Glen Helen 2-day Tour August 24 & 25, 2016

Thanks to the recommendation of one of L & B's friends, we booked a 2-day tour by Glen Helen Homestead Lodge. In turn, we highly recommend it. www.glenhelen.com.au (I will come back to these blogs in a few weeks time, when I have other online links at hand and can post them.) After Uluru, this tour was the next big highlight of our trip. It was a personalized tour with an experienced guide willing to cater a bit to our interests while hitting many beautiful spots in the West MacDonnell Ranges that it was a little hard to keep track of of them all after the fact. Book the tour directly with Sheila, who runs Glen Helen Homestead along with her husband Colin, one of the guides. It includes meals and overnight at the Lodge.

On Day 1 our guide Roger picked us up at our accommodations in Alice Springs. We threw our little duffle bags into the back of the 4WD and away we went. Now I might not get all of these spots in order. I'd need a map for that. I may leave some out. But this is what I remember. First stop was Flynn's Grave, just past Desert Park on Larapinta Drive. Flynn was the founder of the Flying Doctors, a much respected and honoured man. His grave is marked with a huge boulder, a replacement for the first one that had been a sacred stone mistakenly taken from a place of women's business. This replacement was given by the local Arrernte community. On to Simpsons Gap, so called as it is a divide in the range. Then to Standley Chasm, which is a place where the water in flood has dug a pit where it is forced between the rocks. Beautiful! Ellery Creek Bighole was similar, but it is a permanent waterhole, even in the dry season and we saw it at the end of the dry. Each of these places has its own spectacular upclose view of the red walls and tumbles of rock that make up the Ranges. There were birds at some, and Roger was patient to wait while JD snapped a few photos. Roger assured us that on Day 2 there would be more birds to see. At some point along a river bed, possibly the Serpentine Gorge, we stopped for morning coffee. The legs of the folding chairs sank into the sand. No GF muffins, but nuts and terrific banana chips, an apple and fresh coffee. Alright! At the end of the morning, nothing had prepared us for the sight of the Ochre Pits. Here the Rainbow Serpent came alive and the notion that the ochre is sacred made perfect sense. Since ancient times, aboriginal peoples travelled to the pits to dig and trade the ochre in all its forms - red, yellow, white, and rare purple. The layers formed eons ago erupted into sharp angles and almost vertical stripes. The walk took us through a shallow canyon with an ever changing vista. Signs asked that we not dig or remove any of the ochre in respect for the owners and caretakers of that country. Of course, we came across one couple who had scraped a small heart and their initials into a saucer sized piece on the ground. All for the sake of a selfie. Romantic? Good grief. Thank goodness most folks show the respect requested or the entire site would be spoiled. Everything else that we saw was pristine and all of it was beautiful.

At Glen Helen Homestead we stopped for lunch and had our first look at the place. Roger gave us the historical background and a chance to look through the rooms and at the art. We checked into our Lodge room with ensuite. Very simple and comfortable. GF bread for my toastie! Good tea. The homestead is situated right at Glen Helen Gorge. There was still some water. However, it was shallow enough that we were able to cross at a narrow spot using stepping stones. When we reached the water hole, it was easy to imagine swimming there at the end of a long hot workday.

After our lunch break, Roger drove on to Ormiston Gorge, his personal favourite, and it was easy to see why. The path was above the river bed, less arduous than some. At the waterhole, the riverbed was wide, the rocks flat and smooth. The far side was a sizable beach, that a few people were walking. I chose to sit on a rock and write postcards while JD and Roger climbed to the lookout over the gorge. It was shady and calm by the water. A good place. When the guys got back, Roger took a long drive up a dry river bed to Redbank Gorge where there was water - a known camping spot for 4WDs. We walked along the shore. More birds. We ended the day with a drive up above that spot to a lookout to Mt Sonder, which tells the story of the sleeping pregnant woman. Her head, breasts, belly, and legs were visible in its peaks. Roger, who runs the bar at the homestead, surprised us with a cold beer for JD and a generous shot of Jack Daniels for me. Laughter all around as we watched the sun go down.

For dinner at Glen Helen Homested, we opted for mains and desserts from the tour menu - award winning food and leisurely service gave us the time to think and chat about the day. I can't honestly remember what we ordered, we were that tired, but it was terrific. After a nightcap in the bar, we settled in for a good sleep.