Day 6 - Alice Springs: Desert Park and Standley Chasm

Wed 19 Aug 2015

First stop today was the Alice Springs Desert Park and then if we have time we’ll head out to Standley Chasm.

We paid our entrance fee and decided to also pay for the Eagle Encounter ($30.00 for the 2 of us including a photo shoot). There’s also a free bird show a couple of times a day so we took a slow walk toward the bird show looking at the displays along the way to the free bird show. Here we were treated to a display of a variety of native birds. The guide was great sharing his knowledge of our native birds and the birds performed very well. This show is well worth a visit. Normally we aren’t keen on seeing animals “performing” but we understand that these were injured and orphaned birds who wouldn’t have survived if returned to the wild. The Desert Park does good work in other areas too which is funded by visitors to the park.

The Eagle Encounter was next on our list, this was a paid event and whilst you do get very close to a Wedge Tailed Eagle in hindsight we considered it to be a little overpriced (although the funds go to a good cause 🙂 ). You get a 10 minute informative talk and about 10 photos taken of you next to the eagle. We hope people come away with a better understanding of these magnificent birds and perhaps will slow down when they see them on the road. We’re also glad the Wedge Tailed Eagle is now protected and no longer hunted.

After the eagle encounter we grabbed some lunch before heading out for another stroll around the park. There are so many interesting native animals, birds and vegetation to see. You get a chance to see things you may never see in the wild no matter how “off the beaten track” you go. One such extraordinary sight for us was of a Kere Artewe, the Arrerante name, (Australian Bustard also commonly known as Bush Turkey) displaying his large throat sac. In the wild the male clears an area and struts his stuff to attract females. Once his sac is infalted he makes a large booming call. You have to see and hear it to appreciate it. The Kere Artewe also have a reputation for being ”snooty” due to the way they walk with their head in the air.

You could spend all day here and still not see everything. Unfortunately time ran away from us and we had to leave to get to Standley Chasm. It was now mid afternoon so we missed seeing the Chasm at midday, which is the best time to see it as the noon sun is overhead and shines through the chasm gap. We were surprised to learn there was now an entry fee to view Standley Chasm however it goes to supporting the local community and facilities that are now provided.

Taking family and friends into account we decide to only do the shorter walk, 1.2 kms which is listed to take approx 20 mins, we took a little longer. The walk started out smooth but then changed to a rocky path and required some climbing over rocks. The view at the end though was lovely and it’s a good spot to rest before heading back. An enjoyable day came to an end and we headed back to Alice on Todd.

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