HENBURY METEROITE CRATER SITE
 

We all knew we just HAD to come here for a day or two due to Bev would kill us because we missed Sky Lab stuff... oops! So,... dad drove from Alice Springs after mum did the shopping. We chose our campsite and made a fire, full moon with some cloud cover which mum said "I expect Professor Lupin (Harry Potter) to come romping out of the plains as a werewolf at any minute!"... Dad laughed. I looked around.. "There are werewolves out here"? Dad said "No, of course not... but there are dingos"... I high tailed it into the van... "outtahere! Good night!"

Dad and mum sat out at the camp fire after dinner of chicken and veges and dad was dressed up in all his winter gear. Mum bought him some winter PJ's which hopefully will prevent dad from getting the bad leg cramps he was getting at night.. (they worked)!

After brekkie, we walked up and around the three main craters and climbed down into the main one which, as i mentioned previously NASA had used for training purposes.. GO NT! hehe.... There were many plants of 'Old Man Saltbush" and mum stopped to remember her uncle who had worked so hard and promoted the use of this native bush to help farmers around Australia to keep their cattle and sheep healthy and enough feed in the hard times of drought. Mum said "he would have loved this!" We took lots of photos of the different types of flowering plants including the flowers and seed pods as many people still think that there is nothing in the Australia outback except red dirt and big rocks... well, there are those, but none of us expected the level of green and where the water is here. Like Garth said "There are Red River Gums on the creek and river beds here, so there is water, we call them upside down rivers".. The water is just way down. In one of the craters named the "Water Crater" there is lush green grass and blossoming white trees. The history states that one of the smaller meteorites hit the creek capturing water making it a permanent source of water. Many dingos come to hunt there when the other animals and birds come to eat and drink. No doubting this fact as we saw fresh dingo tracks. I took a photo of them and have posted them here. Australia's wild dogs.. Wow!

Mum made damper this morning and all I can say is that it didn't last very long... mum had to make another one to go with dinner tonight. Lots of yummies tonight. An early dinner and then off to Ebenezer Roadhouse tomorrow, this is a road house and cattle station that is owned by the local Aborigines, they also have an art gallery with lots of things for sale. The drive will take us over three and a half hours, so with the van on the back it will be at least four hours. A few nights there at Uluru (Ayres Rock) and then we will almost be at the NT/SA border again. I must remind mum to cook up all the veggies again and eat the fruit before we get there.

Only a couple of more stop and then we are headed home... Kind of sad, but then will be nice to get home again and see family and friends!

Enjoy the pics..

P.S Really glad we have caught up with the blog and hope everyone had enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed dictating it to you... (yes) and how much mum has LOVED acting as my secretary and typing it out for you... (Jury still out on that one!) LOL!


Tahune xx

Back on the dirt road 

Gee, not a bad 'vista' on the way in 

Sunset at the campsite 

Going to see a big hole in the ground

that was made by an 'astronomic event' 

Really? NASA? wow... I wonder if I am walking the

same track as Neil Armstrong.. *feeling special* 

Mum, standing at the crater's edge  

"Old Man Saltbush" 

At the bottom of the main crater 

"BOOM!" 

Old Man Saltbush in flower 

Me and mum warming up by the campfire after dinner 

Is it time for your damper mum? 

Yay! Damper almost ready dad! 

The 2nd crater, the meteorite crashed and trapped a creek

creating a permanent water hole, the base of which is nothing like the main crater 

See? Everything lush and green

and the red dirt is moist