Hugh river - Ellery creek Big hole -Serpentine gorge - ochre pits-Ormiston Gorge

Its beginning to be a habit now ,  the sun shining in alerting us to its presence of morning then the coffee and brekky ritual , today being spaghetti on toast then journal time and on the road but not too far again today it would seem as although we were just going with the flow we had no real idea how long each destination would keep us there or was it a packed camp site in which case most time we would do the walk and drive on after completion.

The same was said for several places today , Ellery creek big hole was on paper a bit of a draw card  but I didn't get our snorkel out of the rooftop bag for a swim in the slightly mossy but still fairly clear chilly waters much to the disappointment of the boys , however it was redeemed by a rock scramble up to a set of cave shelters which were up higher and great to explore .

Then it was only a short distance to Serpentine gorge where a massive 4x4 man expedition truck driven by an  elderly Swiss couple came in to the car park next to us and joined us on our 1.1 km trek down to the gorge howevere no one here opted for the lookout above .

The it was yet again a short drive to the ochre pits further along the west macdonnell ranges where the local Arrernte men would collect the many different ochre colours from the areas cliffs and then the women would ensure they had enough for their ceremonies and to trade amongst other tribes.

We made ourselves some chicken and salad wraps in the deserted picnic area here shortly before the walk under the watchful eye of a rather large raven who got no satisfaction from us .

From here it was onto Ormiston Gorge where we were hoping to spend the night but it was chock a block full so we simply took our short walk to the gorge after a quick chat with our neighbours from the caravan park in Alice springs.  we explored the area somewhat then braved the very chilly waters for a quick swim before making our way to the cafeteria for an ice cream as it was a lovely warm day .

Here nick the kiosk manager told us of a spot in the secluded campgrounds next door but alas there was no where our camper would really fit and be anywhere near level , so we consulted our maps and pondered what our friends had said about a nice free camp along the Finke river and decided upon this as our nights stay although early in the day we liked the thought of exploring and being well rested before tea .

It was a shame really about Ormiston gorge as there was a rangers talk on the area.

This location however was a real treat as there was lovely water in the river where the kids took a brief swim while we setup and had a refreshing bevvie or two  before dinner.

As luck would have it we scavved some wood and a sleeper from a deleted campfire nearby and this made for an awesome fire to finish of our day .