Guest blogger; Jaydn Kempe with .....

Alice's sun and the travellers

The Sun was staring with his beady little eyes.

the company of kin clutches close. Gaps and gorges seaming hyper enormous and the Sand blows memories through our hair.

 

 

 

 

We laugh and sing until that staring sun dims.

Until the bird chokes 

we chew lemons and feel drunk.

On Life and all its chunks.

 

 

 

 The sweat sap of Golden lines.

In the rocks that towered though time.

Guided by a moral leader.

A grey nomad with all his silly features.

The people I love.

The country I sleep.

 

 



 

It felt more real in the blistering heat.

Of that yellow eyed sun.

F**ker get gone.

I'll hide in the lake of the serpent.

Or battle you where the cosmic dust meets the red earth.

I'll take you up the mountain where the pools skip down the crevasse.

F**k you and your burning eyes

 

 

You'll find me in the cavities of Alice.

Where Gaps are plenty.

And the Rivers flow dirty.

With the golden haired girl and her smile of pearls.

With the semi lame boofhead with his legs of strength.

Whom I love.

Whom I'll miss.

 

 



 

 

And for such a lovely moment.

A week of adventure.

We meet another time travellers.

The sun seems dimmer and I feel brighter with your love.

 

Jaydn Kempe November, 2016

 

 

Grey Bits

 
We had the absolute pleasure to have my oldest and talented son Jaydn visiting us in Alice Springs. Together we travelled up and down the West and East MacDonnell Ranges, swam in gorges and listened to atmospheric music in the car. We skimmed through the museums, hung out in all the cool cafes of Alice and caught up with each other.

Jaydn has a full-on life studying mathematics, while holding down a part-time job, and as you can tell by the above lyrics, has become an accomplished song writer for his band.

While Jaydn was on the big silver bird in the sky on his way back to Perth, he wrote the above poem. Both Jules and I were torn to pieces after reading his powerful words.

Thanks Jay - we are going to miss you.

Jaydn wearing Julies hat at Ellery Creek

The photos of this blog were added and taken by this silly but SEMI-grey nomad.

 

Do you want to become a guest blogger, write your own story and publish on my blog? I would love to hear from you. Email me at storiesfrommars@gmail.com

 

 

Larapinta 8. A barrel full of exhaustion

 

 

One wonders why cricketers stand out in the sun when it is 40 degrees in the shade, and why hikers do so in freezing conditions. It is simply because it is the thing that keeps them alive, vibrant and looking forward to life.

Peter Bowler

 

One of the reasons why you could have a shocker of a sleep is if the toilet is built too close to the hut. The door clanks open and shut and noises from within the toilet echo throughout the night. It was so still out there you could hear toilet paper scrunch or fold from one hundred metres away. It was busy that night around the hut where I was attempting to sleep. I missed the cosy, calming confines of my tent.

Ron and Geoff had warned me they were leaving at three in the morning to train for the World Cup. They explained that the early morning hours of rogaining competitions are the most energy-sapping and concentration levels usually drop. Did I want to come with them? I don’t think so!!

Monday 18 July 2016

Section 7: Serpentine Gorge to Ellery Creek

Section 7 is a 13.8km section. 

 

Uneven, definitely not flat

 

The sharp rocks on the first part of the trail can be hard on tender feet, but the rocks show the long geological history of the West MacDonnell Ranges. 

 





Geological treasures - like walking on an ancient Australian spine



There is an abundance of birds, including the hard to find spinifex bird.

 

Information from the government website

 

The Spinifex Bird or Megaluridae WAS hard to find.
I had to look it up on fatbirder.com



 

 

After a couple of restless hours I just decided to get up before dawn, pack and leave as early as I could. I was excited to have my rest day with Julie at Ellery creek. Sleep some other time. The track, even though only 13 km and according to the map, on flat terrain, went up and down like a yoyo over jaggered diagonal edges of ancient geographic treasures. Frustratingly, the track bounced up every molehill on the plain, ignoring the perfect flat ground only a hundred metres away. My feet did what was prescribed by the government website and turned to mush.


 

Looking back from Trig Point

 

 

My tired eyes dismissed the first sighting of Trig Point as "a mirage". Coming closer there was no denying the fact that there was a barrel hoisted high in the air by a pole and anchored down by wires. 'What does a barrel on a stick do in the middle of the wilderness?' This rusty barrel, according to the information provided, is a trigonomic station used as a reference point to build roads, bridges etc. If you are a surveyor, this bucket on a pole may well be an exciting thingymebob. I liked the aesthetics of it, cutting into the sky like a make-do relic of a past civilisation in an even more ancient landscape.

 

Barrel on a stick?

 

 

Give me any other day of my life to walk that section and my mouth would have been open from amazement. This Monday all I could feel was frustration and anxiety that the end of the day's walk was still so far away. My brain going through some 'what the hell am I doing here' time. As I exhaustedly cantered into the car park of Ellery Creek, Ron and Geoff had long gone, I again resorted to jabbing holes in the sky from happiness. Julie's timing was spot on as the familiar car rocked up at the day use area immediately, trailing a fine cloud of red dust behind her.

I had to sit down for half an hour before I could help set up the roof top tent. I had a memorable shower in the change tent, exquisite lunch and dinner, a lovely afternoon kip and clean clothes. Oh!! how I appreciated those small things after eight days on the track.
 

Reflections in still water at Ellery Creek

 
It was a romantic evening sitting around the fire looking at stars, listening to the wildlife and slept like baby bear after a big bowl of porridge.

Tuesday 19 July 2016

 

 

We chatted to Roz and John over a coffee. It was Rozz's first major hike and she compared her experiences with the expensive retreats she attended in far away places where they practised being silent and looking inward to check in on emotional and mental wellbeing. “You should try it some day Mars” I was told in a bout of banter. This to me is an interesting comparison. I always come away feeling reenergised and full of ideas after a hike like this. The look inward is certainly a factor out here in the vast open wilderness. 

If we allow ourselves to be truly vulnerable we will find out who we are. 

 

The wire that anchors the Trig Point 

I hope everyone, some day, has the opportunity to walk tough.
 

That afternoon I set up my tent in the creek bed. I am now more confident I am no longer going to be swallowed up by a raging torrent of muddy water in the middle of the night. As it happens, there was no rain anywhere in the area and the day temperatures had warmed up to mid-twenties; perfect for hiking.

 

 

We packed up the car and Julie, sadly, left for Alice Springs.

 

Grey Bits

 
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Do you want to become a guest blogger, write your own story and publish on my blog? I would love to hear from you. Email me at storiesfrommars@gmail.com



 

 

Ellery Creek, the half way mark

Larapinta 1. Dead Skin and a Big Red Car




'Both my small toes look like little cabbages' I thought days before breaking the seal of the Larapinta trail. Like a lizard of the surrounding desert, large slabs of skin are peeling off of my feet and toes. Remnants are to be found all over the caravan floor and in my socks. Four weeks on, after my feet received a proper beating on the Kokoda track, finally, they are lovely and soft. Mmmm!! Marshmallow feet. Not ideal for another rampaging hike you may think.

Again I am looking for some gut wrenching physical punishment, like a junky looking for a fix. It is a mystery to many including myself. I am sure there is a rich vein of masochism flowing through me like the smelliest of blue vein cheeses. This is the Red Centre of Australia, West MacDonnell Ranges (no burgers anywhere). We are talking Northern Territory but the even more isolated South end, if that makes sense? At least 1000km away from a large city in any direction. I am shedding the muddy, humid Kokoda skin for a place more Aussie than Burkes backyard.

To travel to my "home among the gumtrees" I have to food shop for this trail. Nestled snuggly in the ancient red centre between the East and West MacDonnell Ranges is Alice Springs - an excellent venue for purchasing dried mushed potato. Alice is a small  hub of activity that has everything you need in way of amenities, museums and bucket loads of cultural experiences. I am planning to be out on the trail for 16 days, drop off the carefully assembled food boxes underway and walk back to Alice. Only a cool 230km hike. This time I will be on my own. I have avoided the large hiking companies and told myself to be brave. This Nomad is hiking solo.

"What can go wrong"?

The Larapinta track (purple) runs through Tjoritja or the West MacDonell National Park. Map courtesy of Wikipedia 

Jules and I drove up Larapinta Drive, armoured with three boxes full of dried stodgy packet food, plenty of peanut butter and the best a coffee bag can be, after it has been contaminated by milk powder. We are making a day of it as we are Gorge hopping along Larapinta and Namatjira drive (see map). First we have a quick look at Simpsons Gap and continue on to the first drop off point that is Standley Chasm. I am excited to see a coffee machine in the kiosk. While we were there sipping on our Cappuccino’s, the dusty car park that is surrounded by towering red cliffs, was swamped with buses, four-wheel drives and the obligatory, painted up backpacker bomb. It is July and peak season.

 

Tranquillity, serenity and quiet reflexion

 

My first food supply box was taken without having to pay a fee at the kiosk. Soon after leaving the Chasm we turned right on Namatjira Drive. This road reaches all the way through a strip of relatively flat plain among the magnificent jaggered edges of the mountain range. The shape of this range is of such a faultless straight line it almost looks bizarrely planned (photos of this phenomena to follow later in this blog). Its reddish colour with Ghost gums and bludges of green. Photogenic to say the least. 'Can I do it justice with my camera'? I wonder. As I am staring up high from inside the car I say to Julie “surely the track doesn’t go all the way up there?” Will it? So many unknowns.

So much to look forward to.

Ellery creek, a quiet waterhole among steep cliffs, is of individual beauty, like all the other gorges, a large crevasse crossing through the range where water has carved out a creek. We arrive at the campsite overlooking the orangey, red range and I managed to find the store room tucked in under the same roof as the toilet. After jiggling with the lock, the door swung open. I noticed straight away the walls up high were open mesh. Any hairy-arsed wombat could crawl in and feast on my couscous and muesli bars. I imagine a fat wombat running off with a teabag hanging out of the corner of it's mouth. Earl Grey off course!! My box, being the only cardboard box, was surrounded by plastic, more protection offering upperty-class boxes. There was nothing I could do about it except hope that the local marsupials were not hungry for the next couple of days while I walked back.

 

Plenty of water through these Gorges

 

At Ormiston Gorge we walked down to the waterhole after delivering the third box at the back of the kiosk. We were struck by the splendorous reflections of rock walls in water. Similar mirror images greeted us after a 2km hike at Red River Gorge - the narrow, knobbly walls closing in at the end with a sizable deep pool. The water way too cold for a stripping off and a jump in.

 

This massive bird sat in a tree at Ormiston Gorge

 

The sun started to drop behind the red, granite walls and we sat on a bench in the car park at the trailhead eating scones and cream. The last bit of luxury before the indigestible hikers diet would replace anything fresh and green.  Julie told me she was jealous of what was to come and lamented the fact that her knees were not up for the challenge.

 

We said our good buys - the last hug so warm and comfortable - why would you ever let go.

 

This is it!!! The first lift of my 18kg backpack. Even though I only have to walk 300 metres. Where is Smiddy?? My porter of the Kokoda track. This pack is a beast.

Smiddyyyyy!!!!

I set up my small, lime green home for the first time that evening.  Against my better judgment I found myself a spot  in the recommended dry river bed (I was a under the impression that camping in a river bed could be dangerous due to flooding). A group of scouts camped a short way away from my tent  were singing "Choo Choo Chugger Chugger big red car" by the Wiggles. With that ripper of a song, stuck on repeat, reverberating through my mind, I have an absolute shocker of a flew ridden night.

My home in a creek bed

 
 Welcome to the Larapinta trail.  Choo Choo…..

 

 Grey Bits

 

The key to the store rooms to Ellery creek and Ormiston Gorge, I collected  from the Visitor's Centre in Alice Springs. I paid a $50 deposit for the key and $10 for usage. You can buy a Larapinta Trail package with maps and information for $38 or you can photocopy the maps from their website like I did. https://nt.gov.au/leisure/recreation/bushwalking-hiking/larapinta-trail

There are many hiking companies that facilitate walking the Larapinta and cater for any kind of fitness level. You can Google Larapinta Trail which will direct you to these trekking companies.

Namatjira Drive is named after Albert Namatjira, who is a famous Indigenous painter from the Northern Territory. His work is absolutely sublime. Great use of colours and composition. Check out this article if you want to know more about him. https://makinghistoryatmacquarie.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/the-national-embrace-of-albert-namatjira-in-an-era-of-assimilation-and-an-indifferent-inclusion/
 



Namatjira's famous 'Gumtree in front of Mount Sonder'. My first night was spent on the left of this mountain.
Picture courtesy of the website mentioned above

In my research I found two differing definitions of the word Larapinta. One explains it means 'salt water', the other 'dry river bed'. Take your pick.

Do you want to become a guest blogger, write your own story and publish on my blog? I would love to hear from you. Email me at storiesfrommars@gmail.com
     

Give it a shot!!!