OUTBACK ODYSSEY - WESTERN MACDONNELS

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Day 11 - Alice Springs to Glen Helen Gorge

This next leg of the trip (from Alice to Uluru) was the part that we were all really looking forward to. We started it in style with free pancakes at the caravan park on Sunday morning. The Macdonnell Ranges caravan park staff cook up these dinner plate size pancakes on a huge griddle, about 20 at a time. You can go back for seconds (or thirds, or fourths) but you have to be prepared to stand in line for a while. We wanted to get to Simpsons Gap by 10am for the ranger talk so we left after having had only 1 pancake (much to Kevins chagrin). 😞

I remember seeing a photo of Simpsons Gap in a calendar when I was about 9 years old and for some strange reason it really stuck with me as one of those places on my "bucket list" (things to do before you kick the bucket!). The ranger talk was interesting, covering things like what the indigenous people made out of the local corkwood and bloodwood trees, food and water sources etc. Simpsons Gap is also home to some black footed wallabies but we didn't see any when we were there as they sleep in the caves during the day.

Next stop was Standley Chasm which is run as a commercial tourist site by an indigenous group. It cost us $23 for a family of 5 but theres a small cafe and gift shop and clean amenities here. The walk to the actual chasm is not difficult but it is a little rocky in places. You can also join the Larapinta Trail from here. Standley Chasm is best viewed in the middle of the day when the sun bathes the near vertical walls of the chasm in light, highlighting the beautiful red ochre sandstone.

Ellery Creek Big Waterhole was next on the list but after dipping one toe in the water, we decided that it was a bit too cold for our liking. We had lunch there and watched a busload of high school age students who weren't deterred by the water temperature. We decided to head for Glen Helen resort and set up camp. The campsite is not far from the gorge and waterhole but theres not much else to do there. If you are very adventurous, you can climb (with a little difficulty) around a rocky ledge to the next section of the gorge and apparently you can hike all the way to the organ pipes but it's an all day hike. So we drove back to Ormiston Gorge and did the Ghost Gum Lookout Walk instead. This walk starts from the carpark with a fair hike up the hill to a lookout over the gorge. It was late afternoon when we started the walk and we found we were in shadow from the western sun but that also meant that we didn't have a lot of light left. Once you reach the lookout, you begin the descent down into the gorge itself then you walk back along the creek. Kevin and Brad took a detour up a side valley and saw some black footed wallabies. By the time we got back to the car, it was starting to get dark so we headed back to camp and ate our dinner around the campfire. Unfortunately, our time at Glen Helen was spoilt by some very loud neighbours who decided to play guitar and sing, well into the wee hours of the morning.

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Photos

Simpsons Gap
There was a small amount of water at the base of the gap but no swimming is allowed due to the fact that the water hole is used by wildlife for drinking

Standley Chasm at midday
You have to pay a small fee to walk up to the Chasm and to be honest, there's not much there but worth a look if you've got the time.

Sunset on Glen Helen Gorge
View from our campsite

Creek bed at Simpsons Gap
Yeah well, not much chance of drowning here!

Glen Helen Gorge waterhole
Once again, the water was freezing cold to swim in.

Caitlyn on the Larapinta Trail
The school was looking into taking students on this walk but if fell through - at least Cait can say she's done part of it (well, 3 or 4 steps)