Vignettes of the World
At this point of the tour in the East Mac, I could not miss the obvious – that the East Mac is significantly less preferred as a tourist attraction than the West Mac. When we did meet a few souls there, they were local tourists …
“What do you think this is?” Kirsty said to me, her smile shrouded in an expression of knowing mystery. “Uhm, I mean, it has to be sand?” I replied with a question, quite unsure of what this view in front of me could possibly be, …
I lined up a trip to East Mac with Kirsty of Red Earth Roaming. She is a fantastic tour guide, who engaged me on so many different disciplines of knowledge. In this 6-hour tour, we went through amazing learning in geology, Aboriginal and Aussie culture, fauna and flora, the tour business and a touch of Australia’s position in world affairs. I am incredibly thankful to Kirsty for her hospitality. If you are going to do a tour there (she runs tours in West Mac and East Mac), please approach Red Earth Roaming. She will also be able to tailor the itinerary to your specific interests.
As said in the preliminaries entry, late April was not the high season for the Outback. I was the only one that signed up for this East Macdonnell tour with Kirsty. As such, we had long conversations about everything under the sun. There were also few souls at East Mac, as it clearly was much less popular than the West Mac. I enjoyed the tour thoroughly.
We started the chilly morning at Emily Gap. Then we visited Jessie Gap, Corroboree Rock, Trephina Gorge, The Ghost Gum Tree, and the Ross River Resort.
It felt colder than the previous day, when I visited West Mac. I wore my leggings, but those turned out to be a little bit too hot for the afternoon, when we did a couple of easy hikes. It was a pretty smart choice to wear a tank top beneath a jacket.
One aspect of traveling in the Outback is the varieties amongst the different sites. Although the general geological composition is similar in the area, each site appears to exude distinctive vibes. I can’t quite articulate how, but in that early morning when I came upon the waterhole at Emily Gap, it felt as if the ancient spirits were there to greet me, uttering poetry in nature’s language. I must have heard quite a few birds chirping to garner that impression.
Known to be Anthwerrke (pronounced “an-tur-ka”) in the native language, the Emily Gap is traditionally a cultural site for Aboriginal men. The men-women division is clear in Aboriginal cultures, and that includes the exclusiveness with which they used land for educational and community purposes. The Emily Gap is sacred for the Western Arrernte Aboriginals. The men do not swim in the waterhole here, as the water is for drinking only (both for humans and animals).
This area of the Macdonnell ranges prided a whole lot of games and a large number of Aboriginal families. But over times, 19 species of mammals were lost to cats and the other predators, such as foxes. There was once a high diversity of plant lives as well.
The Caterpillar Creation Dreaming is the single most significant Dreaming in the Macdonnell Ranges. It comes into full focus in East Macdonnell, where Aboriginal rock paintings depicting the Caterpillar Dreaming are found in the Emily / Jessie Gap (Yeperenye Nature Park) area.
The creation stories were how the Aboriginals impart on the children their laws. The Aboriginals believe that the earth was flat and nothing, until the gods came out of the earth and created creatures and oceans. The Three Caterpillars of Yerperenye, Ntyarlke and Utnerrengatye are believed to be the ancestors of the Aboriginals. Each of these caterpillars are associated with one kind of plant on which the caterpillar survives. The Yerperenye and Ntyarlke caterpillars feed on the Tar vine. The Utnerrengatye caterpillar feeds on the Emu Bush.
The caterpillars were walking across Central Australia, and came upon the territory of the green beetles. They didn’t ask for permission, the beetles were angry and killed them all.
This creation story is to teach the children about territorial respect. When you go to a place you set up a fire and someone would come to you — do not ever cross a territory without permission. The caterpillars became the mountain ranges here.
When the Emily Gap is filled with water, one would not be able to get to the rock paintings to admire the Caterpillar Dreaming. Suffice it is to say, that the various imageries bear specific meanings in Aboriginal culture. For example, the stars represent change and transformation.
Descriptions on site at the Emily Gap.
Tour with Red Earth Roaming.
The tour was approaching its end and it was with a bit of unwillingness that I had to say goodbye to West Mac soon. I thought the Ormiston Gorge was one of the most amazing sites that I had visited thus far in the Outback. …
In the last entry on the Ellery Creek Big Hole, I noted that the colors of the desert evoked an unexpected marvel upon my sensations. Perhaps that observation has come into full focus at the Ochre Pits. It is said that the Ochre Pits is …
The tour left Standley Chasm for Ellery Creek, where we would have our picnic lunch. The Ellery Creek Big Hole is an oasis in the desert, with a body of water large enough in which to swim. In fact, the Ellery Creek Big Hole is the largest waterhole in the Outback.
On this trip, I had never looked up the images of the places that would be covered in the itinerary. The mystery was under wraps until I arrived. This was a good idea, as the sites were all breathtaking. I had no expectation of what the scenery was like, and the Ellery Creek Big Hole was exceptionally beautiful.
Australia: The Land Where Time Began has a very thorough explanation of the geological developments throughout history in the Ellery Creek and the surrounding land formations, especially the cliff of the Ellery Gorge. I will take the simplest points from that article.
The Ellery Creek stretches 10km as a tributary of the Finke River, which is one of the oldest rivers in the world. It runs through the Ellery Gorge. The “bank is layered rock that has been tilted to 90° from its original horizontal position.” The layered rock is similar to the Grand Canyon’s geology. The Ellery Creek runs through what is called the Arunta Block in central Australia.
The Heavitree rocks form the red cliffs at the Ellery Big hole. The Heavitree quartzite was a sand formation. These landforms blocked the way to the sea from the riverways. The Ellery Creek Big Hole is a landlocked lake, formed when the water of the inland seaways evaporated. Thereafter, thousands of years of massive floods filled the cratered ground to form a lake.
As the saline water evaporated, the minerals deposited into sediments, further compressed to form the layered rocks at Ellery Creek.
Known as Udepata to the Aboriginals, the lake was a meeting place for the Aboriginals, especially the Arrernte. As a permanent waterhole in a desert, it has incredible cultural and spiritual significance to the Aboriginals. It is no surprise that Udepata is represented also in the Dreamtime as well.
Finally, there are animals that make it home in this part of the desert as well. The Ellery Creek area, particularly in the rugged, rocky terrain where we attempted hiking (see below), gives home to some rare animals, including the Central Rock-rats, Short-beaked Chidnas, and some kinds of Black-footed Rock-wallabies.
Some members of the tour went through the “woods” close to the creek for a quick walk. We found signs for the Dolomite Walk, 3 km in length. We did not have enough time to do a loop, and the directions were not exactly clear either. Due to time constraints, we turned back after a brief 20 minutes. But it was a different kind of appreciation of the nature in this area. The scenery is that of a distinct desert, with short, spikey shrubs and a mostly barren scenery. Yet, as said above, the animals that we didn’t see do thrive in this area.
Besides hiking, camping is also a very popular activity at the Ellery Creek. There is a campsite there. Be sure to bring plenty of drinking water if you plan to camp. Finally, our tour guide said that if you come here for camping, be prepared to arrive in a Four-wheel Drive.
I did not bring my swimsuit, so after returning to the Big Hole I just sat by the water to admire the scenery. My photographs showed an incredible contrast that conveys the opposite ends of color temperatures. Plenty of noontime sunshine illuminates the whole area, revealing, or perhaps even accentuating, the true colors that one would not normally associate with a desert landscape.
The contrast is that of the ultimate heat in incandescent red at the cliff and the ultimate cool in deep ocean blue at the Big Hole. I marveled at this scenery, for the fact that a desert presents all hues of the color spectrum is utterly incredible.
For those who plan on swimming at the Ellery Creek Big Hole, do not be fooled by the seeming warmth of the red cliffs and the blazing sun above you. The water is very cold. Some people bring their own floaties or boats, both of which are good ideas.
Came lunch time, and Brent put together a feast for us. I had a wrap, and then some. As said in the preliminaries entry, the flies of the Outback are a major annoyance. There were indeed quite a few of them as we savored our picnic. I hope that I didn’t inadvertently eat a fly or two.
An odd observation that I made about the flies: they liked to hover over the people, more so than the food.
Our next stop is the Ochre Pits, and we would be learning a critical lesson about aboriginal art.
Australia: The Land Where Time Began.
Red Centre, North Territory, Everything You Need to Know About Ellery Creek Big Hole.
We left Simpson’s Gap in less than an hour and arrived at Standley Chasm soon. The Standley Chasm measures 80 meters in height and 5 meters in width. To the Western Arrernte Aboriginals, who are its original occupiers, Stanley Chasm is known as Angkerle Atwatye, …
I refer to the Outback as a colloquial reference to the part of Australian hinterland that comes with a vast expanse of desert and an enormous diversity in natural endowment. If one must put a finger on the proper names, the Outback is located in …
The Australian Outback has captured my imagination for as long as I remember. Although I have been to a number of the eastern coastal cities in Australia, the Outback remained a place of mystery to me. I had thought of that vast desert region to be a world of its own, even when I was living in Melbourne thirty years ago.
I finally had the opportunity to visit the Outback in Australia in 2024. It is now about two years after my trip, but I decided to write this series anyway, because it is off the beaten track for most world tourists. I also don’t imagine that things change all that much in that part of Australia, and I will take care to fact check the advisory sections of the entries.
What fascinated me about the Outback is the Uluru Rock, which is the sacred site for a number of Aboriginal Peoples. Until 2019, tourists could scale the rock and climb to its top. But that practice has ceased now, due to the objections raised by the Aboriginals. Along with that practice, all the pictures of the summit of the rock on Google image were also removed for the same reason. The Aboriginals consider the rock sacred, and Parks Australia raised the objection with Google on behalf of the traditional owners of the land. Google honored the request right away.
Besides the Uluru, the Outback is known for its amazing natural landscape. Its nature is what has sustained the Aboriginals for centuries before the Europeans came and destroyed their livelihood. As such, a fair appreciation of the Outback must entail in-depth understanding on the interplay between human settlements, the animals as well as the forces of nature.
Needless to say, cultures emerged from the Aboriginal’s societies in the Outback, but they are distinguished forerunners of environmental preservation in today’s terms, particularly in the way they handled nature, taking for their survival what were necessities and preserving balanced practices that protected their environs. This aspect of Australian culture is front and center in the Outback, and perhaps not so in other parts of Australia.
It was an exceedingly difficult process to plan for a trip to the Outback. I landed in Melbourne, and the airplane tickets from Melbourne to Alice Springs were exorbitantly expensive. When I looked first time, it costed almost the same as my ticket from Hong Kong to Australia. I then considered the budget tour operators, and bought a package.
Only after booking did I realize that the dates of the package did not cover the only two times that the Uluru tour operators run their tours in a given week. I then had to forfeit the return ticket and extend my stay one more night so that I could join a tour to the Uluru. For what is a trip to the Outback without seeing the sacred rock?
Long story short, I managed to book a five-day trip to the Outback. The city that most tourists stay in is Alice Springs, but a gentle reminder that a day trip from Alice Springs to the Uluru is an 18-hour fanfare, for it takes six hours one way to the Uluru.
There were three full days in Alice Springs, so I arranged tours to West Macdonnell (West Mac, 8 hours), East Macdonnell (East Mac, 5-6 hours) and Uluru (18+ hours). That left me with just a half a day to explore Alice Springs itself, and I did find it important to also understand Alice Springs as a city.
All was set, and I was incredibly relieved when I sorted out how to minimize the extra costs incurred from my mistake. Be very sure to check the tour dates to Uluru when you plan. The most common tour operator (White Emu Run) does not run daily tours to the Uluru.
The Outback is a vast region of desert. As expected, the weather is that of the desert. Temperature difference is the distance between heavens and earth as night and day alternate. Therefore, to make sure that you enjoy a trip to the Outback, be prepared for layers in the morning hours (a scarf and a light jacket would be handy) and tank tops in the noon to afternoon hours.
It also helps for one to bring plenty of water in order to stay hydrated throughout the day. Sunscreen and moisturizers are also necessary. The hotel that I stayed in provided the very basic, meaning that even toothbrush and toothpaste had to be purchased, but you could pick up any necessities from the Alice Springs downtown area conveniently.
I joined this tour in late April and that is a pretty good window to visit the Outback. The weather is cool generally. The best season, in terms of weather, is the winter times (June to August).
That is because during the winter the region’s most annoying menace is vastly reduced in numbers. The flies of the Outback are the greatest annoyance. Even in April, which is mid autumn in Australia, the prevalence of flies requires the purchase of fly nets (they are sold at the tourist kiosks and coffee shops). It is the very worst time to visit the Outback during the summer months. They are so everywhere that you won’t be able to eat without chewing up a few of those protein-packed insects. Yes, gross. So don’t go during the spring and summer months.
That said, the flies are not the dirty, iridescent, wet, slimy, sewage-infesting ones you see in the city swamps. They are dry, small and perhaps “cleaner” — but gross nonetheless and you don’t want to swallow any of those with your food.
The tense relationships in Alice Springs presented an occurrence that was completely out of the blue to me. About a month before my trip, I learned that the rival gangs (descendants of different Aboriginal tribes) got into a huge fight, rising to the level of a riot in Alice Springs. There was a youth curfew as a result.
I inquired with the tourist office there and I was assured that my tours would not be affected. But when I was checking in the hotel, I was told not to head out alone during the nighttime. That is a precaution that I always take wherever I go, but to be told so by the hotel staff was an indicator of the tensions and the hidden dangers of Alice Springs.
Having gone there for quite a few days, I found it to be a safe place. You would always avoid the night hours out if you travel as a solo female.
Alex Chapman, Google Street view of Uluru summit removed after request from traditional owners, 7 News, September 24, 2020.
In the last entry I discussed the Hong Kong Red Swastika Building. Lying not far away from the Hong Kong Red Swastika Building is the Tin Hau Temple of Causeway Bay. That was one stone, two birds for me. The History of the Tin Hau …