Ormiston Gorge and the Ochre Pits

Monday, June 30:

End of the financial year and it could be the end of the world but we wouldn’t know about it as we don’t have any services at all – no radio, TV, phone coverage, etc. We can get limited email coverage from the office but the signal is weak and it costs money after half an hour.

Anyway, we still have our little world so we went off to look at the last two places on our list – Orimiston Gorge and the Ochre Pits.

Orimiston Gorge is by far the best Gorge. It is awe-inspiring  just sitting on the rock by the rock pool and gazing upwards at the towering cliffs which has trees and plants clinging on for dear life. Again this gorge is a permanent water hole so has small fish happily swimming around. Some only 80mm fully grown so very small.

Part of Ormiston Gorge in the West MacDonnell Ranges.

Wal has a rest while looking at the magnificent cliffs which make up Ormiston Gorge.

The Ochre Pits are the site where the Aboriginal men would go to gather the ochre for their ceremonies and other purposes such as medicinal purposes. The rock was laid down under the sea and then forced upwards almost vertical showing the lines of white, yellow, red, dark reds visible along the 10m high walls of the creek bed. The amount of iron in the rock determines the colour – the more iron the redder the rock and ochre.

The Orchre Pits showing the various colours.

Info about the Orchre Pits in the West MacDonnell Ranges.

This is one of three ochre pit sites in Australia the others are in WA and Flinders Ranges.

This is our last night at Glen Helen Resort so we went down to the bar and had a drink or two though you wouldn’t want to be dying of thirst as the service was appalling – all the staff were stock taking as it was the end of the financial year.

Luckily there weren’t any others wanting drinks.

The end of the financial year and the end of our stay at Glen Helen. What can I say about the resort – the caravan sites are narrow – room only for the van and awing – the toilets and showers are portable units but in desperate need of maintenance though they were cleaned. We paid $27 a night – a 10 per cent discount as we had the advert from the central Australia tourist book. 

It is 120kms from Alice but we have stayed in more remote places with better facilities. Lots of people stayed n the national parks _ $12.50 a family of 2 adults and 4 children per night or $5.50 per adult. Still I guess glen Helen was the ideal jumping off point to  see the West MacDonnell Ranges.