West Macdonnell Ranges

16th June 2013

We woke early and seemed to be on track to leave with breakfast and packing down complete. However, the caravan park put on pancakes for the park guests right opposite our spot, so the girls thought this was heaven and went across to the camp kitchen for a second breakfast.

We also met up with Richard & Christine again, who we had met at Eighty Mile Beach, which was amazing. So after we were packed, we went down and caught up with them over a coffee for about an hour or so and talked about our travels, which was great. It's amazing how you can keep bumping into people when you travel, it's one of the many things I love about it!

So we set off at about 10.30am and then had to refuel & grab a few more supplies before making our way out of Alice Springs, which again took about an hour. So finally by 11.30am, we said goodbye to Alice Springs and headed into the West MacDonnell Ranges.

The drive west of Alice was just spectacular, with the West Macs (as the locals call it) stretching for about 110kms with many beautiful gorges and hikes throughout, again another magical part of this great country of ours.

Shortly after leaving town, our first stop was Simpsons Gap. Here, was a section of the ranges which had literally been separated by erosion over millions of years leaving the gap we saw today. It was a beaut little spot and a great start to the West Macs.

Simpsons Gap

The next stop was about 30kms away at Standley Chasm, which again was a section of the ranges which had been eroded away this time leaving a narrow gap with sheer towering walls up to the gorge rim, it really was amazing!

                 

                        The girls & I at Standley Chasm                     The girls at Standley Chasm

We then made our way to the Ochre Pits, again about 30kms down the road. Here we found a river bed which had carved through the low lying areas of the range exposing beautiful ochres which the local aboriginals have been using for thousands of years, the colours were awesome.

We then had to stop in at Glen Helen Gorge Resort ( although when we drove in it was ar from a resort) to purchase a permit to travel the Mereenie Loop Road (which we are now going to do tomorrow) which is a gavel road about 150kms long running through aboriginal land. After topping up on fuel and getting our permit we headed off looking for our spot to camp for the night.

We decided to check out  Red Bank Gorge only 15kms down the road and boy were we glad did. The camp area was on a high ridge looking out into the ranges, it was just a superb camp spot, in fact one of the best we have been to. We set up camp, gathered firewood and got set for the night. Chloe pulled out the violin again at sunset which was beautiful.

Our campsite - Red Bank Gorge

Sunset over Red Bank Gorge

There were a few signs up in the camp area regarding Dingo safety and it wasn't long after sundown that we heard them start howling in the ranges around us, it really was great to hear. We spent the night toasting marshmallows around the camp fire, a great way to finish the day.

The girls toasting marshmallows