Australian Adventure Week Ten!
Trip Start
Oct 28, 2009
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113
170
Trip End
Oct 03, 2010
Where I stayed
Ormiston Gorge Campsite
West MacDonnell Ranges, Northern Territory, Australia
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The following morning when we woke up it was very grey and rainy. This slightly restricted our plans so we went to the Cultural Centre where we learnt about the Aboriginal beliefs about Uluru and about their survival skills in the bush. We found it very interesting. Back at camp we spent the afternoon chatting with Carole and Graham in a sheltered area out of the rain. They gave us lots of useful information for our trip ahead to Africa.
It was still raining the next day but we weren't going to be beaten! We headed to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) where we spent a few hours walking the Valley of the Winds walk. Despite the rain it was a great walk and definitely a highlight of Australia for us. We actually felt like the rain added something to the atmosphere. There was water running down the sides of the rocks. We were told that only 2% of tourists get to see Uluru and Kata Tjuta in the rain as this part of the country rarely gets rain. Therefore we felt that it was quite unique to see the area in these circumstances. After the walk we headed back to the campsite to relax for the rest of the day.
The next morning we decided to walk the 10km base walk around Uluru. It was quite a long and flat walk but there were some beautiful parts, especially the two waterholes that we visited. There were some parts of the walk where you were not allowed to take photos due to the areas being of sacred significance to the local aborigines. We enjoyed the walk but definitely thought the Kata Tjuta walk was more interesting.
The next day we drove from Yulara to Kings Canyon and spotted two wild camels at the side of the road! When we stopped to photograph them they crossed the road in front of us! We checked into the Kings Canyon Resort and relaxed for the evening. The next day we set off to complete our third walk in three days – The Kings Canyon Rim Walk. There was a steep climb at the beginning and then we were on the rim of the canyon. There were amazing views over the canyon but some steep drops that you had to be careful of! We got chatting to people as we were walking so the walk ended up taking five hours but we really enjoyed it.
After the walk we attempted to drive down a 4 wheel drive road as a short cut – we soon realised it wasn’t suitable for Brucie so we turned around and spent the night at a campsite by a roadhouse before setting off for Alice Springs the next day.
When we arrived in Alice Springs we went straight to the station as we knew that the Ghan Train was in. It was good to be able to see the train and get some photos. Afterwards we set off west from Alice Springs to the West MacDonnell Ranges. It was a beautiful drive with mountains on both sides of the road. We drove a fair distance and then arrived at a nice campsite by Ormiston Gorge. When we arrived we walked down to the gorge and spent a little while enjoying the beauty of the place. We spotted two rock wallabies up on the rocks which was good to see. In the morning Dave got up early and enjoyed having the gorge all to himself as he watched the sun rise over the cliffs. A little later we climbed up to a viewpoint that looked over the gorge and showed the stunning scenery. After we left Ormiston Gorge we went to Glen Helen Gorge, then to the Ochre Pits and finally the Ellery Creek Big Hole (a waterhole) before driving back to Alice Springs and checking into a Holiday Park.
We have really enjoyed this central part of Australia and have found the scenery amazing.
