Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

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CHAPTER 7 . THE RED CENTRE
CAMEL SAFARIS You might not associate camels with Australia, but the
camel’s ability to get by without water was key to opening up the arid inland
parts of the country to European settlement in the 1800s. With the advent of
cars, they were released into the wild, and today there are more than 200,000
roaming central Australia. Australia even exports them to the Middle East!
Frontier Camel Tours (& 1800/806 499 in Australia, or 08/8953 0444;
www.cameltours.com.au) runs a 1-hour Camel Ramble down the dry Todd
River bed. This is followed by a tasty three-course meal of kangaroo sausages,
smoked camel (hopefully not the one you rode on), wattleseed beer bread, and
seasonal “bush tucker” samples like peppercress or native mistletoe, barramundi,
or steak; and dessert, plus wine and beer. Dinner is served at the company’s
camel farm, where you can browse its camel museum and shop. With
hotel transfers and dinner, it costs A$100 (US$65) for adults and A$75
(US$49) for kids 5 to 12. It departs daily at 4pm April through October, and
at 5pm November through March, and gets back around 5 1 ⁄2 hours later. Kids
under 6 can join the ride if the cameleer on duty agrees. A breakfast ride costs
A$75 (US$49) for adults and A$45 (US$92) for children, leaving at 6:30am
and returning at 9:30am.
HOT-AIR BALLOON FLIGHTS Dawn balloon flights above the desert are
popular in Central Australia. You have to get up 90 minutes before dawn, though.
Several companies offer flights. Outback Ballooning (& 1800/809 790 in Australia,
or 08/8952 8723; www.outbackballooning.com.au) is one of the most
upscale. A 1-hour flight followed by champagne breakfast in the bush costs A$290
(US$188), with a 20% discount for kids under 17. A 30-minute breakfast flight
costs A$190 (US$123). Kids under 6 are discouraged, because they cannot see
over the basket. Don’t make any other morning plans, as you probably won’t get
back to your hotel until close to noon.
ACTIVE PURSUITS
BIKING A gently undulating 17km (11-mile) bike trail weaves from John
Flynn’s Grave on Larapinta Drive, 7km (4 1 ⁄3 miles) west of town, through the
bushland and desert foothills of the MacDonnell Ranges to Simpson’s Gap.
Centre Cycles (& 08/8953 2966) on Lindsay Avenue at Undoolya Road rents
bikes for around A$10 (US$6.50) for 4 hours (plus a A$50/US$33 refundable
deposit). Note: Carry water, because the two taps en route are a long way apart.
Bike in cooler months only.
BUSHWALKING The 250km (155-mile) Larapinta Trail winds west from
Alice through the sparse red ranges, picturesque semi-desert scenery, and rich bird
life of the West MacDonnell National Park (p. 382). Sections range from easy to
hard. The shortest is 8km (5 miles), ranging up to several 23km to 29km (14- to
18-mile) stretches. Trail maps and information are dispensed by the Parks &
Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory office in Alice Springs (& 08/
8951 8211), or the CATIA Visitor Centre (see “Visitor Information” earlier in
this chapter). Camp facilities are simple at best on popular routes, non-existent on
less traveled sections. Warning: Always carry drinking water. The trail may close
in extremely hot summer periods.
Alice Wanderer Centre Sightseeing Tours (& 1800/66 9111 in Australia,
or 08/8952 2111) runs transfers to road access points along the trail, where you
can mostly pick up a choice of 1-, 2-, or 3-day hikes. Several outfitters run
guided, supported hikes along trail sections.