It's kind of hard not to think of the "Red Centre" as the beating heart of our nation - in both a geographical and spiritual sense. It is unique, it is beautiful - and it is incredibly accessible, with regular (and well priced) flights into Alice Springs and Uluru. This means the Red Centre can be explored as a stand alone trip - or, as in our case, part of a bigger trip through the Northern Territory and beyond.
The below constitutes our own "Red Centre" itinerary - from our arrival from Daly Waters in the Top End, to our departure toward The Simpson Desert
July 2-3 (1 night) The Stuart Highway: There is no escaping the fact that there is a whole lot of country to cover on the road south from Daly Waters to the Alice. It is far from a featureless terrain, but the reality for us, and many travellers coming from the North, was that we were on a mission to get to "The Centre" - where the scenic and cultural attractions are relatively more clustered. We pushed from Daly Waters to Ti Tree (720km) with a number of worthwhile stops along the way.
July 3-5 (2 nights) Tjoritja and Watarrka: After resupplying in Alice, we headed west into the spectacular Tjoritja (West MacDonnell National Park) - camping on at Glen Helen Homestead (325km from Ti Tree/133km from Alice), and then at Kings Canyon Resort in the Watarrka National Park (another 226km via the Mereenie Loop). Watarrka (Kings Canyon) was the clear highlight. We could have spent another day/night in this area - but we were conscious not to "overload" on gorges.
July 5-7 (2 nights) Uluru and Kata Tjuta: The Uluru campground was about a 325km drive from the Kings Canyon resort (on the blacktop) and was very very busy during our stay. Kata Tjuta is about 60km from Uluru. We stayed at the Yulara campground, which was our designated "laundry stop" prior to the Simpson. Needless to say, getting the washing done proved a challenge given the high campsite "population".
July 7-8 (1 night) Chambers Pillar: This was a particularly punishing day, with a 600km drive (the last 165km of which was pretty rough) - plus a resupply in Alice Springs. We had planned to stay a night in Alice Springs in the way, however - we were getting squeezed for time and realised we needed to allow for a bit of wriggle room for our subsequent Simpson Desert crossing. As such, plans changed - and we pushed through.
What Would We Do Differently?
1.) Another night in Tjoritja would have been nice in an ideal world - possibly at Ormiston Gorge, and maybe at the expense of a night at the Uluru campground, which was very hectic.
2.) If the budget allowed, we would probably have swerved the campground at Yulara (Uluru) and gone for one of the other accommodation options (eg Outback Pioneer Hotel and Lodge).
3.) We would have loved to have had at least one night in Alice - with plenty to see and do in the town itself.
4.) We didn't really have a chance at all to explore the Eastern MacDonnells - which is by all reports less heavily travelled than the western section. If we were "doing" the Red Centre as a stand alone trip, we would include this prior to flying out of Alice.
The Long and The Short
The Red Centre was fantastic - and could easily be explored as a stand alone trip, flying into Alice, hiring a 4WD and departing Uluru (or vice versa). You could definitely spend more time in both Alice Springs and the Eastern MacDonnell Ranges than we did.
Where To Next.....click here for The Simpson Desert!
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