Journey's Beyond The Nest: Days 84-87 – Tjoritja (West MacDonnell Ranges)

(Kate)

Days 84-87 – Tjoritja (West MacDonnell Ranges)

There are lots of gorges to visit and walks to do in the West MacDonnell Ranges – it wasn’t possible for us to visit them all, so we visited a few.

Simpson’s Gap was an easy 15 minute walk from the carpark. There was some water there, and the rock formations were stunning.

Angkerle Atwatye (Standley Chasm) had a kiosk that made wonderful coffee, and is one of the stopping points for folks walking the Larapinta trail. Kate chatted with a walker from NZ who was walking the trail with a friend. She told us about a young walker who for some reason could not return to his home in Melbourne, and so to pass the time was simply walking the trail from one end to the other. And back again. And so on. He is known amongst the other walkers as “trail Jesus”. The walk to the chasm itself was beautiful – an oasis of plants and wildlife. Well worth the entry fee.

Ellery Creek Big Hole is one of the largest permanent waterholes in the West MacDonnells. It is deep and very cold, so caution is advised for swimming. People have died swimming in this waterhole. Nicole dipped her big toe in the water and declared “no way”. It was super-cold.

Finke River Two Mile Bush camping area – one of the best free camps we have experienced so far. Loads of space - enough for plenty of people, without crowding each other. High clearance 4WD and lowered tyres essential to avoid geographical embarrassment (i.e. getting bogged). Ben did some repairs on the trailer brakes while we were there, as they had suffered an injury.

Ormiston Gorge. A must-do walk. There is also a café here, which we used to fuel up on caffeine before our walk. There were some adorable golden coloured pigeons with mohawks that strutted around the outdoor café at high speed. I heard someone call them spinifex pigeons. We did the Ghost Gum loop which was grade 3, 1.5 hours. It was challenging but the reward of the views and stunning rock formations was worth it.

Palm Valley. We stayed at the campground here, which was 4WD-only access from the highway, but it was easy enough for the Deli and Ben’s expert driving. The campground was nice – good amenities, and untreated water available from a tank. There were massive communal fire pits (BYO wood) which were great venues for chatting to other travellers and swapping stories. We did the Mpulungkinya walk itself the next day, a 5km loop, recommended time 2 hrs, which was very challenging for the “K team” (Kate and Keith) but Nicole and Ben, who can both walk the legs off an emu, thought it was brilliant. It’s worth noting that you can walk from the campground to the start of the walk, but we drove for the 4WD challenge – yeeha. Lots of rocky steps, but nothing that the Deli and Ben couldn’t handle. We were all so wrecked after doing this walk that we decided to stay another night and go to bed early.

The Boggy Hole Track. The BHT runs between Larapinta Drive, near Hermannsburg, and the Ernest Giles Road. It’s 70km, but it’s NOT a short cut. It took us about 6 hours, of challenging 4WDing. We checked with the ranger at Palm Valley before we left, on the condition of the road, and he said it was all good. We stopped at the Boggy Hole itself to make lunch, and noticed lots of previous campfires, so lots of people travel this road for the adventure.