4X4 trip around Alice Springs

Hello Wouter, considering you have only 4 days and 5 hours to do your 4x4 trip to Uluru and King's Canyon i'm afraid you wont have enough time to see much else. May i suggest you hire a sports car instead of the 4x4, i really dont think you will need a 4x4 to see the main attractions in 4 days.

And remember it will be hot with trillions of flies to keep you company.
We were there a couple of years ago in January and went down to Rainbbow Valley(well worth a look), well everyone lasted about 5 seconds out of the car.It was 43deg c and the flies, could hardly move(or breathe).There was no one about (away from town)so if you are a first timer heading off alone in the middle of summer, I wouldnt.I'd stick to main tourist attractions, East and West Mac ranges, Rainbow Valley, Ayres Rock, Olgas, Kings Canyon to name a few.

Lots of gorges and swimming holes in the west Macdonnell ranges. (Ormiston, Standley, Serpentine etc)We really loved Palm Valley too.

Yep - conditions up there will be harsh at Xmas (it was 40+C in the Alice this week !!) - in my view, the sort of trip you seem to be suggesting is best done in the cooler months - some of the 'outer' parts are great, but on gravel roads in the scorching high summer heat - not for me. The main attractions on sealed roads (Yulara, Kings etc) are seen by some tourists then , but the all important walks are really only practical early and late in the day.

Wouter

It will be hot! Take at least 20 litres of water with you at any given time

You may go here

or here

or you may travel along Namatjira Drive to Ellery Creek Big Hole or take a walk and a swim through Serpentine Gorge

There won't be too many tourists around at that time of year so you may have the places to yourselves.


Cheers

Have a look at the weather in Alice at that time of the year. It's going to be warmish, to say the least.
Not too much drama on the black stuff but........
That's fine if inside in the air con, but do a tyre or get bogged etc and there might not be too many people on the same track.
Please take the same precautions and supplies as you would if travelling into the more remote areas during summer.
i.e. Lots of water, shade, a satellite phone and let someone know where you're going and roughly what day you expect to return.
Enjoy your holiday :))

Wouter the replies offer some excellent guidance. You will be arriving from a European winter to humidity of 80-90% and temperatures of around 38C to low 40C.

Apart from that it takes a day to drive to Uluru and a day to get back so that leaves you with two days.

I suggest the following options
- Talk to the tourism centre at Alice Springs before doing anything as they are the source of some excellent information
- Take an organised bus tour to Uluru and enjoy relaxing and the scenery. Remember if you are driving we have the steering wheel on the opposite side of the vehicel and we know from our risk management training that most of the low speed vehicle accidents in the NT come from Europeans and Americans reacting instinctively to driving situations as they would at home and when that happens you end up having a head on crash with an Australian
-Take the time to have a look at the Royal Flying Doctor Service at Alice Springs. This iconic Australian organisation is worth a visit for anyone
-Take a balloon flight, a fantastic thing to do and you can enjoy the grandeaur of Australia's red centre from a novel view point
-Relax and enjoy the very short time you are in our wonderful country

Regards

RobA

you will find a LOT oftracks CLOSED during the summer months,especially in the red center.
If you insist on going anyway then look up the "Binns" series of tracks on the net. they go everywhere through the red center.
other than that just checkout the usual icons [uluru] etc.

i reckon you go to the coast instead and NEXT year book your holidays mid year for the red center... Rod

We spent around 5 weeks this winter doing a similar tour - although heading back to WA from Uluru.

Places we enjoyed were:

East MacDonnells; in particular Trephina Gorge, Artlunga.

West MacDonnells; most of the gorges, with Redbank being a favourite

South; down the old Ghan as far as Chambers Pillar.Owen Springs drive, Rainbow Valley and Hensbury Meteor craters

Other favourites; Gosse Bluff (an ancient impact site from what is believed to be caused by not a meteor, but a chunk of frozen space gas), and Palm Valley (two days with three nights there).

We went on to walk the full rim walk at Kings Canyon (staying two nights) - a really enjoyable walk, then spend three days to see all at Uluru and Kata Tjuta - the latter being much larger and more impressive than Uluru.

Next time we will head north from Alice.

Take your pick

Motherhen

Hello all again,

thanks for all the replies!
Seems it isn't such a good idea to make long offroad journeys that time of year, I'll shorten the trip a bit and stick closer to the main attractions, maybe find some 4x4 adventure in between the king's canyon and the McDonnal Ranges, the maps show lots of interesting routes there as well...

Best regards!

Wouter.

Woulter,

It has been raining heavily up there which means plenty of waterholes to swim in. In big waterholes such as Ellery be very wary of the cold water under the warm surface water. It will take your breath away and some have drowned from the shock of diving in.. Definitely don't miss Redbank Gorge. Take an inner tube or something to float on, cross the main waterhole then you can walk and swim right through the gorge even on the hottest day. One thing about travelling in the summer is the peace and quiet, I love it.
Geoff