Day 38 East MacDonnell Ranges

• It is time to explore the East MacDonnell Ranges. Driving early in the morning from Alice Springs we decided to start with the most distant point of interest, so it would be a bit warmer than in the early morning (2°C - very cold!). First stop is N'Dahara Gorge, where you can go for an easy walk in the Gorge with some aboriginal paintings and nice views on the Gorge. The walk ends in the middle of the gorge and not at the end or at the edge of the water, which is a bit strange. Stuart didn´t mind and found a nice tree for a rest in the gorge while enjoying the lookout.
  
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• Next on the drive back to Alice Spring is the Trephina Gorge Nature Park. As the panorama loop (recommended one) was closed due too fire, still burning, so visible and smelly, we went for the Trephina Gorge Walk around the rim and back through the Gorge. The walk itself has some steeper sections at the beginning and in the middle, but offers very nice views at first from the rim and later from the gorge with sand to the red walls and green trees. The most annoying thing about the walk are the hundreds of flies following you everywhere and not giving you a second to enjoy the views... There were also flies on other walks, but here it was extremely annoying.
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After a short photo stop at the Ghost Gum, a pretty big white gum tree, our next detour lead us to John Hayes Rockhole. To drive there, a high clearance 4x4 car and careful driving to reach the car park is required, although there is another car park for normal cars to park and then walk the whole way. From the 4x4 car park, it is just a few minutes to the John Hayes Rockhole. From the car park starts also the long Ridgetop Walk to the Trephina Gorge, but you can also just walk the first 15min or so and go up to the lookout for some nice views.

• Next stop closer to Alice Springs was a short a short walk around the Corroboree Rock.
  
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The last two stops, Emily Gap and Jessie Gap are very close to Alice Springs and show some aboriginal wall paintings, which you must not take a photo of. Emily Gap was a nice walk, while for seeing at Jessie Gap the wall paintings one would have to swim through the water hole. No option given the temperatures, so we decided to just enjoy the view before heading back from the Eastern MacDonnell Ranges to Alice Springs. By the way, although there were signs, we didn´t see any camels (or kangaroos or other animals) around...