Day 135 - Friday 12 May - Orange rock and waterholes

Day 135

Friday

12 May 2017

Alice Springs – West MacDonnell Range

I was awake early and happy to read as Paul continued to sleep for a bit, I had the mouse for company, still scratching around down below. We eventually crawled out at 8.15am and began organising ourselves for the day. 

We packed up everything that we needed and then jumped in the Getz heading back out to the West MacDonnell Ranges to complete the section we didn’t do the other day.

Our first stop was Simpsons Gap and is is only about 20min away from Alice. We parked in the shade and made our way along the path. It became cooler as we wandered further into the gap. I would say it was peaceful, but with drones buzzing far overhead like angry wasps, it wasn’t.

Yet again the view was beautiful, with orange walls reaching to the sky and a small waterhole between the gap. We even spied three black-footed rock wallabies climbing the rocks and chasing around.

It was only a short walk and we were back at the car and the warmth and heading on to Standley Chasm.

This is the only paid part of the range. It is a piece of land that is privately owned and has a café and small caravan park. We paid our $12 each and then followed the easy grade path through the bush and macrazamia palms until we came to the chasm. The walls shot up sheer rock above us. They were smooth and cool to touch. The gap was a little wide and we weren’t able to touch both sides with our hands as we walked along.  

Once we had taken our photos and enjoyed the scene we meandered back towards the car and began the last part of the drive to Ellery Creek Big Hole. We arrived at 11.45am, after taking the crappy dirt road from Namatjira Drive. What a bumpy stretch it was.  

Once in, we had to find a park as it was quite busy then we made our way to the waterhole. The scene opened up as we rounded the corner and saw a dozen people painting, no wonder the car park was busy. It was a beautiful landscape to be painting. 

I walked to the water’s edge, took off my shoes and waded in the water as I took photos and watched the fish dart around. It really was a serene spot to just stop. We moved around the waterhole taking in the various views, I could have stayed there for hours just admiring its beauty. 

We took one last glimpse and then returned to the car park and had lunch at a picnic bench. The flies were just starting to become friendly so it was good to get back into the car and begin the trek home, now about an hour away.

We stopped for fuel on our way back to the park and then we set the car ready for moving day tomorrow. We made ourselves at home outside enjoying the fine weather while reading and going through the photos.

I rang QBE to put in a claim for my diamond ring after noticing a diamond missing last night. It was all pretty straight forward thankfully, but I wont be able to do anything until we are home. I hope the rest stay put.

Paul and I had a look at the map and made some decisions about our next few days. We want to get to Daly Waters, but it is 10hours from here, so we probably do it in two stints, but who knows once you are on the road.

We watched new campers come in to the park as the afternoon slipped away. Once the mozzies were buzzing we packed up and came in. I went for a shower while Paul put everything away ready for our move tomorrow. Once I was back we got into getting dinner prepared. For a change Paul used the bbqs to cook our steaks.
The night slowly disappeared as we read and then it was time to turn out the lights.