Bradshaw Walk, Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve - December 2015

The Bradshaw walk was another early evening stroll that Sam and I did when we were up in Alice Springs last Christmas, like the Trig Hill walk this walk was around the vicinity of the Alice Springs Telegraph Historical Reserve meaning that we only had a five minute drive from the hotel to the trail head. The Bradshaw Walk is named after one of the early postmasters at the telegraph station, Thomas Bradshaw, who worked out here from 1899 to 1908. I've mentioned this before but these early European settlers must have been made of tough stuff, coming from the cool climates of Europe to the stinking hot deserts of Central Australia must have been quite a shock to the system.

The Bradshaw Walk meanders its way around these low hills.

We, on the other hand, aren't quite as tough as the early settlers which was one of the reasons we decided to do the walk in the relative cool of the early evening, setting off about 20 minutes before sunset. Initially this trail winds through some low rocky hills, the vegetation as we meandered  through the hills is mainly of the low scrubby types, typically Witchetty Bush and Acacia with the occasional Ghost Gum etching an existence out of the rocky ground. The walk while not scenically awe inspiring still provided enough photographic opportunities to keep me interested, no doubt helped by the beautiful evening light.

There is no danger of getting lost on this walk.

The trail winds around all over the place but its well marked and benched, which left us plenty of time to take in our surroundings. Being early evening we had quite a few Wallaby and Kangaroo sightings on the walk through the hills, unfortunately the low light, while doing wonders for the scenery shots, wasn't conducive to great wildlife shots, still I had fun trying. Eventually the trail leaves the low hills and makes its way down to the banks of the Todd River, where we turned north and headed along the sealed path back towards the ute.

There are quite a few Ghost Gums growing out of the crevices in the rocks.

Looking down towards the Todd River with Spencer Hill behind.

We were now on a path that runs all the way along the Todd River from the centre of town to the telegraph station and there were a few joggers and bike riders out enjoying the twilight temperatures. The Todd River had a few decent sized pools of water in it and was also home to a pack of dingoes that kept their distance, I did manage to swap lenses and got a couple of half decent shots before they wandered off into the scrub on the far bank of the river. Normally a walk along a sealed path wouldn't do a lot for me but I was really enjoying the opportunity to amble along not worrying about where I was placing my feet and enjoy the changing colours as the light slowly disappeared. 

Once on the shared sealed path the walking was even easier, allowing us to take in the subtle changes of light.

There was a pack of Dingoes playing in the sandy river.

Approaching the old Telegraph Station the Ghost Gums and Red Gums were joined by a few of the remnant Date Palms that the early settlers had planted. With the light rapidly fading we walked the last few metres back to the ute, the light now for the photos was sensational, if I wasn't such a lazy walker then a tripod would have been very handy, as it was I did the best I could with a somewhat steady hand, like I said I'm fairly lazy!

The Date Palms are a relic left over from the early settlers.

The Dirt.

I had a GPS operator malfunction on this walk (I forgot to press reset) so I'll give you the stats from the guide book, the notes list this easy walk at 2.5 kilometres and while not in the book I'd estimate we climbed 50 metres at a maximum on this stroll. The walk is written up in John and Lyn Daly's Take A Walk In Northern Territory's National Parks. If you find yourself in Alice Springs and want an easy walk with a good chance of seeing some wildlife then the Bradshaw Walk around dusk would be a good option I reckon, this walk would also be suitable for young kids.

Yeah, it was getting quite dark.

These shots are actually taken in the car park when we got back to the ute.