Fri 6th June – Day 28: Kings Canyon – Redbank Gorge via Mereenie Loop Rd

Some schoolwork to finish up so we can send the previous 2 weeks back to Distance Ed and then we steeled ourselves for another big dirt day.
The Mereenie Loop Road is a 154km dirt shortcut towards Alice Springs. It requires a $2.20 per vehicle entry permit to cross local aboriginal land, and includes a general information booklet about points of interest and Aboriginal culture and history along the way as well as entry to Tnoralla Conservation Reserve. To my mind $2.20 wouldn’t cover the printing costs let along the upkeep of the road. This became all too obvious as we spent about 2 hours bumping along on the worst corrugations we have come across – our only saving grace was the lack of rocks or stones. We had heard that Palm Valley (our original destination was very dry and dusty at the moment and by the time we got to the turnoff to Hermannsburg we were looking for any excuse to get off the dirt. We opted to head North towards the Western MacDonnell’s instead. We stopped at Gosse Bluff the site of an ancient meteor strike and then into Redbank Gorge. We camped up on the bluff, which overlooks the ranges with 4 other cars, not a bad view. Another campfire, which enthralled the kids and a cold clear night for stars. Being Friday which we have nominated as video night we snuggled inside the relative warmth of the van and watched the 2nd Harry Potter movie ‘The Sorcerers Stone”.
Redbank Gorge (Bush Camp $7.70/family )