A Week in The Red Centre

After months of exploring Australian coastal cities and towns, we flew to Alice Springs for a week in the Red Centre. Adjusting to the moisture sucking air and miles of emptiness took some effort, but visiting the Outback in Australia’s Northern Territory was a good adventure.

Outsiders’ visions of Australia include mobs of kangaroos galloping across the plains, red rocks rising from the desert, and rednecks in bars crushing crocodiles. We have been in the country for a year without seeing the desert, so when we learned we had to wait two more weeks before Go’s haulout, we booked flights to Alice Springs. A week in the Red Centre was on our wish list, and we’re so glad we made the trip.

About The Red Centre

We’ve been learning Australia’s detailed terminology for their geography. The majority of people live along the coasts, where the big cities and towns are. Moving inland from there are the Hinterlands, mere miles from the coasts but still quite different. Beyond the Hinterlands is the bush, and then comes The Outback, the most remote lands in Australia.

We spent a week in The Red Centre, the most famous and visited part of Australia’s Outback. The landscapes were red and the air was extremely dry. It was so dry that my lips and skin were chapped, despite slavishly applying sunscreen. It took several days back on the coast before the moisture returned. And we were there in winter! At least it was much warmer than Port Macquarie, which rarely gets above 18C this time of year. In The Red Centre, it got up to 23C a few days.

This part of Australia differed from our previous destinations in other ways. For one, we rarely saw wild animals. We had heard tell of wild camels, emus, and kangaroos roaming the lands, but that was not our experience. The only camels and emus we saw were on farms, and we didn’t see roos until our very last day, when they ran across the road in front of us, of course. Apparently, wildfires have sent the wild animals away.

And then, there’s the liquor laws.

Alice Springs

We spent our first night in Alice Springs, known as the gateway to the Red Centre. Alice Springs has negative press in Australia, due to crime in the indigenous community. So, with only had a week in the Red Centre, we opted for only one night there.

Staff at our hotel and others warned us not to walk around or be outside after 9PM. So on our Saturday night in Alice Springs, we drove the short distance downtown, visited a couple of establishments and made it back to the room very early.

The town’s bars and restaurants were empty compared to everywhere else in Australia. The busiest place was the brewery with what looked like a children’s party on Saturday afternoon.

Plus, we noted some strange liquor laws. Shops had limited opening hours, and you are only allowed to make one purchase a day in the town. So, Brian had used his ID to buy beer to go at the brewery and couldn’t buy wine at the liquor store the same day. I had to use my ID to do that. Like I said. Very different from the rest of the country.

One of the bars was full of Aussie memorabilia, including weapons, photos, croc skins and Ned Kelly wares. The security guard at Bojangles was friendly and showed us some of the highlights inside. However, it was quiet for a Saturday night with not many patrons.

Still, Alice Springs has interesting history and museums we would have liked to visit, but we didn’t have the time.

Driving to Uluru

From Alice Springs, we spent a good chunk of our next day driving, and stopping along, the road to Uluru. Like many of our Australian drives, this one was pretty easy with wide well-paved roads. The speed limit on the Stuart Highway got up to 130KM/hr. The only issue was when the sun was in your eyes, otherwise, all good.

The drive from Alice Springs to Uluru is about 5 hours nonstop. Since there are some cool roadside stands and attractions, and barista coffees, it’s worth stopping. Plus, that’s the only time we saw emus!

In addition to stopping at every gas station pit stop slash store slash restaurant, we took a couple other breaks on the drive.

Cannonball Run Monument

One of the interesting stops on the Red Centre highway is the Cannonball Run Monument. It’s located south of Alice Springs on the Sturt Highway, at the spot where 4 people died during the first, and only, Cannonball Run in 1994.

Fooluru

Towards the end of our long drive, we pulled over to look at the first rock formation we’d seen in ages. Known as Fooluru, because it fools people who think it’s Uluru, it’s called Mount Conner.

You can’t visit because it’s on private land, so people stop and take photos of Mount Conner from the roadside.

Uluru- Kata Tjuta

Once known as Ayers Rock, this iconic rock formation goes by the original Aboriginal name given by the traditional owners of the land, Uluru. And it is pretty special to see this big red rock rising out of the flat boring desert.

Uluru and the neighboring rock formations Kata Tjuta are one National Park which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. These iconic rock formations are geographically important and culturally significant to the Aṉangu aborginals.

Kata Tjuta is about an hour drive beyond Uluru and consists of several large domed rock formations.

Some of the top experiences in these parks are hiking and viewing sunrise and sunsets over the formations. In fact, there are several designated places to watch sunsets and sunrises, from within the park and at the resort. It is incredible to watch the color of the rock change as the sun is setting behind you. We watched the sunset from a different spot each night we were there. The best was definitely within Uluru park.

These are two photos taken a couple of minutes apart from the same location with no lighting edits.

Yulara

Uluru is 23 minutes drive from Yulara, the manufactured town/resort for all the tourists coming to see The Rock. It’s like any resort owned by just one company: overpriced and sterile. It is the only game in town.

The restaurants were not very good and expensive. For example, the “casual” restaurant, called Outback, sells meat you barbecue yourself which comes with a salad bar. We paid $35 for a couple of skinny sausages. At least this place has live music.

Another restaurant, where reservations are required, charged over $100 for a dinner buffet.

Finally, here we come with the liquor laws again. To get a drink, you had to show your hotel room card. Because if you’re not staying in the resort (there’s nowhere else to stay as I mentioned), you can’t get a drink. We even saw one person denied a beer because he hadn’t checked in yet.

But we didn’t spend a week in the Red Centre looking for gourmet dining, even though we got it at Kings Canyon.

Kings Canyon

Out last stop on our week in the Red Centre was two nights at Kings Creek Station near Kings Canyon. Kings Canyon is part of Watarrka National Park and is a beautiful hiking area. It’s about a 3 hour drive from Uluru, and again, there are not a lot of accommodation options. What there is can be expensive.

Kings Creek Station

We stayed in a cabin on a hill at Kings Creek Station and opted for the dinner provided which we cooked on our own barbecue. It was delicious and beautiful. Each cabin has its own fire pit, which we gladly torched up and enjoyed while watching the sun set and the stars take their turn to light up the sky.

Karrke Aboriginal Culture Experience

Another highlight of our stay was learning about Aboriginal culture with the Karrke Aboriginal Culture Experience. We spent an hour on Peter and Christine’s ancestral land on their well crafted tour, where we learned about their bush medicine, art, crafts, spirituality and much more.

We even got to touch a grub – they’re big and soft! – but fortunately, were not asked to eat one. It’s a delicacy so I imagine they’re saving it for a feast.

Drinking Laws

On our last day in Kings Canyon, we did a few hikes and went to the Kings Canyon Resort to see what it was all about. We had hiked and it was warm so we were also looking for a beer. This is where the region’s liquor laws bit us. Because we weren’t staying at the resort, we couldn’t buy a beer unless we had a meal with it, and then we could only have one drink. These are the rules and they are very different here compared to everywhere else in Australia.

Hiking in The Red Centre

One of our favorite parts of our week in The Red Centre was the great hiking. We hiked around Uluru (you can’t touch or climb it), into Kings Canyon, and around Kata Tjuta. We also hiked in Alice Springs and a few other places near Kings Canyon. Some of the trails were strenuous, but many were easy.

If you’re into hiking, a trip to the Red Centre should be on your list. Since we went in winter, we didn’t have to worry about overheating, but it gets hot in summer, so take precautions when you go.

We only spent a week in The Red Centre, and it was last minute but we enjoyed the experience. The hiking was great and the views were unique. I hope you get to go and experience it for yourself. If you’ve been, let us know how it went in the comments!