A Journey of Discovery & Learning - Part 6

 West Macdonnell National Park:

Thur 24th June - After refueling in "The Alice" we headed out along the Larapinta road into the West Macdonnell Ranges.

After stopping in at two of the Gorge campgrounds (Ellery Creek Big Hole and Ormiston) we decided both were too crowded and continued onto the Redbank Gorge campground. Perfect decision for us, with lovely large drive through sites and no crowds.

Our Camp Area

This would be our camp for the next five nights and from here we explored wonderful places and met familiar faces - Andrew and Jo from our Henbury stopover.

We spent a day exploring and walking through Redbank Gorge where we discovered the Painted Finch, thanks to a tip-off by another visitor, at a small permanent waterhole.

Waterhole

Painted Finch

No Track

Hard work walking through the gorge as there was no marked track over the river rocks for half the distance.

On another day exploring we drove to the Ochre Pits to discover the fascinating history of this colorful landscape. 

Historical Information

Ochore  Pits

Ochore

Diana at the Ochore Pits

Vibrant Colors

We decided to visit Ormiston Gorge knowing it would be chaotic as it one of the most popular. We walked into the gorge to the waterhole. Very impressive.

Gorge looking East

Gorge looking North West

On our way to Ormiston we stopped at the Mount Sondor  Lookout to view the surrounding country. From this vantage point we could see the Finke Two Mile Bush Camp. This is a free campground with 4 wheel-drive only access. Located on the Finke River it did look fabulous. Maybe we should have camped there!

Finke 2 Mile Bush Camp

Mount Sondor

The landscape in the West Macdonnell NP is spectacular with so many gorges open to explore. 

Range View

However, on our last day at Redbank Gorge we discovered an absolutely jaw dropping area with a fascinating history - Gosse Bluff. This is accessible by 4WD only and no camping is allowed. The crater is the result of a comet impact and both the scientific and aboriginal history of the site is very interesting. 

Gosse Bluff from Tylers Pass Lookout

At Tylers Pass Lookout we discovered both scientific and historical information about this massive crater. If visiting this area it is well worth the effort to undertake the interpretive walks around the crater.

 

Scientific Explanation

Inside Gosse Bluff

28th June: Moving on from Redbank Gorge we took an unplanned detour into the Palm Valley section of the Finke Gorge NP and chose to stay two nights. The track in is High clearance 4WD due to driving in the Finke River bed. Distance from the start of the track to the campground is 16.5km which took us 1hr15mins. 

This beautiful campground has great amenities with flush toilets, solar showers and community firepits. 

Palm Valley Campground

Campground

Surprisingly we again met with familiar faces - Simon and Carly, who we had met at the William Creek pub. And another friendship was made. 

Gorge Cliffs

The walks in Palm Valley were varied and challenging, as was the 4WD track into the Cycad Gorge and the Palm Valley gorge.

Cycad (Macrozamia macdonnellii)

This track gets you to Palm Valley  Gorge.

4WD Track

Gets Rougher

And worse

 There are 2 walks you can undertake:  Arankaia Walk - 2km loop, 1hr or Mpulungkinya Walk -5km loop, 2 hrs. We opted for the shorter one which still took us 2 hrs. Views from the top of the gorge are quite impressive.

Gorge end

View from cliff top

Palms

Leaving the beauty of Palm Valley and the challenge of the 4WD track, we stopped in at Hermannsburg Historic Centre to explore the history of the Lutheran Community from 1877-1982. 

Colonist's House - 1885

Old Church - 1896

Hermannsburg is also the home town of the late Albert Namatjira, the aboriginal artist. Unfortunately our time for exploring was cut short when we were informed that Alice Springs was going into a Covid-19, 3 day lock-down at 1pm that day. We could have spent several hours exploring this area

Being not sure what that exactly meant for us, as we had a booking at the van park, we drove towards "The Alice" hoping we would be able to get in. Stopped at a Police roadblock about 10km west we were informed we could only go in if we required food or fuel. Fortunately, as we were refueling, the van park contacted us and informed us we were able to continue to the park. Upon arrival we extended our stay for a further 3 days so that we would be able to complete the required time, after the lockdown, prior to returning to QLD to avoid quarantine.

During our extended stay in 'The Alice' we took the opportunity to visit the Kathleen Buzzacott Art Studio where we spent 2 hrs  finding out about her aboriginal history, the way in which she paints, and the history behind dot painting. 

Children catching
desert frogs

Red-tailed Black
Cockatoos

 Definitely worth a visit and yes, we did end up purchasing two of her paintings, albeit the second one when we returned home.

This was followed by a trip to Simpsons Gap. On arrival you travel past the Ranger Station. Take the time to read the information displayed here and explore the short interpretive nature walk, 500m, prior to continuing to the Gap.

Ghost Gum

Looking East

 

Simpsons Gap looking West

Sunlight through the Gap

A Journey of Discovery & Learning - Part 5

 The Northern Territory (NT) Experience - 13 June to 15th July:

We finally crossed the State border into the NT.

NT Border Rest Stop

Coffee Time

 How exciting - another State to explore - well, part of the State! We planned to stay 7 days in Alice Springs (AS) before exploring the West MacDonnell Ranges.

Our first night in the NT we camped at the Henbury Meteorite Nature Park - 15km of the Stuart Highway.

Enroute Henbury

A really fascinating area, and one of many meteorite craters to be found in the NT. 

Henbury Meteorite Crater

Diana at Henbury

There was another couple camped here - Andrew and Jo - and we enjoyed a friendly chat around the campfire. Andrew and Diana enjoyed a laugh whilst climbing onto the back of one of the cars from the "Shitbox Rally" that had stopped in at the campsite. 

Rally Car & Diana

This is a charity fundraising rally that started on the Gold Coast and travelled to the Cape and down to 'The Alice' in 10 days!! 

Our next 7 days were spent at the G'day Mate van park. We needed to carry out some small repairs on "Ada" as well as washing clothes and bed linen after our dusty travels.

Whilst we were here we visited Anzac Hill (so windy that we nearly got blown away)

Cenotaph

Alice Springs

 

The information displayed here is exceptionally well done. This is one place well worth the visit if you are interested in Australian Military History and the conflicts we were involved in.

Our next port of call was the Old Telegraph Station. Although we didn't actually go in, we did however walk around the gardens and some of the trails.

 

The Olive Pink Botanic Gardens was another area we explored where we discovered different plants and their uses by the indigenous people of the region.

Plant use information

Another Plant Use

Information

The Path

We spent a really interesting 3 hours at the Old Ghan Railway and National Transport Museum. Here you can see transport from yester year to todays modern transport vehicles. The history of the Old Ghan Railway is also on display. Definitely an area not to be missed when visiting 'The Alice'.

Information

 

Still works

 

Early Pop-top Van

 

We also travelled out to the Napwerte Conservation Reserve to view the Ewaninga Rock Carvings (petroglyphs) of the Arrernte men. 

 

Area Map

Rock formation

Historical Information

On our trip back to 'The Alice' we took a small detour off the main road and found ourselves on a section of the Finke Desert Race track. 

Beside the track

 

 

Diana walking the track

10 to go

 

Memorial

We considered  driving along part of it but changed our minds. Would have been interesting no doubt.

Kings Canyon & Rainbow Valley: 

Leaving 'The Alice' on the 21st June we travelled south to the Ernest Giles track. This was supposedly a shorter route to Kings Canyon! This "short-cut" actually cut off about 140km from the drive along the bitumen. Although there was some spectacular scenery and it reduced the distance, it certainly didn't shorten the time, nor energy and concentration required, to drive it. The trip along the 100km of dirt/sand took 3.5 hrs. 

The Ernest Giles Track

View along the track

 Our total time to get to Kings Canyon was over 5hrs. By the bitumen was just over 4hrs! Lesson learned - no future "short-cuts"!

We decided to "spoil" ourselves whilst staying at Kings Canyon and booked 2 nights in a deluxe spa room at the Kings Canyon Resort --- and so worth it. The buffet breakfast each morning was superb, as was the meal at night. 

View from the spa

 

Outdoor sitting area

Rim Walk start

Although we didn't tackle the Rim Walk (6km) and 500+ uneven steps to start with, we thoroughly enjoyed exploring the interpretive Kings Creek Walk and the Kathleen Springs Walk - a combined total of 6.5km but so much easier than climbing the steep Rim walk! The flora in Kings Creek was surprising with superb river gums and an amazing showing of winter wildflowers.

River Gums

Rock formation

The geology of the area also captivated our visual senses.

 

End of Track

There were no spectacular sunset or sunrise for us here as unfortunately it rained on both days. But, the spa bath after the walks was wonderful and we left KC totally refreshed and relaxed.

We had planned to travel to the Red Rock Gorge campground, in the West Macdonnell National Park, via the Mereenie Loop but after discussions with the local ranger we elected to go back to "The Alice" and out along the Larapinta Road. Our change of plan actually provided us with the opportunity to detour to the Rainbow Valley Conservation Reserve for a one night stay. So glad we did. The spectacular view of the sun setting over the valley was exhilarating and provided us with another beautiful memory of this wonderful country.

Rainbow Valley View

Rainbow Valley Sunset

 

Around the Campfire