It’s been 1600km since our last post! Been busy the last couple of weeks generally either bush camping or travelling. We are in Katherine now catching up on our blog. From Uluru we spent a couple of nights in Alice Springs. Picked up a steak sandwich at the pub which was great but we weren’t overly impressed with the town itself. It is a nice base for exploring the surrounding areas. Our next camp was Ellery Creek Big Hole, west of Alice Springs in the MacDonnell Ranges. What an awesome spot. There is something special about spending time in an oasis in the desert. A water hole and big trees are appreciated more so than anywhere else. It was warm and sunny, weren’t too many bugs, plenty of birdlife, very peaceful. One bird (pictured) entertained us around the campsite hunting insects. We did 8km return of the Larapinta Trail which runs for 220km from Alice Springs to Mt Zeil. It runs through the gorges, valleys and ridges of the MacDonnell Ranges. Was a nice walk – one day I’d like to return and complete a few days worth of it. There are many more spots around the MacDonnell Ranges and Alice Springs that we would like to visit, maybe next time.

Access to Ellery Creek Big Hole is good, on the bitumen Namatjira Drive through the West MacDonnel Ranges National Park and then a short treck down a good gravel road. Facilities are good – rain water tanks, flushing toilets and gas bbqs. The waterhole is permanent and is a beautiful spot. Busy too.

We found some Ruby Saltbush. The berries are edible and taste like generic sweet berry flavour. They are too small though, and mostly consist of a pip or stone. So we collected some to make a deliciously sweet bush tea. Actually it tasted mostly like boiled water.