West Macdonnell Ranges - NT

West Macdonnell Ranges

 While we were staying at Alice Springs we decided to dedicate a day to visiting the west Macdonnell Ranges. This was a 10 hour 360 km round trip but the road was good two lane bitumen all the way (easy to sit on 110 kph )and there were many attractions to break up the trip. The mountain range contains many spectacular gaps and gorges as well as areas of aboriginal significance. If you don’t want to drive there is always the option of walking the Larapinta Trail—a world-class, long distance bush walking trail that runs 223 kilometres along the backbone of the range (we gave this a miss this time roundJ).




Desert flowers and friend

It’s surprising to be in the desert and see so much permanent water and at the time of our visit a lot of wild flowers in bloom. There are a couple of free camps perched high up at look-outs that would be fantastic for a night stay if you ventured that way in a caravan. You can continue all the way to Kings Canyon and Uluru but after Glen Helen Gorge it’s all corrugated dirt and we met one traveller who had considerable damage to his van after coming this way. 

Our plan was to do as many attractions as we could in the morning, end up at Glen Helen George Resort for lunch and then re-trace our steps on the way back stopping in any attractions we had missed in the morning.

 

No Swimming ??

First stop was Simpson’s Gap which is quiet near town and its spectacular gorge and water hole set the tone of the day. I am sure that in the hotter months (when it gets to around 45C) this would be a popular spot after work for the “Alice Springians”.

Simpson's Gap

Not sure who Simpson was but he has a nice gap.

Standley Chasm

Standley Chasm was our next stop – this is a privately run attraction which has a campground, kiosk and amenities. It costs $10/person for a pass to trek the 1.2 km up the creek bed to the chasm. It’s a bit like Echidna Gorge in the Bungle Bungles and you need to be in the chasm at that magical moment the sun shines in. Unfortunately we were there early in the day so didn’t witness the shining moment when the chasm lit up s- still it was a beaut walk in with lots of cycads and ghost gums. Not sure it was worth the $20 but it’s now ticked off the bucket list and the coffee at the kiosk was worth the trip in.

Standley Chasm

Standley Chasm is named in honour of Ida Standley who in 1914 became the first woman teacher (and only teacher) in Alice Springs. She went by train to Oodnadatta whence she was escorted by a constable on a fourteen-day buggy trip to Alice Springs. Road is a little better these daysJ.



Ormiston Gorge

Ormiston Pound is a ring of mountains punctuating the MacDonnell Ranges, in the West MacDonnell National Park, approximately 135 kilometres west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Australia.


Ormiston Gorge

It lies at roughly the half-way point on the Larapinta Trail and offers spectacular views from its circumference of Mount Sonder, Gosses Bluff crater and the surrounding range. 

Ormiston Gorge

We spent a lot of time at Ormiston Pound – hiking through the start of the Gorge and waterholes for 1 ½ hours. This purportedly is the one of the most photographed and painted spots in NT and it’s easy to see why.

Ormiston Gorge

I decided to soak my weary feet (after the huge hike of 2 km) and found the water to be bloody cold (freezing in-fact) – must be due to the fact that the sun isn’t on the water for much of the day.

Ormiston Gorge

The walk into the gorge was pretty steep at times but the return via the dry river bed required us to stumble over rocks and boulders for ½ a km.

  

After Ormiston we made tracks to Glen Helen Gorge. It was tough out in the desert - at Glen Helen we had to wait 15 minutes for our burger, salt and pepper squid and cold beer – but being true pioneers we stuck it out J

The resort is situated on the creek bed looking directly up to the escarpment on the other side. Refreshed with battered squid, burger (wonder where they catch those out here?), chips and a couple of light beers we struggled back to the car for the return trip.

Mt Sonder in the distance

Close to Glen Helen Gorge is Mount Sonder – the highest mountain tin the Northern Territory.  You can see why the NT is not famous for its ski resorts J

On the way back we stopped at Ellery Creek Big-Hole which surprisingly was a big water hole in Ellery Creek – these Aussies have funny namesJ. What a spot for swimming if it was hot weather.

The day we were there a couple of foolhardy tourist jumped in – the water is that cold that the tour books warn you to swim with floatation devices as cramps from the cold are a real possibility. I swam the length of the pool twice (in my mind!).

Last but not least just outside of Alice Springs is Rev John Flynn’s Grave.  John Flynn is the guy who started the Royal Flying Doctor Service – which still services ¾ of inland Australia today. Bit a funny story about his grave. You will see from the photo that there is a large round rock on top of the grave. Originally the rock was brought in from the Devils Marbles (see my earlier blog) but the traditional owners complained for 20 yrs that it should be returned. They finally won the case and the rock was swapped with one from the Macdonnell Ranges. Hopefully they didn’t disturb the Reverend too much while they were swapping rocks !

Next time we come this way we will take the van out to Glen Helen Resort and spend a lot more time in the Macdonnell Ranges.