NT Day 7

The next morning (Thursday), I drove out to the Western MacDonnal Ranges. The sealed road only runs as far as Glen Helen Gorge, so I stopped there, with the plan of working my way back to Alice Springs, seeing the accessible sites on the way.

When I go to Glen Helen Gorge I stopped at the guesthouse there, and walked to the Gorge, a short distance away.

This was the largest open body of water I saw on the whole trip. The tourist attractions along the West MacDonnel Ranges are mostly a series of waterholes, which attract wildlife, and allow plants to grow. Glen Helen gorge is fairly small, but with a large waterhole.

After seeing the gorge I headed back to the guesthouse for lunch. After lunch I was able to attend a Ranger talk about animal signs (tracks and droppings). The ranger had a large mat with stencilled animal tracks, and a series of plastic containers with sample droppings. He challenged us to match the tracks and droppings to the animal that left them. Very interesting. He also had a few bones and skulls from animals, which he handed around and asked us to identify. Some of the animals were wallaby's, dingos, emus, a large lizard, and kangaroos. After the talk I found myself keeping an eye open for tracks and droppings, and was able to identify a number of them over the next few days.

After the walk I drive back towards Alice Springs and stopped at Ormiston Gorge and walked to the waterhole.

The waterhole here is smaller, but with a kind of sandy beach. It is apparently a popular swimming spot in the warmer months.

I then drove to the Ochre Pits and waked down to see them. The Ochre pits were a source of Ochre used for ceremonies by the indigenous peoples of the area. Ochre was traded up and down the continent, so good sources were highly prized.

By this time it was getting late, so I headed back to Alice Springs.