Come and say gidday to the Northern Territory

The Northern Territory has a total area of 1,349,129 km², which accounts for around 17.5% of Australia’s total land mass. The lush, tropical north is often called the ‘Top End’, while the desert outback of central Australia is referred to as the ‘Red Centre’.

By Phillip Donnell

Midwinter is often not the best time to undertake walking excursions, but when it comes to this part of Australia, it is ideal.

This is because the temperatures drop to a pleasant 20°C in Alice Springs, and a balmy 30°C in Darwin. At other times, they are much hotter! Accordingly, Footsteps Walking and Travel Club of Aotearoa New Zealand is offering two midwinter day-walking trips, one to the Red Centre (16-26 July), and one to the Top End (26 July-5 August). You can do one or both.

The Red Centre trip is based in Alice Springs (population 32,500), immortalised in Nevil Shute’s famous 1950 novel ‘A Town Like Alice’ and the 1956 film (starring Peter Finch). The first focus is highlights of the Larapinta Trail along the nearby West MacDonnell Ranges: Simpson’s Gap, Standley Chasm, Ormiston Pound, Glen Helen, and Mount Sonder.

Then we embark on a 5-day safari staying in comfortable bush camps, motels and lodges. This takes us to the Hermannsburg Cultural Precinct, Finke Gorge National Park (Palm Valley), the Mereenie Loop, King’s Canyon (Wataarka National Park), Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and the East MacDonnell Ranges (Napwerte Petroglyphs, Trephina Gorge).

It is a smorgasbord of fabulous short walks amidst the impressive red-orange landmarks of the region, an eclectic mixture of desert, rockfaces, billabongs, canyons, monoliths and sagebrush, inhabited by emus, kangaroos and wombats.

The Northern Territory’s Finke River is the oldest river system in the world, with parts possibly dating as

Midwinter Meanders: Come on over and say gidday to the Northern Territory

far back as 340 million years. Palm Valley and the surrounding area is the only place in Central Australia where Red Cabbage Palms (Livistona mariae) survive. Here also you can see ancient Cycads (Macrozamia macdonnellii), one of the oldest and most endangered plant groups on Earth.

Uluru is always inspiring, whether viewed from a distance or up close. When William Gosse was the first European to set eyes on Uluru in 1873, he named it Ayers Rock after the Chief Secretary of South Australia at the time. In 1993, the name was changed to Uluru, acknowledging the Aboriginal name.

Archaeological evidence suggests that Aboriginal people have inhabited the area around Uluru for over 30,000 years. The local Anangu people were recognised as the traditional owners in 1985. They now lease the land to the Australian government and work in partnership with Parks Australia to manage the area.

Rising 348 metres above the surrounding plain, Uluru is taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Chrysler Building in New York. It is 3.6 kms long and 1.9 kms wide. Although Uluru is big, most of its mass is buried under the surrounding desert. Uluru as we see it today was created by millions of years of erosion of the softer surrounding rock. Beneath the surface, Uluru extends at least another 2.5 kms.

Uluru and the surrounding area host over 400 plant species, many with traditional uses in Anangu culture as food, medicine and tools. Many animals also call the area home, including 21 species of mammals, such as dingoes, red kangaroos and the spinifex-hopping mouse.

Climbing Uluru is now prohibited. The Anangu people always requested that visitors refrain from climbing the rock out of respect for their ancient culture. The last climbers reached the summit in October 2019, after which climbing was officially banned, and the chain guide was removed. However, the incredible walk around the circumference (9.4km, 3.5h) is not to be missed. It takes you through a surprising variety of landscapes, and is best attempted in the morning before the desert heat sets in. You can view rock art on this walk, including paintings that date back 5,000 years

What stands out in my memory is watching artists at the nearby Olgas. It was a calm evening and the sun was setting over this weird collection of 36 egg-shaped protuberances, adorning them with a golden glow. The colour was mesmerising, but so too was the skill of the painters as they deftly captured the moment on canvas. You could buy the end results straight from the easel.

Having enjoyed the Red Centre, you have the option of continuing to the Top End. Darwin (population 145,000) has seen many ups and downs. It has been struck by cyclones and suffered wartime damage.

On 15 February 1942, a Japanese bombing raid sunk eight of the harbour’s 47 ships, destroying the wharf and killing many people. The wharf’s replacement, the modern-day Stokes Hill Wharf, was completed in 1956. Today, the harbour is home to many attractions, such as the World War II Oil Storage Tunnels, the Deckchair Cinema, the Waterfront Lagoon, Government House and the Darwin

Convention Centre.

Leaving Darwin, we visit Litchfield National Park (1458km²), which offers a wide range of walking tracks of varying lengths. The area is filled with different wildlife species like antilopine kangaroo, agile wallabies, sugar gliders, and red flying foxes. The park is home to hundreds of native bird species. Among them are the yellow oriole, figbird, pacific koel, spangled drongo, double-barred finch, and dollar bird. However, the most popular attraction is the magnetic termite mounds. The termites feed on plant debris found in plains that are seasonally flooded. The termites are forced to remain above the water, in the mound, which also acts as a temperature regulator.

Renamed when returned to its traditional owners, the Jawoyn people, in 1989, the 2947km² Nitmiluk National Park, previously known as Katherine Gorge National Park, lies 244 km southeast of Darwin. Nitmiluk means ‘cicada dreaming’. The central attraction is the deep 23-million-year-old, 12km-long gorge, carved through ancient sandstone by the Katherine River, featuring cliffs 70m high. In fact there are thirteen separate gorges, with rapids and waterfalls, along the river. Cruises of various lengths reach as far as the fifth gorge. Relatively harmless freshwater crocodiles inhabit the gorge system during the dry season. Birdlovers will enjoy ospreys, redwinged parrots, great bowerbirds, red-tailed cockatoos and much more. A walker’s paradise, there at least 100 kms of trails in the park.

Kakadu is a World Heritage-listed National Park. The Bininj/Mungguy are the traditional custodians. Spreading over 19,804km², it is Australia’s biggest national park. It contains diverse landscapes, from rainforest to rugged rock formations, wetlands, waterfalls, and waterholes. One quarter of Australia’s freshwater fish species live in Kakadu, as do over one third of Australia’s bird species. Kakadu is abundant with native wildlife such as crocodiles, barramundi, goannas, frill-necked lizards, water pythons, wallabies, magpie geese, brolgas, jabirus and sea eagles.

All of this can constitute your midwinter getaway! For further information visit the Footsteps website www.footstepswalkingclub.com or contact Footsteps at 021 172 3244, footstepsanz@gmail.com. They welcome your enquiry and participation, but act fast to avoid disappointment.