It's been over 3 years since we were last in Alice Springs, but not a lot has changed in Australia's unofficial capital of Central Australia. Last time we were here we pretty well saw most of the sights available in town, and spent only a single day in each of the East and West MacDonnell Ranges. This visit we have planned to spend more time exploring the stunning landscapes that surround this city in the middle of the desert.
Chambers Pillar is about 160 km south of Alice Springs, accessed by a dirt road that deteriorates to a 4wd track for the last 40 kilometres. The photo at right (see if you can spot John waving) shows just how featureless the area around the pillar is, and gives an idea of how much of a landmark it is. The first white person to see Chambers Pillar was John McDouall Stuart, during his first attempt to cross Australia in 1860. It is a sandstone pillar that is capped by a hard iron-rich layer that has prevented the soft sandstone from eroding. Many travellers have carved their names into the base of the pillar, starting with the workers constructing the overland telegraph line in 1872, but this practice is now of course illegal and heavily discouraged. There is a walking track around the pillar and a platform built right against its base so you can get a close-up view of the historic (and not so historic) graffiti.
On the way down to Chambers Pillar we stopped at the Ewaninga Conservation Reserve, which protects rock engravings (petroglyphs) created by the original Aboriginal people of the area. The carvings are on a small rock outcrop next to a clay pan - in this dry climate the clay pan would hold water for a considerable period after any rain, making this a favoured site for longer stays by the Aboriginal people and giving them some leisure time for recording their beliefs in the soft sandstone. The meaning of the petroglyphs is sacred and cannot be revealed to people not initiated into Aboriginal lore.
Rainbow Valley is another area where hard capping protects soft white sandstone cliffs. Although probably only about 50km from Chambers Pillar, it is accessed by a completely different road from Alice Springs, so we visited here on a different day. The colour variation of the cliffs has been caused by water. In earlier, wetter times the red iron of the sandstone layers were dissolved and drawn to the surface during the dry season. The red minerals formed a dark, iron rich surface with the leached white layers below.
Like the rest of Australia, Spring has arrived in the red centre, and even this dry, sandy place is producing a profusion of wild flowers. You have to look a bit harder to find them, but when you look in the right places there is a surprising variety of colourful blooms, determinedly continuing the outback cycle of life.
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