The road through the West Macdonnell Ranges would be one of the most scenic in Australia. Range after range, each with different angles of folded or tilted emerge from the valley. Golden grasses from autumn rains make the area seem less arid than most other places in Central Australia we have visited.

Ellery Big Hole is the first stop for the day. This is the first of three huge waterholes we will see today. The low winter sun keeps the waterhole (on the southern side of the range) in the shade making it bitterly cold.

Glen Helen Gorge (on the southern side of the gorge and resplendent in full sun) is gorgeous. The mighty Finke River, the largest in Central Australia, runs alongside the cliff line and has tall reeds and sedges along its gravelly banks. It then does a right hand bend through the range into a broader valley creating a dam-like body of water.

The Finke River crossing near Glen Helen.

Mount Sonder, although not the highest peak, is prominent as it stands apart from the ranges. The subtle hues of the ranges reminiscent of the paintings of Albert Namatjira.

The Finke River from the Mount Sonder Lookout.

Near vertical tilted strata west of Glen Helen.

A local wattle (possible Maitland’s Wattle)

A bush tomato (Solanum species)

Gosses Bluff from Tylers Pass Lookout, a meteorite crater formed when a 600 metre diameter comet hit the earth millions of years ago.

The subtle beauty of the arid landscape.

Porcupine spinifex grass at Tylers Pass.

Hakea suberea at Tylers Pass.

Dried golden wildflowers

The different range top near Tylers Pass

Tall Mulla Mullas (Ptilotus exaltatus) on the roadside of Namatjira Drive halfway from Tylers Pass back to Ormiston Gorge.

Bush melons are common the roadside. They are an introduced plant from South Africa. Native animals eat them spreading the seeds.

The towering cliffs of Ormiston Gorge.

The walk to the Ghost Gum Lookout climbs steadily through steep hills clothed in spinifex.

Ghost Gum Lookout

At least three species of daisy are growing amongst rocks or on the steep hillsides.

A Peaceful dove living in the gorge.

Spinifex pigeons are found in and near……spinifex!

Zebra finch feeding in the dry grasses.

 

The gorge walk follows the gravelly creek bed past large river red gums.

Rock scrambling is required further up the gorge.

A inland form of the white necked heron.

Yellow-throated Miner (Manorina flavigula) at Ormiston Gorge

Major Mitchell cockatoo eating Eucalypyus galls. This one wasn’t too cocky about its beautiful colours.

The Ochre Pits is a protected area in the West Macdonnell National Park preserving an Indigenous site.

The bush late in the day

We drive back to Alice Springs after sunset

The twilight illuminates the cliff line well after sunset.