NT Ross River, Glen Helen

Monday 17 July

Ringneck

Had to shop and some problems finding a park with trailer in tow.  Could not restock our wine/beer because of 2pm opening time.  Drove 70km to Ross River Resort in the East MacDonnell Range.  We were pleased with our site there, shady, grassed, on power. Not at all crowded though apparently there was little room over the weekend.
Amenities were just OK but I really appreciated the washing machine.  Big surprise was finding Barbara and Ian Kent staying there in a cabin.
The resort was adjacent to the road for N'Dhala National Park, 4WD only.  The first obstacle was water and David decided against driving there after wading through.  Barbara & Ian in their rented Pajero did go but found it unexciting.
 
Tuesday 18 July
Drove to nearby Trephina Gorge by 10am for the one hour 2km walk near the picnic area. Moderate difficulty, very interesting.

Largest ghost gum in Australia - 33m, over 300 years old

Another ghost gum Corymbia aparrerinja

 

 Two different mistletoes above and below

Hooded Robin

Eucalytus gamophylla Blue Mallee

Triodia pungens

Spinifex Pigeon

Gidgee Acacia cambagei

Hopbush Dodonea

Wednesday 19 July
Cold, very windy day.  Left Ross River and drove to Alice for supplies and fuel.  Stopped en route at Corroboree Rock and Emily Gap.

Corroboree Rock from different aspects

 Emily Gap has rock paintings related to Caterpillar Dreaming.

On to the West MacDonnell Ranges where we planned to stay at Glen Helen Resort.  We were very unhappy with the site allotted to us, just bare earth cheek by jowl with caravans.  Sought an alternative and ended up on a great grassed site all by ourselves, right opposite the main resort building, near much better amenities than the caravan section and on power!  Better still, we were close enough to get free wi-fi from there ( though it is often very slow).  A sign at Ross River said that neither resort had internet access since NBN.

Main building for Glen Helen Resort

Glen Helen Gorge sunset

Thursday 20 July 
Drove few km to Ormiston Gorge and chose a moderate loop walk of 7km to Ormiston Pound. We had 2l of water, sandwiches, apple and high hopes.  The first half was a bit rocky underfoot in the beginning but soon became an easy path up and down gentle slopes until we reached Finke River. The river was very wide, no water, just big boulders.  However, we could not see the next track marker on the other side and crossed diagonally in the wrong direction.  Fortunately some other people could be seen way over to our left, so we rock-hopped to rejoin the correct trail.  From then on, we had kilometres of rock-hopping, very tiring, especially the last hour up the gorge.
Glad to have coffees at the only cafe in the area, well-patronised and also selling meat packs, bread and UHT milk to the campers there.
Our 3-4 hour walk turned out to be 5 hours.  I was exhausted but David had few problems.  We drove towards Alice Springs 17km to see the Ochre Pits with red, white and yellow stripes, quite extensive.  Even the 300m walk to them was hard for me.
Tried to book dinner at Glen Helen but booked out so we decided to stay another day and booked dinner for the following night.  Easy to cook potato, carrot, broccoli and zucchini, then heat up the leftover pork from last night.  Apricots, fruit cake and chocolate for dessert.
Friday 21 July
Woke around 7:30 as usual, looking forward to a 2 hour walk in the Glen Helen gorge area.  We just took one bottle of water, no food.  Big mistake. First half of the walk was great, an easy section of the Larapinta Trail paralleling Finke River.

Whistling Kite (I think)

Finke River

Window

Cave

Mistletoe berries

Arid area

Wetlands

Finke R crossing up & downstream

Lysiana exocarpi

Mulla Mulla

After walking 3.5km in an hour we came to a toilet and shelter shed, the latter occupied by a cheery young group.  Then we made the mistake of following a 4WD track back, easy walking but with no shade and no interesting points.  I think that leg was about 4.5 km and I had to force my aching back along by singing marching songs and swinging my arms in time (that helped ease the back pain).  My favourite song had improvised lyrics:  It's a long way back to Glen Helen ...Goodbye Finke River, farewell Natural Springs (dry!)...back to my own sweet camp.

Only 3 hours walking but a problem with little water.

Had dinner at the Resort, a restaurant rated 5 star by ?  Dining room was very upmarket with good paintings, white cloths, silver ... We shared an entree, Hoisin Duck Spring Rolls with Asian salad - good but 2 small rolls.  David had Kangaroo Steak with plum sauce  & veges; I had twice cooked pork belly, black rice & veges. His dish was good; mine was very bland.  $99 for the meal including glass of wine and a beer.  Well worth it.

Earlier in the day David went to retrieve the car and I walked down the road home, feeling very tired.  I saw a car in the distance, thought it was David and pretended to hitch a ride.  A very nice couple stopped for me.  GULP.  I raised my glass in the restaurant to thank the lady who then walked over and asked if we belonged to QNC.  Eleanor and John Hangar were en route north to the Gulf.  Amazing the people you meet in the strangest places.

Saturday 22 July

Before leaving, we walked a few hundred metres to look at the waterhole and the Finke River running through the gap.  All very pretty.

Swimming hole also featured a coot and a grebe