red centre story
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park - World Heritage Area
Contributed by Hamish & Nancy McLean from Sydney
Alice Springs! Everyone has heard of Alice Springs probably through reading the book by Nevil Shute – "A Town like Alice" or perhaps you have seen the film of the same name? It really is in the centre of this vast continent called Australia and believe it or not it is ‘red’. Red, red, red earth, red mountains as in the MacDonnell Ranges, red rock formations such as the Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) and Uluru (Ayres rock), red flowers, the Sturt’s Desert Pea being one of the predominant ones. It is only now after having visited the area do you realise how many different facets the colour ‘red’ can have. The light in this part of the world is so clear, devoid of most pollution, that the sun’s rays cause the colour of the landscape to change in front of your very eyes.
The flight from Sydney to "Alice" takes three hours with half an hour time zone change. The flight path took us over the Blue Mountains then as we headed further north you could see the marked change in the landscape as it became more and more barren first of all pink in colour before the distinct red of the Northern Territory predominated the earth all around. Alice Springs’ airport is an interchange depot with flights going to all major towns and even some minor ones like Broome on the West coast; having said that it is very small with one runway and only a dozen flights a day.
Alice Springs came into being when a prospector found what he thought were rubies and people flocked to try their luck but it was later discovered that they were really garnets, and worthless; gold was later found but not enough to create a mining community. The first Telegraph station was established in Alice which is half-way between the north and south of the country. The final breakthrough came when the Ghan railway was built giving access to this remote town. In February 2004 the line to Darwin will be completed and it will be possible to travel by rail all the way from Adelaide in the south to Darwin in the north, although it will take three days.
The town itself has a population of 25,000 and is the main town on the Stuart Highway between Darwin, 1,480 kilometres north and Adelaide 1500 kilometres south; yes this is a big country! Everything has to travel along this highway which is the only one through the centre of Australia. There is no unemployment in Alice; the tourist industry gives a lot of the population work as does the service industries, the hospital, and the flying doctor service. There are numerous galleries, craft shops and a great number of people come here to paint because of the clear light. You can imagine the night sky is a myriad of stars so clear you feel you could stretch out and touch them individually.
Aborigines make up a sizable portion of the town’s community and can be seen at every street corner or congregated in groups under the trees beside the Todd River – no water in the said river as it only rains up here once every two or three years but you can tell by the line of the land that this is a river and they even have their very own Henley on Todd Regatta using your legs of course instead of oars. We are constantly reminded that this vast continent belongs to the aboriginal people and there have been apologies by the government for exploiting them and their land. If you can imagine a very black person, not chocolate but black, black with wide set nostrils, black bushy hair, spindly legs and huge feet. Although it was a nice temperature for us, in the high twenties, for them it was cold and they wore thick parkas but bare feet. There is a great desire to integrate them into the community which after all is their native land, but problems abound; one of them being alcoholism. It has been discovered that the effects of alcohol on the aborigine is twice as potent as any other Aussie because of their make-up they become blind drunk rapidly and have an increased craving for alcohol. The off-licences have been restricted from two in the afternoon until nine in the evening to try to curb this problem. It still does not stop them spending all of their ‘endowment’ cheque on booze.
We were told the best view of the town was to climb to the top of Anzac Hill; this is just beside the ‘river’ and the Oval. So off we went, it’s only a titchy thing but gives enough height to see all of the shopping centre, the commercial area and the surrounding housing developments. The whole town is situated between the ranges and the ‘river’ and spreads along the Stuart Highway. The shopping precinct has all the major shops, albeit on a smaller scale than a city and there are a proliferation of galleries and tourist outlets all well worth visiting. Restaurants and cafés abound with a varied choice of menus to suit all tastes.
The Tour organised by Auswalk, would take us to all the major tourist locations in the region over the coming week. The guided walks were geared to explore the more interesting sites, and give us information on the heritage, culture, geology, fauna and flora as we went along. Being spring time, the temperature was as we expected cool at night and warm during the day, not screaming hot like in summer when 36 degrees is deemed cool by the locals. The group led by the two guides had only nine members, an ideal number since we had a fifteen seater bus with a trailer for luggage; plenty of room to spread around! The guides, the company owners, were very knowledgeable and had the usual cynical Aussie sense of humour, so we fitted in well. The only problem was they kept asking if we could provide an interpreter for us Scots! The rest of the group were Kiwis and Poms.
Our first port of call was The Desert Park on the outskirts of Alice itself. Here a huge area has been set aside and developed into a plant and wild-life centre where you can see most of the animals in their natural environment. It is a fascinating place and a special treat was the demonstration of how the Rangers have even managed to tame the birds to come at a certain time each day to feed and entertain the visitors to the park. Just to watch a Wedge Tailed Eagle break open an emus egg by hitting it with its beak then eat the contents is something else. The Butcher birds swoop over the audience flying so close to your head making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. There is also a ‘darkened’ room where you can observe the nocturnal animals of which there are many e.g. Echidna, Kangaroo Mice and various snakes, skinks and lizards. All around the park there are wild flowers like the Sturt’s Desert Pea, bushes like Spinifex and numerous specimens of Wattle. On first encountering the park it does look like a desert but on closer inspection you realise that everything here has its place in this arid countryside.
On our way up to Spencer Hill we passed by the spot where the original ‘spring’ was found on the outskirts of the town – just a small insignificant place – but the forerunner to a whole new community. The point of climbing this hill was to watch the sun go down over the town while sipping champagne which is a pleasant way to end the day in anyone’s book. Then on to the evening meal in the town where we were given the chance to sample crocodile, emu, kangaroo – not much to report here as the meats were well flavoured in sauces making it difficult to tell the difference between them.
The next day our tour started in earnest, we were picked up at the civilised time of 8:30 and headed off to explore the West MacDonnell Ranges. Our first stop was at Simpson’s Gap with its pale ghost gums and red cliffs. We were lucky enough to see a black- footed rock wallaby which frequent the area and we were all sure that this one was doing a photo call for everyone’s benefit. We did get some good shots. We then visited Standley Chasm with its sheer red walls which only light up when the sun is overhead at mid-day; you can imagine how tall these cliffs are to block out the sun except for one short time in the day. The walk into the Chasm was over a rough trail and then a rock scramble with a precarious tightrope walk balancing on a tree trunk to get to the upper chasm. Having just recovered from a broken wrist I opted out on this one and returned with some of the others to the car park and had lunch. Hamish ventured onwards and when I saw the photograph of the tree trunk and the balancing that was needed to negotiate the path I was glad of my decision.
The MacDonnell ranges while not very high run across the ‘Territory’ with Alice sitting in the middle where the river, road, and railway go through Heavitree Gap. The West MacDonnell’s, the part we explored, is interspersed with many Gaps, Chasms, and Gorges. These are named after the early explorers who came up from the south over the arid regions, made their way along the ranges and through the openings hoping to find the ‘Inland Sea’ only to be met by even more hardships as they saw the Tanami Desert stretching out in front of them. One of the advantages of the ranges is that it does cause some rainfall, on occasion, and the deep gorges offer shade and allow the formation of deep waterholes, some of which are permanent. The limestone in this region stores water in the aquifer and this is tapped by numerous boreholes. Alice relies on them for all of its water!
After stopping at Ellery Bighole which is great for swimming but not hot enough for any of our group to take the plunge, our final port of call was the Ochre Pits. This is a large clay bank with layers of differing colours; these are used by the aborigines for body decoration while performing their ceremonies. This is a prized site since most others have only one colour of clay but here there are reds, oranges, white and numerous tones in between.
We then headed for Glen Helen near the end of the Larapinta Trail. It links the whole Range from east to west, and I guess, west to east also. The trail is gaining a reputation as one of the long distance walks of the world. It is not for the faint hearted and is 330 kms long and very arduous in places; there is limited accommodation and all food, and more importantly water, must be carried for long stretches!
Glen Helen homestead is a converted outback station, you would say a farm, with a few basic conveniences attached. Some of the rooms are converted sheds and a few additions over the years as it has been used for tourists. It sits in front of a massive red bluff cut out of the sandstone by the Finke River over the years and is a welcome resting place for many weary travellers.
After breakfast we were given a cooler bag filled with sandwiches and fruit to take with us for a picnic lunch; the treat of the day was to choose something from the ‘nosebag’. This was a large thermal bag filled with all sorts of goodies; muesli bars; jelly sweets, raisins & nuts, mini mars bars, etc. What a great idea! This ‘nosebag’ aptly named, was produced on a regular basis throughout the trip and boosted our moral on many occasions after a long hike.
The next day, having packed our rucksacs, we headed for a circuit called the Pound Walk, named after the massive natural enclosure used by drovers to muster their cattle. The route took us up to a lookout where you can see the whole of the pound ahead of you, while behind lies the flat desert country. The track criss-crosses the Finke River, or rather the sandy bed of it many times as we head for Ormiston Gorge in the distance. The feeling of being right out in the middle of the country with no sounds of habitation, no road noise, only the occasional cry of a bird or the rustle of the trees… what more could one ask for? Sheer bliss! The Gorge gradually becomes more distinct as the haze of the morning sun clears the cliff faces which stand out against the softer shapes of the hillside. As we approached the gorge itself only then did we realise how big it really was, towering overhead as we strolled down the dry river bed weaving in and out of the bush, over and around the boulder beds borne down by the river when in spate. That’s not very often but it does happen they assured us! Walking along the route as it twisted and turned there was no way of seeing too far ahead , it seemed to go on for ever, but in fact was only a couple of hundred meters from end to end… it was the numerous stops to admire the view which made it seem endless. This whole part of the Ranges deserved much more time to explore, everywhere you looked gave another unique view… we shall return!
Once we left this region we had a long drive to reach Erldunda, our resting place for that night. The obvious route was to take the 4-wheel drive track, the Mereenie Loop Road, but, according to our guides it was overdue for re-grading and full of nasty spine jolting ruts. Although the distance was longer the time taken was roughly the same. We stayed at the custom built Roadhouse with all mod-cons, not that we had any choice; it is the only place in the middle of nowhere, 200 kilometres from the nearest inhabitants, but on the main highway. In the evening and at sunrise the trees are used as roosting places for galahs, the pink and grey parrots indigenous to this area. They come in their hundreds; so much so, you can hardly hear yourself speak over the shrieking noise they make. Sunrise behind the palm trees and over the desert was a sight to behold, but very difficult to photograph.
Up early next morning to arrive at Kings Canyon by lunch time in order to circumnavigate the rim and climb down into the waterhole while the sun lit up the boulders in their many hues of red; yes red again, you can’t escape it out here. While red is in abundance there are so many shades contrasting with the azure blue sky, the grey green of the Spinifex and the reddish brown desert earth; always exciting to view. The rocks are cut in many shapes by the evolution of wind, water, erosion, and earth movement over the millennia. This is indeed an artist’s paradise!
We stayed at Kings Canyon Resort, a custom made tourist area built on land leased from the local Aboriginal tribe. It is situated within the Watarrka National Park and has very strict conditions set for development so that it does not destroy the natural beauty of the region. The resort consists of all types of accommodation from a camping ground to luxury hotels. But as you can imagine it is not cheap!
Next day we were on our travels again, 300 kms to Yulara the nearest stopping place to Uluru. Again the authorities do not allow development within 20kms of the Rock! And rightly so! The natural beauty of the area would be ruined by unwarranted buildings. The Resort is huge, more like several hotel complexes adjacent to each other. When you consider there can be over a hundred coaches parked at the sunset viewing area on an average day, you can imagine the reason for the numerous hotels.
The Tour itinerary was to take us to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), the anglicized names are being replaced with the original Aborigine names adding to their attraction. Here we would walk into the Valley of the Winds and return to see the sunset on these massive boulders. They resemble huge sandstone mounds sitting on the desert floor surrounded by massive areas of Spinifex and Salt Bush giving the earth a surrealistic vision of un-natural beauty. The whole area is like something fabricated from plasticine on a grand scale! As the sun sets the reds change to softer colours of orange, pink and peachy hues at the same time as the high blue sky becomes deeper and deeper in tone while the horizon changes to a softer purple, then pink as the sun drops down below the horizon; there is not a sound from anyone ‘what can you say’ … no words or photographs can even begin to capture the atmosphere! This really has to be experienced!
Unfortunately we were now nearing the end of this awe inspiring journey. The last event was the walk around Uluru in the very early morning (5am to be exact) just prior to sunrise. We set off stopping every so often to see the sun not only change the colour of the rock but also highlight the crevices, cuts and gullies on what at first glance appears like a smooth surface. It took three hours to walk round at a leisurely pace giving you an idea of how huge it really is. Yes an almighty chunk of sandstone! Uluru itself is a sacred site for the local aborigines and there are many areas around the base of the rock also designated ‘sacred sights’ and you are asked not to photograph them. Why? What will it do to them? Does anybody not do it? They charge you to get into the park, so! What is tourism about?
We now headed back to Alice, a six hour drive on the major highways, but the changing scenery helped pass the time. Just after we set off the horizon started to blur then darken; an indication of a bushfire, but it was no bushfire this was a dust storm coming our way driven by a hot, gusty, north wind! The sky turned orange, the visibility decreased and as the wind got stronger the road ahead began to disappear. At one stage we had to stop and remove a dead tree from the road. All very exciting but not thankfully life threatening; another indication of the diverse weather you can experience in the outback. We were lucky to have seen Uluru earlier, as later in the day the whole rock was engulfed by the dust storm. On route we saw wild horses, camels and many birds but only one kangaroo, they all head off to where they can find water, usually up north.
Over the week we had travelled 2500 kms and walked a good few, all in short bursts, the longest was round the rock – 13 kms. We were never rushed and had plenty of time to take in all the sights, stop for a drink, use the cameras, and have a chat. It was a good taster for more exploration of the area.
The next morning was our last chance to see Alice and pick up a few souvenirs before the flight back home, happy at the end of another experience of outback Australia with its’ many diverse facets of weather, geology, geography, fauna, and flora.
For more details on this trip see Auswalk's Red Centre trip.
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