Woonona Mob "Zig Zag Oz": West MacDonnells

Heading north, we left Kings Canyon along the Mereenie Loop, a dirt road through protected Aboriginal Land, requiring a permit to travel. The road loops around Watarrka National Park. Desert plains give way to steep, stark Mesa’s and Ranges of reds and oranges with tufts of green Spinifex everywhere. We headed to Hermannsburg, and had lunch at the old mission. It was here that a visionary missionary first started recording the local Arrernte Aboriginal language and using it in psalm books and in the school. It is also here that Albert Namatjira lived and painted. We camped in Finke Gorge National Park, at Palm Valley. This is another oasis in the desert, a lush gorge with rare Cabbage Palms and Cycads growing along the water holes deep within the red walls of the canyon. The palms closest cousins grow at Lawn Hill, some 800kms away. The drive in to the camp ground was along a sometimes sandy, sometimes rocky creek bed. It was my shift to drive, and the sign at the beginning of the road into the National Park caused some internal concern and some mirth from the passengers, but onwards and upwards I say! After setting up camp we drove up to Cycad Valley for a 3 hour walk. The road to the valley was over bedrock and Russ was in charge of this section of the drive. “Warning: Extreme 4WD!!!” Girls had fun watching their mother hanging on for dear life. The campground was on the banks of a creek, under shady trees, so nice we decided to stay a couple of nights. From Finke Gorge we headed around to Ormiston Gorge, further north, along the Red Centre Way, past Tnorala (Gosse Bluff). The local Arrernte people believe that the Bluff was created when a baby basket fell from the sky during a women’s dance ceremony. The scientific explanation is that the bluff was created when an comet fell from the sky, forming a giant crater. Amazing to think how close the explantions are,given the Aboriginal people had no satellite images to help them see the entirety of the crater! We camped at Ormiston and enjoyed swimming in the waterhole. We stopped and walked into Serpentine Gorge and had a swim at Ellery Creek big hole before heading into Alice. A few days respite from the road, swimming, shopping, visiting art galleries, natural history museums and the Old Telegraph Station. Next stop Dalhousie Springs!