West Macdonnell National Park (Australia Part 37)

So far, we have only been driving on paved roads. Now that we finally had a 4x4 car that allowed us to drive on dirt roads, we chose to take the Mereenie Loop route.

Warning signs here not only warned of kangaroos, but also of camels and horses. So we were now on the lookout for camels, which we would have liked to see. Instead, we saw many wild horses, two of which almost ran in front of the car, but turned away just in time. (Statistically, more people die from horses than from crocodiles every year.)

We took a short hike inside the crater at Gosse Bluff, a comet crater with a diameter of 5 kilometers.

We also climbed to a viewpoint on the edge of the crater, from where we had a good view. You really needed a 4x4 car to get there, and we were shaken up a bit.

Easily driving through the desert at 38°C and sunshine while listening to Christmas songs felt a bit strange. Christmas atmosphere doesn't quite come up with these warm temperatures - here, instead of snow, only sand trickles down.

We stopped at the Tyler's Pass lookout. From there, we could see the whole crater again from a distance.

At the beautiful view, we decided to have a picnic there to enjoy it a little longer.

We took an hour-long hike at Redbank Gorge. We walked along the riverbed to the waterhole.

Before arriving at our hotel, the Glen Helen Lodge, we stopped at another viewpoint, the Mount Sonder Lookout.

We continued to the Ochre Pits, a mining site for colored stones used for ceremonies by the Aboriginal people.

Only men are allowed to mine there. However, they have to make sure that the women are provided with the necessary colors for their ceremonies.

Before we drove back to the hotel, we stopped at Ormiston Gorge, where we took the Ghost Gum Walk, a one-hour walk that led us to a viewpoint above the gorge.

Then we descended into the dry riverbed and walked back. We had to climb over some rocks.

We finally reached a waterhole that was even open for swimming - but it didn't seem very appealing to us. From there, a paved path led back to the parking lot.

Lastly, we decided to visit Glen Helen Gorge, as the short path started right at our hotel.