Red Centre trip report
Feb 26, 2010 21:19:59 GMT
Post by Kimby on Feb 26, 2010 21:19:59 GMT
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.
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.