KKK No 4 Alice Springs to the Red Centre

“K K K”

 (‘Kimberley Karavan Kapers’ - Bruce & Audrey)

No: 4     Alice Springs to the ‘Red Centre’

 Day 40: Thursday May 15 finds we “Triple ‘K’ Adventurers” up in the dark at 6:15am, a half-hour before sunrise, doing final packing and heading out of Alice Springs on the Stuart Highway bound for Erldunda, some 255km south, the turnoff for the Lasseter Highway, nick-named the Red Centre Way.

Here in the centre of the world’s (scientifically) oldest, flattest, driest and almost hottest continent on earth, the countryside is so lush, so awash with green feed comprising prolific Buffel Grass (introduced species) and other natural species, that it should be renamed “The Green Centre”, rather than the Red Centre.

Lush Buffel Grass

In any case, the contrast between the warm red hues and the bright green pasture is quite colourfully striking as our 2 tonne rig glides effortlessly over the excellent bitumen of Lasseter’s Highway which runs all the way to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), and on to The Olgas. . 

We stopped at Mt Ebenezer, 56km west of Erldunda turnoff to check out an Art Gallery there, featuring many small works on canvass by local Aboriginal women artists, all very ‘touristy’ and pricey, but now regret having not purchased the singularly only piece that I liked of the entire gallery offering, and regrettably, we’re not returning that way.

We photographed distant Mt Conner from the roadside lookout, a flat topped monolith of Uluru ilk and proceeded on to Curtin Springs Wayside Inn and cattle station with a view to over-nighting in their well appointed free campground. Curtain Springs was named for then Prime Minister John Curtin, and the water from its namesake natural spring 6km distant is said to taste like Epsom Salts; one wonders if there’s some political connotation? 

Mt Connor

However our Camps Book listed another roadside camp area much closer to Yulara, the service village for Uluru, so we drove the 60km and were rewarded with the excellent (and popular) Sandy Way Rest Area, up and over a low sand ridge, hidden from the road and into the quiet, shaded area with 10 others already there in residence, and only 28km from Yulara. 

Sandy Way Campsite

We enjoyed a glass of champagne and red wine under tonight’s full moon, in anticipation of tomorrow big Uluru adventure, and our friendly camp-fire reminded us of our good fortune in being here.

The Lasseter Highway traverses open rolling red soil downs, interspersed with moderate height red sandhills, lightly timbered, principally with Desert Oak, a member of the Casuarina family, plus areas of Mulga, Beefwood, Gidyea and Desert Bloodwood.

Desert Oaks, by far the most numerous, are an interesting species is as much as the juvenile trees grow in thin pencil-like columns and depend on rain for survival until reaching maturity, when they spill out into a spherical canopy, their root systems now deep into the watertable, and they no longer depend on rainfall, hence their prolific survival throughout the desert. 

Low Red Sandhills

The Ubiquitous Desert Oak

Up again next morning at 6:30am in the dark to a fine but cloudy day; we leave the K K’van at the Sandy Way campground in safe company with several others and drive off  to the service village, Yulara, with its Airstrip, up-market Resort, Campground and Shell Service Station, our destination “Uluru/Kata Tjuta National Park”, the latter being the local name for The Olgas. 

The Olga's

There is a singular entry point to the NP where a fee of $25 per person is collected for a three-day multiple-entry pass. We decided to see The Olgas first, a 48km sealed road drive farther on past Yulara, stopping enroute at the Kata Tjuta dune viewing site before arriving at the Olgas themselves. 

Valley of the Winds

Walpa Gorge Viewing Platform

Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) is a contiguous formation of several large monoliths, having a much larger footprint than Ayers Rock. There are three different short walks which we did, particularly enjoying the “Valley of the Winds” and; “Walpa Gorge” scenery, snapping off digital photos by the score (as you do) as we went. We also met a Melbourne based Sri-Lanka couple, Amos and Mary, whose all too short company we enjoyed.

The Olgas

Having lunched here on our usual fare of picnic sandwiches, it was time for the big one, Uluru, where we visited the Cultural Centre, a ‘walk-thru’ display featuring all aspects of local cultural and historical information on well documented displays, and a colourful video presentation as well; as you might expect, all very well done, and included in the Park entry fee.

It was mid afternoon and becoming increasingly overcast as we did the 10.6km drive around the base of Uluru, which while softly lit by the high thin cloud, did not distract from its stunning appearance, though did suggest its sunset viewing would not be as spectacular as it otherwise might be.

Uluru

 We stopped to see all Uluru’s features i.e., the Mutitjulu Waterhole, the adjacent Kuniya aboriginal rock art, Kantju Gorge and the climbers ascending the famous, if not steep Mala Puta walk up to the top of Ayers Rock, which incidentally has resulted in 35 fatalities from various causes over the years. The local Anangu owners now request that people refrain from scaling the rock for spiritual reasons, though it is not (yet) illegal, and many climbers were scaling it.

Mala Puta Walk up Uluru

There were lots of tourists everywhere, many foreigners included, and we were totally thrilled and excited to at last see such a national icon, but pretty tired after our walks on uneven stony tracks at The Olgas, going non-stop all day.

So with smiles on our faces and contented hearts we drove back to our van at Sandy Way, hitched it up quickly then drove the 60km back to the free campground at Curtin Springs, where we stayed an extra day to write this report, before departing in the morning for our next adventure – Kings Canyon, in the West MacDonnell Ranges, and no doubt a full on week ahead.

We’ve now been 43 days on the road and travelled 4356km.

Bruce and Audrey

Curtin Springs

18/5/14