September 2006
|
|
Whilst still at Birdsville A tour of the Birdsville Working Museum is well worth while, and they have two Hot Air Engines one of which they start for a demonstration of how a special design engine can run on hot air only. Also a visit to the Visitors Information Centre and the Art Gallery is a must do. Birdsville is a great visit, because after all getting there is half the fun! Birdsville Caravan Park is 30 acres of camping ground with 52 powered sites Showers and toilets are available Are you flying into Birdsville? If so the council sets fees for landing of $10 per person including the pilot. The water from the Artesian Basin that supplies Birdsvilles town water, has a very soft feel and it comes out of the ground at 96 degrees Celsius and is stored in a pond for cooling and then pumped into a storage tank 20 metres up in the air. How is that for a photo of a Termite mound found on the Plenty Highway. By the time we had arrived back in Alice we had traveled 1975km's. Our visit to the old Telegraph Station was not only informative but also very interesting with our guide giving a very informative talk and showed us around all of the old buildings which have been carefully restored back as they were. It displays one of the best equipped blacksmith shops that I have seen. I would love to have it at home. The Alice Springs Telegraph Station was midway along the Overland Telegraph Line from Darwin to Adelaide which played a key role in Australia's development. The Telegraph Line opened in 1872 and suddenly reduced the isolation of Australians from the rest of the world. The exchange of personal and business messages now took hours instead of the months it previously took by sea. By 1900 this very isolated Station was home to a cook, a blacksmith-stockman, a governess, four linesmen-telegraph operators plus the Station Master and his family. Saturday September 16th, the day when the 45th Henley-on-Todd is run in the famous Todd River which is mostly dry. The Parade is held in the Todd Mall at 11am and at 11.45am the Henley-on-Todd commences in the northern end of town in the Todd River. Reginald George Smith 1926 - 2004 was the creator of the now world famous Henley-on-Todd a unique, mad cap event, which had its inaugural regatta in December 1962. Earlier that year members of the Rotary Club of Alice Springs met for a picnic at 16 mile creek, where they discussed ways to raise money for charity over a few beers. Reg came up with idea of holding a waterless 'Regatta' on the dry bed of the Todd River. Okay what about the boats - do we tow them or push them? Neither said Reg. We cut the bottoms out and carry them. The Henley-on-Todd, recently officially declared an iconic event by the NT Government, is in its 45th year and continues to be a world famous tourist attraction. This year one of the highlights was the forty postie bike's participating in the Postie Bike Challenge, participants finished their ride from Brisbane to Alice Springs in time to lead the Parade. The Postie Bikes could be purchased with the money raised going to charity. Some of the events you will see at the Henley-on-Todd are,
The Accor Gunboat Battle is the major attraction and ;last event of the day with 3 Viking Ships fighting with water cannons and flower bombs, the fight goes for about half an hour non stop and is one with a vote of applause for the winning ship. Our trip to the Boggy Hole lived up to its name with us getting bogged trying to cross a steep valley. We had a visit from a female Dingo at our camp site early in the morning around breakfast time. We later came across the same Dingo about five kilometers further down the track when we were leaving the Boggy Hole. After leaving the Boggy Hole we worked our way down to the Earnest Giles Road where we drove back towards the Stuart Highway. We paid a visit to the Henbury Meteorite Craters. At the Henbury site there is 12 Meteorite craters ranging in diameter from 7 to 180 metres. Around 4000 years ago a large Meteorite traveling at 40000 kilometers per hour broke up before impact and hit the surface of the earth at Henbury. We then headed off to Rainbow Valley for the night. The best time to visit Rainbow Valley would be after a wet and also for the sunset photo's. |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
 |
|
