Red Centre Way
Art and land intertwine on an unforgettable journey from Alice Springs to Watarrka National Park.
Is there anywhere on Earth where land and art are more intertwined than the Red Centre? From Alice Springs galleries showcasing Aboriginal art to the West MacDonnell Ranges’ cliffs, gaps and gorges, to even more astonishing Kings Canyon, I see the landscape in art and art in the landscape. As an outsider, I can’t truly understand the profound connection our Indigenous people have with Country, but a few days in this region reveals what no amount of looking at such art in big-city galleries ever could.
Out here, ancient rock glowing like fire at sunset, shadowy waterholes, and a solitary ghost gum’s pale curves constitute more than just beautiful scenery. I’m on a Red Centre Way road trip, but skipping Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, where years ago I first sensed something beyond a picturesque setting. This route of mostly sealed roads starts and ends in Alice Springs, known as Mparntwe in local Arrernte language.
An ideal place to begin is Araluen Arts Centre. Its collection includes more than 50 works by Albert Namatjira, who began painting with watercolours at the Hermannsburg mission up the road in the 1930s, capturing the colours, light, shadow and textures of his Country: Tjoritja, or the West MacDonnell Ranges. He was a pioneer who paved the way for those who followed, including artists represented in the 31st Desert Mob exhibition at Araluen, which runs to October 23.
From dot paintings inspired by traditional culture to ceramics and video, this important annual event features works from Indigenous art groups across central Australia. This includes Papunya Tula Artists, whose distinctive style propelled Aboriginal art on to the international scene in the 1980s.
At their eponymous gallery in Alice Springs, I wander among canvases filled with sinuous circles and lines often painted in desert hues. It’s one of several private CBD galleries offering authentic, ethically sourced art from the central desert region.
More galleries representing specific desert art groups are unexpectedly scattered in an industrial area on Alice’s outskirts. At the Tjanpi Desert Weavers’ space, I’m smitten by playful animal figures made of native grasses bundled with colourful yarn.
Iltja Ntjarra’s gallery showcases Hermannsburg artists, who can sometimes be observed working in the adjoining studio. Not today, but there’s a beguiling “West Macs” view taking shape in Namatjira’s favourite medium, watercolours.
Our journey begins in earnest on the road named after him, which threads through Tjoritja/West MacDonnell National Park. There are several good excuses to pause along the way, starting 20km from Alice Springs at Simpsons Gap, where looming walls of jagged rock shelter a permanent waterhole. Walking toward this surprising oasis via an ephemeral creek’s dry bed, I’m awed by its tranquillity and palette of fawn sand, eucalypt green, and rock that’s mostly red but also cream, orange, and even purple.
Other notches in the low-slung mountains easily accessed along Namatjira Drive include narrow Angkerle Atwatye/Standley Chasm, and Ormiston Gorge, where ducks cruising the waterhole add to the sense that these places are otherworldly. While the name suggests a dreary hole, Ochre Pits is also a rewarding stop. It’s actually a low cliff striped with ochre in hues ranging from plum to gold. What’s been akin to an art-supplies store for countless generations feels like an alfresco gallery, especially when sunshine sets the colours aglow.
We overnight about 130km west of Alice at Discovery Parks Glen Helen, which overlooks the Finke (aka Larapinta) River and way up to fortress-like cliffs turning ever redder as the sun sets. It seems every guest is watching this show: some on folding chairs by the river, most enjoying this property’s newly installed deck with Alice Springs Brewing Co beers in hand and a menu that includes camel sausages or barramundi.
When I take the short walk to Glen Helen Gorge at sunrise, the cliffs turn on another mesmerising colour-and-light show.
This is the trip’s second Discovery Park, following Alice Springs, where everything from a giant jumping pillow to boot-scooting sessions create a cheerful vibe. There’s a similar mix of camping, caravan sites and private digs at Glen Helen, but with a more grown-up mood among layers of 1905 homestead, 1950s holiday accommodation and a recent refurbishment.
The third stay is 225km away on the broad, red-dirt Mereenie Loop Road, cutting through scrub where brumbies roam. Split into holiday park and resort, the Kings Canyon Discovery property has also had a makeover, with more features to be added next year, such as refurbished deluxe rooms with spa baths or monsoon showers.
But there’s already plenty of outback indulgence here, including an Under the Desert Moon private dining experience, which starts at twilight with canapes and sparkling wine before we adjourn to a secluded open-air dining space with a fire worthy of the chilly desert night. Apart from some odd wine matching, such as muscat with lemony dessert, this dinner is memorable for its six courses rich with native ingredients including saltbush, quandong and kangaroo, and the presence of a down-to-earth host.
At dawn, we’re in nearby Watarrka National Park, puffing up 500 uneven rock steps. It’s the start of Kings Canyon Rim Walk, a 6km loop that takes from two to four hours, depending as much on pauses taken to marvel at the vistas as it does fitness.
We conquer the climb as the sun draws a red line atop the rim opposite; cross a rocky plateau that looks like Mars; and rest by dark water and tenacious vegetation in a place long sacred to the Luritja people, and latterly dubbed the Garden of Eden. Walk, stop, marvel, repeat.
Just before sunset, guests gather at the property’s Luritja Lookout, enjoying drinks from a cute yellow vintage caravan and live music. We’re not here to watch the sun setting, but to look east at light playing on Kings Canyon. It will be easy to see art in the landscape here from April, when an audiovisual installation by the artist behind Uluru’s wildly popular Field of Light is turned on. Bruce Munro’s 69 2m-tall light towers will change colour in response to a musical soundtrack.
But for now, I’m happy watching nature’s show, red rock like fire, spinifex grass fading in the foreground, and the sky resembling an epic pastel rainbow.
In the know
In addition to camping and caravan sites, Discovery properties offer private accommodation starting at $149 in Alice Springs, $285 in Glen Helen and $380 in Kings Canyon.
The Red Centre Way’s Mereenie Loop traverses Aboriginal land and a $5 transit permit is required; available from outlets including Alice Springs Visitor Information Centre and Discovery’s Kings Canyon and Glen Helen properties.
Patricia Maunder was a guest of Discovery Holiday Parks.