Day 7 - The Mereenie Loop

Another 7:30am start - 

Our Route today takes us onto the Mereenie Loop. 367 km of mostly unsealed Red Dirt road.  

Our Driver did his best to avoid the ruts .... and the Camels.

(There are a LOT of Camels in Australia.)

Second stop for the Day.  

A very welcome Morning Tea at the "Exclusive Mereenie Cafe".  An Outdoor Venue with Tablecloth Service and an extensive menu.

The Ladies were advised that the On-board facilites were available.  While the Gents were told to Go take a walk and find the "Lavi-trees".

When travelling in Australia is is highly advisable to STOP - REST and REFOCUS and not to forget RE-Hydrate!

So there were lots of small stops along the way.

Gosses Bluff Crater.

A big Hole in the ground made 142.5m Years ago when a 600 m wide Comet crashed making a 20 km Crater.

Then on to - Mount Sonder

Just a 'leg stretch' and Photo Op here.

Known as Rutjupma (The Pregnant Lady) This Mountain is Sacred to the Western Arrernte People.

245 km after leaving Kings Canyon we pull in to Ormiston Gorge.

This was our Lunch stop for the Day and although we were told the Kiosk served Awesome Iced Lattes, we were more than happy to enjoy the provided Picnic Lunch that appeared from beneath the Bus!

After Lunch we took the shorter Waterhole Walk. 

 

The sight of the Ghost Gums against the Blue Sky transported me back to the little girl who admired a Painting that hung in the Corridor of my Primary School.

This is where Australian Indigenous artist Albert Namatjira painted many of his Ghost Gums. 

Our next stop was to be Standley Chasm however it was closed to tourists for the Funeral of an Indigenous Elder.  

So we were able to see the Ochre Pits instead.

This is where Aboriginal People have extracted Ceremonial Ochre for thousands of years.

It is illegal to touch or remove Ochre from these Cliffs. 

We were also able to stop in at The Ellery Creek Big Hole. 

Tempting as it was in the afternoon heat - there is no way on earth I would venture into those waters.  

(And that was before I heard of the lives this place has claimed).

Back on the Bus for another 136 km (1.30 hr) drive 

We saw the Graves of Pioneers 

and marvelled at The Caterpillar Range - Learning all about the Caterpillar's battle with the Stink Bugs.

And why the Rocks have Stripes.

We crossed the Mighty Todd River (That's it in the Photo) 

and The Ghan Rail Line 

Before finally arriving back where we started just 5 days ago in Alice Springs.

It was a very long Day.