Ross River Homestead (Resort)

12 – 14 August

A spur of the moment decision saw us headed for Ross River Resort, not far from Trephina Gorge, for the next two nights. On arrival we were greeted warmly and given lots of information about the old homestead, as well as suggested spots for bird watching. There weren’t many campers here when we arrived mid-morning but by later in the afternoon the campground had started to fill up.

Grey-crowned Babblers visited our camp in the afternoon.

Galahs playing with bits of horse poo. I haven't tried this but it looks like fun.

We decided to drive out to N’Dhala Gorge in the morning – a distance of about 10km, the first section of which is along the Binn’s Track which starts in South Australia and winds its way through remote parts if Central Australia. The road from Ross River Resort is described a 4WD only because of the multiple river crossings. The first crossing had about 40cm of water and the rest were dry. While the road was certainly a challenge, we had no trouble getting into N’Dhala Gorge. On arrival there were a few cars and one camper. The campground doubles as the carpark so is not as well organised as Trephina Gorge, but I imagine there are less people coming out here to camp anyway.

On the way to N’Dhala Gorge.

White-necked Herons were at every gorge.

Grey Teal

Brumbies near N’Dhala Gorge.

We set off for the gorge walk which is 1.5km return and graded as “easy”. The path was easy to follow but was quite rocky in parts. The main feature of N’Dhala Gorge is the abundance of petroglyphs, some of which tell the Caterpillar Dreaming story. There are two types of petroglyphs here suggesting two different time periods, the first about 10 000 years ago and the more recent which started about 3 000 years ago. We walked a short way further into the gorge, beyond the end of the marked track and saw even more petroglyphs. Being a very hot afternoon we sheltered in the shade for a snack before returning to the picnic/camp ground for lunch.

This place is very hot and dry yet these delicate flowers thrive with their roots in the cracks of rocks.

Petroglyph

Petroglyph

Petroglyph

Christie stayed put when the track ran out. I went to the end of the gorge but found no water.

We saw a few Grey-headed Honeyeaters on the walk.

On the way back to Ross River Resort we stopped and collected firewood – outside the National Park of course. A nice fire is always welcome on a cold night. We did venture up to the Homestead for dinner but were disappointed with both the service and the meal.

The yard opposite the homestead.

The beer was expensive but good, the meal was expensive, cold and not very tasty.

In the morning we drove back towards Alice Springs with a short stop at Jessie Gap where the ranger at Trephina Gorge had told us we would find a bowerbird bower. Mick found both the bird and bower – just not at the same time so no photo this time. Fuelling up in Alice Springs we turned south for our next stop – Erldunda.