Wednesday 25 July – Today was a very full day, but I’ll start at the beginning.  Up a bit after 7.30, so managed to leave to fulfil today’s plans at about 8.45.  We drove into town and filled up with petrol first.  Alice Springs is a very nice place to look at – lovely tree lined streets, wide streets and nicely laid out.  We haven’t been to the shopping areas yet – that’s saved for tomorrow.

From there we headed west along the Larapinta Drive towards the Western McDonnell Ranges where we had a list of things we wanted to see.  The furthest spot we wanted to visit was Ormiston Gorge – about 135km from Alice, so we decided that on the way out we would stop off at all the points of interest on the left hand side of the road, and on the return we’d see the others.  Our first stop not far out of town was the grave of John Flynn (Flynn of the Inland), which I remember from my College visit here in 1961.  That was the only stopping point for that side of the road, so we got to Ormiston Gorge at about 20 to 11.

First we did the short waterhole walk, then went onto the Ghost gum lookout point which was 2.6 km round trip, with a beautiful view from the lookout.  Obviously to be a lookout, the walk is a steep one, and this one had lots of steps which had been put in.  Once back from that we had a bit of lunch before starting the return drive to Alice.  I chatted to a young woman at the waterhole with a tiny baby in a pouch on her front and two other toddlers playing around in the sand.  It turns out that she is the rangers wife, the baby is five weeks old today, and she called this their front garden.  They live there in one of five residences there for rangers and their families.

Next stop was at the ochre pits, a place where the earth was various colours and where the local aborigine tribes gathered the ochre for their ceremonial body painting.  We only needed to do a short walk there as they were quite close to the carpark.

From there we went to the Serpentine Gorge, and again did a good walk to the waterhole in the gorge where one brave (or silly) man had a swim.  I could hear him gasping for breath when he immersed his whole body, and I called out: ‘Is that really cold or am I asking a silly question?’  He replied; ‘Silly question!’  He got out pretty well straight away, but told us it was good for the soul!  It was another really beautiful spot.

Ellery Creek Big Hole was our next stopping point, and a short walk from the carpark took us to this really big permanent waterhole where a group of young adults were having a swim, but again it was really cold.  There are warning signs around these water holes about the freezing water in the winter months, and the risks attached to staying in the water too long.

One of the features of the Centre that I have always wanted to see is Standley Chasm – our next stopping off point and walk.  It was incredible!  Very steep sheer cliffs and the chasm really narrow for its whole depth.   The sun was getting down a bit in the sky, so we didn’t see the sun shining through the gap, but it was very impressive anyway.  That was another solid half hour walk into the chasm, though once in there it was fairly flay, though a bit stony.  The difficulty with these walks is the very rough terrain you are walking on – you have to watch every step you take as it is so rough and rocky.

By now it was close to 5pm, and we still had Simpsons Gap to see.  I had been there in 1961, and remembered it quite well.  We didn’t walk right into this one – probably because my knees were not behaving too well today – but walked on the sandy creek bed and took some photos there before returning to the caravan park at about 6pm.

Had our showers when we got back, then I did a load of washing and pegged it out (it’s quite mild tonight), and had the always exciting baked beans on toast for tea.  That was as good as I could manage tonight.

Now it’s to bed and a good night’s sleep in preparation for what tomorrow may bring.