Tjoritja (west McDonnell ranges)

After another evening without internet I am again behind in posting, but ahead with my craft project to do pile......🤣

So a few days ago we again headed out to explore the west McDonnell ranges.  We went to the furthest point ( well for our plans) 

Ormiston Gorge 

Created by a missive force the shear red towering walls  of the Ormiston gorge are impressive to say the least.  Situated 135kms west of Alice springs. The gorge as you can see has a Water hole, sadly though as evidenced by everywhere we have been the drought is taking it toll here.  Additionally through out all the places I will show you in this post the areas were devastated by a fire early this year. 

There is just something attractive to me about the resilience of gum trees, twisted by wind, often clinging onto rocks or charred by fire , they battle on.

Ochre Pits

Formed by the long ago inland sea, layers upon layers of mud and sand were layed down. Forming the different colours seen above. The curves and waves you can see was caused by earth movement about 300 million years ago. 

More recently this area were used by the Tjoritja Aranda people to collect Ochre to create paints for ceremonies , dance, decorations and burial rights. It was also mixed with fat or 

grease and used as a medicine. This is definitely a must see.... 

Serpentine gorge 

The walk to this gorge was really quite sad, the landscape badly charred by fire and then when you reach what would be the river bed, a dry rocky strip with burned trees falling across the river rocks , as you can see there was very little water here at all .  I imagine it would normally look amazing. 

Ellery Creek waterhole 

This was our last stop along the McDonnell ranges. Once again it was apparent that the water hole was really small compared to its normal size , however it was still pretty large and there were a few people braving the very cool water on this pretty hot day.  The area was spectacular and is a favourite for locals. 

After this we returned to Alice Springs 

We needed to restock Bridget’s pantry ready to move on the following day.

We finished the evening at Monte’s in Alice Springs.  This was recommended by a lovely friend. Designed to look like a circus it was a joy to spend time here.

À bientôt 

Googygirl