Trip Leader James O’Connell
Ellery Creek trip report.
After a few dramas on Sunday morning we all met at Flynns Grave to begin the trip, maybe a little later than planned but is was fine as there was no real rush. We had a very good turnout in the end with 5 cars and 14 people joining in. We had a bit of a briefing on what was expected from the day and conditions of the permit etc. We then made our way along the black top to the edge of Ellery Creek where we aired down before dropping into the river bed. The sand was a bit soft in some places but we didn’t have any real dramas. A shady spot in the river was chosen to stop for a bit of lunch, next to what would be a massive waterhole after rain. Very impressive scenery out there, I found it similar to Boggy Hole and Palm Valley. Unfortunately due to the conditions of the permit we where not allowed to take photos of the area. After lunch we continued down through the river and attempted to follow the more eastern side of the loop track. This section clearly had not been used in a long long time and was virtually on existent for the most part with us following along a Stoney river bed. It was certainly challenging with a few stories to tell for the dobber’s diary next meeting but very much doable, unfortunately we just didn’t have the time in the day to continue on this route. So we had to turn around and return back to the main track. Once I got home I had a look on google maps and we where only about 1.5kms from finding a defined track again, but oh well next time maybe. The rest of the run was pretty uneventful but still passing through some magic and ever changing scenery until we arrived back onto Larapinta Drive. Probably the highlight of the trip for a lot of people was following along a mob of 22 brumbies, it was an amazing sight. All in all it was a great trip with great company, thank you all for coming along. I would also like to take this time to thank The Central Land Council and the traditional owners for granting us access to such a magic spot.
Cheers
James