I love travelling by camperbus… or is it a motorhome?!
Not sure what the exact difference is there (so if you know do tell in the comments below!) but the bit I love about travelling this way is whether you feel peckish, thirsty or in need of a nap… Pull over, and its sorted 
Having driven the 450km (5.5 hours) into Alice Springs from Yulara in our hire car (after a magical few days visiting Uluru and Kata Tjuta), we picked up our Maui 5 berth motor-home and trialled our first night’s sleep in a friend’s front yard in town!
Keen to hit the road we left Alice Springs early, and as soon as we were out of town pulled over for breakfast!
Replenished, our first real stop for the day was to be Standley Chasm, just 50km to the west of Alice on Larapinta Drive.
It’s only a 20 minute walk into the chasm from the car park up a delightful path.
Starting out under classic eucalypts…
The Eucalyptus trunks are a tree hugger’s dream (3 guesses what I am!)
While the trees satisfy the eye-level-eye-candy, the rocks underfoot satisfy the textural-underfoot-tactile-foot-candy.
After a little bit of clambering up a predominently dry creek bed…
Standley Chasm opens out before us.
The Eucalypt gives it scale.
…and stunning colour contrasts.
It’s an artist’s paradise…
so we sit, with sketch pads in hand, to take in the ambience and breath in the atmosphere
And this is what I saw and felt…
Red rugged rocky sides flaming up the perpendicular chasm walls…
…to the blue sky above
where the sun at midday penetrates the close chasm walls and simultaneously lights up both sides as it passes overhead.
Wild-flowers and grasses cling on perilously to survive in the dry craggy crevises.
Returning back down the path
we see amongst the leaf litter a Long-Nosed Dragon, also known as the ‘Ta-Taa’ lizard as when scurrying off they’ll often stop momentarily and lift a front leg, appearing to wave goodbye… ta-ta
It’s particularly long nose, as well as a long tail, help it balance when running at high speed. (Official name: Lophognathus longirostris)
So first stop of the day in the West MacDonnell Ranges, Standley Chasm is plotted…
…& the route dotted on my pictorial map of Central Australia 
Next stop, 80 km (1.5 hours) to the Ochre Pits, which I’ll post next Tuesday!
Have you visited Standley Chasm? Or is it still on the ‘To Do’?
Do share in the comments below
That’s a lot of driving Linda, which must have been exciting. I love driving, particularly in the Aussie outback.
Great photo journal Linda, incredibly inspiring.
Thanks for this.
Catherine
Driving in the Australian outback where there’s such a huge landscape to admire (and very little traffic) I so agree Catherine, is wonderful
Good morning!!!! just looked on facebook and seen this amazing site, brilliant – why didn’t I get there when I visited?? Reason to visit again. Jen xxx
Australia is such a vast and varied land!
So much to see, but generally such huge distances to cover between ‘attractions’ -
One has to either flit like a butterfly between a few prominent spots, or focus on a region -
The Red Centre is a perfect area for ‘focus’ as there’re so many beautiful, and diverse, landscapes to enjoy -
Look forward to seeing you down under again so we can further explore
Yes, the Red Centre is such a great place to discover. You go there thinking that it’s a dry, empty place and when you’re back you just can’t stop telling everyone about it. But words are not enough to describe the greatness of the landscape and the bright colours that surround you. That’s why you need the pictures. And you’ve captured great ones, Linda.
We booked a hotel for a week in Alice Springs and travelled around, going down to Uluru, then Finke Gorge, Kalaranga lookout, Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm, Ormiston Gorge. Every day was another revelation with so many stunning, incredible spots to explore.
The only thing we missed was the Kings’ Canyon. I think we missed it on purpose. To go back for more.
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Ooooo – You managed to cover quite a bit of ground… but funny that there’s still an elusive bit lurking
Like you, I still have to return to see Kings Canyon!
HHHMMMmmm…. Maybe a ‘camperbus’ is a camper made from an actual bus?? Of course a ‘motorhome’ is a home on wheels!! I guess that clears THAT up then!!
I’ve got a pretty average shot of Standley Chasm – but it consistently gets WOW comments whenever I post it! It’s just that kind of place!!
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I’m beginning to think a camperbus is more like a VW van that’s been converted to do no more than cramp-ly camp in it, whereas a motor home is more designed, as you say, to be a home on wheels like a caravan, but with a motor? LOL
The Red Centre has some great photo opportunities. doesn’t it
I love travel in camper, but in smaller one, as motorhomes are too big and slow
With four of us, I have to say the size of the motorhome was great!
It was surprisingly easy to handle, but was a bit of a fuel guzzler ~ With such long gaps between stops in the Territory it became prudent to keep an eye on the fuel gauge
yep..it is better to have spare tank with fuel.
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