Red Centre adveNTure

Finally, another trip and another blog post.

We awoke early last Tuesday and left Sale at 5am for a flight to Alice Springs, to begin our adventure in the outback. We rented a car and stocked up on supplies before beginning the 470 km drive to Watarrka National Park. Of course, google maps shouldn't be relied upon, as it might direct you along dirt roads meant for 4WD vehicles, which our rental Yaris was not. Northern Territory is quite the change from our pastoral area in Gippsland, and we were delighted to see camels, kangaroos and a dingo by the side of the road.



We woke up the next morning and took a stroll to Kings Canyon, just missing sunrise. We attempted half the climb (dubbed Heart Attack Hill) before we decided we should go back to camp and get some food before tackling the 6km hike. The walk provided spectacular views of the 300m gorge, as well as of the expanse of desert around us.

View from our campsite. I've never seen dirt so red.

Jessica starting heart attack hill

Looking up at the climbIt doesn't look that bad, does it?View of the Canyon from the topTo the Luritja people of the Wararrka area, these domes are young kuninga (marsupial desert cats) men who passed through here during the dreamtime/creation.

With the car packed, and our feet sore from walking, we embarked on another long drive, 300 km to Uluru. We arrived in time to catch the sunset, but rather than watching the sun set behind Uluru (which I think would probably be gorgeous), we watched the rock turn different shades of red. We were pleasantly suprised by a view of the sun setting over Kata Tjuta as we returned to the campground.

The changing colours of the rock at sunset

Sun setting behind Kata Tjuta

Early Thursday we caught the sun rising over Uluru, and walked around a portion of the rock. The base walk is 10km, and -after the 6km hike the day before, and with a moderate hike planned the next day- we decided to drive around it instead, and only walk certain portions. We still managed to see a lot of the rock, and took too many pictures. In the evening we had a tour booked that would take us out to watch the sunset and enjoy dinner under the stars, with an astronomer to explain the constellations - unfortunately it was overcast. However, we were able to try kangaroo and crocodile meat.





Friday morning, it was time for another hike -this time around Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), which are a group of rock formations 25 km from Uluru. There are 36 "domes" that make up the Kata Tjuta (which means "many heads" in Pitjantjajara) and our hike took us on a 7km hike through the valleys. With our feet again tired from walking, we travelled back to Alice Springs, and stayed at Heavitree Gap, a gap in the MacDonnell ranges. There, we were able to feed Rock Wallabies that came down from the hills in the evening.



Our final day (Jessica's Birthday!) we drove west into West MacDonnell Ranges National park, and had a guided tour of Simpson's Gap, before venturing into Standley Chasm. Unfortunately, this meant the end of our trip - once we had flown back to Melbourne and driven the 300km back to Sale anyway.

Curtin Springs cattle station - over 1,000,000,000 acres- between Uluru and Alice Springs. It is near Mt. Conner, but for some reason Mt. Conner doesn't seem to be a tourist destination like Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Curtin Springs made for a good spot to stretch our legs, but we couldn't figure out how to get a meal from their "restaurant".
View of Mt. Conner from the Lasseter highway

More pictures are available here