Finke River
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the way out you will
visit Hermannsburg and the Finke Gorge National Park. There are several points of interest along the way and you will be pleasantly surprised if you take the time to stop off and have a look.South of the Wallace Rockhole is a visit well worth doing. The Aboriginal Community there will look after you well with local tours, a good feed and excellent hospitality. Fancy a feed of kangaroo? - only joking, you can if you want but there is plenty of other traditional bush tucker to enjoy. Back to the main track south before we deviated, and you will travel, after lowering your tyre pressures, some distance on the creek bed unless you come to a section of water, in which case go around it. There are some side attractions but soon you will enter the Finke Gorge National Park where you will soon pass through a spectacular, high red cliff lined, gorge. Not much further and you will arrive at the Junction Waterhole. You may be ready to give the driving a miss and stop over at this spot for the night. The camping isn't bad, and you will be on the bank under the shade of the gum trees. Some kilometers south of here you will come to Boggy Hole, so named because it is one of the few permanent watering holes in the area. Boggy Hole is a permanent waterhole and can vary in length from around half a kilometer to over 2 km, depending on how much rain has fallen recently. It is a very pleasant, shady, spot. Excellent camping spot but you will have be self sufficient as there are no facilities. There is plenty of wildlife around, including horses and camels, as well as birds. Continue south from Boggy Hole along the river. The countryside is a little varied from high cliffs to open flat spaces. Further on you will come to the Palmer River, and a little further you will turn onto the main road heading out to Kings Canyon in the Watarrka National Park you are on the main tourist route now so the quality of road improves. After traveling into the park you will reach the Kings Creek Campground. Although a little basic, the camp area has facilities for caravans and camping. A little over 30 km further on past the camp area is the Kings Canyon itself. The canyon is a magnificent sight with their towering cliffs. The Frontier Lodge and caravan park, as well as fuel and food supplies, are a few kilometers past the canyon turnoff. Other points of interest in the area are The Lost City, on top of the plateau, and the Garden of Eden, at the head of the main canyon. There are a number of walking tracks in the area and you are best to talk to the ranger in the area as to what is worth seeing and what's not, depending on your timetable. From Kings Canyon you can return to Alice Springs via The Gorge Hill Range, Katapata Gap and Hermannsburg, or you can return down Ernest Giles Drive to pick up the Luritja Road and continue south to Mulgoa Park Homestead. Heading south you will travel via Curtain Springs Roadhouse, where you can make another detour by turning of to the Uluru National Park, Uluru itself ( Ayers Rock ) and on to Mt Olga, also known as The Olgas. Some 80 km west of Curtain Springs is Yulara, situated in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which has five start hotels and all of the other shops and supplies with it. This is a main tourist area so be prepared for everything to be a little more expensive.Travel south from Yulara to The Rock. The Olgas are about 40 km west of here and make an interesting place to visit. The Olgas are the high domes you would have seen from the top of Ulura ( Ayers Rock ), if you climbed all the way up. There are no camping, or other accommodation facilities either at Uluru or The Olgas. This leaves with the choice of traveling back to Yulara or Curtain Springs, where you have to head back to sooner or later anyway. Once back on the Luritja Road south of Curtain Springs Roadhouse, your aiming point is due south to Mulgoa Park Homestead. From here you will swing east along the Gunbarrel Highway to Kulgera.At Kulgera you can get fuel and food supplies as well as basic mechanical repairs, if needed. From Kulgera you will head east again heading for Finke near the Finke River. The town is mainly populated with the Aputula Aboriginal People and, when the Ghan railway track ran through town, was a major supply point for the train. From Finke head we head north on the last leg of the journey back to Alice Springs, about 270 km without deviations. A few kilometers out of town you will join up with the Finke River, which for the most part, will have no water in it, seldom does. Test the bed for the softness of the sand before you attempt to cross in case you need to let a little pressure out of your tyres. Soon you will be following the old line of The Ghan Railway. This is fairly remote, isolated country so the old railway helps you navigate your way north. Along this stretch north you will pass the ruins of several old railway sidings. There are some interesting places to stop and explore as well as some that are a couple of kilometers or so off the road. Much further north you will come to the old Ewaninga Siding. The rail track from here to just south of Alice is maintained by the Ghan Preservation Society and the Old Ghan Train runs regular trips between here and Alice Springs. From here there is a good run into town on well maintained roads. |
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