Friday, April 3, 2015

Welcome Waterholes in the Outback

We made our way back to Alice Springs and replenished our supplies, then headed out to the West MacDonnell Range for our last 2 days in the Outback.

The weather continued to be blistering hot, but with the van air-conditioning, driving was comfortable. Off the road, in the heat of the day, we not only found it uncomfortably hot and dry, but there were flies, lots of flies. The flies were similar to our good old Canadian housefly, except smaller, and they pestered our faces.

We used 3 coping strategies with varying results, 1) used a hand to swat at them on our face, usually resulting in sunglasses taking flight, 2) wave a switch around the head, resulting in short relief and a tired arm after a few minutes, 3) stay in the wind or shade, which worked best of all.

In mid afternoon, we reached Ellery Creek Big Hole. This was a waterhole which had been carved out of the mountain range by thousands of years of massive floods. It was scenic and the swimming excellent. Waterholes in the Outback are rare, and the swimmable ones are very rare.


From there, we continued along the Range to Ormiston Gorge. This was another picturesque place created over the millenniums by flooding. We stayed overnight and headed out on a hike at sunrise. Our goal was to be back by 11AM. The early hiking was pleasant in the highlands, with a strong breeze that kept the flies away, and us cool. As we made our way around the loop, we ended up in the gorge. The sun was strengthening, and the shade from the steep walls disappearing fast. The dried riverbed was strewn with boulders which made progress difficult, and trail markers almost nonexistent. Both the heat and our anxiety grew as we proceeded down the gorge, uncertain if we were on track.



We came across a few waterholes, but none swimmable. We waded through one when caught between it and the sheer rock wall of the gorge.



While drying off, Marlene's good eye picked up the moment of 2 wallabies high up on the rim.


Our spirits rose again when we found a sign pointing us back to our camp. Then it wasn't long before we reached the swimmable and welcome waterhole at the end of our hike.


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