Tuesday 7th June 2005
We were up by 6:am this morning, however it wa about 7:15am before we
drove out of the caravan park and headed west on Larapinta Drive.
We drove past the Standley Chasm entry before turning onto Namatjira
Drive and continued west on this road. Our First stop on this drive was
at 'Ellery Creek Big Hole' where we had a very very short walk to a large
waterhole in a gorge or gap between the red rock of the ranges on either
side. The wind blowing strongly through the gap and over the cold water
was acting just like an air conditioner and 'One of us' was quick to say
it was freezing and for once the 'Other One' wasn't arguing with her (not
that he ever does....).
Our next stop was at Serpentine Gorge which required a twenty minute
walk from the car park to reach this beautiful little gorge which also
had a pool of water encased between the steep sides of the red gorge rocks.
It really was a picture looking through the gorge and over the water onto
the sunlit white trunks and green leaves of the trees against the red
cliff face on the other side. Once again, photographs do not do this location
justice and you will have to take our word for it, however the photograph
included on this page may give some idea of what can be seen here.
There was no water at out next stop which was the 'Ochre Pits' which
are in fact the side of a creek bank where the aboriginal community obtained
ochre for their ceremonies. The bank included colours of red, yellow and
some even looked a little green or blue. It was only a 300 metre walk
from the car park and is recommended viewing if passing this way.
From here it was not far before we came to Ormiston Gorge where there
is a ranger station and small shop, however 'One of Us' was rather disappointed
when the 'Other One' had to tell her the ice cream shop was closed. The
walk into Ormiston Gorge was only about 500 metres and once there it was
easy to see why this location was pretty popular with the tourists and
locals alike. On show here are the spectacular geology and landforms of
the MacDonnell Ranges around a near permanent waterhole estimated to be
up to 14 metres deep at its southern end. The face of the gorge shows
layer after layer of rock formation and the area around it contains an
interesting variety of native fauna and flora, including a number of relict
plant species remaining from a tropical past.
About five kilometres further down Namatjira Drive we came to Glen Helen
Gorge where there is a resort situated, however, athough the gorge may
not have had the appeal that some of the others had on us, 'One of Us'
did get her ice cream here so she was pretty happy with that stop.
After we left Glen Helen Gorge we also left the sealed road so we deflated
the tyres of the patrol to about 25 psi to smooth out the corrugations
in the road before we continued west on Namatjira Drive for about 37 kilometres,
during which time we passed the entrance to Redbank Gorge. As we hadn't
heard a lot about this gorge and we were not sure how long it was going
to take us to get to Kings Canyon on the unsealed road, we decided not
to take the 16 kilometre diversion to that gorge at that time.
We now found ourselves traveling south and made a stop at a rest area
on top of a hill around 12 kilometres further on. The view from this stop
was brilliant, particularly over Tnorala (Gosse Bluff) which is the impact
area of a 600 metre wide comet over 142.5 million years ago. About thirty
five kilometres later we turned west again onto the Mereenie Loop Road
which travels through aboriginal land and required a permit to travel
this road, fortunately we had obtained ours the previous day.
From here it was another one hundred and fifty four kilometres to Kings
Canyon on some corrugated and at times stony road, however we made it
without any problems and only one stop at a lookout that gave distant
views of the ranges around Kings Canyon. We arrived at Kings Canyon Resort
at about 3:10pm and after paying the $26 for an un powered site for one
night, we set the tent up and huffed and puffed into the blow up mattresses
(with an air compressor of course) and made ready for a night away from
the caravan.
Once set up we drove to Kings Canyon itself and after looking at the
short walk, decided to take it right then, instead of waiting until morning.
We set off on the walk that took us along the bottom of the Canyon for
about thirty minutes, providing stunning views of the canyon and the walls
on either side. This is an amazing location with so many postcard photograph
options, well worth the drive to get here. We walked out of the canyon
about an hour after entering it and as the sun was starting to set.
We then returned to the Kings Canyon Resort and enjoyed a chicken and
salad dinner before settling for a well deserved nights rest. |