The major attractions to Central Australia are its rocks. It has lots of really big ones

Kings Canyon

When we originally planned (I use that word very loosely) our Big Lap, we didn’t include Central Australia. But while we were in the Gulf Savannah, we realised we had some time up our sleeve and decided we could fit it in. The major attractions to Central Australia are its rocks. It has lots of really big ones and we thought we’d try to see them all.

We drove into the Northern Territory on the Overlander’s Way, otherwise known as the Barkly Highway. The first town we came to in the Territory was Tennant Creek, on the Stuart Highway. It’s a small town and we only stayed long enough to refuel and have some breakfast. The bars and shutters in the shop windows tell their own story.

Further south on the Stuart Highway we stopped at the Devil’s Marbles. These are seriously big granite boulders formed by continuous exfoliation of the outer rock crust by freezing and thawing over thousands of years.

The last 200km of the Stuart Highway before reaching Alice Springs is an unrestricted speed zone. We’d never have guessed, because almost everyone we saw was travelling at around 100km/h. But the option was there for us to see how fast the Vanborghini could go, if we wanted to.

There is a lot to see and do in Alice Springs. We took several days to take in the sights. There is a great view of the Alice from Anzac Lookout right in the centre of town. The Desert Park recreates the sort of landscapes that are found in the Red Centre and supplements them with several desert animal exhibits. Entry is $25 per adult. The Araluen Cultural Centre is home to a number of museums. The Arts Centre displays water colour paintings from five generations of the Namatjira family, the Museum of Central Australia has meteorite, fossil, mineral and animal specimens and the Central Australian Aviation Museum traces the history of aviation in the outback including the Royal Flying Doctor Service and Connellan Airways. A $15 entry fee covers the whole complex. The National Road Transport Hall of Fame and the Old Ghan Museum are on adjacent sites south of Alice and charge separate entry fees ($15 and $12 respectively). The Ghan is all about the iconic train and railway linking Adelaide and Alice Springs. The Hall of Fame (incorporating the Kenworth Hall of Fame) is mostly about big trucks but also includes a number of vintage cars and a handful of vintage motorbikes.

Our first destination south from Alice was Rainbow Valley. Like many of the Central Australian rock features, this remarkable sandstone ridge is best viewed at sunset. Fortunately we could camp nearby. Further down the Stuart Highway we turned onto the Lasseter Highway leading to Uluru. Just near Curtain Springs we took a break to look at Mt Connor on the southern horizon. Many  people are fooled when they first spot Mt Connor, thinking it’s the Rock. Even though it’s not the real thing, it’s still an impressive 700-million-year-old table-top mountain.

Kata Tjuta at sunset

The Ayers Rock Campground is the only option to camp near Uluru and was our home for two nights. We arrived late in the afternoon and drove straight out to see the Rock at sunset. Seeing the Rock at sunrise is also pretty special, but that would have meant completely packing up the Vanbo in the dark and freezing cold and, frankly, that was too much trouble. Incidentally, the name Ayers Rock is gradually being expunged. When William Gosse first sighted the Rock in 1873 he named it after the governor of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. Uluru is the name used by the Anangu Traditional Owners.

Climbing Uluru is controversial, however, it’s not actually forbidden. I’m respectful of the Traditional Owners’ request not to climb the Rock because it is a sacred site. But as long as it’s still open, I figured I could exploit that loophole. Well, maybe the Traditional Owners had some influence after all, because my first attempt to climb the Rock was thwarted by high winds.

On our second day I woke early to attempt the Uluru climb again. The wind was still blowing and freshened as the sun rose. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. When I emerged from the Vanbo into the early morning cold I realised one of my walking shoes was missing. I always leave them outside the van at night. As I looked around, it dawned on me what had happened and I uttered those words that no-one in the Ayers Rock Campground wants to hear “A dingo’s got my shoe!” There were tell-tale paw prints in the sand and when I found my shoe, about 50 metres away, the lining had been chewed. Life went on.

With the option of climbing Uluru now gone, we turned our attention to Kata Tjuta (the nearby rocks formerly known as The Olgas). But before we drove there we visited the Uluru Cultural Centre which tells the story about the Traditional Owners’ connection with Uluru and the surrounding district.

Kata Tjuta is located about 45km from Uluru. There are two principal walks, the Walpa Gorge and the Valley of the Winds. We did both. It’s amazing to see the enormity of these rocks up close. Despite its similarity in colour to Uluru, Kata Tjuta is made of different rock, although they are both sedimentary in origin. We stayed around to watch the sun go down on Kata Tjuta before driving back to the campground.

Uluru at sunset

Kings Canyon was named by the explorer Ernest Giles, in 1872, after his friend Fiedler King. Until 1961, only a handful of white people had ever seen it. Then, in 1992 the canyon was developed for tourism with the opening of the Kings Canyon Resort. The rim walk took us three hours and we read every sign, walked to every lookout, took a million photos and did the detour to the Garden of Eden, which has a waterhole right at the head of the canyon. There is a shorter walk straight up the canyon floor if you are feeling less energetic.

From Kings Canyon we drove the most direct route to the West MacDonnell Range via the unsealed Mereenie Loop Road, which is part of the Red Centre Way.

The rock in the West MacDonnell Range was laid down under the sea up to 800 million years ago, but about 310 million years ago it was subject to enormous geological forces which created a mountain range of Himalayan proportions, estimated to be 10,000 metres above sea level – Mt Everest is 8800 metres. In the millennia since, it has been eroded to its current height. Mt Zeil is now the highest point on the range at about 1500 metres above sea level and the surrounding plains are between 600 and 700 metres.

At the point where the Mereenie Loop Road meets the bitumen, we continued on the unsealed road to Hermannsburg. Hermannsburg was founded by the Lutheran Church in 1872. It was also the birthplace of Albert Namatjira, the indigenous water colour artist who did so much to increase awareness of the beauty of Central Australia. The mission is now a museum with a gallery of paintings by Namatjira and other members of his family. From Hermannsburg we did the side track to Palm Valley. This beautiful oasis is the only place on earth where the red cabbage palm grows.

We drove from Palm Valley to Gosse Bluff and arrived in the late afternoon. The Bluff was created when a comet crashed to earth 142 million years ago. The crater was originally 25km in diameter but all that is left now is the impact zone which is about 4km in diameter.

Over the next three days (and 140km) we visited all the gorges along the West MacDonnell Range – Redbank, Glen Helen, Ormiston, Serpentine, Ellery Creek Big Hole, Standley Chasm and Simpsons Gap). Each of these gorges has a permanent waterhole that can survive the most prolonged drought and provided a perennial source of food and water for the Traditional Owners, the Arrernte people.

That completed our loop of the Red Centre and brought us back to Alice Springs. Next we were off to Darwin.

Standley Chasm

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Written: Sun 01 Feb 2015
Printed: February, 2015
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