ORMISTON GORGE – 25th June

We chose to get to Alice Springs via the Mereenie Loop, which is a section \of road that joins up with the Namatjira Highway. It is aboriginal owned and a permit must be bought before travelling it. The first 35 kms or so are extremely corrugated but from then on the road isn’t too bad. We stopped overnight at a lookout on the Loop which allows 24 hour overnight camping and then headed off to Ormiston Gorge.

Just before Glen Helen there is a lookout which overlooks the Finke River and looks out towards a mountain range and the views are glorious. The Finke river is 650kms long and finally peters out in the Simpson desert and is reputedly the oldest river bed in the world.

The drive into Ormiston Gorge is lovely, running alongside the Finke river complete with ghost gums and soft sand.

The camp ground is rather congested with not many sites or room but set in a bush setting. One shower for ladies one for men closed between 10am and 4pm, a little water available provided you are prepared to cart it. $6.60per adult.

The whole area is attractive with several walks the shortest being to the waterhole which is very restful with lots of birdlife and again shaded with fairly old ghost gums. The ghost gum walk is fairly easy with concreted steps in a large part of the way but if you want to do the loop you have to be prepared to swim through very cold water to get back otherwise you turn around once you get to the lookout, which overlooks the waterhole.

From there we drove the Jeep to the Ochre Pits which were quite interesting and back to Glen Helen which unfortunately proved to be rather a disappointment because you could only walk a short way into the gorge before the waterhole prevented you going any further so the organ pipes etc which were further into the gorge could only be viewed via the helicopter ride.

 

We also drove into a couple of camping areas which were unsuitable for pulling in the van but found another wayside stop overlooking hills and valleys, where we can stay for a short while and intend to stay there after we leave Ormiston Gorge and head towards Alice.