Ormiston Gorge, Northern Territory, AustraliaGo west, in the open air!
Go west, where the skies are blue!
Well, the skies are blue almost everywhere here during winter.
To say that we enjoyed our "all you can eat" buffet breakfast is an understatement. We pleaded with Mum and Dad to stay longer in this magical hotel; however, it was back to camping.
Our tummies bursting, we drove the 130km west to Ormiston Gorge so we could hike the Pound.
There were few hikers; however, we saw several kids we had played with at Kings Creek Station.
The signs advised that you had to wade through cold water during the hike. It was a warm afternoon, so we weren't concerned.
The start of the hike wasn't so pretty, but we persevered and at one lookout, we were rewarded with wonderful views over the Pound.
We continued down into the Pound and enjoyed lunch near the now almost dry creek bed. We assumed that this was the wading through water that we were warned about at the beginning of the hike.
The last section of the hike had no set path: you just had to climb and clamber over the rocks through the length of the gorge.
It was spectacular and we loved jumping from rock to rock. We created a game where you were unable to touch the sand and had to only walk on rocks!
We enjoyed the colours and the coolness of the gorge.
Although we thought that the water we had to wade through had evaporated, we were ultimately proven wrong, as we came to a section of water. The water was freezing! There was lots of squealing as we raced through this small and shallow section.
We then came to a larger deeper section of water with no way to continue other than to wade through.
Oh dear!
Dad unzipped his pants legs, removed his socks and his hiking boots. He went across first.
The river bed was uneven and the water was so deep that even his shorts got wet. Abigail was going to have to swim!
Dad declared that the water was incredibly cold and he had to take a moment before he could cross the water again to carry Abigail across.
Dad managed to carry Abigail safely across without getting wet but just! (Remember the uneven riverbed!)
Mum declared that she and Jackson had to remove their pants/shorts and race across so we had dry bottoms to put on. Fortunately, there were no other hikers to observe our state of undress.
There was much laughter and gasping at the colder, deeper water. We have never experienced water so cold.
Even with warm shoes and socks back on, it was a further ten minutes of hiking before we could feel our toes again. This was a hike we wouldn't forget!
Tonight, we set up our tent in an Alice Springs campground which was to be home for the next three nights. Lows of -1'C were forecast every night.
2025-05-22