MacDonnell Ranges

Today was my last full day in the Outback, and I decided I had to see some more natural scenery to get a real feel for the place. The MacDonnell Ranges is a small mountain range running west to east through Alice Springs. I booked a one-day tour to explore the West MacDonnell Ranges, and although it turned out to be a series of small rocky hills by Utah standards, it still was a great way to get to know a different part of the Outback.

After a brief stop at Anzac Hill, which overlooks Alice Springs, and John Flynn’s grave, which features a giant granite boulder to honor the RFDS founder, I headed 30 miles west of Alice Springs with the rest of the group. I don’t usually like to join group tours when I travel as it’s usually much more interesting to wander around on my own, but occasionally it’s a lot more cost-effective and simpler to join a tour. Today’s tour was very different from anything I’ve booked while traveling on my own: it turned out to be a group consisting mostly of 60+ year-old Australian retirees. I guess there’s nothing wrong with traveling with retirees, and it turned out to be an interesting way to get to know some local Australians, but suffice it to say that my pace today was somewhat more relaxed.

The group made two other stops in the MacDonnell Ranges before lunchtime: one at ‘Simpson’s Gap’, and another at ‘Standley Chasm’. Both places featured dry, grassy terrain and small red-rock cliffs, and similar sites could easily be found near Cedar City or St. George. Hiking around in the tiny canyons reminded me of family trips I took as a little kid, and the eucalyptus trees and possibility of seeing a wombat added an exotic element to it all.

Spending time with groups of Australians has been a good opportunity to get a feel for the culture. Nearly every time I’ve been in a group of native Australians during the past week I’ve noticed that they make a lot of wise cracks with each other and are very witty, yet also very relaxed, friendly, and laid-back. A short conversation today between the van driver, Danny, and a random old man on the tour exemplifies the culture well:

Danny: “On your left you’ll see a river basin where aborigines traditionally performed rain dances. If you like you can all perform a rain dance of your own later on.”

Old Man (with great anticipation): “Does the rain dance involve nudity?”

Danny: “Yeah, we can do that. I’m easy goin’.”

Later today I visited the Alice Springs Desert Park, an immaculately maintained desert zoo that features authentic recreations of the various types of desert ecosystems. While walking through the River Basin ecosystem, Desert Sands ecosystem, and Woodlands ecosystem I stopped at various enclosures featuring birds and reptiles native to Central Australia. The most memorable of the animals was the ‘Princess Parrot’, an Australian parrot featuring brightly colored pink, green, blue, and yellow feathers. I also confess that I enjoyed the kangaroo enclosure; an enclosure that visitors can walk into to view the kangaroos inside, most of whom are sprawled lazily in the shade. Before leaving the Desert Park I watched the ‘Birds of Prey’ show, a presentation that featured live birds swooping through the air and performing stunts for the audience. One bird, the ‘Black Kite’ demonstrated its ability to catch prey in mid-air and eat it in flight.

At night I headed back to the ‘Sounds of Starlight Theater’ for a two-hour didgeridoo performance. Andrew Langford, the internationally acclaimed didgeridoo player I met yesterday, belted out original music using various types of didgeridoos as two other musicians accompanied him with drums, chimes, and rattles. I never imagined that a man could be as passionate about the didgeridoo as Mr. Langford is. Each of his original songs was created with a story of the Outback in mind, and Langford excitedly shared his inspiration with the crowd.