Walking Ormiston Gorge, west of Alice Springs

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day all

At the moment we're in Alice Springs after having a week out west' ~ the weather has been kind, and my spirits have responded to the location

Ormiston Gorge is a wonderful place to visit - it's about 140km west of Alice and a great place to spend a day ... or 3
Walks in & around the place are plentiful, best times are before 10am & after 3pm ~ great shadows and the light bouncing off one side of the gorge lights up the other face

here's a few images

1- the floor or the gorge as you first arrive - with the cliffs towering 75 - 100metres above you

exif= Panny G2, 1/320s x f5,6; 14-140 lens @ 14mm; iso-100

2- one of several large pools along the gorge - we're now about 1km up the gorge from pic #1

exif= Panny G2, 1/100s x f4,8; 14-140 lens @ 45mm; iso-500; WB = Shade

3- as you walk the gorge, the cliffs appear above you, along with the brilliant colours of sky & earth

exif= Panny G2, 1/320s x f7,1; 14-140 lens @ 30mm; iso-100

4- trees cling to the cliff-tops and often the cliff-faces

exif= Panny G2, 1/320s x f5,6; EV=-0,7; 14-140 lens @ 140mm; iso-100

5- one of many sights for sore eyes as you walk the gorge

exif= Panny G2, 1/320s x f5,6; EV+-0.7; 14-140 lens @ 140mm; iso-125

All images pp'd slightly with Levels & Curves

Hope you've enjoyed them
Phil

[seaslug]

Lovely!

[P Plates]

Stunning colours and textures. #2 would be my pick. Another area on my bucket list

[Ozzie_Traveller]

Thanks for your 'thanks'

Bucket lists can become quite long ... so don't leave it too long before you investigate the bucket

ps- the first time I visited Ormiston Gorge was back in 1968 with a couple of Melbourne Camera Club mates
We had put together 2 yrs of annual hols to make 6-weeks, and in a holden station wagon we did a Melb to Cairns to Alice to Melb trip ... all in 6 weeks - and most of it those days on old dirt roads

When we got to Ormiston Gorge, the 3 of us were walking the gorge and shiacking to each other about things - until we got to this particular pool ~ as I said above, it's about 1km up from the tourist car park

I remember shouting to my mate "hey Barry - we could have a dip here" knowing that we were on our own 'miles from nowhere'
A womans voice answered - "yes why don't you ~ we've just enjoyed our dip in the pool"
Shikes I said to myself ~ who the hell is that?
I looked into the shade and there were 2 oldies - and upon talking to them several things emerged

They had heard us coming for quite a while - so they could get dressed before we arrived
She said that "she was married to his little brother ~ she was 88 and he was 92 - and his younger brother was back in the caravan cooking dinner"
She also said that "the 3 of them had decided to see Australia before it was too late"

So ther's hope for you yet
Phil

[Alan]

Great photos and great story