Ormiston Pound.

Ormiston Pound is about 135 kilometres west of Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory. Normally a dry and rugged place, which is evident from these pictures, it had just had a large amount of rain. So much so that there was plenty of water in the river, the Finke River, which is clear in some of the pictures.

There is a long walk from the carpark, which goes in a loop through the pound. The National Parks brochure says:

“Ormiston Pound 8.5 km 3-4 hour loop, Grade 3 moderate, completes a full circuit from the Walks Information Shelter, meandering around scenic slopes, dropping into the flat expanse of the Pound and returning along Ormiston Gorge via the main waterhole“.

Photographer Geoff and his wife decided to go as far as the main lookout. Even that was an hour and a half each way! They reckoned it was a great walk, and the fantastic view made the effort very worthwhile!

Because of the large amount of water there because of extensive rain, they had to walk through freezing cold water in two places.

Almost there! The walk to the lookout took an hour and a half each way. But it was certainly worth the effort!

Its a very rugged place!

The sheer massiveness of everything! The Finke River is flowing through the middle of the picture.