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).
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| 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.
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| 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”.
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| Simpson's Gap |
Not sure who Simpson was but he has a nice gap.
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| 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.
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Standley Chasm
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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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
As we read the tourist brochures for the Winton area I read
about a cattle station 85 km south of Winton that offered camping, some great
sights and was half way to the famous Dinosaur Stampede site. After a bit of
negotiation I convinced Linda that we should drag our caravan across 30 km of
single lane bitumen and then 54 kilometres of dirt track to the station. 
The initial 10 km of dirt track was a bit
daunting but the road (if you took your time) wasn’t too bad and the further we
went the more confident we became. 
Carisbrooke Station (www.carisbrookestation.com.au)
is situated on the magnificent Mitchel plains on the edge of Corey’s range and
a great spot to soak up the serenity and beauty of this part of the
country. I would highly recommend a
visit if you are in the area - if it hasn’t been raining - the black soil is
deadly in the wet.
The 60 km to the Dinosaur Stampede site www.dinosaurtrackways.com.au
from Carisbrooke is a good drive through the bush – all dirt roads but in good
condition. This National Heritage Site is exceptionally good value at $12/head
and the guide made the visit better still with his stories (he swore they were
all true J).
Unfortunately Linda suffered from a severe bout of gastro
the whole time we were out there and we had several speedy trips from our bush
camp to the nearest amenities at the station shearing shed! Used 45 litres of
fuel to get there and back for Winton and 20 more litres finding toilets J. Not much fun for
Linda but she stuck it out like a real trooper.
