2 Central Australia

Planned 7 days in the Central Australia & NT region, which covers about 2500km of travelling. Go through Ayers Rock, the McDonnell Ranges, Mount Hermannsburg, Palm Valley, Ormiston Gorge, Ellery Creek Big Hole, Standly Chasm, Simpsons Gap, Alice Springs, Barrow Creek, Devils Marbles, Pebbles, John Flynn Historical Reserve and Daly Waters.

Central Australia: Day 5. Ayers Rock to Kings Canyon. Sat 31/7/21, 321km

Stayed only one night here, not two. Decided that extra night in the McDonalds Ranges a better option. Pleasantly surprised that the “Ayers Rock Resort Campground” gave us a refund as we were pulling out.

Sunrise, on the East side of Ayers rock was also nice. Need to be there before sun rise.

Went to Kings canyon in Watarrka National Park has sheer sandstone cliffs over 150m high. There are several walks available, and helicopter flights from Kings Canyon resort. We were all a little underwhelmed. Not as spectacular as expected. The short walk was hardly worth it. Certainly the Rim walk better, though need to be fit. There is a nice water fountains at end of the walk for drinking and washing your face

We made camp at Meereenie Road, Morris Pass a few kilometres East of Kings Canyon. Spectacular views of the Ranges, but very windy. So moved camp to less windy spot with nice bushfire with great food.

Central Australia: Day 6. Kings Canyon to Palm Valley. Sun 1/8/21

Road from Morris Pass to Hermannsburg rough and corrugated. Had to slow down a fair bit to avoid holes and not shake car and camper to bits.

Fuelled up at Hermannsburg, with an automatic paying system. Had to try a few times to get it going. Must use Credit Card, not savings.

Visited the Hermannsburg Heritage Precinct. The German Lutheran mission from 1877-1982 that helped the Aranda ancestors. Missionaries came from South Australia on a 20 month difficult journey. Unlike other missionaries that banned Aboriginal language, they prioritised local language and transcribed into Aranda religious texts. The mission was a refuge for Aboriginal people during the violent frontier conflict between early pastoral settlement and local aboriginals.

Hermannsburg is also well known for Albert Namatjira (1902–1959), who is Australia’s most famous Aboriginal artist and became renowned for his ability to embody his country using watercolours, was born in Hermannsburg.

Had a pie for lunch!

Ended up in Palm Valley in Finke National Park. The Finke River dates back 350 million years and is believed to be one of the oldest rivers in the world. We setup camp, and then drove up a rough track to Palm Valley. Has groves of rare cabbage palms, botanic remnants from millions of years ago, when Central Australia was lush with tropical forests. Very nice walk, and beaut scenery. Budgies everywhere, beautiful and rugged, great colours. Would recommend. However, the 4WD drive into the gorge not for the faint hearted. See pics!

Stayed at Palm Valley campsite, which was very comfortable at $10 per person per night. Dingo wondered through the campsite several times, so need to put rubbish away. Nice showers, BBQ facilities and toilets.

Central Australia. Day 7. Palm Valley to Orminston. Mon 2/8/21

Stopped at Albert Namatjira’s house and drove to Redbank Gorge. Saw lots of brumbies along the way.

Redbank Gorge is the end of the Larpinta walking trail, which starts at Alice Springs. Very popular with lots of walking tracks. We opted for the 1 hour, 2.3km walk to a great Chasm. Deep, narrow gap gorge leads you to waterhole. Some tourists had inflatables to go into the chasm. There were lots of dead fish (bony bream), due to lack of oxygen.

Stopped at Tylers Pass Lookout for morning tea. Great 360 view of the McDonald Ranges.

Set camp at Orminston Camp ground, and had afternoon nap. Very popular campground, which quickly filled up after we arrived. Also, had a cafe with drinks & food (10am-4pm).

Central Australia. Day 8. Orminston to Alice Springs. Tues 3/8/21

Ormiston Gorge, the largest and most spectacular colourful gorge in West McDonald Ranges. Excellent walk around Orminston Gorge, early morning at about 7am. Is part of the Larapinta track, and very scenic. Great lookouts and water holes.

On the way to Alice Springs we visited Ochre Pits. Soft stoned cliffs has had ochre collected here for thousands of years. Used for ceremony, dance and decoration. Very rich colours in the cliff face.

Visited Ellery Creek Big Hole, https://nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/200036/ellery-creek-big-hole-fact-sheet-and-map.pdf. Deep large waterhole which was very cold. Cuts a hole in the West McDonald Ranges over thousands of years. We didn’t swim here.

Visited Standley Chasm. Privately owned tourist attraction. Paid $12 entry fee. Gouged through tough sandstone by floods and water over millions of years with the water from the Finke river. Also is part of the Larapinta walking trail (sections 3 & 4). http://www.standleychasm.com.au

Simpsons Gap was an easy short walk to see waterhole and gap created.

Arrived at Big4 McDonald Ranges Campsite in Alice Springs. Very nice with own toilet and hot shower. Two nights here helps with washing, supermarket, meals, and chilling out a bit

Went to Sportive Bistro for dinner (Tripadvisor). Decent meal with Barramundi on the menu, and Wirra Wirra wine.

Central Australia. Day 9. Alice Springs. Wedn 4/8/21

Very cold in the morning. 2c! Took the mountain bikes out, and rode from Alice Springs (John Flynn Memorial) to Simpsons gap. Was a nice easy ride on sealed track, though not much to see along the way, except some flocks of budgies and the West McDonald Ranges in the background. Gratefully the girls did the washing!

Rest of day shopping and organising camper

For dinner went to “Korean Food”. Nice meal with great Kimchi. Julie wants to make some now!

Central Australia. Day 10. Alice Springs to Tenant Creek. Thurs 5/8/21. 560km

Stopped at the marker which is the highest point between Adelaide and Darwin, 727.2m above sea level.

Tennant Creek is on the Stuart Highway and the Barkly Tablelands, known for its million-acre cattle stations, gold mining heritage, iconic rock formations and Aboriginal culture. This is genuine Outback Australia.

Stopped at Ailerom Art centre. Imposing, very large and impressive AnamatJerre sculpture. After this, the highway speed goes to 130kph!

Stopped at Devils Marbles. Interesting rock formations. Full car park of caravans staying the night

Bush camp at Attack Creek Campsite, about 68km north of Tenant Creek. Very nice sunset and beautiful bushfire and another great meal!

Central Australia. Day 11. Tennant Creek to Elsey NP Camp. Fri 6/8/21

Up at 6:30am for another early start. Stopped to take some pictures of terminate nests, dressed with clothes, and also collected some wood

Had lunch at Daly Waters Pub – a Barra Burger and beer. Very eccentric little town, started as an airforce base from WWII. Lots of quirky things to see all around the town. Definitely worth a stop here.

Elsey National Park has thermal springs. We had a swim at the Bitter Springs thermal springs. Certainly the water was quite warm, and very pleasant.

We set camp at Bitter Creek caravan park, which had nice showers and toilet combination. Fixed bike puncture and had steak & coleslaw for dinner. Were greeted with a flock of hooting peacocks in the morning.

Back to camp with another great meal!