This trip was categorised as lighter than the Greogry, and after having survived that one, I was confident about this one. This trip was split up into two parts of a week each. We could leave our stuff for the second week in the house of our guide, Justin Harrison, and his wife Judith. Judith would accompany us on the second part, whereas Justin would do the whole trip. Justin and Russell differed like day and night in a number of aspects. Russell was quit, expected you to follow him when he was leaving, and was a good story-teller when people become quieter as the evening progressed. Justin was enthousiastic, took good notice of the fitness of the group, and was quick to set the tone in group conversions. But, both were very good bushwalkers who knew what there were doing.
Trekking was quite different from Gregory. Difficult parts quickly changed into much more easier ones. Sometimes a longer climb needed to be done, while the climbing in Gregory was short and steep (to get out of a gorge). For the first week, the group consisted of 10 people (Daan and me, Justin, Helen, Katherine, June, Judy, Roger, Sally, Marian), and for the second week of 12 (Helen and Katherine go, and Judith, Emma, Tony, and Jan, join). The group was clearly less fit than that of Gregory, and the pace was a bit lower. In addition, an easier route was sought on occasions where the going was too difficult. In Gregory, the route had to run at least into a smooth rock wall of several meters high before Russell would give up and find an easier way.
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There was one thing in the MacDonnell which I really hated: walking on the sand of a riverbed. Whereas the others were cheerfully chatting while walking across the sand, I was only wishing for a few decent rocks to cross our path. On the other hand, I very much enjoyed the one day of rain we got, which did not amuse the others at all. In the rain, the colours got clearer with the glare of the sun removed, and nature started to smell very nice. Of course, we got a bit wet, but being Dutch, I did not mind that.
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The MacDonnell Ranges were a series of mountain ranges running from east to west, just north of Alice Springs. Alongside it ran a main road, which made that you were never far from other people. Unlike in Gregory, these mountain ranges offered fantastic views. Between the mountain ranges was a slightly hilly terrain (hills up to about 20 meters high) which were sparsely overgrown with spinifex grass (a tougher kind than in Gregory), low shrubs and an occasional tree. The trees were mostly solitary, which is unlike Gregory where groups of trees (a forest was too big a word) were encountered frequently.
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The temperature was about 10 degrees lower than in Gregory, which was very pleasant. The rocks in the riverbeds sometimes had a white coating which could be quite slippery. In addition, there was a lot more sand on the rocks, which also caused you to slide off easily when you were not careful. The hillsides were littered with plate-shaped rocks. They were very thin (a centimeter) and not that large (10 to 30 cm). In some places, there were several layers of them, which was extremely hazardous when you were decending. If you were not careful, they took on the attitude of a sledge and ran down with you before you knew it. (If you would ever be able to get up again was another matter).
Camping had about the same routine as in Gregory. But it was exceptional if we could swim during lunch here, and it was not always possible at night either. The water temperature is much lower (I estimated it sometimes as low as 6 degrees) which ruled out extensive swimming. The water pools were usually not deep and long, and the presence of other campers meant you had to purify the water before drinking it.
The days were short (it was mid winter in Alice Springs) which made you go to bed early. However, it also took a long time to get light again. Since you could not do much before it was light, you would lie in your tent drifting in and out of sleep until you could finally get up. Also, this trip was lighter than that in Gregory, so I did not need that much sleep. In the morning, it was cold enough to pull on a thick sweater, but as soon as you had walked a short stretch with your backpack, you wanted to take it off again.
Camp on the last night
