Would the cold never end? Our duck-down doona and fluffy sheets had kept us cosy at night but how much longer would we need them? Luckily the weather we came for turned up when, the next night we pulled into Ormiston Gorge National Park in the West MacDonnells and settled into one of about 30 camp sites surrounded by bush. There were gas BBQs, a café that served great coffee you could drink on the terrace, information evenings at the amphitheatre where an Aboriginal ranger talked about the animals in the park, trapping dingos and gave us insights into his childhood growing up in the care of his grandmother. Yes this was luxury camping with one exception. The hot showers promised were very tepid – not a good advertisement for solar heated hot water. We spent five nights there exploring the gorges and tracks and visited Hermannsburg Mission Station this time in our T-shirts and shorts enjoying the sunshine. The highlight was a helicopter trip over the Caterpillar ranges, the Finke river and the uplands beyond Ormiston. Terry filmed all on his smart phone. Check it out.

In the Macdonnell Ranges the Ghost Gum is everywhere and Namatjira’s fascination with them is understandable. They grow in quite unlikely places