It was lovely to have a day up our sleeves to explore the region a little. A shame to come so far and not see the countryside a bit. We packed lunch and morning tea and headed out on Larapinta Drive. Stopped first to fill up with diesel. A big fill since we hadn’t fueled up since the trip to Finke and back at 224.9c per litre. At least fuel prices are coming down a bit. Already a few cents lower than when we arrived. While we were there filling up, we noticed that the locking lever on the canopy played up again and was locked open. So, we dropped by the ARB store again. They have been tremendously helpful in this and it’s our second visit back to them for the same lock. They took it into the workshop on the spot and took out the mechanism so that it could be purely manual. It can’t be locked but at least we can get in and out. Then we headed off, a bit later than planned, to see the sights.
First stop was Ellery Creek Big Hole which was beautiful. Just a few people there and already the day was warming up- but not quite swimming weather! We all made the short walk to the swimming hole, took plenty of pictures, saw little birds flitting about but couldn’t quite see what they were. Returned to the car and boiled the kettle for morning tea and biscuits. We sat on a camping platform to enjoy our tea.
Next stop, Serpentine Gorge. One of the lesser-known gorges and down a dirt road. It was a 1.1km walk in from the car park which proved to be a bit challenging to Graeme’s dicky hip so he returned to the car to wait for us. It was definitely worth the walk and a really beautiful location. A new one for us; plenty of photos. On returning to the car, it was nearly lunchtime but we pressed on to the next stop for lunch.
Next stop was Ormiston Gorge which was expected to be the jewel in the crown of the day. We found a couple of seats and a table where we ate our sandwiches. Graeme bought us ice creams and we headed down the track 5’ to the gorge. Roy and I had both been here previously and loved it. However, it had clearly been flooded in recent months. We had to do a little bush bashing to find a way across the other side of the water without getting wet. No too hard. The light wasn’t good for photos; there was wind on the surface and people swimming which ruined any reflections. Still, we took a few photos. Back to the car we headed back to Alice which was more about 140 km away.
Topped up the diesel ready for an early getaway tomorrow and headed back to the cabin. We went out for dinner at the local brewery which looked good. It was packed with people. Very loud and noisy! A lovely lady gave us her table and we stayed while the boys sampled the beer. The wait for dinner was an hour though, so we headed off to the Gap View pub again for a meal then home for our last night here.
