A Day Trip

A few Monday's ago was a public holiday here in Alice so we decided to make the most of my day off work!

We had seen a sign for Ross River and as it was only 80 kilometres away we thought it would be a good day trip.

When we left we only had just under half a tank of petrol but seeing as Ross River wasn't all that far we decided we could fill the bundy back up when we got there, thinking the price would be much the same as Alice.

We didn't anticipate how much there would be to see on the way!

Our first stop was Jessie Gap, that was about 20 kilometres out of Alice Springs, very small area, more just a nice spot to eat lunch, Brenton "didn't rate it", which is easy to understand given some of the amazing sights we have already seen.

We only stayed for five minutes as it was already lunch time so we continued on our way to Ross River.

The road is strange on the way to Ross River and about 50 kilometres from Alice it pretty much turns into one lane and when another car comes you both have to drive on the sides of the road, or at least you hope that's what happens, there were a few cars that came towards us that I swore were playing chicken, moving over at the last minute, causing my heart to skip a beat!

 

About 15 Kilometres from Ross River we were side tracked again by a sign saying that Trephina Gorge was not far, it sounded interesting so we decided to go a little off track again.

It was only about 5 kilometres on unsealed road to get there and Brenton was wrapped as we finally got to cross some water!

Trephina Gorge is huge and being a nice day was very busy, although it was so large we only ran into other tourists now and then, there is also a camp site right next to it that only costs a couple of dollars to stay overnight.

We had a look at some of the walks and decided we really only had time to do one and the six hour ridge walk was out of the question given our tardiness.

We chose the Panorama walk which was classed as moderate to difficult, given the steep walk up, the sign said it would take about an hour and a half and said there were great views to be had.

This is the start of the steep walk!

Before we got to the walk we had to find a way across the water, a lot of people were going bare foot to cross but the last thing we wanted was sandy feet for our walk, so we found another way.

One conveniently placed tree.

One unbalanced tourist. (Brenton)

We made sure the camera was ready in case any of us fell in but even though Brenton wobbled his way across we both made it to the other side unscathed!

The walk up was extremely steep and at some points it felt like we were rock climbing! 

This is a view looking down the path we walked up:

The grey rock is the path.


But the walk up was worth it.

The pictures don't give a great idea of how high we were but it is a big walk and we were happy to know that the only way to head now was down, and the walk down was not as steep.

Once we got to the bottom we decided to walk though the gorge, but we had to cross the water twice this time, once back over the big tree and another time on a bunch of very skinny logs and sticks that someone had craftily laid across the water.

This wasn't as easy as the big tree, it was like the log running game in Scotland because every-time we stood on a branch it twisted and moved, making for a very slow, funny trip across the water.

Brenton went first and it was a shame I didn't take the camera off him because half away across he got the giggles and fell in, not the whole way, just his leg! 

It was very amusing but put a bit more pressure on me especially seeing as he decided to take a million photos hoping he would capture my demise, and he almost did, I nearly fell head first but somehow managed to compose myself and make it across, dry.

New outback craze, stick surfing.

We couldn't believe how light the sand was in some of these spots considering it was less than 50 feet away from red dust!

Brenton panning for gold.

We were having so much fun here we almost forgot that we were meant to be going to Ross River, and it was getting later and cloudier by the hour so we headed back to the car, taking a few more snaps on the way.

A tree growing out of the rocks.

We were determined to get to Ross River but ended up stopping twice more before arriving at our planned destination, once to view a huge old Ghost Gum tree:

One of the only things in Alice paler than me.

And second taking a 4WD track to see a water hole in the middle of nowhere, it was only on the way to this hole we realised we were running a little low on petrol, it was only meant to be a short track but it was slow going due to how rocky it was.

We did make it to the water hole, it's a shame it wasn't a warm day any more, would have been a great swimming spot! 

You can also camp here for a small fee, but it's 4WD only.

No more blue skies.

Brenton trying to be Bear Grylls.

We were finally on the way to Ross River running only on the smell of petrol but it was only 12 kilometres away now so we were hopeful we would make it.

Arriving in Ross River was......

Like not arriving at Ross River??  Let's say it's not quite what we expected.

After our day full of sight seeing making it to our deserted destination seem insignificant. 

It was very empty, eerie almost and we had to search for someone to serve us petrol in the 'resort', which is apparently owned by the Grollo (building) family from Melbourne. 

You think he could afford to give the place an update as it is very 'tired' looking.

At least there was a petrol pump, although given the price we weren't sure we wanted to put any in:

Double what it is in Alice Springs!

We only put $20 in hoping it would get us home and that was about all we did in Ross River.

It was back to Alice and back to work for me the next day!

xx