BAREFOOT ON ULURU
The heart of Australia makes for an exciting and adventurous family holiday
In a town like Alice, one of the first things I tend to do is lay my hands on the local rag to find out what’s going on. Grabbing a copy of the Northern Territory News on an April visit, I skip the Darwin pages and scan for Central Australian stories. Aha! There will be an 11am Anzac Day service here tomorrow.
It’s hot on Anzac Hill. As ladies in printed frocks and sunhats fan themselves with their service programs, soldiers stand rock solid in the blazing sun. There are hundreds of people up here on the rocky knoll overlooking the town and the MacDonnell Ranges.
It’s hard to describe the complex poignancy of two young indigenous Territorians dressed as Light Horsemen stepping forth during the service to lay a wreath. School students Saline Ebatarinja and Dwight Campbell rode in 130km from Ntaria/Hermannsburg to take part in today’s commemorations. The group’s horses are resting in the shade of a clump of trees down the hill, heads lowered, tails rhythmically flicking away the flies.
I’ve had my girls on the go all morning and promise them a long afternoon swim back at our hotel, the DoubleTree by Hilton.
We began with a huge hotel breakfast buffet and worked it off exploring the nearby Olive Pink Botanic Garden. This tip came not from the newspaper but a new book by Hobart author Gillian Ward about Pink, an intrepid Tasmanian artist and activist who spent most of her life with and advocating for the rights of Aboriginal people. One of her late projects was this garden on the edge of the city, which has self-guided walks.
After lazy hours at the pool, where peacocks strut along the edge, we eat pizza and slide the balcony doors open to sleep, waking to flocks of wonderfully noisy galahs in the palm trees and white-trunked gums.
Camel riding is a joy. Pyndan Camel Tracks’ Marcus Williams has been working with the animals for decades. Today his experience shows as he patiently convinces a sobbing, terrified girl to join the rest of her family on our sunset ride. It is surreal watching my girls swaying along on the front camel, Pixie, in the golden light, with the iconic MacDonnells beyond. Wonderful.
Another highlight is the bird show at Desert Park, a native wildlife park. One of my girls reckons we’ve already seen enough wedgetailed eagles eating roadkill, but the outdoor theatre show turns out to be fantastic. It begins with magpies warbling on command. Next a black-breasted buzzard flies in, picks up a stone and cracks open an emu egg. On we go: barn owls, white-faced heron, kite, eagles all flying in.
A day trip to the West MacDonnells is another must and there’s lots of easy shortish walks. We drive out to Ellery Creek Big Hole and work our way back into town via Standley Chasm and Simpsons Gap. April is a great time of year to visit, as there are relatively few tourists about (winter is peak season). The day is a glory of red cliffs and chilly swimming holes. There are basic facilities at most sites (some have campsites). We stop at a veranda cafe at Standley Chasm for Devonshire tea.
I’d love to have spent more time in the country around Alice, especially travelling by 4WD, which would have given us access to Finke River Gorge.
Next we head for Uluru, 450km southeast. It’s a smooth drive on sealed roads and we stay in the 4.5 star Desert Gardens Hotel at Ayers Rock Resort about 15km from the landmark. We’re excited to discover we have a distant rock view from our room.
The evening is wondrous at Field of Light, a huge light installation by UK artist Bruce Munro that’s in place until the end of 2020. Though the location is not as close to the rock as the promotional material suggests, it is a beautiful experience. Coming so close after Anzac Day, I keep thinking of a nocturnal field of illuminated poppies.
And then comes the day we have been longing for and imagining for more than a year: a chance to walk the base of Uluru with beloved friends who have joined us from Tennant Creek in the NT. Our children go barefoot much of the way on the 10.5km circuit. We’re covered in flies, we run out of water and eat all our food way too early, but I couldn’t be happier. It’s a pilgrimage like no other and the best family trip we’ve ever done.
The author visited Central Australia with assistance from Northern Territory Tourism