Tiptoeing around the edges of a long-overdue illustrated Australian travelog, I've come up with this:
We weren't sure we could "afford" the Red Centre, both financially and in terms of days needed in a 19 day itinerary. We considered camping safaris as a no-hassle and less expensive alternative, but in the end we didn't go with ANY of the safari operators we'd investigated. (We did see their buses and gear trailers on the road, and saw their tents pitched at the overpopulated Yulara campground, and feel we made the right decision.)
Instead we rented a 2-berth campervan with shower and toilet from Backpacker Campervans in Alice Springs for $141 AUD a day, and bought about $150 in groceries. That, plus the $25 entry fee per person to the National Park and modest camping fees for a primitive campground between Alice Springs and Yulara, was the sum total for our 5 days/4 nights out of Alice Springs, for two people.
The camper was a VW diesel which handled well and got better than 25 miles per gallon. (It says Britz, but Backpacker rents slightly older models retired from the Britz and Maui fleets.)
We camped at Ellery Creek Big Hole in the West Macdonnells the first night - even though it added two hours to our route. Since we were starting late in the day after grocery shopping, it was nice not to have to hit the road for hard driving right away, and the Big Hole area was lovely.
Drove to Uluru on Day 2, spending almost exactly 24 hours there, which was just enough for us.
We did the base walk that afternoon,
watched the sunset,
found an unofficial campsite outside of the National Park and Yulara compound for the night. The Uluru climb was closed most of the time we were there due to high wind gusts predicted, but I wouldn't have done it anyway in deference to the indigenous folks' wishes.
Day 3 we moved the campervan early and caught sunrise at Uuru while eating breakfast, went to Kata Tjuta, visiting the dunes overlook on the way, and did both the Valley of the Winds and Walpa Gorge walks before picnicking in the camper at the Uluru sunset parking lot (though long before sunset). Then we drove to Kings Canyon (Watarrka National Park), and found an unofficial campsite just off the end of the pavement on the Mereenie Loop Road.
Next morning, Day 4, my birthday, we were surprised to see two dingoes
and three feral camels (Australia has more wild camels than any place on earth, released after the Afghans were done ferrying materials to the Red Centre before the railroad and telegraph went through)
on our drive to Kings Canyon to do the Rim Walk, which turned out to be one of my favorite hikes of the whole trip. Even saw a kangaroo on the rim, plus scads of birds in the lovely and peaceful Garden of Eden.
We started our drive back to Alice that afternoon, camping at the Henbury Meteor Craters park (5 campsites, self-registering).
Next morning, Day 5 we hiked the loop around the craters, drove back to Alice and visited the Telegraph Museum which was crawling with kangaroos before turning in the campervan.
We had no problems at all, and highly recommend doing a self-drive safari this way.
This is jaw-droppingly beautiful. My god, those colors! Your photos really convey the vast and subtle beauty of that kind of so-called "bleak" landscape.
Your comments about why and how you chose to make the trip the way you did will prove invaluable to anyone contemplating a similar trip. I know you all are experienced hikers. What kind of provisions would you consider essential for this, and what physical condition is needed?
Those are such great pictures of the wildlife. The camels were a thrill for me, as Tracks is one of my favorite books.
I see that Mr. Kimby discovered the little detail about the flies.
Wonderful start, Kimby, even though I almost died of shock when I saw that it was finally posted. Interestingly enough, my retired Chinese colleague's daughter is working in the area at the moment, at the camel farm 90 km from Alice. She has a WHV and has been writing to me about the experience. She just started there (she was mostly working aroung Perth, including as an old sheep killer) and has been complaining about 1) the heat 2) the shitty accommodations for the employees 3) having to learn the names of all the camels.
Beautiful photos. I have never heard of a 'feral camel'. This is only vaguely related, but this reminded me of a fabulous Australian TV mini-series I once watched, 'A Town Named Alice' with Bryan Browne. Lovely to hear about your trip, especially with the concrete details of the day to day that often are not posted.
Your comments about why and how you chose to make the trip the way you did will prove invaluable to anyone contemplating a similar trip. I know you all are experienced hikers. What kind of provisions would you consider essential for this, and what physical condition is needed?
We were lucky with the temperatures which had dropped about 10 degrees after a freak rainstorm the day before we arrived. That allowed us to hike and be out and about in the middle of the day, whereas at some times of year you probably have to cower in airconditioned vehicles or lodges during the heat of the day. (It was "only" 93 F when we were there.)
That said, you will always need a hat for shade. When flies are around you will greatly appreciate a head net. Some people wore hats with corks on strings bobbing around their faces and necks, which seems to discourage the flies. I just waved my hand in front of my face. They aren't biting flies, they just want to "drink" your eye and nose fluids, and sweat, I guess. If they were biting, you can bet I would not have loaned my headnet to Mr. Kimby who neglected to bring his on the hike.
They recommend that you bring lots and lots of water. While we appreciated being able to drink water while walking, we carried less than a liter apiece and were fine. (Hotter weather = more water needed.)
Re: footgear. We'd read that you should bring comfortable walking shoes, but nothing that you wouldn't mind being permanently stained with red dust. Because of the rainshower, it wasn't very dusty, but we had to skirt some mud puddles.
I carried a miniature pair of binoculars for the birds in the thickets.
We are "experienced" hikers, but in our mid-50's, so not exceptionally fit. Also November tends to be an out-of-condition time of year for us - between backpack and ski seasons.
Thanks for the encouraging words - I'll try to add more pictures from the other computer later, so check back now and then.
Kimby - thanks for posting about your trip. It is indeed interesting that one can go fairly cheaply if one hires a campervan. Your photos are great. I had heard about the feral camels roaming the interior but didn't know why they were brought to Australia.
Kerouac - "an old sheep killer"......what a horrible job.
She left the camel job after only a week. Last I heard, she was on her way to Adelaide.
They would put the old sheep in the back of a lorry, and she would have to shoot them with a shotgun. That way they didn't have to load the corpses onto the lorry. It was not her favourite job.
I should have mentioned that by wearing loose-fitting long pants and long sleeved shirts you feel cooler than with your skin exposed to the intense rays of the sun, though Mr. Kimby hasn't caught onto this yet (see 4th photo).
No, we did admire them in several galleries, but even the smallest ones were priced well beyond our budget for travel art. A small turtle would have looked nice in the Sanibel house, but even it was more than we wanted to pay. The larger ones were thousands of dollars, somewhere in the range of Persian rugs! However we were assured by gallery owners that the artist must share his income with his people, clan, family group, so the money goes to a good cause. The only aboriginals we saw on the trip were in the Red Centre, and they did NOT look like they were benefitting from a relative's artistic prowess. (Mr. Kimby was struck by how "feral" they looked, and carried themselves. Kind of like the kid in the Mad Max 2 movie, Road Warrior in USA.)
Oh, so the paintings would be too expensive for me as well.
I saw only a couple of aboriginals in Byron Bay (of all places) when I was there 6 years ago. Although they did not look feral they were in an alcoholic state and being pushed around by whites.
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