Driving the Red Centre Way

Today was planned as the big “Scenic Drive” of the trip and it lived up to all our expectations.

It started with an attempt to fix a minor hiccup – somehow I’d managed to leave behind my warmest jacket ( I’m really out of practise with packing) so after checking out we stopped in at Kmart to see if I could find a cheapie alternative. However, they’d be cleaned out of warm jackets except for long coats so I guess there’s lots of people visiting Alice who are out of practise with their packing! I’ll just have to make do with layering up a few lighter things on our early morning and evening activities.  After that we dropped in to the Alice Springs Visitor Information centre as we needed to purchase our permit to drive the Mereenie Loop section of the Red Centre Way. This scenic route runs through the West Macdonnell Ranges and the Mereenie loop is a section at the end that runs through Aboriginal land. It’s a pretty rough road and you are strongly recommended only to attempt it in a 4WD. The lady behind the counter registered the details of our car etc and collected our $5 and away we went.

Our first stop along the route was the famous Standley Chasm, a 3-metre-wide, 80-metre-high gorge within the craggy red rocks of the range. The path to it runs along the side of a creekbed and is shaded by trees, which were popular with the green and gold budgies that act like they own the place.

The walk in is very easy but I had read that a great view was to be had if you detoured from the main path along a section of the challenging Larapinta Trail ( A a 231 kilometre path that follows the rocky spine of the West MacDonnell Ranges from Alice Springs Telegraph Station to Mount Sonder.) The entrance to this section of the trail had a stern warning ‘Experienced Walkers Only”, but the book had said that a 15 minute detour was worth the effort – well I lasted about 5 minutes! Seriously, this section of the trail seemed designed for mountain goats and I decided that the view up there was not for me! Neil was keen to lkeep going so I parked myself on a rock and played with my camera settings while he headed further up.  He, naturally, told me the trail improved just a little up past where I’d conked out!

Back on the main trail we walked in to the chasm and spent ages trying to take photos that did it justice.

After a brief stop at the kiosk to buy a couple of drinks we carried on west along the road and arrived at Ellery Creek Big Hole at a little after midday. There were a few brave souls swimming in this lovely waterhole tucked between a gap in the range. I say brave because the water was freezing! There was no way I was putting more than a toe into that water, but I was happy to admire the view.

We decided to have our picnic lunch here at one of the campground picnic tables – mainly a selection of items that we’d pinched from the breakfast buffet that morning ( yes, we’re cheap!) Blue berry muffins, Jatz biscuits and an apple each were all we needed. We heard a young woman chatting to a passeryby about her adventures walking the Larapinta Trail – she was doing it alone but assisted by one of the local companies that provides food drops etc to people walking the trail. It saved them from having to carry so much with them and also means that someone is checking on their progress – a great system.

Another 20km down the road we stopped in to see the Ochre Pits. The brilliantly coloured sandy rocks that line the walls here have been used for thousands of years by Indigenous people for decoration and painting.

25km further on we arrived at one of the real highlights of the Red Centre Way and the West Macdonnell ranges – Ormiston Gorge. The gorge is one of the most popular and photographed places in the Red Centre.  There were a few more people swimming here and a couple of kayakers. I could see why it’s so popular, it’s been a HUGE surprise to me to see all these lovely green oases in the Red Centre. After recent rains everything is very green, there are wildflowers blooming and butterflies and birds everywhere.  It really is not what I had expected at all.

The drive coninued west along the range and shortly after crossing the Finke River we stopped at the Mt Sonder lookout. Mt Sonder dominated the skyline for a long way along the road and there is a challenging but very popular section of the Larapinta Trail that climbs to the summit. We, however, just admired it from the lookout.The road starts to wind a little as it turns south and another 25km further on we stopped at the Tylers Pass Lookout where we had a  fantastic viewof Tnorala (Gosse Bluff), a comet crater dating back about 140 million years ago. Again the photos don’t do it justice.

As we drove down through the foothills of the range we passed closer to the crater and eventually reached the turnoff for the Mereenie Loop Road. The bitumen gave was to gravel, and then rougher and rougher road. I was certainly glad we are in a 4WD for this first section, but we timed our trip well as not to far along we passed a couple of graders that were doing their best to improve the surface.  The corrugations had definitely been improved by them but they couldn’t do much about the many dips and crests that gave us a a roller coaster like drive. Neil was loving every minute of it!

After a final dip down past Ginty’s Lookout we finally spotted Kings Canyon in the distance and pulled into the reception area of the Kings Canyon Lodge at around 5pm.  When we’d taken in our bags I asked Neil what he wanted to do – “I’m heading straight to the bar for a drink!”  I wasn’t going to argue with that so we walked down past the big AAT Kings tour bus that had just arrived and found a nice spot outside the Thirsty Dingo Bar.

We stayed on and chose our meats from the Outback BBQ counter – they cook the meat for you and then you tuck in with salads and potatoes – my lamb rump with rosemary and mine was delicious!

The resort has a wide range of accommodation ranging from normal camping, to glamping tents and a couple of different types of hotel room. We’ve indulged ourselves with  a Deluxe Room – mainly because it has a spa bath with a wonderful view of the stars and moon rising over the red cliffs behind the resort. A perfect place to end the day.