Walk at Ormiston Pound

We are back into the Red Centre of our country. The nights are cool, the days are hot. No flies yet, and no mosquitoes either. Very nice indeed. After a supply stop at Alice Springs, we are now camped at Ormiston Gorge in the West MacDonnell Ranges. Our camp spot is in National Parks, with a full moon. I have just seen a dingo walking past our tent at night!
Mum and Dad got us up early this morning and had the backpacks full of water bottles and food. We set out to do our longest bush walk yet, to Ormiston Pound. A pound seems to be a big hole in the ground such as a crater hole. The walk takes us over a hill and through stoney terrain, up a pass and further up a peak. There, quite unexpectedly, we arrive at the most amazing lookout: The valley below us is fully enclosed in mountainous regions. Not a single trace of humans or animals to be seen. No roads, no track (well, the track that we walk is hidden from view). Just sheer expanse of beautiful nature in all its glory!

 
It takes us another 3 hours to make our way through the pound and back onto the river. The rivers here are dry, sandy and rocky creeks that you can easily walk. The day finishes with a long rock scramble through Ormiston Gorge back to camp. What a beautiful day!