Tuesday 1 November 2011

Oh Ormiston, I Dream of Ormiston (better then Galveston)

We left Alice at our customary late time, stocking up on supplies and some tools for the boys to start carving their zebra rocks, and headed off 120km down the road to Ormiston Gorge.  Everyone was asleep not far down the road except Arch and Gazza the Rock Junior at the wheel.  We pulled into a very basic camp and set up only to find our electricals weren’t working so we couldn’t pump any water from our tanks or turn on our lights as the sun was setting.  However after a bit of tinkering the mighty Storm responded and there was light and water and the birds singing and the frogs jumping and we got to enjoy our beautiful, serene surroundings. 
We made it down to the waterhole before dark and had a refreshing swim and a few rock jumps, then the next day we went big.



We did the 7km Pound Walk in the morning through stunning vistas, collapsing in the water as we made it back in 2.5 hours.







See if you can spot the jumpers!  Then the Swedosh’s arrived to have some lunch and hang for the arvo so we did lots more swimming and then the walk up to the ghost gum lookout for sunset- what a day. 






We loved Ormiston. We left the next morning and went to Glen Helen Gorge for a swim and to gorge on some lunch and then did the 270km around the Mereenie Loop to Kings Canyon.  We chased a storm the whole way there and the road became quite slippery and treacherous, which of course meant Kirst having a nervous time of it, and the car, bikes and van looking like they just lost a mud fight.

So we hosed everything down, set up and decided just like in the Tour de France we deserved a rest day.  So that is what we did before watching another big storm come in that night.  Arch being the champion of everything lately even managed to capture a photo of the lightning.
Here is a photo of the frog he carved out of the zebra rock too.
So we fired up again and gorged on Kings Canyon doing every walk possible the next day while catching up with another nice family from Geraldton we had met, for some extra company. 






 The cliff below is what Woodley was poking his head over.




The boys managed to substantially increase their lizard catching quota and Woodley even managed to grab a Spinifex Pigeon which he hastily released when it tried to take off, banging its wings so fast it sounded like a machine gun.  Then we headed back for a late lunch and the boys continued their creative spurt making sling shots, bows and arrows, boats, etc.  They have got back into reading as well!  So it is another great day on our magic adventure which is now heading to the big rock- Uluru, 21,500km into the journey.  

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