= Journeys Featuring AKP Projects
Northern Territory | Australia's Red Heart
 Australia's incredible red centre |
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7 days / 6 nights
| Location | Nights |
| Alice Springs | 2 |
| Kings Canyon | 2 |
| Ayers Rock | 2 |
DAY 1 ALICE SPRINGS
On arrival you are met by your local guide and taken on a journey of discovery around Alice Springs. Visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service base to see how the outback communities access essential services; stop at the Alice Springs School of the Air, an educational service for about 140 children living on remote properties in Central Australia; and see the Alice Springs Telegraph Station (circa 1872), a historical reserve marking the original site of European settlement in Alice Springs where messages were relayed between Darwin and Adelaide along the Overland Telegraph Line. This evening enjoy a genuine ‘Outback Aussie BBQ’, see native plants and wildlife and hear about the Aboriginal culture. Learn to throw a boomerang, watch damper being cooked in the coals of the fire, enjoy Billy Tea and marvel at the expanse of the country with dinner under the stars. (D).Chifley Alice Springs Resort, Deluxe Rivergum Room
DAY 2 ALICE SPRINGS
Cycle alongside the West Macdonnell Ranges to Simpson Gap on a dot painted mountain bike with your personal Aboriginal guide Jungala. At your destination a bush food inspired breakfast is prepared by master chef Bob Taylor, a local Arrernte man.Back in Alice Springs you will be transferred to Alice Springs Desert Park which Sir David Attenborough considers to be the best wildlife park in the world. Experience Australia's desert culture - its flora, fauna, history and people - a thorough introduction to the wonders of the Australian desert.
Later this afternoon embark on a two hour Quad Bike adventure at the oldest working cattle station in NT, Undoolya Station, located 17 km east of the town centre. This experience is 2.5 hours in total including your transfers. This adventure will leave you breathless!
Your evening is at leisure. You might choose to dine at the resort or in town this evening. (B).
Chifley Alice Springs Resort, Deluxe Rivergum Room
DAY 3 ALICE SPRI NGS– KINGS CANYON
After breakfast at Alice Springs Resort, you’ll make your way to the Hertz depot to collect your vehicle (4WD Land-cruiser) in the morning. The drive from Alice Springs to Kings Canyon via Glen Helen is 358 km. Please allow plenty of time, particularly if you are intending to stop at Glen Helen and also Gosse Bluff. This is a very scenic road through the spectacular Western McDonnell Ranges.
After leaving Alice Springs on the Namatjira Drive the first main stop will be at Glen Helen Homestead (132 kms). En route you will pass Ellery Creek Big Hole and Serpentine Gorge both with deep waterholes. Continue to the Ochre Pits for an insight into Aboriginal Culture and Ormiston Gorge –the largest and most colourful Gorge in the spectacular Western MacDonnell Ranges.
At Glen Helen the Finke River winds through the rugged desert cutting a spectacular gap called the Glen Helen Gorge.
From Glen Helen Homestead continue along Namatjira Drive perhaps diverting to visit Gosse Bluff a comet impact crater created 130 million years ago. Continue along the Namatjira Drive to join the Mereenie Loop Road (71 kms) traveling onto Kings Canyon in the Watarrka National Park (155 kms).
Important Note: If you intend driving the Mereenie Loop Road you will need to obtain a pass as much of it travels through large areas of Aboriginal land. These are easily obtained from the Visitors Centre in Alice Springs or at Hermannsburg and Kings Canyon. Further information can be obtained by calling the Central Land Council in Alice Springs on 08 8951 6320. (B).
Kings Canyon Resort, Deluxe Room
DAY 4 KINGS CANYON
Spectacular Kings Canyon is an enormous natural amphitheatre formed around 40 million years ago. During the 2 night stay at Kings Canyon we recommend allowing a whole day to walk both the ‘Rim and River. The walk around the rim of Kings Canyon takes about 3 hours is a ‘must’ and the view to the valley floor is breathtaking. The spectacular scenery, an eerie collection of weathered rock formations known as the Lost City, and an oasis with a permanent waterhole veiled by palms and ferns known as the Garden of Eden with its permanent waterholes and desert oak woodlands, combine to make Kings Canyon an unexpected surprise.If travelling in summer it is a good idea to rise very early and start the walk just before sunrise, so that you are walking in the cooler part of the day. Always carry plenty of drinking water when walking in the outback.
In the evening the setting sun will give the appearance of walls of fire on the sheer red cliffs. It is also the time the animals come down to drink - rock wallabies, euros (small kangaroos), lizards and flocks of colourful parrots. (B).
Kings Canyon Resort, Deluxe Room
DAY 5 KINGS CANYON – ULURU
Continue onto Ayers Rock/Yulara along the Luritja/Ernest Giles Road (103 kms) passing through vast cattle stations including Kings Creek Station. Continue on the Luritja Road until it joins the Lasseter Highway (67 kms). Turn west along the Highway stopping at the spectacular Mt Connor lookout and then make a stop at the legendary outback cattle station of Curtin Springs before driving into Yulara (137 kms). This drive will take approximately 4 hours but please allow more time for stops along the way.The World Heritage protected areas of Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) are often considered the most fascinating natural wonders of the world.
This afternoon meet your driver/guide for a private tour of the Olgas. Depending on the time of year your tour will commence at either 1.00pm or 2.00pm. As you arrive at Walpa Gorge (Olga Gorge) your guide will describe the geology of the area and how it has evolved over millions of years. As you walk through the Gorge learn how the Aboriginal people used the plants of the area in their daily life.
The tour duration is around 3 hours and this early tour will have you returning to the Resort in time for the Sounds of Silence dinner.
This evening enjoy the 'Sounds of Silence' Dinner the desert. Travel out to a private dining setting in the desert. As the sun dips behind the many domes of Kata Tjuta (Olgas) and Uluru (Ayers Rock) sip champagne while listening to the haunting sounds of the didgeridoo. After a gourmet Barbeque dinner the lanterns will be dimmed. Hear the sounds of the great Outback while an astronomer takes you on a tour of the southern night skies. View the stars through an onsite telescope before returning to the hotel. The resort provides return coach transfers.
(B,D).
Desert Gardens Resort, Deluxe Rock View Room
DAY 6 ULURU
This morning enjoy a private sunrise tour of Ayers Rock including the opportunity to climb (weather permitting) or a walk around the rock. During this morning’s six hour tour you will also visit the Cultural Centre. Your driver-guide this morning will provide a picnic breakfast due to the early start, but you’ll also return from touring to a sumptuous full breakfast at the hotel.This afternoon transfer back to the Cultural Centre and join Aboriginal artists for a Dot Painting Workshop, together with other participants. Learn about Aboriginal culture and how this is expressed in their art work. You’ll complete your own painting to take home as a memento of you visit to Uluru and your painting workshop. The canvas is easy to roll up once dry so when you return home you may decide to have the work mounted.
Following the painting workshop you will continue on an Aboriginal guided Kuniya walk visiting caves at the base of Uluru where paintings have been left by generations. See the beautiful Mutitjulu Waterhole and discover local bush foods while listening to tales of desert survival. This evening watch the sunset over
Uluru. (B). Desert Gardens Resort, Deluxe Rock View Room
DAY 7 ULURU
This morning be met and travel on a unique experience of snakesand lizards significant to the Anangu people and their creation time stories. Our expert animal handler will leave you with a
greater understanding of why these predators are not always something to fear. This afternoon, drive to the Ayers Rock Airport and depart for home. (B).
champagne in hand, tour the Mbantua Gallery, with the proprietor or gallery manager and gain a true insight into the emergence of the Indigenous Utopia artists, considered to be the largest art movement in the world.
Dot Painted Mountain Bikes to Breakfast
Exclusive to A&K, the Dot Painted Mountain Bikes to Bush Chef’s Breakfast encompasses Aboriginal culture, history, bush foods and art. Ride alongside Jungala on his colourful and intricately dot-painted mountain bikes to Simpson Gap to spot elusive Black Footed Rock Wallabies then settle in a serene bush setting for a private bush chef prepared breakfast. Your two local Aboriginal Guides Jungala and Bob Taylor have a combined 37 years experience in Cultural hospitality and tourism and are both passionate about sharing their love of Central Australia and Aboriginal Culture.
