Friday, February 11, 2011

Journey South / Stuart Highway

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The Stuart Highway is one of Australia's major highways. It is a segment of Australia's Highway 1 extending from Darwin, Northern Territory, in the north, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta, South Australia, in the south-a distance of 2,834 kilometres (1,761 mi).

The principal north-south route through the central interior of mainland Australia, the highway is often referred to simply as "The Track". The highway was only fully sealed in the mid-1980s as part of Australia's bicentenary roadworks programme. There are no police patrolling the majority of this remote highway and until the end of 2006 there was no speed limit outside towns and other built-up areas on the Northern Territory part. The bulk of the Northern Territory's population not living in Darwin lies along its track.

Like so much else in the Territory, the Stuart Highway was a legacy of World War Two. The first "road" to the south began at Southport and followed the Overland Telegraph Line to Rum Jungle, Stapleton and Adelaide River. That route was well to the west of the present Stuart Highway. Construction of the telegraph line had required the development of a track along the line's route, to enable wagons and other vehicles to travel with loads of posts, wire, and other materials. An area of approximately two chains width (about 40 metres) was cleared on either side of the line and this became "the track" - the only transport route south.

When war loomed it became apparent that the railway could not meet all defense requirements. Planners saw a need for an all weather road to service dispersed military installations, particularly airfields, in the immediate Darwin hinterland. So, from May 1941, the Darwin Adelaide River section (115km) was upgraded to an all weather gravel road standard. The work was done by the New South Wales Department of Main Roads - contrary to common belief that "the Yanks built the Stuart Highway".
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Apostle Bird Struthidea cinerea
Katherine
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Barrow Creek In Flood
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Bonamia media
Tennant Creek
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Bonamia pannosa
Tennant Creek
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Cassia Senna glutinosa subsp leurssenii
Tennant Creek
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Dampiera candicans
Devils Marbles
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Flooded Stuart Highway Between Barrow Creek and Wycliffe Well 2010
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Devils Marbles Tennant Creek
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Eucalyptus Papuana
Tennant Creek Tableland
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Poison Morning Glory Ipomoea muelleri
Tennant Creek
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Singing Honeyeater Lichenostomus virescens
Tennant Creek
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Sturt's Hibiscus Hibiscus sturtii
Tennant Creek
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Varied Lorikeet Psitteuteles versicolor
Katherine
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Wild Tomato Solanum chippendalei
Tennant Creek
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Journey South / Palm Valley Finke Gorge National Park

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Finke Gorge is a national park in the Northern Territory of Australia, 1318 km south of Darwin. The Park covers an area of 458 square kilometers, and includes the impressive desert oasis Palm Valley, home to a diverse range of plant species, many of which are rare and unique to the area. Palm Valley, within the Finke Gorge National Park, is an east-west running valley in the Krichauff Range Palm Valley and the surrounding area is the only place in Central Australia where Livistona mariae palms (also known as Red Cabbage Palms) survive. The nearest specimens are 850 kilometers away in Queensland.

The valley is indicative of central Australia's tropical past, whereas the region is now largely dry Central Ranges xeric shrubland. The average rainfall for Palm Valley is only 200 mm per year. Although the gorge usually appears dry, there are some small pockets of semi-permanent spring-fed pools that allow the unique flora in this region to survive.

Hermannsburg is located near the Finke River and is where access to Palm Valley begins. Hermannsburg was the German name chosen by the Lutheran pastors who established a small mission for the Arrernte Aboriginal people hthere in the 1880s. It is best known as the birthplace of artist Albert Namatjira.
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Central Australian Red Cabbage Palm Livistona mariae subsp. Mariae
Palm Valley Finke Gorge National Park
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Cycad Macrozamia macdonnellii
Palm Valley Finke Gorge National Park
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Dried Finke River Bed Road
Palm Valley Finke Gorge National Park
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Long-nosed Dragon Amphibolurus longirostris
Palm Valley Finke Gorge National Park.
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Palm Valley Spinifex Triodia spp
Palm Valley Finke Gorge National Park
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Palm Valley Vista Palm Valley Finke Gorge National Park.
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Rock Isotome Isotoma petraea
Palm Valley Finke Gorge National Park
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Stemodia viscosa
Palm Valley Finke Gorge National Park
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Journey South / West MacDonnell Ranges / Part I

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John McDouall Stuart in 1860 was the first white man to pass this way. As a result of his endeavors, a telegraph line was erected between Adelaide and Darwin. This telegraph line and its wireless stations linked Australia and Asia. Explorers attempting to cross Australia between East and West knew, when they reached the line that settlements were not far away. The settlement may only have had a staff of four but it was "civilized contact". The ranges were named after Sir Richard MacDonnell (the Governor of South Australia at the time) by John McDouall Stuart, whose 1860 expedition reached them in April of that year. The Horn Expedition investigated the ranges as part of the scientific expedition into central Australia. Other explorers of the range included David Lindsay and John Ross.

350-300 million years ago a mountain building event created the MacDonnell Ranges. Since that time, folding, faulting and erosion have shaped the range and created numerous gaps and gorges. The ranges are composed of many rock types, but are most famous for their red quartzite peaks and gorges. Other rock types include granite, limestone, sandstone and siltstone. Some of the valleys of the range contain fossil evidence of the inland sea that once covered central Australia.

The region consists of sandy plains with some areas of rocky highland. These plains have a dry climate but do get some rain in both summer and winter. This area contains the remote city of Alice Springs while the grasslands are home to a number of Indigenous Australian communities or are used for cattle grazing. The habitats consists of thick, tough spinifex grassland with some wooded areas of myall and desert oak (Acacia coriacea). The region and the MacDonnell Ranges in particular are home to a number of specialized endemic plant species including the Cabbage Palms of Palm Valley in Finke Gorge National Park. Overgrazing by cattle and introduced animals including horses, donkeys and rabbits are a threat to habitats.
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Annual Yellowtop Senecio gregorii
Serpentine Gorge West MacDonnell Ranges
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Apple Bush Pterocaulon sphacelatum
Gosse Bluff West MacDonnell Ranges
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Australian Bluebell Wahlenbergia gracilis
West MacDonnell Ranges
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Australian Painted Lady Vanessa kershawi
Serpentine Gorge West MacDonnell Ranges
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Blunt-leaf Cassia Cassia helmsii
West MacDonnell Ranges
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Budgerigar Melopsittacus undulatus
Finke River Glen Helen West MacDonnell Ranges
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Caper White Belenois java ssp. teutonia
Serpentine Gorge West MacDonnell Ranges
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CatTails
Narrow-leaved Cumbungi Typha domingensis
Finke River Glen Helen West MacDonnell Ranges
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Central Bearded Dragon Pogona vitticeps
Glen Helen West MacDonnell Ranges
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Cockatiel Leptolophus (Nymphicus) hollandicus
Glen Helen West MacDonnell Ranges
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Common Bronzewing Phaps chalcoptera
Roma Gorge West MacDonnell Ranges
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Common Urnisa Urnisa guttulosa
Roma Gorge West MacDonnell Ranges.
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Desert Bloodwood Eucalyptus centralis
West MacDonnell Ranges
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Desert Oak Allocasuarina decaisneana
Gosse Bluff West MacDonnell Ranges
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Desert Rose Gossypium australe
West MacDonnell Ranges
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Diamond Dove Geopelia cuneata
Roma Gorge West MacDonnell Ranges
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Dwarf swainsona Swainsona phacoides
West MacDonald Ranges
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Finke River Vista Glen Helen West MacDonnell Ranges
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Gosse Bluff Vista West MacDonnell Ranges
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Grey-headed Honeyeater Lichenostomus keartlandi
Serpentine Gorge West MacDonnell Ranges
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Journey South / West MacDonnell Ranges / Part II

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Halgania solanacea
Gosse Bluff West MacDonnell Ranges
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Helipterum tietkensii
Gosse Bluff West MacDonnell Ranges
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Hooded Robin Melanodryas cucullata Female
Gosse Bluff West MacDonnell Ranges
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Latrobe's Desert Fuchsia Eremophila latrobei
West MacDonnell Ranges
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Leopard Grasshopper Stropis maculosa
Roma Gorge West MacDonnell Ranges
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Long-leafed Desert Fuchsia Eremophila longifolia
Roma Gorge West MacDonnell Ranges
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Longtails Ptilotus polystachyus
Gosse Bluff West MacDonnell Ranges.
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Maitlands Wattle Acacia maitlandii
Roma Gorge West MacDonnell Ranges
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Mexican Poppy Agemone ochroleuca
Gosse Bluff West MacDonnell Ranges
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Mountain Vista West MacDonnell Ranges
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Mulga Parrot Psephotus varius
Gosse Bluff West MacDonnell Ranges
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Native Tobacco Nicotiana rosulata ssp. ingulba
Gosse Bluff West MacDonnell Ranges
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Ormiston Gorge River Reflection West MacDonnell Ranges
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Potato Bush - Solanum ellipticum
Gosse Bluff West MacDonnell Ranges
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Red River Gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis var obtusa
Roma Gorge West MacDonnell Ranges
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