Trek Larapinta Travel Blog
For us, walking through any airport usually is reserved for our corporate wear and briefcases heading to yet another business meeting. However, this time we are in full walking regalia, backpacks and moisture wicking clothes, it was not my classiest hour, yet strangely liberating to get back to basics. Airport lounge time was spent madly messaging team members mostly superfluous instructions that made me feel better about being out of contact for 6 days. But really it was only making me feel better. My team are awesome and had everything handled better than I ever could.
The flight to Alice Springs did not disappoint and was a taster of things to come. Seriously, my advice is to do what you can to get a window seat! The red centre from the air was living up to its name and the feeling that you were flying over the ‘true Australia’, the one that you had learnt about sitting on the mat in primary school, was starting to emerge. An Australia that seemed so far removed from our city life; dingoes, giant rocks and the true custodians of our land.
Ancient water flow carves out a distinctive place on earth like no other. Etched with roads that you can’t help but wonder what purpose these roads have fulfilled, where are they headed and who frequents them? How did the Traditional Owners thrive on this land. As we flew low on our decent, that feeling of there being so much to discover here became stronger.
The unassuming Alice Springs airport is close to the small township of around 25,000 residents. The first morning of our trek, I stayed in bed a few seconds longer, savouring the feeling of sleeping in a ‘real bed’ not knowing what the standard of sleeping arrangements awaited me. But the excitement of getting going, legs that had been training (well, doing extra walks) for the last few months were keen to get walking. We were ready at reception in no time with anticipation for our transport to arrive and when it did we were greeted by our friendly Trek Larapinta guides and the lovely people that would become our friends over the next 6 days on the Larapinta Trail.
We were welcomed with a “Werte” which is the local Arrernte word for welcome. It must have been an auspicious start to the walk because it rained that day, only lightly, for the first time in about 2 years. The rain highlighted the stunning orange-red colours of the rocks as we undertook our first walk to a vast oasis called Ormiston Pound, which was impacted by a geological event millions of years ago, we had lunch on a riverbed and then walking through the dominating Ormiston Gorge featuring prehistoric male and female Cycad plants.
We headed to the Pioneer campsite that was a welcoming home for the next 6 days, it had an impressive camp kitchen, and a lovely sandy communal space for sitting around the campfire. Our row of tents were perched along a sandy river bed with a mesmerising view of sacred rock formations through silver river gums.
One of the memorable walks, and perhaps a more challenging one, was the trek up to Counts Point. The lookout was spectacular with vistas across to the next of a seemingly unending line up of mountain ranges. Majestic Wedge Tailed Eagles flew ahead to guide our way along the ridge. I was fascinated by what must have happened here millions of years ago, to create such a dramatic landscape? And how come some of the rocks on the path look like someone had been diligently carving away at them or fashioned by ancient waves on the floor of the ocean? Our lead guide was a geology enthusiast and we loved hearing her theories of what could have happened so many years ago.
Some of the Larapinta Trail has been affected by fires, but that just served as a juxtaposition of life’s adversity – and an appreciation of the cooler, shady places along the trail! It’s nice that the introduced buffle grass has been burnt back too, nature at work.
Swimming in one of the waterholes of the Finke River was such a treat at the end of a days’ exploring. The refreshing water is surrounded by green trees, rugged rock cliffs, birdlife and cool stones are underfoot. The towering red rock cliffs are beautiful sculptures, hinting at years gone by, with layers of sediment that make you question all that you know about this earth.
Each day was just the right balance of challenge and delight, with new vistas around every corner. Before long we had settled into a lovely rhythm where our daily lives were far behind. A fitting end to the Larapinta trail for many is Mt Sonder. Little known to everyone else other than avid hikers, Mt Sondor has become something of a ‘must do’ along the trail but what has become more apparent over recent years is the need to scale the heights with only a head torch to guide the way to watch the sunrise and that is what our team of 9 did. We arose super early; I’m not going to say how early but let’s just say that the moon was still up.
The idea of waking up early is always unappealing, but I can tell you it was worth it, this will go down as one of the best walks in my life. The heavens had conspired to bestow a full-moon on us which lit the way and our team snaked up the hill like a glowing caterpillar. There were other groups of walkers on the trail and to see them up ahead was comforting and delightful along with Venus just at the crest of the mountain.
The Traditional Owners believe that the mountain, rwetypme, is a woman lying down who had been banished from her community for acting up and the mountains likeness is striking. I felt a huge sense of achievement once we reached the summit, a life-affirming moment on a sacred site that we were so lucky to be able to walk on. The sunrise cast shadows and colours so rich that it didn’t seem real, a photographer’s dream. The triangle shadow known as the ‘Sonder Shadow’ cast by the mountain onto nearby ranges was also an unexpected joy. We loved that mountain, walked with care and consideration and she looked after us in return.
Setting up our swags out on the riverbed for a night under the stars we discussed the chances of seeing a dingo as we had heard that a family of tame dingos, including little pups had been around the campsite recently, particularly in the campfire area while doing their nightly patrol. Being from Tasmania dingos are not a part of our fauna, we wondered what the dingo would have made of us tucked up in our swags. We were rewarded by two sets of footprints that walked next to where I was sleeping, perhaps they gave my head a little sniff when they walked past. But the sweetest thing was the little set of footprints next to the larger footprints, clearly a parent was taking their puppy for an instructional walk past these strange creatures sleeping within their boundaries.
Sleeping under the stars for the first time in my life was one of the highlights of the trip. The night was so calm, not a cloud in the sky and the full moon did not come up until 3 hours of star gazing. Several shooting stars, satellites, planets and I had only recently learnt that the black parts of the Milky way are believed to be an emu, and once you see it you can’t unsee it and wonder how many generations of Traditional Owners had also seen it too. After the moon came up, the country was lit up and looked incredible, a lightness in the night sky that you rarely see.
Pack up day came around too quick. It felt like we had been away for ages but also like it all happened too soon. We will forever remember the ancient rust red landscapes, the connection to Country the friends we made and the expert care and guidance of Trek Larapinta.
[Blog written by Rebecca King. Photo credit: Trek Tours Australia / Rebecca King]
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