The blazing Red Centre

And so I was finally in the Northern Territory. About half the size of the state of Western Australia the NT (also known as The Territory) has a comparatively tiny population of roughly 250,000 people. That’s a lot of space with very few people.

The blazing sunsets of Outback South Australia continued as I moved into the Territory. I was headed back out to the main drag that is the Stuart Highway to push north then peel west towards Uluṟu and Kata Juta.

I passed through the Aboriginal community of Aputula (Finke). The road was rip roaring fast in places and a complete dog’s breakfast in others. The last kilometre into Aputula didn’t come easy and I had an ungracious fall off the bike on my way down the last sand dune into the settlement. The place seemed to be a ghost town and unfortunately the community grocery store closed early on Saturdays.

I was waved over by a friendly couple relaxing in the sun in front of their house. As it turns out Andy & Amanda were interim managers of the store – providing holiday relief to the usual managers. We had a good yarn and I discovered that the town was empty because most folk had travelled to a football festival. I found out that Aussie Rules football (AFL) is quite popular in the Outback NT and I later noticed many people wearing jerseys from the professional and local footy teams. Andy & Amanda were kind enough to offer me some fresh vegetables and a can of coke from their pantry. Thanks folks!

My next stop would be Kulgera on the Stuart Highway where I hoped to stock up on food to get me to Yulara (the entry point to Uluṟu-Kata Juta National Park). I passed the little talked about Lamberts Centre of Australia. This is the geographical centre of the Australian continent. I’d heard from several folk that the 14km track in was full of horrendous corrugations and deep sand. Tempted I started down the track which quickly turned to sandy muck. With another ~130km left that day to Kulgera I decided I was close enough.

My bum was growing tired of the corrugations and I was looking forward to some respite on the bitumen to Uluṟu. As I neared Kulgera I could see what appeared to be bitumen rising in the distance. Excited for some smooth riding I had to laugh at myself for jumping the gun when I discovered it was only 100 metres or so for a railway crossing before turning back to corrugated dirt.

I arrived just in time for happy hour in the bar but was told there weren’t any groceries as the roadhouse had recently changed ownership and was still getting set up. A few tasty craft beers from Alice Springs Brewery and a pub feed were a great plan B. My next option would be Erldunda Roadhouse at the turn off for the road to Uluṟu – the Lasseter Highway.

The next morning I started the easier kilometres of the bitumen. My bum was happy and I was looking forward to finally setting eyes on the natural and spiritual wonders that are Uluṟu and Kata Juta. A generous fellow cycle tourist working at the roadhouse gave me some vegetables and fruit for the road. Thanks Theo – you’re a champ!

Further on, a car pulled over in front of me. I got chatting to the driver JD. I later discovered that John had paid for some food for me at Curtin Springs, a working cattle station down the road. Thanks for your generosity John!

I noticed the scenery was changing again. Grassy yellow spinifex began to appear along with the strange looking Desert Oak which grows tight and narrow whilst young before spreading its branches into maturity.

The wind makes an interesting sound as it blows through the needles of the Desert Oaks which reminded me of the sound of the ocean. Quite bizarre given I was about as far from the sea as possible.

I also noticed the rich red dirt of the Red Centre lining the banks of the road for the first time. Amazing!

About 100km along the road I spotted a large form in distance. It felt a bit too soon to be Uluṟu which was still 150km away but what else could it be, how big is this thing I wondered! The form was actually the little known Mount Conner aka ‘Fooluru’. None of the brochures or travel websites talk about this amazing mountain which reminded me of the desert mesas of the south west USA.

I pushed onward to Yulara and finally caught my first glimpse of the actual Uluṟu. It looked surreal, almost painted onto the horizon. I arrived in Yulara and made a bee line for a cafe and some food. It was sensory overload after being in the remote Outback. People in fancy clothes, foreign languages and the smell of cologne.

My next priority was to buy supplies which were now running quite low. Walking into the well stocked IGA grocery, I felt like a kid in a candy store, giddy at all of the options. So many fresh vegetables, chocolate that didn’t cost a small fortune and they even had wraps!

I cycled the remaining ~15km to Uluṟu for the sunset. It did not disappoint with a super full moon rising from behind it. I felt lost for words as I watched the full spectrum of reds and oranges as the sun went down. What a spectacle, what a natural wonder – I looked forward to learning more about the significance of this place to the Aboriginal people of this area.

I returned to Yulara to get camp set up. I was horrified to discover that the only campground was charging $50 for an unpowered tent site (for up to 6 people). Stuff paying that as a solo traveller – I cycled into the campground to see if I could join forces with some other campers. It wasn’t long before I met Jess who kindly let me pitch my tent on her site. Uluru was Jess’ plan B after the airline was still trying to locate her bag with all her hiking gear. She was planning to hike the famous Larapinta Trail. The good news is her bag was located the day Jess got back to Alice Springs and she was still able to do some of hike.

A flying visit to Uluṟu, I was back on the road the next morning. I would be returning for a proper look including a trip to Kata Juta in a few weeks with my partner Belinda. Next stop, another natural wonder of the Red Centre – Watarrka (Kings Canyon) National Park!