Tuesday March 30, 2010 – West MacDonnell Ranges

We decided to take a short side trip west of Alice Springs. Originally we were only going to do the Standley Chasm. On the side road to the chasm there was a sign with curves on it and under it is said 8.7km. It turned out there was curves about every few kilometres. I guess if you are use to driving straight roads a few more curves should be announced. There was still wash out damage along the way from the rain a short time ago. We arrived at the chasm just after opening at 8 am. It is much easier to do walks when it is a little cooler. There was a 1.5km walk up the creek bed to the chasm. We did not see the fire red chasm walls as we were so early. However we could see the red tops of the gorge leading to the chasm. It was a very interesting walk along the creek bed. It was very rocky. We had to climb over some large rocks. There were steps along the way to help us. When we got to the chasm it was very tranquil and quiet. We were the only ones there. At the other end were very large boulders which marked the end of our walk. There were pools of water around and some of them had tadpoles in them. It took us about an hour to do the walk. It was so much fun.

Since it was only 9:15ish by the time we got back to the car, we decided to drive further west to see what else we could see. Our next stop was Ellery Creek Big Hole. This is popular spot for tourist and locals to go for a swim. Apparently the water is very cold. We did not really try it out to see. There was a 3km walk around the area but I did not feel up to walking it.

Back on the road we went to see the Ochre Pits. Ochre is a mineral that comes in while, yellow and red. It grinds down to a fine powder. The aboriginal people mix it with water and fat then use it for ceremonial body paint or art paint. Only men are allowed to mine the ochre but women are allowed to use it. It was an interesting spot as you walked along below the cliffs. You could see the three colours plus a few more as the colours mixed together. Again we were the only ones here which made it very nice.

It is now about 11:30 and Charles said "Let's go on to see what is at Glen Helen and get some lunch." As we drove up to the road house at Glen Helen we saw a helicopter. After talking to the pilot we decide on a flight over the Glen Helen Gorge, Ormiston Gorge and Pound, and Mt Sonder. Upon arriving at the helicopter we realised that there were no doors on it. Up we went and it was wonderful. As I was having so much trouble walking, it was nice to see all these things from the air. Not having the doors made the flight nice and cool. We never felt any danger without the doors. Charles said, "this is an expensive lunch." We had a great lunch after the flight. Charles had a camel burger. He enjoyed it.

After returning back to AS we went in search of the internet where we could use our own computer. Finally we ended up at MacDonalds. Wireless internet is available here for free. It was so slow. Thank goodness it was for free. We tried looking at the pictures of the boys and the baby shower. It was painful slow and we finally gave up. We were able to upload our pictures and bring up to date the blog. After shopping we returned to make supper. We had camel sausages. I really did not like them all that much.