Posted on 14 July 2025
by
Mum I got up early today for my turn to do the Ghost Gum walk. It was gorgeous to
watch the sunrise into the gorge. I found lots of wildflowers and rocks to soak
in with the track all to myself. Once back down to the river I decided to wade
through the water rather than returning the same way. This meant there was a bit
of rock hopping but there were a lot more birds down by the water than on the
walk in.
Back at camp we all loaded into the car to go check out the Ochre Cliffs. This
was a much better view of the ochre outcrop then we saw in South Australia, as
we got to walk along the base of the cliffs and could see the different colours
(all due to the amount of iron - or not - in the mudstone and siltstone). It was
pretty cool to see the near vertical layers of ochre deposits.
Next stop was Ellery Creek Big Hole for a freezing cold swim and lunch. This
time, although Theo was the first one in, all of us went for a "swim" (more like
quick submersion then out again). While drying off we watched the zebra finches
flit around the waters edge.
After returning to camp we headed off in the late afternoon to go on the Ghost
Gum walk as a family. Once again taking the gorge floor route to return to camp.
I really enjoyed seeing the gorge at both sunrise and sunset!
Posted on 13 July 2025
by
Mum Today we explored a few of the western highlights of the Tjoritja / West
MacDonnell Ranges Park. After seeing the Tnorala Conservation Reserve (Gosse
Bluff) from the lookout the previous night we decided to backtrack and drive out
to have a proper look inside the crater itself. This is the site of an impact
crater from a 600m wide meteorite, that crashed here 142 million years ago. We
went on a short walk to a lookout for a good view from just above the crater
floor to the surrounding rocks.
Next we headed back into the National Park stopping at Larapinta / Finke River
for lunch and to hang out next to the river. Theo was the only one brave enough
to go for a swim in the very cold water.
Back at camp John went for a walk up to the Ghost Gum lookout and down into
Ormiston Gorge before dinner. He manged to see a Euro (small wallaby) amongst
the rocks.
Posted on 12 July 2025
by
Mum We hooked up once again this morning and headed west through the Watarrka
National Park until we reached the rather bumpy dirt roads of Larapinta Drive
(formally the Mereenie Loop and now the Red Centre Way). From here we headed
north than east through a few smaller ranges and even found our first field of
wildflowers. Eventually we hit the bitumen again at the western end of Tjoritja
/ West MacDonnell Ranges. We stopped at the Tylers Pass lookout for a 360 view
of the ranges and the Tnorala / Gosse Bluff.
We pulled into camp at Ormiston Gorge just before sunset with enough time to
have a quick look at the gorge before dinner.
