​May 2, 2017 Desert Images

Places like Marla at the northern end of the Oodnadatta Track, are oases with lush green lawns,
palm trees and lots of exotic flowers. Restful to the eyes after the harsh glare of sun and dessert rock.

Talking of colour! We didn't talk to this guy but wherever he is walking to, its a ling way.
We saw another person walking hundreds of Ks up the Hwy.

Desert images from The Great Victorian, Painted and Simpson deserts. Earth and dust - the colours change from the palest white gold through soft yellows and orange, hot ground chilli to a deep red like powdered blood and deep rust nutmeg. And so too the rocks of the Gibber plains but with added purple and darkest brown. Patches of the ground as we approach appear like polished maroon-black mirrors. This is the 'desert pavement' (closely fitted rocks and pebbles) with their patina of 'desert vanish' - a micro coating of clays and minerals which bakes on in the desert sun. Nature's glaze - but of course, man didn't invent it!!

One of many road trains creeping into Kulgera just over the border in NT

A truckload of cattle coming in off the Finke Road (a road I'd love to take one day - so remote)

We have been almost sucked off the road by mighty 50 odd m long road trains, crossed wide dry river beds with their shady eucalypts - red river gums, red and blue mallees and coolibah. And of course we are encountering the iconic ghost gums, desert and silver oak and desert cassia with their brilliant yellow flowers. The variety of colours of the leaves and bark would fill a page, a few pages! Something we found lots of last time we were here are the potato and tomato bushes. They look very similar but the fruit of some is highly poisonous. I decided not to try this time!

This is a potato bush the fruit can be and was eaten by local aboriginals. It looks
very like a wild tomato whose fruit is poisonous. Would have been a bitten lesson to learn.

Once we crossed the border we passed through a number of mountain ranges with ochre cliffs here and there. And happily every night we have been treated to a New Year's Eve fireworks display albeit in very slow motion. Glorious glorious colour everywhere you look!

The Alice night sky. A changing display of glorious colour.