ormiston gorge to curtain springs

The night spent at ormiston was an interesting one. The night sky was truly spectacular, there were an obscene number of stars and the milky way was very clear indeed, so clear that at first glance it could easily have been mistaken for cloud. We retired early as there was nothing else to do and i set about writing up the days events. That done it was time to sleep but as we had no power, it meant that i couldn't use my breathing machine and therefore i snored like a chainsaw. this also means that i woke myself up at regular intervals and therefore don't get much in the way of a good nights sleep. There was also the great camelback incident, where i managed to roll onto my camelback in such a way for it to releasae enough water to wet my sleeping bag, so there i was at 3.30am wiping up water and trying to dry my bag. That done, just as i was drifting off to sleep, the dingos started howling, which is quite an eerie sound as it echoes around the gorge.

Given my snorage, i and anyone within a mile radius, didn't sleep very well, so it was very difficult to get up and get going. However, once we were going it was very much worth the effort. The riding was stupendous, the road was a gently undulating and meandering dream, the scenery breathtaking, the temperature ideal and all under a ridiculously big sky. The ride back to alice is possibly even more beautiful than the ride from alice.

the beautiful ranges on the road back to alice

Once in alice we booked accommodation in curtain springs for the night and uluru for the following night the took to the road once more bound for curtain springs.

Leaving alice the landscape changes again, the rocks and hills are no longer just red, there are layers of reds, oranges and yellows. The colour of the sand at the side of the road is mainly an orangy colour but it soon changes to a rich red dotted with clumps of yellow grass and muted green shrubs and trees. The hills are extremely craggy and weathered and clearly express just how ancient this land is.

We stopped for lunch at stuarts well where we were entertained by dinky the sing dingo. Dinky climbs onto the piano keyboard, makes some random noise then howls along to it. It is kinda fun and the other folks really did seem to enjoy it.

dinky the singing dingo

After lunch it was on to curtain springs and our resting place for the evening. Not fafr from, and in full view of curtain springs, is mt conner, which i had never heard of but is truly spectacular. It is a huge mesa that stands all alone in a vast plain of yellow grass and low scrub. It is so large it can be seen from over 50km away annd is often mistaken for uluru. Dinner at curtain springs was like dinner at so many of the places we have stayed, utterly brilliant, beautifully cooked steak and excellent dessert, all washed down with a tasty, if somewhat chilled, bottle of red.

the service attendent at curtain springs

Tomorrow sees us doing a very short hop (about 150km) to uluru and the to kata tjuta for a good look round.

our exact location: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=-25.3146,131.7564&ll=-25.3146,131.7564&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1