We were on a mission to explore 3 different places today. However 1st stop was to see if there was any diesel at Glen Helen ( they had run out on Sunday). They did but at $1:90/ litre I only got just enough to get us back to Alice.
This is supposed to be the most popular place to stay, but I suspect it is only beacause they have power, water and clean flushing toilets. They see the same dusty ground as us and we still much prefer our quiet sites. There was an old traditional hut out front that needed a bit of repair but was interesting to see how the ancestors may have lived.
1st stop was at the Ochre Pits. A river bed surrounded by an array of different layers of soil, including limestone and red ochre. The cliffs looked extremely fragile yet up close were anything but. This is a sacred area and it is prohibited to dig or take any of the ochre.
A few hundred metres up the road I made a hard right turn to the Neil Hargrave lookout. Apart from the litter strewn all around, there was a spot where a reflector plate was angled into a non powered dish and a spot where you could rest your phone to get a tiny cellular signal. Remembering this is 200km away from the nearest tower in Alice Springs, it is pretty amazing (and it actually worked to make a phone call too!)
Serpentine Gorge was next on the list. This was an easy 1.1km walk along a flat track to a Gorge that is symbolic to the Indigenous with a deep body of water to prevent both man and animal from entering. Apparently that means that Dylsn is neither of those. He had run off ahead as he always does in an attempt to expel his excess energy, and had started climbing the cliff face. But this time the cliff won and he had fallen in. As we reached the Gorge, there he was huddled between rocks on the other side, cowering low in the hope that we wouldn’t notice.... forgetting that all the other tourists we met were having a giggle and telling us exactly what happened.
We noticed as we were leaving that there was a trail to the left indicating a lookout. For some reason it didn’t compute that the word lookout meant climb up a ginormous hill until your lungs were bursting out of your rib cage to see the same Gorge from a different angle. Nonetheless up we went. With a few stops to admire the different views (and maybe suck in some much needed oxygen whilst convincing my legs that we were nearly there), we got there and were greeted with a view that only a lookout could offer, and that pictures could never replicate.
Thankfully the descent was much easier and we got to the car with an eagerness to see the next view.
Ellery Gorge was our last planned stop for the day. Once again this was a beautiful area, only this time it was a public swimming place as well. However..... the water was at a temperature somewhere around -5 degrees yet not frozen. I have never felt water so cold - not even an ice bucket. This was literally burning my legs and despite 3 attempts, I couldn’t stay in there for longer than one minute.
The kids didn’t agree with me though, and showed how tough they were by actually diving in, but getting out again immediately to try and ward off the hypothermia in the19 degree sun. Dylan actually had us worried for a bit as he started feeling unwell, but soon picked up as he warmed up.
This was our last day out here, and will be heading back to the big 4 in Alice Springs tomorrow.
We will stop and have a look at Stanley Chasm on the way, but mostly it will be about having showers, doing the washing and getting prepared for the trip to Katherine.
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