Travel Info / Itinerary ideas / Photographic Journey - Red Centre

Alice Springs
Arrive in Alice Springs and pick up your hire car. If you’re heading off the beaten track, a 4WD will allow you to get there safely. Spend the rest of your day exploring the world-class indigenous art galleries in town. Be inspired by the diverse range of styles and colour palettes, and an alternative way of viewing the region’s landscapes.

East MacDonnell Ranges
Dedicate a day to exploring the East MacDonnell Ranges, before making your way to Arltunga Historic Precinct in the afternoon. Here you can wander around the remains of charismatic buildings from the gold rush settlement.

Photo opportunities include:
- Emily and Jessie Gaps
- Trephina Gorge
- The iron blue of the stone ruins against the red and sage of the surrounding land at Arltunga Historic Reserve.

Red Centre Way
Head out on the Red Centre Way, to explore the prolific landscape features. It is well worth taking your time along this drive and allowing for time to complete some of the walks in the MacDonnell Ranges National Park.

Your first day should include Standley Chasm, and the four-kilometre loop track along a section of the Larapinta Trail is a major reward for photographers.
It is best to be at Standley Chasm in the middle of the day, when the sun is directly overhead and is able to light up the surrounding terracotta rock walls.

Other photo opportunities include:
- The Ochre Pits
- Ormiston Gorge
- Glen Helen Gorge

Red Centre Way
Continue along the Red Centre Way, ensuring you stop at the look-out towards Tnorala (Gosse Bluff). Here you get an amazing vista out across the rolling ranges and the spinifex takes on a soft appearance against the rugged red soil, all topped off by a slash of blue sky.

Turn left at the intersection with the Mereenie Loop Road and visit Hermannsburg before continuing on to Palm Valley. You can camp here overnight.

Photo opportunities include:
- Landscapes from the lookout towards Tnorala (Gosse Bluff)
- People and historic buildings at Hermannsburg
- Red Cabbage Palms, found only in Palm Valley

Kings Canyon
Depart early and drive to Kings Canyon. A pre-dawn climb enables you to be at the top of the canyon as the light starts to creep in, and to get the initial steep climb out of the way before it is too hot. But the middle of the day is the best time to capture the scale of the gorge, to ensure it is fully lit by the overhead sun.

Find a good viewing spot and settle back for another spectacular Red Centre sunset.
Overnight at the Kings Canyon Resort.

Photo opportunities include:
- Various landscapes of Kings Canyon, including the sandstone domes of the Lost City and the Garden of Eden oasis at the bottom of the canyon.
- Large gum trees growing out of tiny cracks in the rock surface of the canyon walls.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Depart early and drive to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Check in to your accommodation, then head in to the park to photograph Uluru at sunset and capture the changing colours of the rock. You might also want to try some night-sky photography. Check the phases of the moon before booking your trip if this is one of your photographic priorities.

Photo opportunities:
- Mt Conner- Lake Amadeus, a massive salt lake just off the Lasseter Highway.
- Red sand dune systems along the road to Uluru.
- Landscapes framed by Desert Oaks.
- The mesmerising changing colours of Uluru at sunset.

Uluru/ Ayers Rock
Get up before dawn in order to get to the Uluru sunrise viewing area in time for the breaking of day. Afterwards complete the 9km base walk to give yourself time to get up close to the surface of the rock and explore its intricate folds and fissures.

In the afternoon, take part in a cultural tour in order to meet local Anangu people from the region. Options include the Liru Walk or a dot painting workshop.
Drive back into the park to Kata Tjuta to view the rock domes at sunset.

Photo opportunities include:
- Uluru, sunrise and during the day, up close and from a distance.
- Local guides, traditional owners, cultural activities and fellow travellers
- Kata Tjuta and its changing colours at sunset.

Kata Tjuta
Rise early again, but this time, head out to Kata Tjuta to complete the Valley of the Winds Walk, where you can wander amongst the impressive rock formations, watching and listening as the birds and animals start their day. Amateur photography is allowed here, but photographs taken on the Valley of the Winds Walk are not allowed to be used for publication or commercial purposes under any circumstances.

You can also complete the Walcha Gorge Walk, but strict photographic restrictions also apply here. Conditions are included in your permit and, if you are intending to publish, in your media briefing.
In the afternoon you can take a scenic flight for impressive aerial shots of the region, including Lake Amadeus.

Photo opportunities include:
- Birdlife
- Aerial shots
- Red Centre landscape shots

Curtin Springs Station
Depart Uluru-Kata Tjuta early and drive to Curtin Springs Station and Roadhouse. This is a great place to meet other travellers and get a feel for the road trip culture that exists in Australia’s Outback. You can organise a tour of the station here with Ian Barker, who has lived in the Northern Territory all his life. Tours also go out to Mt Conner.

Then head back out to the Stuart Highway and head north to the Rainbow Valley Conservation Reserve to photograph the colourful rock walls of the landscape at sunset, when they take on an iridescent hue.
Head back to Stuart’s Well for the night or continue on to Alice Springs.

Photo opportunities include:
- Characters and landscapes at Curtin Springs
- Rainbow Valley at sunset

Alice Springs
Drive back to Alice Springs, return your hire car and head out to the airport for your flight home