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Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

Australia: MacDonnell Ranges (Eastern)

John Hayes Rockhole
John Hayes Rockhole

Tourists just love the Western Macdonnells, with their hire cars and impractical white clothes. After all, you can drive there on bitumen, it's easy to squash into a day trip, and if you've never seen the outback before, it's pretty impressive stuff. But they don't seem to have discovered the Eastern Macdonnells, which stretch to the east of Alice Springs. Again, the road is sealed, although it's mainly single lane (so you have to pull over onto dirt if anyone comes the other way), and as I checked out the few gorges and hillocks on the way east, there were almost no people to be seen, which was rather pleasant after the busier western ranges.

Exploring by Foot

An amusing ranger's sign in Trephina Gorge
Ranger humour in Trephina Gorge

By Friday I was feeling 100 per cent again, a great relief after the awful exhaustion and total lack of energy I'd been feeling; when I woke up I felt fantastic, much better than I had in Ormiston, so I decided to do some real walking. The walking tracks at Trephina are some of the best laid out I've seen, with markers everywhere and some stunning scenery, and I couldn't wait to get started.

A ghost gum in Trephina Nature Park
A ghost gum in Trephina Nature Park