards and snakes. This is a lizard or dragon track. It's a little hard to see - sorry.

Flowers were colorful and abundant.

I was able to identify this as a parrot flower.

As we drove out of the Simpson Desert, we saw several trees with large birds in them. They turned out to be Black Cockatoos, rare for this area. There were probably 20 of them. As they fly, you can see the big splotches of red on their tails. My friend in PA who has owned a number of exotic birds told me that Australia no longer exports birds and that Black Cockatoos that are bred in the U.S. go for around $10,000. We were looking at a lot of money!

We stopped once again at Mt. Dare for a quick break and then drove west. We were now headed to Uluru or Ayers Rock and will arrive tomorrow. First, though, we would court disaster in the geographic center of Australia! More next time. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

The Pink Roadhouse and Oodnadatta

After our hike at the gorgeous Painted Desert, nothing like the American one, we headed to the Pink Roadhouse and Oodnadatta. Oodnadatta's claim to fame are two: the Pink Roadhouse - which is pink- and that it is the driest, hottest town in Australia.We fixed our lunch here, supplemented with chips (french fries). Here is where we met the young girl from France working here for four months. At least it was short-term work. She was bored stiff. The population rivaled William Creek in size (small) and there was nothing to do in off hours.

With typical Aussie humor, the Pink Roadhouse offers canoe rentals. Here's the prize rental! Plus you can camp here. If roads are good, you can easily reach Oodnadatta with a 2WD caravan or RV. If it has rained, make sure the roads you pick are passable. Some will not be. As I mentioned before, all through the Outback, we came across washouts and dips full or water. Most were marked with some sort of flag or cone, but you could get a surprise coming over a crest or around a corner. There's a museum too. You pick up the key to visit.

Heading on, we spotted what was probably a wild burro. We later saw two white burros, but this one was much cuter! As we pulled into the Eringa Waterhole to camp, the sky was gorgeous.

The waterhole was a neat place to camp. A few of us braver souls ventured into the waterhole to cool off. Most of the younger women did not want to step in the mud even though we had figured out a way to get out without mud all over. Oh well, the vanity of the young!

Mosquitoes and ants weren't too bad, though we slept on our giant tarp in case these ants were aggressive. The birds were noisy at dusk and in the morning. In the morning before leaving, George found a large bush with about 10 nests of zebra finches. He was able to get a few photos with his longer zoom lens. Here's one. Zebra finches can be found near a water source.

After packing up we would head into the Simpson Desert and cross over from South Australia to the Northern Territories. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

Australian Painted Desert

Even getting up early, we just caught the sunset out on the Moon Plain that is east and north of Coober Pedy. The sunrise was beautiful.

The Moon Plain has been used for several movies to represent the moon. Right now it has a fair amount of vegetation but generally it is quite bare. The image to the right it another of my sky photos, taken near our next stop at the Painted Desert.

I'm not sure what I expected when we were told we were going to the Painted Desert. It is off on dirt tracks, good enough roads for RVs or caravans unless it has rained. However, not too many people get here since it is so far from the Stuart Highway. The scenery is not like the American Painted Desert, but totally awesome. Here are a few photos taken by George.

 

 Here are a couple more.

 

I can't wait to see his results when he plays with them in Photomatix.

We'll pick up at our next stop at the Pink Roadhouse. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak