Tag: MacDonnell Ranges

 

You are looking  (I think) at a so-called “spinifex” grass, demonstrating its hardiness in Trephina Gorge, circa 85 kilometres east of Alice Springs.

What Australians call “spinifex” is something entirely different from the “true” spinifex, which are coastal grasses that grow on at least three continents, including Australia.

The uniquely Australian “spinifex” are inland dwellers, tussocky, clump-forming grasses that grow mostly in arid or semi-arid zones,

Typically, they dominate their preferred habitats, forming “hummock grasslands”, some of which are vast.

In Australia, almost every so-called “spinifex” is a member of the large, endemic Australian genus Triodia.

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The Western MacDonnell Ranges enjoy a rather higher public profile than do the Eastern.

Imagine someone who has “just 24 hours in Alice”, insufficient time/inclination to walk very far, and a keen desire to spend the whole day in the MacDonnell Ranges.

I would advise that person to “head west” – that side of the ranges has the most jaw-dropping vistas, the highest mountains, the deepest gorge….

However, you should ensure that you have at least “several days in Alice”, and you really should “head east” as well as west.

Trephina Gorge offers a particularly rewarding combination of beautiful scenery, pretty easy walking, and highly diverse, lovely vegetation.

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This post’s photo was taken circa 10 kilometres away from Ormiston Gorge.

The vantage point was just a couple of kilometres north of Glen Helen, and the image looks north-east.

In the foreground you can see the Finke River, which is oft-described as the world’s oldest.

I am pretty sure that the highest mountain you can see (on the horizon’s right hand side) is Mt Giles (1,389 metres ASL) which is on the eastern side of Ormiston Pound; Mt Giles’ peak is the highest point on the Pound’s ramparts.

As you can see, this particular desert country does not fit most urban-dwelling humans’ preconceptions of what deserts are “meant” to look like!

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This first episode’s headline is neither a mistake, nor ironic.

If you live in or near to Alice Springs, the nearest ocean shore is more than 1,500 kilometres distant; most of Australia’s saltwater beaches are rather more than 2,000 kilometres away.

However, courtesy of the MacDonnell Ranges, which spread hundreds of kilometres east-west-ish from Alice, you have easy access to some very beautiful beaches.

(Alice Springs sits just north of one of the Ranges’ “Gaps”)

A few of those beaches even offer swimming,  in spectacularly located, “permanent” waterholes,

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