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| Stadley Chasm |
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| The Chasm |
To the West of Alice Springs is the West MacDonnell ranges. I spent a leisurely few days exploring the numerous waterholes and gorges here before going to King Canyon and Uluru. The first place I stopped at was Standley Chasm. This is a one and a half kilometre walk into the chasm, not an easy walk. The chasm has vertical walls which line a narrow stream. The stream was dry in the chasm but it was still a magnificent sight. The walls glowed red and it was only at midday that the sun could reach the floor below. There were a number of tourists here and the views are typical of Northern Territory postcards.
My second stop was at the Ellery Creek Big Hole. This was a very popular waterhole and swimming spot. I swam across the waterhole and through the walls at the end into another pool. There were many tourists and locals here finding relief from the hot weather. A group of young Aboriginal boys played next to me and eventually covered themselves in the slimy mud which could be found on the bottom of part of the waterhole. Later in the day another large Aboriginal family with lots of young children came down to swim. They were the best behaved kids I have seen for a long while.
Next I stopped at the Ochre Pits. Here a solid wall of different coloured streaks in the rocks marked where Aboriginal people had taken rocks to crush and make paint. There were many colours and the area where a yellow ochre had been mixed up to use for paint could be clearly seen. These ochre rocks were once used for trade and managed to find their way great distances from the site.
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| Ellery Creek Big Hole |
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| Kids enjoying the waterhole |
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| Playing 'monsters' in the mud |
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| Ochre was used from here |
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| Ochre pits |
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| The Ochre pits |
