NT Day 8

The next morning (Friday) I drove back to the MacDonnel Ranges, this time to Simpsons Gap. On the road leading into the gap there was a walking trail called the Ghost Gum walk, leading tot he Cassia Hill walk. I followed these and discovered that Cassia Hill was a small but steep hill on the surrounding flat landscape. There was a great view of the gap from the top of the hill, as well as some signage explaing the geology of the area.

On the way back to the car I crossed over the Larapinta trail bike track, which cyclists can use to ride from Alice Springs along a large section of the West MacDonnel ranges.

Simpsons gap itself had very little water in it compared to the previous two water holes I had visited, but had a lovely sandy beach. It was a very pretty spot.

The next stop was Standly Chasm. This was the first of the MacDonnal Ranges spots with an entry fee, used to maintain facilities in the area. I paid the fee, at the kiosk, then followed the really lovely walking track to the Chasm.
The walking track was through some of the greenest plant life I had seen in the Red Centre.

The Chasm itself is very striking. The red/orange color is magnificent, and the tall, narrow break in the mountains is remarkable.

After visiting Standly Chasm I had seen all the sites I wanted to visit in the West MacDonnal Ranges, so I returned to Alice Springs.

My next stop in Alice Springs was to visit the Reptile Centre. The Reptile centre is fairly unimpressive from the outside, as it is housed in an old suburban house. However inside there are two largish rooms with many snakes and lizards in enclosures. The back yard area also has snakes and lizards, as well as a crocodile. Two of the lizards in the back yard area, in a large enclosure, were Perentie, a kind of giant goanna. The were easily a meter and a half long.

After looking around the displays, I returned to the main room for a talk and demonstration of some of the reptiles. At the end of the presentation, the audience were able to handle a few of the lizards and one of the snakes.



The snake pictured is a black headed python, and was very placid. The scales were surprisingly soft and warm. Because snakes are cold blooded, I expected it to be cold to the touch, but of course snakes are actually room temperature, and the room was kept fairly warm.

I really enjoyed the reptile centre, particularly the chance to interact with the reptiles.

*Edit*

That evening I bought some Possum food from the place where I was staying, and fed the rock wallabies that come down for a feed at the back of the motel. They were very tame, and would even eat food from my hand.