West MacDonnels 6th July
The West MacDonnel mountain ranges span 160k out of Alice Springs. These thrust themselves from huge remote plains and get up to just under 1400 metres or around 4500 feet.
We managed to secure a spot at the Ormiston Gorge campsite ,these are on a first up best dressed basis and there are lots of people around ! We spent a few hours deep cleaning the caravan cupboards where bull dust had penetrated the van . We then duct taped all the potential places for dust ingress. We are still waiting for the van manufacturer to resolve this very irritating issue . I also did some maintenance on the tow hitch by cleaning and greasing the unit.
We headed off on the Ormiston Pound walk which was 8k and took us on a gradual climb up the slopes providing great views of the plains.
Kate was in fine form setting the pace !
After skipping across some big boulders in the dry river bed we entered the gorge proper and scrambled over rock platforms and deep sand until we reached the deep water channel. The rock faces of the gorge for the bottom 20 foot or so were worn smooth from the river when in full flow when i guess the boulders and pebbles would be moving and grind down the walls to a lustrous sheen.
The following day we explored the area by car. First stop was Glen Helen which whilst busy had a good old time feel to it . It sits on the Finke River which is a permanent source of water unlike most that only run during heavy rain.
The onto Roma Gorge which is accessed via an 8k off-road drive along a dry river bed. This brings you to a bijou gorge in comparison with others in the area . On the flat rock surfaces up towards the first rock wall you could make out rock carvings or petroglyghs as they are known . The rock carvings had been worn away lower down where the river is more commonly running across.
We then took in Gosse Bluff which is the site of a meteor impact. It is a confronting sight as it dominates the landscape which is billiard table like as far as you can see . Its hard to comprehend that a meteor 600m across could create a crater 22 km in diameter.
At the end of the day we drove to the Mount Sonder Lookout and watched the suns dying light on the Ormiston Gorge and hills around it .
Up early the following day with the back pack weighed down with sarnies , water , sat phone and of course natures bombproof snack -hard boiled eggs. We headed to Mount Sonder. It is the 4th highest mountain in the Northern Territory at 1380metres. The summit was reached via a very long and relentless ascent , never too steep but went on and up for 8k. We met an elderly woman who had hurt her ACL 1/4 of the way up and her husband was helping her get down. We met them near the bottom after getting to the top – she looked done in but her spirits were high.
The views from the top of the mountain were exhilarating.
It was around 18 degrees and blowing quite hard but i had to laugh when a woman coming down wanted us that the top was freezing cold and you would be able to stay for long. It made me think of many a mountain top in Scotland where the risk of hypothermia from sweaty clothes getting cold in sub zero temperatures was very real !
A great top of the world lunch was had and we scooted back down the incline to the car. Took us 4.5hours all in.
We met a family from Victoria ,mum dad and 6 kids touring Oz for a year. The kids were fantastic , full of energy , chatty and pretty much well behaved . We had to take our hats of to them – think about it -6 kids and the eldest being around 12 ! The twin boys were hilarious with the Spinifex Pigeons.
They only fly if they have to and walk/run almost everywhere. The boys found this just too much of an opportunity to miss and spent hours chasing the poor things around. We would know one of the boys was on his way when the pigeons would come scurrying around the corner followed by uncontrolled squeals of joy .
We watched game 3 of the state of origin in the Glen Helen pub. We met a young couple from Brisbane who were on a three week red centre visit. Jess is an occupational therapist and Nick is a builder /property developer. Building business, pub and cafe at 25 is not a bad achievement ! He was a mad blues fan and was the only person in the west MacDonnels with the VB sponsored shirt to prove it. The local live music artist “Slim Pickens” must have through the potential CD sales were looking good until he was being heckled to get off as he was performing in the space between the restaurant and the tv . The footy fans were spilling over from the bar and sitting in amongst the diners. We shared a few beers and laughswith Nick and Jess and vowed to meet up later down the track .
As you will know game three was a bit of a disappointment with the maroons winning out.
Remember you can’t turn back the clock but you can wind it up again😉 If you haven’t grown up by age 50 you just don’t have to.