When my father passed away last year, my sister and I were left with the task of sorting through his belongings. It’s a heartbreaking job that so many of us face in our lifetime. The push and pull between holding on to sentimental items and being practical about letting them go is quietly devastating.
I remember picking up a T-shirt from my dad’s drawer: a retro Northern Territory tourism tee with that famous line from the 1990s campaign that starred Daryl Somers: “You’ll never, never know, if you never, never go.”
Canyon is a must when visiting the
Northern Territory.@domandjesso/Tourism & Events NT
There was something about it that made me put it in the “keep” pile. Perhaps part of it was the shame that in all the years since those ads, I had travelled overseas many times but had never, never been to the Red Centre.
So when an email popped into my inbox a few months later inviting me on a trip to the Northern Territory, it almost felt like a sign.
My five-day itinerary begins in Alice Springs. As I step off the plane, the desert heat hits my face and my cheeks begin to burn. Even without seeing the red dirt from the airport, I can feel it in the air.
I collect my hire car (a huge Toyota Hilux) and drive into town, checking in at the DoubleTree by Hilton. The air-conditioning is a relief and from my room I look out to the rugged MacDonnell Ranges.
The next day, my alarm is set for 4am. In this climate, most activities begin early before the heat of the day takes hold.
GENEVIEVE QUIGLEY
The timing of the trip coincides with the Desert Mob festival, which brings together hundreds of Indigenous artists to celebrate desert culture in the heart of Australia. That evening I join my travel group to attend Desert Mob After Dark at the Araluen Cultural Precinct: an intimate night of art, food and music. The galleries are open after hours for a special viewing of the Desert Mob exhibition accompanied by a talk by curator Hetti Perkins and an alfresco dinner with native bush foods.
The next day, my alarm is set for 4am. In this climate, most activities begin early before the heat of the day takes hold. Our group is collected for an Outback Ballooning experience, but shifting overnight winds mean the flight is cancelled. We are told, only half-jokingly, that we wouldn’t want an unexpected detour to Western Australia.
Later that day, Sandrifter Safaris pick us up for a personalised four-wheel-drive tour of the West MacDonnell Ranges. Over the course of the day we explore Standley Chasm, Ellery Creek and Simpsons Gap – a landscape of deep gorges, waterholes and soaring rock faces that feels both immense and intimate.
That evening, we head to Earth Sanctuary, an outback observatory. We are guided through astronomy with laser pointers, while a deep-sky telescope reveals constellations and planets in a darkness that us city dwellers rarely experience.
The next day we drive to Kings Canyon, the Hilux earning its keep on the gravel roads. We arrive at Discovery Resorts Kings Canyon, midway between Alice Springs and Uluru, just seven kilometres from the entrance to Watarrka National Park. Accommodation here ranges from deluxe spa rooms with private balconies, to glamping tents.
That night, we visit Light-Towers, an immersive sound-and-light installation by British artist Bruce Munro. In the vast desert darkness, the illuminated structures seem from another world.
We rise before dawn the next day to watch the sun creep across the landscape before walking the Kings Canyon Rim. From the clifftop, the views across the domes of the Lost City and down into the lush valley of the Garden of Eden are nothing short of breathtaking.
From there, we drive on to Uluru and check into the Outback Hotel. That afternoon brings an Australian Native High Tea experience at Ilkari Restaurant: sweet and savoury petit fours crafted to highlight native ingredients paired with specialty teas and coffee.
We had been booked for an Uluru Sunset Camel Experience ride, but incoming storms force its cancellation. The silver lining? A rare opportunity to witness rain falling on the great rock.
Another early alarm follows for the SEIT Uluru Highlights Tour. As we approach Uluru, the dawn light slowly reveals its huge presence. From a quiet viewing point, we watch the sun break over the horizon. After a picnic breakfast, our guide leads us to Mutitjulu Waterhole, sharing the Indigenous stories of Liru, the venomous snake, and Kuniya, the woma python.
That evening, we experience Wintjiri Wiru: an open-air show set high on a dune. We are welcomed with drinks infused with native ingredients as the sun sinks behind Uluru. Dinner follows (a gourmet hamper of bush food) while we watch an incredible lightshow of choreographed drones and lasers depicting the Mala story, which highlights the deep connection of the Anangu people to the land.
Our final experience is AAT Kings’ Sunrise Field of Light. We wander among 50,000 softly glowing spheres as the desert slowly wakes, then climb a dune for sweeping views of Uluru in front of us and Kata Tjuta behind us. With hot chocolate in hand, we watch the landscape illuminate with the first light of day.
Along the red dust roads, between ancient rock formations and star-filled skies, I wear my father’s T-shirt and think of the places we may never, never go in a lifetime – but feel grateful for the path that led me here.
The writer was a guest of Tourism NT.
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