As the heat begins to drop, immerse yourself in the rich ochres and spectacular landscape of Australia’s ancient red heart.
WORDS Ute Junker
The desert keeps no secrets. When you head out of Alice Springs, the scale of the landscape in front of you – a starkly beautiful blend of rocky red ranges and dry scrubland that unfurls towards the horizon – lures you into thinking that the view through your windscreen reveals all there is to see. Don’t be fooled. In the Red Centre, many of the most enchanting sights lie just out of sight. Turn off the main highway, take the road less travelled, and you will discover some true wonders.
You don’t necessarily have to go far. Just half an hour out of Alice Springs lies Standley Chasm Angkerle Atwatye (“Gap of Water” in the Arrernte language). Leave your car and follow a dirt trail through the bush to explore this rugged ravine. The reveal, when it comes, is dramatic: a narrow chasm with sheer walls rising skywards 80 metres. The walk through is most memorable at midday, when the red rock walls are illuminated by the sun sitting directly overhead.
Also worth visiting is Ormiston Gorge, one of the area’s few permanent waterholes. After a big wet, the southern end of the gorge can contain up to 14 metres of water. It is a magical place to float on your back and gaze at the white trunked ghost gums lining the gorge.
To discover the Red Centre’s most impressive gorge, keep driving west towards the sunset to Kings Canyon, an extraordinary place that shelters a lush oasis within its pink hued walls where flocks of zebra finches flit through the shade of the palm trees. The Kings Canyon Rim Walk is one of the region’s most rewarding hikes, well worth the early start. Allow around three to four hours for this challenging 6km walk. The good news is that the hardest stretch is right at the start. Once you have climbed the first 500 steps, the going gets easier. Enjoy sweeping views before descending into the canyon’s green heart, crossing a bridge over the sacred waterhole before climbing back up the other side.
From here, the road heads south towards the area’s most famous monuments. Be warned, however, that the desert has a few more tricks up its sleeve. Many visitors get excited when they see the silhouette of Uluru appear on the horizon, only to discover that they are actually driving towards the Red Centre’s other mighty rock, Mount Conner – known to locals as “Fool-uru”.
Uluru still lies ahead of you – and when you spot that distinctive shape you will wonder how you were ever fooled. Up close, Uluru is far more intriguing than it appears in photographs, full of folds and crevices, ripples in the rock that vanish in photographs.
The best way to discover the rock is on the 10km Uluru Base Walk, where you can see the hidden caves and water holes that stud the base. Many of them were used by the local Anangu people as shelters; some of them still contain layers of colourful rock paintings.
Too often overlooked by visitors, the sandstone domes of Kata Tjuta – meaning ‘many heads’ – are just as spectacular as Uluru. Admire them from up close with a walk into the Walpa Gorge, a refuge for rare animals and plants, where pink daisies bloom in the cooler months and where wallaroos can sometimes be spotted sheltering behind boulders. Like most of the Red Centre’s sights, Kata Tjuta is best experienced at sunrise or sunset, when the slanting rays of the sun seem to set the stone on fire.
“Don’t be fooled. In the Red Centre, many of the most enchanting sights lie just out of sight.”
For one sight, however, the peak viewing time is after dark. The Field of Light near Uluru is a dazzling, shimmering outdoor art installation, a sea of colour that springs to life after sunset, just as flowers spring up on the desert floor after a rain shower. Featuring a fantasy garden of 50,000 spindles of light, this enchanting artwork was inspired by the desert landscape. Two decades ago, creator Bruce Munro was so swept away by the beauty of the desert that he decided to become an artist. After 20 years of international success, he returned home to create the Field of Light, his largest work. This is an undeniably beautiful, memorable tribute to the inspirational power of Australia’s wildest places.
See Field of Light and other Red Centre highlights with Outback Spirit’s Red Centre Explorer tour.
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