Alice Springs-West MacDonnell Ranges Alice springs again & then north

dear grade3,

The other day I went on a BIG waterslide. It was twirley and fun, but it hurts your back a bit. It is 30 meters long and lots of kids go on it.

We stayed in Alice Springs for 2 night.

We then went out to West  MacDonell Ranges and saw a grass hopper and it was camouflaged. We went to Ellery waterhole, the water was cold, we went to Redbank gorge, Ormiston gorge and Glen Helen Gorge and my Dad (Brendan) taught me to skim rocks. We also went to the Ochre Pits where Aborigines dug out the clay to use for paint on their bodies for important celebrations.

Then we went back to Alice Springs. We had my Birthday there and we  went to the Desert Park for my family Party and we saw a big black Cockatoo, some Geckos and a Thorny Devil and lots of birds. We also saw a Marla, a cuuute little Numbat and a Bilby.

We had an Ice Cream Cake for my Birthday.

The temperature in Alice Springs has dropped now to 5 degrees overnight and it is cooler during the day.

The Alice Springs School of the Air is for Kids that have to talk on the radio or computer to do their lessons. The school is for kids that are spread over 1000's of kilometers living on cattle stations and isolated Aboriginal communities. We went to the Classroom (Studio) where the teacher conducts the lessons from.

On Monday we left Alice Springs and went over the Tropic of Capricorn. (Dad said it's a "line" that runs parallel to the Equator and it is the most southern point that the sun can truly be directly overhead). We're now in the Tropics and there is usually only two seasons. The Wet and the Dry.

We spent 2 BIG days in the car. We're now in Timber Creek. We came over the Buchanan Highway yesterday and we crossed two rivers that were crossing the road and the caravan got VERY dirty.