Beyond the golden beaches and lush rainforests of Australia lies the Red Centre; the vast, arid heart of the country. Emerging from the vast stretches of rust-coloured plains rises Uluru, a large sandstone monolith, a site of cultural significance.
Uluru is the world’s largest sandstone monolith and a sacred site to the local Indigenous Anagu group who have inhabited the area for over 30,000 years.
If you’ve ever dreamed of embarking on an adventure to visit the Red Centre to experience the wonder of Uluru for yourself, I would highly recommend joining a group tour. Group tours allow you to explore otherwise inaccessible areas with like minded people and are a great way of squeezing in seeing as much as possible!
Within this post I’ll share insights from the Rock to Rock adventure I recently embarked on with Mulga’s Adventures , travelling the 1942km through the outback from Uluru to Darwin.
https://mulgasadventures.com.au/rock-to-rock-uluru-tour
This is not a sponsored post, I just had such a great experience and would highly recommend!
Day 0: Yulara
We flew directly to Ayers Rock airport from Brisbane where we stayed the night in the resort of Yulara before joining the tour group where we got our first glimpse of the red rock. Yulara is the closest possible place you can stay to access the national park and has a range of different styles of accommodation and eateries to cater for all budgets.
Day 1: Uluru
After a night in Yulara and an explore of red rock resort, we were met by our Mulga’s tour guide at lunch time the next day to meet our fellow adventurers and hit the road. There were roughly 20 people in the group of varying ages and nationalities.
We had packed lightly but the van had a trailer attached where you could store any larger bags. We then drove to Uluru where we did a base walk and learned about a lot of the Indigenous stories and traditions. Uluru has deep cultural and spiritual significance to the Anagu people and due to this climbing the rock has been strictly forbidden as of 2019.
Following the base walk we parked up at sunset for a glass of champagne watching the rock change colour as the sun lowered.
Unlike many of the other tours, the Mulga’s tour is a camping tour so after sunset it was a drive to the first campsite for a night under the stars in a swag – proper Outback camping! A swag is portable camping unit with a built-in foam roll mat and waterproof cover. It was actually very comfortable and warm.
The tour is participatory meaning small sub-groups took it in turns to cook and wash-up for the rest of the group, on the menu was a variety of food from tacos to traditional outback cuisine; camel burgers and kangaroo steaks! There was always a vegetation option available. There was always enough food and the tour supplied various snacks throughout the day.
Day 2: Kata Tjuta
On the second day we woke up at 4:30am to catch the sunrise over the rock before heading to Kata Tjuta in the Valley of the Winds, approximately 40 mins from Yulara, for a hike. Kata Tjuta is another sacred area for the Anagu people.
The hike was fairly short with the option to do a longer loop or turn back for a shorter distance. Back at the van we were rewarded with refreshing fresh orange slices.
The second nights campsite was at Kings Creek Station, a former cattle station, with a bar, shop and swimming pool. We stopped to collect fire wood along the way and after dinner settled down for another night under the stars.
Day 3: King’s Canyon
Day three saw another early start to beat the heat with a hike around Kings Canyon rim in Watarrka National Park. After some steep steps at the start we were rewarded with incredible views of the canyon and a spot made famous by the film Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
After the hike we were back in the van for approximately an hour and half and made our way to the final camping spot of the trip, a wild bush camp away from the amenities of the previous campsites and complete with a bush toilet. It was a truly remote experience, sleeping under the stars without any noise or light pollution.
Day 4: Alice Springs
On the fourth day we headed back to Yulara to drop off the members of the group who weren’t continuing onwards to Darwin. This allowed us time to stock up on snacks before hitting the road again for a long 4 hours drive to Alice Springs. We arrived in Alice Springs, often cited as Australia’s most dangerous city, and checked into the charming Alice’s Secret Travellers Inn before a walk into town for dinner. We unfortunately didn’t get enough time to explore the desert town but would definitely head back.
Day 5: Daly Waters
Day 5 was another early start to start chipping away at the 1497km to Darwin. The long drive of approximately 8 hours included a couple of stops at interesting places including the Devil’s Marbles, a field of giant precariously balanced granite boulders and the remote outback town of Tennant Creek. We eventually arrived at Daly Waters, a unique and quirky pub and campsite with horses roaming around and bras hanging from the ceiling. After the first three nights camping, the rest of the trip was in lodging so we had a proper bed for the night after a meal at the pub.
Day 6: Larrimah and Adeliade River
We set out from Daly Waters on the morning of Day 6 and our first stop was in Larrimah, made famous by the Netflix documentary ‘Last Stop Larrimah’, a true story about a man named Paddy who went missing in a town of eleven people. The truth about Paddy’s disappearance is yet to be found, but the local pub, the Pink Panther, has capitalised on merch about it!
Following Larrimah, we stopped at a natural hot spring lazy river before heading into the town of Katherine to pick up some lunch. From there, we headed onto Edith Falls in Nitmiluk National Park for a swim in the cool waters before driving to Adelaide River for the night. We stayed in an inn with Charlie, the buffalo that was famously hypnotised by Crocodile Dundee.
Day 7: Darwin
On the final day of the trip, we drove to the beautiful Litchfield National Park to swim at a couple of beautiful waterfalls before heading into our final stop, Darwin.
Darwin was a nice place, with lots of bars and restaurants and a man made beach since you can’t swim in the sea due to crocodiles. We had a final evening out with the tour group to end of Outback adventure before heading home!
Exploring the length of the Northern Territory was a cool and unique experience which I’d highly recommend. If you’re interested in knowing what to pack, check out my post on Outback packing essentials.
Happy Outback adventuring!
The Fit Adventurer
0 Comments