Our Adventures in the Outback
Group photo at Uluru
Carrie, Julius, Michele and Glenn - the four intreped travelers at Uluru.

Page 2:
Mt. Gillen
From our first day, Julius had pointed out Mt. Gillen’s sharp 90 degree shoulder butting out of the MacDonnell Range (locally known as the “Macs”.) While Carrie taught a yoga class, Glenn, Julius and I set out for the steep climb, one of Julius and Carrie’s many favorite spots.  It was a short, but challenging hike up to the rocky peak, where we had to clamber up the final 20-foot ascent, finding hand and footholds to achieve the top ridge.
Glenn and Michele atop Mt. Gillen
Glenn and Michele - We did it!
Mt. Gillen
Yes, we climbed that sucker.
Wandering around the top, we spotted wallabies and Julius was having a hay-day photographing birds, including a Nankeen Kestral and its lizard prey.
Nankeen Kestral
Feeling exhilarated after our arduous climb, the fresh-blowing breeze felt like a congratulatory pat for our successful arrival. With the sun beginning to set, we reluctantly started down, and I realized that those last difficult 20 feet coming up had to be traversed in reverse going down. I had a moment’s pause of “Oh, my god, how will I do this?” Julius, ahead of us, advised, “slow and steady”, which we heeded with fast-beating hearts. I thought the worst was over when we could once again face forward, but to my surprise, the most difficult descent of my life lay ahead, with my thighs trembling from the exertion of holding my body back from pitching forward for the next 40 minutes. All pains were forgotten when, at the bottom, Julius expressed that he had been waiting to do that climb with us for nearly two years.

Glenn atop Mt. Gillen
The view was worth it.


Telegraph Station
With Julius back at work for a couple of days, Carrie was our gracious guide when we visited the Telegraph Station, another of their favorite haunts for hikes and night-spotting.
Telegraph2 Telegraph Station
Alice Springs Telegraph Station was the central connection in the telegraph chain from Adelaide on the Southern coast to Darwin on the Northern coast of this huge desert island, linking Australia to the world in 1872.  Whites began arriving in the 16th and 17th centuries in very small numbers, but soon had a devastating effect on the aboriginal people, who had inhabited the continent, sustainably, for between 40,000 and 60,000 years.
The Show
The day of The Show dawned beautiful and clear with a bit of a chill to remind us that it is the dead of winter here in Australia. This is a county fair run amuck with farmyard animals, “flying” pigs and art or craft or hobby or collections from every age group of Alice Springs. I surprised myself by getting excited to see remote driven model cars jump the ramps and make the curves.
FAir
No Alice Springs Show is complete without piglet races.
Arrangement Boots Arrangement

The day before, the librarians looked at us as if we were insane to think the library would be open the next day with the Show in town. Many businesses and government offices are closed for the day!

Eagle Artist
A lumber artist chain sawing logs into beautiful birds caught most of our attention throughout the day. We watched as a two-toned eagle emerged from the light outer wood and the dark inner wood of a log. Later he created an owl and a red-tailed black cockatoo to be auctioned off at the end of the show. With filled bleachers all around, the artist never lost his focus or seemed tired by his exertions.

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Last Updated November 11, 2017
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Website contents ©2017 by Glenn Simonelli & Michele Stone.
Photographs by Julius Simonelli, Carrie Wallace, Glenn Simonelli & Michele Stone