The vivid Red Centre of Australia’s Northern Territory is a region of breathtaking desert landscapes, rugged gorges, rich Aboriginal culture and an inspiring pioneering spirit. It’s best discovered from Alice Springs, which sits in the foothills of the majestic MacDonnell Ranges. John Taylor spent four days exploring Alice Springs and its surrounds on self-drive excursions from the Desert Palms Resort

Alice Springs from Anzac Hill

Day 1  Arrive Alice Springs
We set out from Adelaide after a couple of days exploring the Barossa Valley and its wonderful wineries and were headed for Darwin before returning home. We wanted to see something of the Outback, the vast region the Australians call the Red Centre, but did not fancy the idea of driving all the way. We did not want to fly (you see very little from a plane) so we decided to go by train, take the Ghan to Alice Springs, where we would rent a car, stay a few days to discover the town sitting in the middle of Australia and some its surrounding scenery on day trips, then continue by road to Darwin, the Northern Territory’s capital. It turned out to be an excellent plan.

The Ghan leaves Adelaide twice a week on Wednesday and Sunday (there will be changes in 2012) and arrives in Alice Springs around lunchtime the following day. The name of the train comes from the Afghan cameleers who traversed central Australia’s wilderness in the pioneering days. Wild camels, descendants of beasts brought to Australia many years ago, still roam the region.

Right at the end of our train journey, the flat desert landscape changed as one of the oldest mountain ranges on the planet came in sight: the red and purple hues of the magnificent MacDonnell Ranges, rolling and twisting across the hazy horizon.

Before leaving for ‘the Alice’, as locals call it, we also did some research into accommodation: we quizzed one or two travellers we had met who had passed through Alice Springs, took a look on-line at TripAdvisor and one or two other websites, and eventually decided on the Desert Palms Resort (the alternatives being a chain-hotel, which did not seem to offer an Outback experience; and a conference-style hotel that looked to us to be a ‘casino with rooms: not our style. It turned out to be an excellent choice.

The Desert Palms calls itself ‘an oasis in the desert’ – and that’s about right: we would not argue with that. It’s got a great location (close to the casino if you did want to try your luck, and right next to the Alice Springs Golf Club, it you wanted to play a few holes, or enjoy the club’s restaurant). The Desert Palms does not have its own restaurant, but all of its air-conditioned rooms (referred to as ‘studio villas’) have kitchenette facilities, and there are several places to eat nearby. The studio villas are surrounded by palm trees and have their own verandahs, trailing with brightly coloured bougainvillea. Very inviting.

The pool at Desert Palms Resort

Another plus point was the resort’s pool, large enough to boast a small ‘island’ and waterfall. The pool area is surrounded by tropical gardens and palm trees -- the oasis bit. There’s also a handy laundrette (at three dollars a bag it beats paying ludicrous hotel laundry bills) and a gas-fired barbecue area (for those who enjoy rustling up a steak or some sausages – ‘snags’, as the Australians call them). The best point about the Desert Palms was its pocket-friendly rates: we got a ‘stay four nights, pay three’ deal, which we were told is available at certain times throughout the year (worth checking out).

After doing the paperwork for our hire car, once again negotiating a good deal for a Darwin drop-off, we set off for Anzac Hill to get a late afternoon look at the impressive surrounding scenery.  Anzac Hill is one of the most visited attractions in Alice Springs (or so we were told) – it really is the best spot to get a panoramic view of the town. There is a memorial at the top of Anzac Hill, which was unveiled between the two world wars: a tribute to all those who served in the defence of Australia during wars in which Australia has participated. Anzac Hill is also significant for local Aboriginal people, and visitors should always respect their culture and customs by staying in the viewing areas at the lookout, and not wandering off into bushland.

A quick word about car hire: if you want to be really adventuous and go off the beaten track (or paved roads) while visiting Alice Springs, you will need a 4WD, which can be considerably more expensive than a regular vehicle: you will also need to have some basic skills in handling a 4WD (a little more than just basic knowledge if you  are planning a real off road adventure). We decided on a regular 2WD vehicle – a 4WD not being absolutely necessary for what we had in mind. We were grateful for some of the tips we got from a friendly person manning the Desert Palms’s reception desk.

A couple of other things we learned: Alice Springs is the only major town and service centre for an area that's almost the size of Texas. It’s the only town in Australia (and maybe further afield) that has a yacht club with no lake or ocean to sail on – and the only town to have an annual yacht race on a dry river bed. And if that was not quirky enough, Alice Springs is the only place in the world to have a film festival devoted entirely to bicycles, and another that celebrates ornate knitted beanies.

From Anzac Hill we drove down to Todd Mall and called in at the Gondwana Gallery, with its wonderful collection of Aboriginal art, before having dinner at the Red Ochre Grill. (We have since heard that the Gondwana Gallery has closed after many years, the owner had been unwell: but a new gallery called Talapi, run by a former curator at the highly acclaimed Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs, has opened its doors). Alice Springs is a good place to seek out top quality Aboriginal art -- but do not buy it from people selling it on the street: go to a gallery

Aboriginal art exhibited in Alice Springs

Dinner at the nearby Red Ochre Grill was definitely a new experience for us – we shared a ‘combo plate’: a selection of crocodile, kangaroo and camel meat, and the Northern Territory’s favourite fish, barramundi. There is a veggie option that includes grilled egg plant, artichokes, capsicum, semi-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, olives and grilled pitta bread. At the advice of the receptionist at Desert Palms we pre-booked our dinner and arrived before 19.00, which got us twenty per cent off the total food bill. Very much appreciated.

Something else we appreciated – the Desert Palms is a gated resort, which means just that little bit of extra security at night. We slept well, the train journey to Alice Springs had been a satisfying experience, but I guess we were not cut out to sleep on trains, even one with comfortable sleeping berths.

Day 2 The Desert Park, Aruluen Arts Centre, Royal Flying Doctor museum
We started the morning early with coffee on the verandah and then set off for Alice Springs Desert Park, just a short drive from the Desert Palms.

We had planned to spend a couple of hours at the Desert Park, but ended up spending more than half a day. It reminded me somewhat of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, which we had visited some time ago. The Desert Park unfolds the four main habitats to be found in the Red Centre (sand country, woodland, desert rivers and mulga).

Our visit started with a twenty-minute film called The Changing Heart that took us four-and-a-half billion years of desert evolution: it was very well put together. The park’s variety of plant and animal life from the surrounding desert was both surprising and well-presented. We particularly enjoyed watching the majestic birds of prey that fly free in the nature theatre, and what is said to be the the world’s largest nocturnal house, with its fascinating array of strange nocturnal creatures including wallabies, bettongs (also called rat kangaroos) and bilbies (an endangered species that look like bandicoots with big ears).

The bilby -- and endangered species seen at the Desert Park

The all-inclusive entry fee at Alice Springs Desert Park is $20 (Australian) and worth every cent. Easy to operate audio guides are available to all visitors and are available in English, German, French and Japanese.  A tip: the park opens at 07.30 – try to get there early, before the tour buses and (in summer) before it gets too hot.

We stopped of at the park’s Coolamon Cafe before leaving the park. It serves sandwiches, salads and one or two hot dishes. Remember while in Alice Springs (and other parts of the Outback) to keep a supply of bottled water in a shoulder bag, and keep drinking it.

From Alice Springs Desert Park we drove to the Araluen Arts Centre, which among other things houses the Albert Namatjira Gallery, devoted to the works of one of Australia’s most famous Aboriginal artists. Namatjira’s work is vastly different to traditional Aboriginal paintings: he is best known for his water-colour landscapes of the Macdonnell Ranges. It gave us a taste of the landscape we would see for ourselves the next day:

If you into Aboriginal art, which is one of the oldest surviving art forms still practiced today, you should plan to be in Alice Springs in September, when the Araluen Arts Centre stages the annual Desert Mob Art Show. Art collectors and art lovers from all over the world turn up to see works by Aboriginal artists from the remotest areas of the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia – and there’s the Desert Mob Market Place, a large outdoor market with stalls selling affordable Aboriginal arts and crafts and other products. It’s popular with both locals and tourists and offers the opportunity to pick up some excellent bargains.

We just had time to visit the third place on our agenda for that day, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which has an interactive museum where you learn about the incredible history of the iconic RFDS, and see how it works today.

The Royal Flying Doctor

The RFDS Visitor Centre tour starts with a film with some amazing footage of the doctors in action, and follows with a tour of the museum: discover what it's like to be inside one of the RFDS aircraft, and better still, test your skills in a flight simulator. Can you imagine what it was like to communicate before telephones were invented? Find out by using an original Traegar Pedal Radio to talk to visitors at the Alice Springs School of the Air (which was another ‘must visit’ on our list of things to do in Alice Springs). Tours at RFDS Visitor Centre run every half-hour from 09:00 to 16.00.

That evening we went to the aptly named Bunkers Restaurant at Alice Springs Golf Club for dinner: think large grilled steaks and giant home-made beefburgers. We enjoyed the friendly atmosphere, and met several interesting locals. As one of them put it: Alice Springs does not sell itself as a golfing destination – that’s for places like Melbourne and Queensland’s Gold Coast to fight over. However Alice Springs Golf Club is rated in the in the world's top ten desert courses. It is also one of the most remote golf courses in the world, located some 1,500 kilometres in either direction from both Darwin and Adelaide.

It was an easy stroll back to the Desert Palms for an early night. We intended to start off around seven o’clock the next morning for a day out in the West MacDonnell mountains, or the ‘West Macs’ as people in ‘the Alice’ call them.

Day 3. Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm, Ellery Creek
The West MacDonnells is home to several great natural attractions that are easily accessible by road from Alice Springs. They include Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm, Ellery Creek, Serpentine Gorge, the Ochre Pits, Ormiston Gorge, Redbank Gorge and Glen Helen Gorge. We decided to go just as far as Ellery Creek, explore a little of the Larapinta Trail on foot, have a swim in the creek and enjoy a picnic before returning to Alice Springs.

The list of walking options in the West MacDonnells is excellent, and you don’t have to be super fit; your choice depends on your level of fitness -- and just as important, the temperature of the day. That’s why it is best to set out early in the morning, as it can get too hot later for hiking in the early afternoon.

Drive west along Larapinta Drive from Alice Springs and in minutes you find yourself in the awesome West MacDonnells National Park. After about 45 kilometres on Larapinta Drive you take a right turn onto Namatjira Drive. Ellery Creek is about 90 kilometres from the Desert Palms Resort (Glen Helen is a further 45 kilometres)..

Along the way we wound in and out of the national park and passed several small Aboriginal communities. In dry weather, most of the ‘must see’ natural attractions in the park can be accessed by a regular 2WD car.

Along the way to way to the national park we stopped off a Flynn's Grave, a memorial to the far-thinking Reverend John Flynn, who founded the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Then came Simpsons Gap, which is about seventeen kilometres outside Alice Springs, a sacred site to local Aboriginal people.

The Gap is located some six kilometres from the intersection with Larapinta Drive. As you drive in you'll come to a ranger station and a small visitor's centre. Stop here and read about the park. Another few kilometres on and you'll reach the Gap itself.

A short stroll takes you down to the Gap and a waterhole: you can't swim in it, but it's a great place to catch a glimpse of the small black-footed rock wallabies that live around the rocky slopes on both sides of the creek. They use nature’s camouflage and blend in with the rocks, but if you're patient you'll spot them.

From Simpsons Gap we continued to Standley Chasm, which is also on Aboriginal land: there is an entrance fee, which you pay at a kiosk. The chasm was cut by surging flood waters over thousands of years. It runs through rugged sandstone, with impressive deep red slopes rising high on both sides.

Standley Chasm

The chasm is at its most dramatic an hour either side of noon on a sunny day, and at midday that the desert sun is perfectly aligned, Standley Chasm is drenched in a shower of brilliant red reflected sunlight. That’s something we only found out when we arrived – we were a little too early, and reluctantly decided we did not have the time to stay for ‘the show’.

We did, however, follow the main chasm walk that leads from the carpark, a fairly easy half hour return hike that took us along a creek bed filled with cycads, ferns, tall gum trees and other native flora, and spring-fed pools that had attracted a variety of wildlife. Well worth the effort. It was then on to Ellery Creek.

Located a couple of kilometres off the main road, it’s the high red cliffs, large waterhole and a gum tree fringed sandy creek that make Ellery Creek one of the most popular picnic spots in the West MacDonnell Ranges. Having said that, it was not overcrowded.

Ellery Creek  is recognised as an internationally significant geological site. We took a look for ourselves on the fairly easy three kilometre Dolomite Walk, a wonderful escape into the bush that took us a little over an hour. The walk follows a marked, unsealed path with some steady inclines and loops that break away from the Larapinta Trail. Whatever you do, don’t mistakenly continue along the Larapinta Trail that extends westwards, or you’ll be in for a long hike. The plants along the  Dolomite Walk are unique, and there's always the chance of coming across unusual birdlife or reptiles.

Ellery Creek

Remember to wear a shady hat, sunscreen and suitable clothing and footwear – and carry plenty of water.

We returned to Alice Springs in the late afternoon, it had been an exhilarating day. Before we left the creek we caught up with a group of four Germans who had made the round trip from Alice Springs to Uluru, or Ayers Rock, over three days – and they were exhausted. We were glad we had decided on basing ourselves at the Desert Palms in Alice Springs for a few days, taking it easy to discover the town and ‘the Macs’ at a holiday pace.

Day 4  School of the Air, Telegraph Station Historical Reserve, Gemtree
We set out to discover a little more of Alice Springs intriguing history before continuing to Gemstone, where we hoped to find gemstones. Out first stop was the School of the Air, which gives a good insight into the remoteness of the Outback.

Times have changed since the School of the Air was set up in Alice Springs more than sixty years ago. In those days school materials were sent to children living in far flung communities, often on vast cattle stations where it was delivered by a Flying Doctor, and a teacher sat in the School of the Air in Alice Springs with a two-way radio and talked the children through their lessons. The last radio link took place back in 2005: lessons are all done over the Internet today.

An interesting short film is available that tells the history of the school and how it operated. Live lessons can then be viewed (on school days), and you learn more about how high-frequency radio lessons were conducted: the school now uses satellite broadband internet to broadcast lessons to students.

If you are in the teaching profession and would like to see a specific class taking place you can contact the School of the Air in advance. The Visitor Centre is open seven days a week (08.30 to 16.00 from Monday to Saturday, with a later opening hour at 13.30 on Sunday and public holidays).

From the School of the Air we drove on to the nearby Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve, located about four kilometres north of Alice Springs. It’s the best preserved of the twelve stations that stretched 3,200 kilometres along the old Overland Telegraph Line from Adelaide to Darwin, and marks the original site of the first European settlement in Alice Springs back in 1872.

Alice Springs Telegraph Station relayed messages via the Morse code wire line for 60 years, and later served as a school for Aboriginal children. In its time, the Overland Telegraph Line assured fast communication between Australia and the rest of the world – fast by standards of those distant days. Worth a visit in this age of instant communication. The Alice Springs Telegraph Station Reserve is open between 08.00 and 21.00 every day of the year.

Fossicking for gemstones at Gemtree

Our next stop was to be Gemtree, in the Harts Range, a drive of around two-and-a-half hours: continue up the Stuart Highway (or ‘travel up the track’ as the locals say)  for about 70 kilometres, and turn right when you get to the Plenty Highway, from where it’s about another 70 kilometres. The Plenty Highway is sealed along this stretch, but becomes a rather rough 4WD route as it continues on in to Western Queensland.

The big attraction of Gemtree is fossicking, a chance to find your own garnet and zircon gemstones: if you are lucky enough to make a strike, on-site gem cutters can polish and set your treasures into instant jewellery pieces. Something we learned: you fossick for gemstones, pan for gold and noodle for opals.

To get to the gemfields you continue a little less that eight kilometres from Gemtree Caravan Park until you reach a broken down windmill and a water tank on your right. Turn right and follow the gravel road for another seven kilometres: you will soon find yourself on ‘designated fossicking land’  You can get to the area in a regular 2WD vehicle in dry weather (do not attempt it if it has been raining hard). You can join also a tag-along tour (driving your own vehicle behind a guide).

Other activities at Gemtree include a nine hole par 34 bush golf course and a short nature walk. The also play paddy melon bowls at Gemtree, unique Outback sport using paddy melons instead of regular bowls; but that’s only on Saturday nights between May and September. For the trip to Gemtree you need to take your own picnic lunch and lots of water.

We did not strike it rich while at Gemtree, but it was a great Outback experience, something we could talk about for some time to come.

Arriving back in Alice Springs after an eventful day; we bought a large pizza and took it back to our Desert Palms studio villa. The next day we were to start the next leg of our Northern Territory adventure – continuing the drive up to Darwin, with stops at the old gold town of Tennant Creek, Daly Waters pub (the oldest pub in the Northern Territory), Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park and Kakadu National Park along the way.

John Taylor is a much-travelled executive who has spent considerable time travelling in Australia and Europe. He prefers to drive whenever possible and says flying is ‘like crossing a country with a bag over your head, you see nothing’.