I had my first planned camp-out in the middle of nowhere last night. I went to this place called the Chambers Pillar. It is only accessible by 4WD and the road was rough. It took about 4 hours for me to get there and you can tell that you are driving toward the desert. The road is much more sandier than any other road that I’ve been on so far in the journey. This probably is the closest I get to Simpson Desert. Would love to cross it one day but definitely not attempting it ‘alone’.
From a distance, the pillar looked like a little match among all the rock formations around it. I kind of thought…. really? However, it looks totally different when you get near it. A sandstone column stands 50m tall eroded by wind and rain over millions of year.
John McDouall Stuart was the first European to see the pillar in 1870. He named the pillar after one of his sponsors, James Chambers. It is hard to even imagine anyone getting here at the first place. It was hard enough driving to it… let alone riding on a camel.
I wasn’t going to come back to Alice today. My destination today was Rainbow Valley. The road I wanted to take has one of the gates padlocked after half way in so couldn’t get passed. The only other way is to pretty much head back to Alice way and turn off just 11km outside of it. So I thought might as well come in to town to grab a coffee and also give me a little time to blog.
I will be leaving for Rainbow Valley about 2pm. The place is famous for it’s sunset. Looking forward to see what is it all about in a few hours. I will probably camp out there tonight again.
xox
John @ Alice Springs, NT
Images: 1. Chambers Pillar in Day; 2. Me at Chambers Pillars; Chambers Pillar at Dusk
Wow!