LAWRENCE GORGE TO BOGGY HOLE
Our camp in Lawrence Gorge was less than a kilometre from Haunted Tree Bore, so named by early drovers because cattle became "spooked" there by strange noises.
We were in the Owen Springs Reserve, formerly Owen Springs Station. The historical information boards and restoration of the old homestead provided an interesting drive through to the sealed Larapinta Drive .
Driving west we were soon aware that we were in Albert Namatjira country.
The historical precinct at Hermannsburg was most impressive, telling the story of the old mission.
Amongst the many restored buildings were the church, school, dormitories, mission houses and more.
The church.
A tannery produced leather from cattle and kangaroo hides and made saddles and harness as an early income source for the mission.
A surprise for us was finding a photograph of the wedding of Rex Battarbee who taught Namatjira water colour and promoted his paintings. Rex married Bernice Loone, a missionary colleague and friend of John's parents. We visited Rex and Bernice at their home "Tmara-mara" in Alice Springs a few times while we were living at Amata.
Palm Valley called us next - just over 20 kms of what we knew, from a previous visit (2004?), would be tortuous track back into the range over a mixture of rock and sand.
Palms
Cycads
Camp for the night was to be at Boggy Hole in the Finke River Gorge. Warnings were only that 4WD should be used but just over half of the drive was probably the most demanding driving that we have ever experienced - constant twisting in and out of the creek bed, over rocks and through sand. We eventually reached Boggy Hole (and got bogged there for a short while) before taking time to explore its beauty and make camp.
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