Touchdown at Alice Springs airport not only gave us the novelty of an Immigration-like State border check-in but provided an eye widening and sobering reminder of the state of travel in Covid Times with 140 aircraft from all over the globe languishing in the desert air awaiting the call back to duty.
October pretty much tips you past the main tourist season for a Central Australian trip. A southern hemisphere autumn or winter is the optimal timing to beat the fierce summer heat. The last-minute cancellation (snap Covid lockdown in my State) of the fully planned August trip left us with just one window of opportunity. With a very serious and painful case of travel withdrawal symptoms literally gnawing away at my insides, naturally I took the only remaining window of availability.
Uluru is top of the list for most people, and we were no different, but I had a few other important destinations on my agenda. And just a short couple of weeks to jam it all in. There was a lot of driving ahead of us.
With the car and the accommodation sorted, the priority after an early flight was to get a decent brunch – Page 27 Cafe in the Fan Arcade hit the mark. Then it was time to organise an esky (cool box) for the long road trips, along with supplies. Couldn’t go past Afghan Traders as the first port of call for our fresh food and treats.
The West McDonnell Ranges road trip accessible for a 2WD vehicle is about 135 kms one way and is packed with walks, scenic spots and more things to do than is possible in just one day. The nostalgia part of this day for me was to revisit Glen Helen, just past Ormiston Gorge. Not a lot to see perhaps for the average day tripper but I enjoyed fighting my way through 2 metre high reeds on sometimes soggy ground till I got to the water. We later met the Rangers who were on their way to make it all a bit more accessible.
Ormiston Gorge provided the first decent walk of the trip. Or more correctly, the first decent Climb of the trip. Are we nearly there? Always another corner.
We make a stop at the Ochre pits
Plenty to see in Alice itself. Olive Pink Botanic Gardens and Desert Park are highlights but the Araluen Art Centre is the gem. We are so lucky to see Desert Mob Retrospective and the Hermannsburg pots on display are mind blowing.
Sublime (Kulyuru by Lennard Walker). And then there is the bucking bronco.
Yulara Resort is one of the most expensive places to stay in Australia. But that’s it if you want to spend time at Uluru (Ayers Rock). There are a range of options and we have a 2 bedroom apartment. Not bad.
The long drive from Alice is broken by the conveniently located halfway stop of Erldunda Roadhouse. The tucker here exceeded the usual standard of roadhouse fare and we enjoyed it driving in and out of the Rock.
The ride around the Rock calls for a very early start to beat the heat. It’s about 15 kms all up counting the cycle in and out from the bicycle hire spot. We were the first in so got the pick of the cycles. I still seemed to get an exceptionally hard saddle and as a non cyclist I had a daily reminder of that ride for quite some time!
Early morning start but it soon warms up
Flat all the way, but a little tricky in a couple of spots. Shaded areas, sacred sites (photography forbidden), opportunities to get very close, places to meditate quietly and waterholes that fill when the rains cascade down the Rock. The cycle or the walk around the Rock is pretty special. A drive around is possible for the less mobile with the road just a further distance away. The Ranger guided Mala walk the day before certainly enhanced our experience.
Kata Tjuta offers great walks – Walpa Gorge and the very aptly named Valley of the Winds were the ones we took.
I’ve been to Uluru and Alice Springs on several occasions but only to Palm Valley once in the 70’s. So that became the second and main nostalgia goal of this trip. It so nearly didn’t happen. The season finishes at the end of September and with Covid amplifying the lack of tourists, our October dates meant there was only one possible day and even then it was only on at the very last minute. It had to be a tour as it is 4WD only. And boy, was it ever 4WD compulsory!! The roughest drive in towards the end when only an experienced driver can make it. But is was worth every rock clambering moment.
Palm Valley is in the Finke Gorge National Park and the ancient red cliffs tower over thousands of palms and cycads, remnants from millions of years ago. It was as wonderful as I remembered. Another great walk with a climb but not as arduous as Valley of the Winds.
The floor of Palm Valley
That day ended eventfully. Flat tyre far enough out of Alice to mean there was no phone coverage. The situation deteriorated – lack of correct tyre changing equipment! Even worse, the car collapses onto the rim! We were in for the long haul. Luckily for us, NT Rangers came to the rescue. A wind and rain storm wild and strong enough to blow down a tree nearby did nothing to deter our rescuers from acieving success in their mission.
Quite a few things on the itinerary missed the cut but always better to have too many choices than too few. More to see next time and we had definitely given it our best shot with a cracking non stop pace for the couple of weeks we had.
Grassy tufts on the Rock, Hermannsburg, storyteller ever so casually makes the red dirt a vivid canvas for waterholes and just as casually sweeps them away
So much more to see in the Northern Territory. Our trip is just a sampler of what the Centre has to offer. Then there is Kakadu and everything else along the track!
Lorna On The Loose 