Sunrise at Uluru to start the day. Here are some images around the base at sunrise. Back to Yulara for a quick walk up the dune top to see Kata Tjuta in morning light. Kata Tjuta is 53km by road west of Yulara and our destination for the day. Part of the way is a … More The Red Centre – Winter 2017 Day 21 – Kata Tjuta

Photographers chase magic light – usually the hour around sunrise and sunset. Uluru is magic light paradise.  A light fog blankets the ground. The official Uluru sunrise viewing area catches the full face illuminated but that is in spring, summer and autumn. In winter this is in shadow. Still a spectacular place with gorgeous subtle … More The Red Centre – Winter 2017 Day 20 – Uluru magic light

If Australia was a person, Uluru would be its heart. Every Australian should see it at least once in their life. I was long overdue. The obligatory early start for sunrise was dampened by drizzly rain at 5:30am. It did cease about 7am but created a darkened moody sunrise. There was a brief glow which … More The Red Centre – Winter 2017 Day 19 – The Heart of Australia

We have a change of plans and leave Erldunda for Yulara today – there’s something in the air – rain! I manage to get the last room available at Uluru Ayers Rocks Resort. I was later informed there were 1100 guests booked in. This fella hitched a ride with us to Uluru and was such … More The Red Centre – Winter 2017 Day 18 – The Lasseter Highway – Rain in the Outback!

I am a fan of alliteration so it’s lucky you haven’t been subjected to more like today’s title. We started the day in Alice Springs preparing for the drive to the Uluru area. NAIDOC Week brings many Indigenous people into Alice Springs. We watched a happy well attended march in town last week. Artists also … More The Red Centre – Winter 2017 Day 17 – Art, animals and arid areas

The Alice Springs Desert Park is at the base of Mount Gillen just outside Alice Springs. It is a wildlife park, native botanic gardens and cultural centre all rolled into one magnificent attraction. There are animals in large free-ranging areas, large aviaries and a nocturnal house. A range of plant habitats are recreated to showcase … More The Red Centre – Winter 2017 Day 16 – Alice Springs Desert Park

Early morning sunshine brought out the colour in these Sturt’s Desert Pea in Alice Springs. The red has not been enhanced – they are this vivid. Flynn’s memorial on Larapinta Drive west out of town. John Flynn was a minister of religion who did much to improve the health of all residents in Central Australia. … More The Red Centre – Winter 2017 Day 15 – Gorges and Chasm

The road through the West Macdonnell Ranges would be one of the most scenic in Australia. Range after range, each with different angles of folded or tilted emerge from the valley. Golden grasses from autumn rains make the area seem less arid than most other places in Central Australia we have visited. Ellery Big Hole … More The Red Centre – Winter 2017 Day 14 – West Macdonnell Ranges

Today we spent all day in the East Mcdonnell Ranges visiting four major sites –  Emily Gap, Jessie Gap, Corroboree Rock and Trephina Gorge. Emily Gap is a small reserve where a river (mostly dry breaks throgh the range. Indigenous artworks depict a caterpillar dreaming story. Zebra finches are in abundance around a wet patch … More The Red Centre – Winter 2017 Day 13 – East Macdonnell Ranges

A cool sunny morning in Erldunda today. We stopped at a rest area called Desert Oaks to view the oaks (Allocasuarina decaisneana) on red sand dunes. Flowers of the desert oak Seedpods of the desert oak – the largest of any Casuarina in Australia Spinifex Animal tracks on the red dune Beetle The area was active overnight … More The Red Centre – Winter 2017 Day 12 – The Alice

Our destination today is Erldunda, a roadhouse and accommodation complex on the junction of the Stuart and Lasseter Highways. It is considered the Centre of the Centre of Australia. We weren’t the first to leave town for the drive north but we weren’t the last. Open plains near Coober Pedy changed to Mulga woodlands then … More The Red Centre – Winter 2017 Day 11 – The Centre of the Centre

The morning was spent looking around the town features of Coober Pedy. We used Trip Advisor reviews to short list attractions most worth seeing. The Umoona Museum and opal shop contained some interesting exhibits, fossil opals and some higher quality opal jewellry. Opalised belemnites (squid like animals) from the gut of an icthyosaur. Opalised belemnites … More The Red Centre – Winter 2017 Day 10 – Coober Pedy