Fri, 5th July, 2024 Bush camp by Roe Creek, west of Alice Springs to 2 Mile Campground by Finke River, West MacDonnell Ranges National Park, NT (exploring gorges etc)

0 degrees at 7am!!! Ice formed on the aluminium surround. Clear sky. Took the heater a while to get us warm.

Maximum is only going to get to 16 so I don’t think we will be having a dip in any of the gorges today.

Packed up and headed towards Simpson Gap.

Stopped at the Ranger/Info Station and he was very helpful and had lots of good information. He said the water in 2 Mile Lagoon in the Finke River is very salty. Their stories are their ancestors came from sea creatures when it was a big inland sea.

Into the car park and read the info in the picnic shelter.

Headed down the track.

The sun was still coming up behind the rock. It was very chilly in the shade with the breeze coming down the gorge. The water is flowing at the moment down the creek.

A bit more sun brightened up the gap.

We continued along the track. A dad and daughter pointed out a rock wallaby on the other side. Hard to see unless they move.

Looking back down the creek.

The rocks have interesting shapes.

As we continued on I got great reflection photos.

At the end - selfie time again.

Another nice piece of Nature’s artwork.

Back to the camper for a cuppa. Chatted with a family from Melbourne. One son wanted to save up and get a truck with camper like ours.

Back out and we turn onto the Larapinta Road. Nice view back along the escarpments and Honeymoon Gap.

Lumpy hills on the right. The escarpments continue on the left.

Passed the turn off into Standley Chasm - need a separate permit so we didn’t bother as we have visited all this area in 1986 but it will be good to visit the area again.

We turned off onto Namatjira Drive to explore the gorges etc of the West MacDonnell Ranges National Park. We will come back around via the Larapinta Drive later. The mountains grow.

Lots of great hideaways along here.

We are running parallel with the sandy Hugh River - there are campsites available along the edge of the river.

Crossed the causeway across the river - only a small pool of water here.

Rolling through the low grass-covered hills with walls of rock sticking out of the hills. Lots of different shapes and colours.

Across Ellery Creek. The ranges close in as we enter this section of the National Park.

Into the picnic area of Ellery Creek Big Hole - one of the largest permanent water holes of this National Park.

Checked out the info board.

Walked down to the waterhole. I just got the Whistling Kite in the picture as it flew into the gorge, whistling of course. Then a crow followed it.

Lots of debris against the tree from the recent rain which flooded through here.

Lots of budgies tweeting. Still too cold for a dip but I did get my fingers wet.

Back to the camper for lunch which we had inside as the breeze is still very cold.

Headed back out to the main road. Next stop is Serpentine Gorge. Onto a gravel road for 5km. Interesting rock formations as we head in.

Lots of information for hikers. I am confused by the ‘ranges’ as there seem to be rows of hills etc. I noticed on this map that it says Serpentine Gorge is in Heavitree Range which of course goes down to Heavitree Gap that you go through to drive into Alice Springs from the south. We will just do the Gorge walk.

There is a road but only for foot traffic now (1.1km walk). Crossed the rocky creek twice. Lots of birds tweeting here too.

Into the gorge area. Nice reflections.

Amazing how these trees survive on the sides of the rocks.

There is a bird calling like a Whip Bird. Walked around a bit and we can see some palms at the back.

Figured we would do a selfie at each one.

Back to the main road and continue on. Skipped the Ochre Pits.

Next turn off takes us down 8km bitumen drive into Ormiston Gorge. Spotted the old cattle yards from when this area was under Glen Helen Station. Crossed the creek. We are running parellel with the sandy Ormiston Creek with a few pools of water and nice rock faces.

Very popular spot and not enough car parks (the ranger mentioned that before). There are long parks but some idiot in his ute took one so no room for us. I took the info photos while Steve waited with the truck in case someone left.

We continued around and found a pull off beside the entrance to the walk so parked up there. Nice paved pathway down to the water.

Lots of people enjoying the sunshine and there are a few having a swim.

Obviously still more water in it than normal as the steps lead down into the water. So we walked around the end to explore the other side.

Nice tree.

There is a walk to the Lookout, might skip that one too.

A couple of Cormorants sitting on the rock so there must be fish in here.

Nice squiggly art work on the rocks by Nature.

Around to the end.

Zoomed in on the ‘caves’.

Back to the camper for a cuppa then continued on - nice views as we drive beside the creek again on our way out.

Along to Glen Helen Gorge.

There is a lodge near it which is under refurbishment (Wikicamps says Discovery Parks owns it and it is due to open soon though it doesn’t look like it). You can see the construction buildings and fences at the top of the rise.

The National Parks put in an alternative walk around to the gorge. Warmed up at last - took our jumpers off for the walk.

Lots of interesting rocks to look at as we walk down along a little creek till we meet the reeds and then climb back up and see the gorge again.

Looks like the water level was up here too.

Followed the ‘pathways’ through the grass and sand. Across the stepping stones. Lots of strips of water to get around then we got to the water’s edge.

Still too wet to get any closer to the gorge walls but I zoomed in to see beyond the gorge.

Back to the camper and just down the road is the Finke River crossing - just flowing.

We turned off before that and headed into 2 Mile Campground. Freedom camping along the river edge (Rebecca and Clive told us about it). We passed the first lagoon area then some more campers. Out into an open area with a big lagoon. Very nice and popular by the number of people camped here.

The wind is cold as the sun starts to set. Steve checked over the truck while I went for a wander to take photos.

A rock wall on the other side.

Next section where the river is trickling through the reeds.

Turned around and headed back to the camper for drinks - inside, too cool outside.

After drinks I worked on my blog as I am behind again. Steve went for walk this time and chatted with some other travellers who have 4 kids!!

The sun set behind the hill so no nice colours etc.