Alice Springs Reptile Centre

We went to a great reptile park and saw lots of different snakes, lizards and a crocodile.

This snake is a Death Adder, he hides his body under leaves and things and sticks his tail up. The very end of his tail looks like a wriggly worm. Birds come for the worm and he grabs them.

This guy is a Thorny Devil, they eat ants and do a funny little dance when they walk.

Here's my Dad with Suzy the Olive Python.


This is Charlie, he's a Central Bearded Dragon.



This is a shingleback lizard, he can turn his back legs around so that it looks like his tail is his head. If something bites him on the tail it gets a very nasty surprise.




This is Terry, he's a saltwater crocodile. Here's some information about him (if you click on the picture it will get a bit bigger).

Ochre Pits, West MacDonnell Range

As we were leaving the West MacDonnells we went to the Ochre Pits. This is a place where aboriginal people get the ochre to do paintings. There were lots of different colours

Ormiston Gorge and Pound

We went on a 7km bushwalk around and through Ormiston Pound. A pound is a big circle of mountains, like a crater. This gorge was pretty cool, the tumbled down rocks looked like lego blocks. The waterhole here had some more dead fish, but only little ones. There were lots of people doing this walk and they thought I was doing pretty well to be walking such a long way. Mum called me a Brown-footed Tasmanian rock-hopper because I hopped from rock to rock along the way.

Camping

We are staying at this campsite for a few nights. We are in a national
park and we can have a fire here. I've been doing lots of colouring
in. I'm doing my school work now too.

West MacDonnell Ranges

Near our new campsite is Redbank Gorge. We walked up the gorge to the waterhole. We thought we might be able to swim, but the water was green and there were lots of dead fish. There wasn't enough oxygen in the water for the fish to live on.

Mereenie Loop Road

After Kings Canyon we went on a very rough road for almost 250 km. We bumped up and down for a long time. Dad said it was because the road was very corrugated. I was glad when the road got smooth and then we got to our new campsite. We saw some camels near the road.

Kings Canyon

After we left Uluru we went to Kings Canyon. A Bear came with us too. We saw helicopter flying over, that's how some people see the canyon if they don't want to walk.

Walking around Uluru

Uluru (Ool-or-oo) or Ayers Rock is a big rock in Central Australia. We
walked all the way around it. I got a bit hot and needed a rest a few
times. A little bird watched me have a snack. Nine caterpillars were
crawling across the track in one big line. There was a tiny snake near
the track just past where the Rangers were cutting the grass (we didn't
get a picture). The Aboriginal word for snake is Liru (Leer-oo). Uluru
is a special place for Aboriginal people and they have lots of stories
about it, including ones about Liru and a greedy blue-tongue lizard.
Mum and Dad like all the Aboriginal stories because they talk about
behaving yourself and listening to your parents. We didn't climb the
rock because it is disrespectful to the Aboriginal people if you do.

Kata Tjuta

We went to Kata Tjuta (you say it like Kar-ta choo-ta). The name means
many heads, it's called this because the rocks are 36 domes that a look
a bit like heads sticking up. Some people call them the Olgas. The big
rocks are made of lots of smaller rocks stuck together, it looks a bit
like red concrete. I climbed up some of the rocks like Spiderman. We
saw a wallaby. We went for a walk between the rocks. A. Bear got a bit
hot and wore his boardies.

Uluru

We went to see the sunset at Uluru.

Oodnadatta

In Oodnadatta they have a pink roadhouse - we got some great chips there. We went to the old train station and saw some pictures about the old railway line and the people who live around there.

Arckaringa Station and the Painted Desert

On the way to Oodnadatta we stayed at a cattle station near the Painted Desert. We had some fun there - look how much I've grown! My favourite thing to do at night is play UNO with my Dad.

The Dog Fence

This is the longest fence in the world. It is 5300 km long. It was
built to keep the dingos away from sheep.

The Breakaways

We went to a place where there were lots of hills and rocks and stuff,
all different colours. I got a bit bored.