Simply Gorge-ous!

Touring gorges and chasms in Australia is like touring cathedrals in Italy, after a while one begins to forget which one is which!

We left early this morning on a mini-bus for the West MacDonnell ranges, eroded remnants of an ancient mountain chain which once was as great as the Himalayas. There's 30 million years of geological history here! We stopped and hiked (bushwalked?) into Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm, llery Gorge, and Ormiston Gorge.There was one other that Michael and I sat out on as my knee was reaching its hiking limits. I took pictures of cool rocks, trees and plants in addition to the chasm and gorge rock faces. We traveled with a few bird watchers which made for interesting conversations and we chatted with a couple of Kiwis who sat near us on the bus. It was fairly cool, even cold in places (the wind was whipping through Standley Chasm in particular), but the sun came out in the afternoon and raised temperatures a little. We were tired and dusty by the end of the day.

Pictures: 1. A cool gum tree at Simpsons Gap 2. The vacationing couple also at Simpsons Gap. 3.Michael at Standley Gap 4. The water hole at Ellery Gorge. 5. The water hole at Omiston Gorge 6. A cool rock that I just had to take a picture of. Apparently in no particular order but I
m sure you'll figure out which one is which. Some are not uploading, will try loading them into a new post...