Judy & Brian Tour Oz: Alice Springs NT Ellery Creek Big Hole Serpentine Gorge Ochre pits Ormiston Gorge

One of the reasons for coming back down the centre and staying at the Alice was to check out Ormiston Gorge, but idle chat from fellow travels, the distance out there and not feeling brilliant, we sort of let it go. At 1130 today we decided that on spur of the moment that we really ought to drag our sorry butts out there, and so we did.

We filled up and headed west out along what will become know world wide as Red Centre Way. You drive out directly west between the ranges that make up the West Macdonnell Range, and spectacular it is. Its every bit as good as the Kimberly, and it's just here. (well, you have to get to the Alice first of course). This is a truly ancient and inspiring land. I can't describe these ranges, you'll have to check out the pictures. We had been out here 2 years ago and been to Standley Chasm and Simpson Gap before taking the turn off to Hermansburg (see our blog from 2012), but this time we took the other leg of the Y toward Glen Helen.

At about this time, I remembered that we purchased a DIY tour guide app for the iPod back then that covered this drive. I fired it up, cutting Kenny Rodgers off in his prime, but it was great. here is this voice telling you all about the history and the geology and culture of this place, which is pretty special in both indigenous and european history. First stop is Ellery Creek Big Hole, a pretty decent sized waterhole at the base of one of the gaps/gorges that break up this northern range of the Macdonnells. It just felt so calm and quiet and 'right' to be there, any thoughts of 'just another bloody gorge' syndrome disappeared in an instant.

And then there was the Serpentine Gorge which was just as nice but in a totally different way. We didn't bother checking out the campground, which is at the site of the one time Serpentine Chalet, one of the earliest accommodation places. All that's left is concrete slabs, and well, who cares.

Next stop was the Ochre Pits, where the aborigines came to stock up on face-paint. It's basically a dry river bed (well, dry at the moment anyhow), one bank of which is rock strata stood on end. The rock has varying degrees of iron in it, which gives a full range of colours from near white to dark brown. It's totally taboo to touch the ochre for non-custodians, or else a $5000 fine. As you walk down the river bed looking at the rocks and thinking about how they might have dug some out and ground it into a paste, you can't help but think about how long this has been going on, some 40,000 years, and feeling rather small yet highly privileged.

Leaving that behind, we went further out to Ormiston Gorge, which again is spectacular in its own way, but by now we had had enough and after a 'soft' viewing from the short paved walk, elected for refreshments from the kiosk.

It was late, we was getting tired and we were 120km from the Alice. We elected not to go even further out to Glen Helen or Redbank gorge or Mt Sondor, but that's the beauty of travel, leaving something to entice you back. I reckon a few days at Glen Helen might be the go...