Staying there<\/h2>\nHale River Homestead<\/a><\/h3>\nStay in the heart of the East MacDonnell Ranges at Hale River Homestead, accessible by 2WD; from $30 per night for an unpowered site to $240 (two adults) in the Homestead.<\/p>\n
Squeaky Windmill<\/a><\/h3>\nBack in Alice Springs, Squeaky Windmill has boutique glamping complete with heating, bathrobes, and marshmallows to roast over the fire. From $175 per night for two people.<\/p>\n
Best time to go<\/h2>\n
Experience the East Macs between May and September when days are warm and dry. Summer is too hot for hiking but perfect for the magnesium pool at Hale River Homestead.<\/p>\n
What to pack<\/h2>\n
You\u2019ll want a 4WD or trusty tour guide to get you there, and then short walks are the best way to experience the gorges and nature parks of the East MacDonnell Ranges.<\/p>\n\n
Take sturdy walking boots, plenty of layers for morning and evening and expect\u00a0to rug up at night when temperatures drop. A\u00a0hat, sunscreen and water bottle are other backpack essentials.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/h2>\nTrephina Gorge<\/h3>\n
I\u2019m completely surrounded by sheer red and purple quartzite rock faces and ghost gums looking as if they\u2019ve been caught exposed, their bare white trunks glowing for all to see. The ground is coated in deceptively downy-looking spinifex but I carefully step in Filippo\u2019s footsteps underneath an impossibly blue sky. So far today i\u2019ve seen only two other humans.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s1.at.atcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Deceptively-downy-spinifex-typifies-the-iron-red-landscape-1.jpg\")
Deceptively downy spinifex typifies the iron-red landscape<\/p><\/div>\n
I\u2019m in Trephina Gorge, a little-known nature park 85 kilometres east of Alice Springs where russet strata, blue mallee and sandy creek beds bring the colours of the desert into vivid detail. This area is significant to the Eastern Arrernte Aboriginal people because it is part of the Wallaby Dreaming Trail, and was also once part of the early settlement of Central Australia.<\/p>\n\n
We may be close to the geographical centre of Australia, but we\u2019re not going without good, strong Italian coffee this morning. Bucking the trend of almost every tour I\u2019ve come across, my new friend Filippo Gelado from Outback Elite Tours pulls a gas burner and Italian-style moka pot out of his backpack after our hike as naturally as one would expect a thermos and packet of Monte Carlos. He\u2019s made rock cakes studded with sultanas, too. God bless the Italians.<\/p>\n\n
When I mentioned to a few locals in Alice that I was heading for the East MacDonnell Ranges, they were suitably impressed. \u201cOh, good on you, no one goes out there,\u201d astronomy enthusiast Tom Falzon from Earth Sanctuary said of my plan. \u201cThat\u2019s a real local\u2019s spot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
So why go east when everyone is heading west?<\/p>\n\n
Standing in awe at the base of the largest ghost gum (Corymbia aparrerinja) in Australia, I believe it\u2019s for moments like this. Standing sentinel inside Trephina Gorge, this 33-metre giant is estimated to be over 300 years old.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s1.at.atcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Staggering-red-and-purple-quartzite-rock-formations-stand-in-contrast-to-glowing-white-ghost-gums-in-Trephina-Gorge-1.jpg\")
Staggering red and purple quartzite rock formations stand in contrast to glowing white ghost gums in Trephina Gorge<\/p><\/div>\n
Filippo has designed a highlights reel of sights for me today on a private tour. Though he\u2019s a long way from home \u2013 having grown up in a small village outside Milan \u2013 you\u2019d swear he was born with red dirt in his blood, even when he admits he\u2019d never even been camping before backpacking through Australia with his then-girlfriend, now-wife in 2011.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe idea of camping we have in Italy is a crowded place,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt\u2019s the cheapest accommodation you can have, full of kids. It didn\u2019t make sense to me then.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d never slept in a tent before and we came here and spent six months just camping.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
I\u2019m quickly discovering the true beauty of the Red Centre is in its isolation \u2013 the wide open spaces with no one to share them with \u2013 that inspires travellers to wander this way.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cSometimes people don\u2019t really want to stay in a crowd; they come to the outback with the \u2018outback\u2019 idea, like \u2018I don\u2019t want to see anyone\u2019,\u201d Filippo says.<\/p>\n\n
While the mountainous spines of the West MacDonnell Ranges are cradled by a well-managed national park and served by tour buses, the East Macs take a little more local know-how
\nto conquer. Nature parks and significant rock art sites are interspersed with sprawling cattle stations and private land.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s1.at.atcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/The-caterpillar-dreaming-told-through-ochre-rock-art-inside-Emily-Gap.jpg\")
The caterpillar dreaming told through ochre rock art inside Emily Gap<\/p><\/div>\n
Arltunga<\/h3>\n
Perhaps the most obvious difference on this side of the ranges, I\u2019ll later come to realise, is the ghost town of Arltunga where Central Australia experienced its first gold rush in the late 1800s. At its height, Arltunga supported a population of 3000 people, many of whom worked and lived in extreme conditions in the small, remote settlement, battling stupefying heats with little water or fresh food.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s1.at.atcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/The-skeleton-past-of-Arltunga-1.jpg\")
The skeleton past of Arltunga<\/p><\/div>\n
Walking through the preserved ruins of the police station, gaol and government works buildings today, it\u2019s hard to fathom just how remote and tough this place would have been 130 years ago.<\/p>\n
Hale River Homestead<\/h3>\n
Half an hour\u2019s drive away, we cross the cattle grid and pull into Hale River Homestead at the Old Ambalindum Station. The station played its own role in Arltunga\u2019s history, with Irish prospector Frederick Cavenagh \u2013 who worked as a clerk in the government works \u2013 taking on the lease to raise sheep and grow vegetables, partnering with neighbouring station Clareville to supply sustenance to miners.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s1.at.atcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/The-retro-caravan-of-Hale-River-Homestead-doubles-as-a-School-of-the-Air-classroom-1.jpg\")
The retro caravan of Hale River Homestead doubles as a\u00a0School of the Air\u00a0classroom<\/p><\/div>\n
Today, the Leigh family own Hale River Homestead \u2013 a \u201cveggie patch\u201d in terms of its size at a mere 60 square kilometres, as Filippo puts it \u2013 which makes a welcome stopover for travellers on the infamous Binns Track, as well as an attractive day trip for Alice Springs locals who come to cool off in the magnesium pool during summer. Essentially a shipping container with a deck, the pool has five-star views, looking out over a windmill and the heritage-listed ruins of the station\u2019s original shearing shed, which will be restored in the future.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe beauty of the east is you\u2019ve got the natural beauty but you\u2019ve also got the human history with Arltunga and, with us now, you\u2019ve got some pastoral history too,\u201d Lynne Leigh says as we\u00a0devour her burgers for lunch in \u2018The Workshop\u2019 \u2013 a converted shed that serves as the hub of the campground and other accommodation on the property. Loaded with pickles, jalape\u00f1os, beetroot, pineapple, egg and bacon, it\u2019s easily one of the best Aussie burgers I\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n\n
Some places make you feel immediately at home and this shed, among the riot of Australiana and antique farm memorabilia, is one of them.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe East Macs are becoming the new kid on the\u00a0block,\u201d Lynne continues. \u201cIt\u2019s always been here\u00a0but visitor numbers are definitely growing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Lynne\u2019s daughter Sophie takes us on a tour of the\u00a0property, to the retro caravan \u2013 part of a package deal when they bought a backhoe \u2013 where her son, David, does his School of the Air lessons. Curious guests can pay a gold-coin donation to sit and watch as he dials in each morning from his private\u00a0classroom.<\/p>\n\n
The cottage and homestead on the property date\u00a0to the early 1900s, with renovations from the \u201950s and \u201960s perfectly maintained. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit like stepping back in time,\u201d says Sophie as I admire the retro kitchen in the cottage, which originally served as stockmen\u2019s quarters.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s1.at.atcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/The-rock-art-of-the-East-Macs-marks-the-importance-of-the-place-to-the-Arrernte-people-1.jpg\")
The rock art of the East Macs marks the importance of the place to the Arrernte people<\/p><\/div>\n
What is even older than the gold-rush history of\u00a0the East Macs, of course, is the history of the Arrernte people and the rock art found at several sites nearby. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some time \u2013 I want to take you somewhere special,\u201d Filippo tells me as we wave goodbye to Lynne and Sophie and start to head for N’Dhala Gorge Nature Park.<\/p>\n
N’Dhala Gorge Nature Park<\/h3>\n
A short walk takes us into the narrow gorge where 6000 individual petroglyphs, or rock carvings \u2013 some as old as 10,000 years \u2013 decorate the red rock walls. This is the story of the Caterpillar Dreaming, with intricate circles and lines showing caterpillars transforming to butterflies. Many were done by pecking: holding a\u00a0sharp stone against the rock and striking it with another, heavier stone.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s1.at.atcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Filippo-leads-the-way-into-N\u2019Dhala-Gorge-1.jpg\")
Filippo leads the way into N\u2019Dhala Gorge<\/p><\/div>\n
The Caterpillar Dreaming is also told at Emily Gap \u2013 a small chasm in the Heavitree Range \u2013 where we stop on our way back into Alice. This site is part of the storyline for the Three Caterpillars, Yeperenye, Ntyarlke and Utnerrengatye, which are the ancestral beings for the Alice Springs area.<\/p>\n\n
Vivid lines of ochre mark the walls of this open-air gallery, in the spot where Intwailuka, an ancestral hero, is said to have cooked and eaten caterpillars on his Dreamtime journey.<\/p>\n\n
The sun is close to setting as we drive back into\u00a0Alice, at the crossroads of the East and West Macs. Tomorrow I\u2019ll set out with a group to hike for five days along the Larapinta Trail in the West\u00a0MacDonnell Ranges, which is sure to be an unforgettable experience. But with little exertion and\u00a0gourmet coffee to boot, the East Macs have already provided a microcosm of the Red Centre in\u00a0just one day.<\/p>\n
Stay in the heart of the East MacDonnell Ranges at Hale River Homestead, accessible by 2WD; from $30 per night for an unpowered site to $240 (two adults) in the Homestead.<\/p>\n
Squeaky Windmill<\/a><\/h3>\nBack in Alice Springs, Squeaky Windmill has boutique glamping complete with heating, bathrobes, and marshmallows to roast over the fire. From $175 per night for two people.<\/p>\n
Best time to go<\/h2>\n
Experience the East Macs between May and September when days are warm and dry. Summer is too hot for hiking but perfect for the magnesium pool at Hale River Homestead.<\/p>\n
What to pack<\/h2>\n
You\u2019ll want a 4WD or trusty tour guide to get you there, and then short walks are the best way to experience the gorges and nature parks of the East MacDonnell Ranges.<\/p>\n\n
Take sturdy walking boots, plenty of layers for morning and evening and expect\u00a0to rug up at night when temperatures drop. A\u00a0hat, sunscreen and water bottle are other backpack essentials.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/h2>\nTrephina Gorge<\/h3>\n
I\u2019m completely surrounded by sheer red and purple quartzite rock faces and ghost gums looking as if they\u2019ve been caught exposed, their bare white trunks glowing for all to see. The ground is coated in deceptively downy-looking spinifex but I carefully step in Filippo\u2019s footsteps underneath an impossibly blue sky. So far today i\u2019ve seen only two other humans.<\/p>\n
Deceptively downy spinifex typifies the iron-red landscape<\/p><\/div>\n
I\u2019m in Trephina Gorge, a little-known nature park 85 kilometres east of Alice Springs where russet strata, blue mallee and sandy creek beds bring the colours of the desert into vivid detail. This area is significant to the Eastern Arrernte Aboriginal people because it is part of the Wallaby Dreaming Trail, and was also once part of the early settlement of Central Australia.<\/p>\n\n
We may be close to the geographical centre of Australia, but we\u2019re not going without good, strong Italian coffee this morning. Bucking the trend of almost every tour I\u2019ve come across, my new friend Filippo Gelado from Outback Elite Tours pulls a gas burner and Italian-style moka pot out of his backpack after our hike as naturally as one would expect a thermos and packet of Monte Carlos. He\u2019s made rock cakes studded with sultanas, too. God bless the Italians.<\/p>\n\n
When I mentioned to a few locals in Alice that I was heading for the East MacDonnell Ranges, they were suitably impressed. \u201cOh, good on you, no one goes out there,\u201d astronomy enthusiast Tom Falzon from Earth Sanctuary said of my plan. \u201cThat\u2019s a real local\u2019s spot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
So why go east when everyone is heading west?<\/p>\n\n
Standing in awe at the base of the largest ghost gum (Corymbia aparrerinja) in Australia, I believe it\u2019s for moments like this. Standing sentinel inside Trephina Gorge, this 33-metre giant is estimated to be over 300 years old.<\/p>\n
Staggering red and purple quartzite rock formations stand in contrast to glowing white ghost gums in Trephina Gorge<\/p><\/div>\n
Filippo has designed a highlights reel of sights for me today on a private tour. Though he\u2019s a long way from home \u2013 having grown up in a small village outside Milan \u2013 you\u2019d swear he was born with red dirt in his blood, even when he admits he\u2019d never even been camping before backpacking through Australia with his then-girlfriend, now-wife in 2011.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe idea of camping we have in Italy is a crowded place,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt\u2019s the cheapest accommodation you can have, full of kids. It didn\u2019t make sense to me then.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d never slept in a tent before and we came here and spent six months just camping.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
I\u2019m quickly discovering the true beauty of the Red Centre is in its isolation \u2013 the wide open spaces with no one to share them with \u2013 that inspires travellers to wander this way.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cSometimes people don\u2019t really want to stay in a crowd; they come to the outback with the \u2018outback\u2019 idea, like \u2018I don\u2019t want to see anyone\u2019,\u201d Filippo says.<\/p>\n\n
While the mountainous spines of the West MacDonnell Ranges are cradled by a well-managed national park and served by tour buses, the East Macs take a little more local know-how
\nto conquer. Nature parks and significant rock art sites are interspersed with sprawling cattle stations and private land.<\/p>\n
The caterpillar dreaming told through ochre rock art inside Emily Gap<\/p><\/div>\n
Arltunga<\/h3>\n
Perhaps the most obvious difference on this side of the ranges, I\u2019ll later come to realise, is the ghost town of Arltunga where Central Australia experienced its first gold rush in the late 1800s. At its height, Arltunga supported a population of 3000 people, many of whom worked and lived in extreme conditions in the small, remote settlement, battling stupefying heats with little water or fresh food.<\/p>\n
The skeleton past of Arltunga<\/p><\/div>\n
Walking through the preserved ruins of the police station, gaol and government works buildings today, it\u2019s hard to fathom just how remote and tough this place would have been 130 years ago.<\/p>\n
Hale River Homestead<\/h3>\n
Half an hour\u2019s drive away, we cross the cattle grid and pull into Hale River Homestead at the Old Ambalindum Station. The station played its own role in Arltunga\u2019s history, with Irish prospector Frederick Cavenagh \u2013 who worked as a clerk in the government works \u2013 taking on the lease to raise sheep and grow vegetables, partnering with neighbouring station Clareville to supply sustenance to miners.<\/p>\n
The retro caravan of Hale River Homestead doubles as a\u00a0School of the Air\u00a0classroom<\/p><\/div>\n
Today, the Leigh family own Hale River Homestead \u2013 a \u201cveggie patch\u201d in terms of its size at a mere 60 square kilometres, as Filippo puts it \u2013 which makes a welcome stopover for travellers on the infamous Binns Track, as well as an attractive day trip for Alice Springs locals who come to cool off in the magnesium pool during summer. Essentially a shipping container with a deck, the pool has five-star views, looking out over a windmill and the heritage-listed ruins of the station\u2019s original shearing shed, which will be restored in the future.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe beauty of the east is you\u2019ve got the natural beauty but you\u2019ve also got the human history with Arltunga and, with us now, you\u2019ve got some pastoral history too,\u201d Lynne Leigh says as we\u00a0devour her burgers for lunch in \u2018The Workshop\u2019 \u2013 a converted shed that serves as the hub of the campground and other accommodation on the property. Loaded with pickles, jalape\u00f1os, beetroot, pineapple, egg and bacon, it\u2019s easily one of the best Aussie burgers I\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n\n
Some places make you feel immediately at home and this shed, among the riot of Australiana and antique farm memorabilia, is one of them.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe East Macs are becoming the new kid on the\u00a0block,\u201d Lynne continues. \u201cIt\u2019s always been here\u00a0but visitor numbers are definitely growing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Lynne\u2019s daughter Sophie takes us on a tour of the\u00a0property, to the retro caravan \u2013 part of a package deal when they bought a backhoe \u2013 where her son, David, does his School of the Air lessons. Curious guests can pay a gold-coin donation to sit and watch as he dials in each morning from his private\u00a0classroom.<\/p>\n\n
The cottage and homestead on the property date\u00a0to the early 1900s, with renovations from the \u201950s and \u201960s perfectly maintained. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit like stepping back in time,\u201d says Sophie as I admire the retro kitchen in the cottage, which originally served as stockmen\u2019s quarters.<\/p>\n
The rock art of the East Macs marks the importance of the place to the Arrernte people<\/p><\/div>\n
What is even older than the gold-rush history of\u00a0the East Macs, of course, is the history of the Arrernte people and the rock art found at several sites nearby. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some time \u2013 I want to take you somewhere special,\u201d Filippo tells me as we wave goodbye to Lynne and Sophie and start to head for N’Dhala Gorge Nature Park.<\/p>\n
N’Dhala Gorge Nature Park<\/h3>\n
A short walk takes us into the narrow gorge where 6000 individual petroglyphs, or rock carvings \u2013 some as old as 10,000 years \u2013 decorate the red rock walls. This is the story of the Caterpillar Dreaming, with intricate circles and lines showing caterpillars transforming to butterflies. Many were done by pecking: holding a\u00a0sharp stone against the rock and striking it with another, heavier stone.<\/p>\n
Filippo leads the way into N\u2019Dhala Gorge<\/p><\/div>\n
The Caterpillar Dreaming is also told at Emily Gap \u2013 a small chasm in the Heavitree Range \u2013 where we stop on our way back into Alice. This site is part of the storyline for the Three Caterpillars, Yeperenye, Ntyarlke and Utnerrengatye, which are the ancestral beings for the Alice Springs area.<\/p>\n\n
Vivid lines of ochre mark the walls of this open-air gallery, in the spot where Intwailuka, an ancestral hero, is said to have cooked and eaten caterpillars on his Dreamtime journey.<\/p>\n\n
The sun is close to setting as we drive back into\u00a0Alice, at the crossroads of the East and West Macs. Tomorrow I\u2019ll set out with a group to hike for five days along the Larapinta Trail in the West\u00a0MacDonnell Ranges, which is sure to be an unforgettable experience. But with little exertion and\u00a0gourmet coffee to boot, the East Macs have already provided a microcosm of the Red Centre in\u00a0just one day.<\/p>\n
Trephina Gorge<\/h3>\n
Deceptively downy spinifex typifies the iron-red landscape<\/p><\/div>\n
I\u2019m in Trephina Gorge, a little-known nature park 85 kilometres east of Alice Springs where russet strata, blue mallee and sandy creek beds bring the colours of the desert into vivid detail. This area is significant to the Eastern Arrernte Aboriginal people because it is part of the Wallaby Dreaming Trail, and was also once part of the early settlement of Central Australia.<\/p>\n\n
We may be close to the geographical centre of Australia, but we\u2019re not going without good, strong Italian coffee this morning. Bucking the trend of almost every tour I\u2019ve come across, my new friend Filippo Gelado from Outback Elite Tours pulls a gas burner and Italian-style moka pot out of his backpack after our hike as naturally as one would expect a thermos and packet of Monte Carlos. He\u2019s made rock cakes studded with sultanas, too. God bless the Italians.<\/p>\n\n
When I mentioned to a few locals in Alice that I was heading for the East MacDonnell Ranges, they were suitably impressed. \u201cOh, good on you, no one goes out there,\u201d astronomy enthusiast Tom Falzon from Earth Sanctuary said of my plan. \u201cThat\u2019s a real local\u2019s spot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
So why go east when everyone is heading west?<\/p>\n\n
Standing in awe at the base of the largest ghost gum (Corymbia aparrerinja) in Australia, I believe it\u2019s for moments like this. Standing sentinel inside Trephina Gorge, this 33-metre giant is estimated to be over 300 years old.<\/p>\n
Staggering red and purple quartzite rock formations stand in contrast to glowing white ghost gums in Trephina Gorge<\/p><\/div>\n
Filippo has designed a highlights reel of sights for me today on a private tour. Though he\u2019s a long way from home \u2013 having grown up in a small village outside Milan \u2013 you\u2019d swear he was born with red dirt in his blood, even when he admits he\u2019d never even been camping before backpacking through Australia with his then-girlfriend, now-wife in 2011.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe idea of camping we have in Italy is a crowded place,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt\u2019s the cheapest accommodation you can have, full of kids. It didn\u2019t make sense to me then.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d never slept in a tent before and we came here and spent six months just camping.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
I\u2019m quickly discovering the true beauty of the Red Centre is in its isolation \u2013 the wide open spaces with no one to share them with \u2013 that inspires travellers to wander this way.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cSometimes people don\u2019t really want to stay in a crowd; they come to the outback with the \u2018outback\u2019 idea, like \u2018I don\u2019t want to see anyone\u2019,\u201d Filippo says.<\/p>\n\n
While the mountainous spines of the West MacDonnell Ranges are cradled by a well-managed national park and served by tour buses, the East Macs take a little more local know-how
\nto conquer. Nature parks and significant rock art sites are interspersed with sprawling cattle stations and private land.<\/p>\n
The caterpillar dreaming told through ochre rock art inside Emily Gap<\/p><\/div>\n
Arltunga<\/h3>\n
Perhaps the most obvious difference on this side of the ranges, I\u2019ll later come to realise, is the ghost town of Arltunga where Central Australia experienced its first gold rush in the late 1800s. At its height, Arltunga supported a population of 3000 people, many of whom worked and lived in extreme conditions in the small, remote settlement, battling stupefying heats with little water or fresh food.<\/p>\n
The skeleton past of Arltunga<\/p><\/div>\n
Walking through the preserved ruins of the police station, gaol and government works buildings today, it\u2019s hard to fathom just how remote and tough this place would have been 130 years ago.<\/p>\n
Hale River Homestead<\/h3>\n
Half an hour\u2019s drive away, we cross the cattle grid and pull into Hale River Homestead at the Old Ambalindum Station. The station played its own role in Arltunga\u2019s history, with Irish prospector Frederick Cavenagh \u2013 who worked as a clerk in the government works \u2013 taking on the lease to raise sheep and grow vegetables, partnering with neighbouring station Clareville to supply sustenance to miners.<\/p>\n
The retro caravan of Hale River Homestead doubles as a\u00a0School of the Air\u00a0classroom<\/p><\/div>\n
Today, the Leigh family own Hale River Homestead \u2013 a \u201cveggie patch\u201d in terms of its size at a mere 60 square kilometres, as Filippo puts it \u2013 which makes a welcome stopover for travellers on the infamous Binns Track, as well as an attractive day trip for Alice Springs locals who come to cool off in the magnesium pool during summer. Essentially a shipping container with a deck, the pool has five-star views, looking out over a windmill and the heritage-listed ruins of the station\u2019s original shearing shed, which will be restored in the future.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe beauty of the east is you\u2019ve got the natural beauty but you\u2019ve also got the human history with Arltunga and, with us now, you\u2019ve got some pastoral history too,\u201d Lynne Leigh says as we\u00a0devour her burgers for lunch in \u2018The Workshop\u2019 \u2013 a converted shed that serves as the hub of the campground and other accommodation on the property. Loaded with pickles, jalape\u00f1os, beetroot, pineapple, egg and bacon, it\u2019s easily one of the best Aussie burgers I\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n\n
Some places make you feel immediately at home and this shed, among the riot of Australiana and antique farm memorabilia, is one of them.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe East Macs are becoming the new kid on the\u00a0block,\u201d Lynne continues. \u201cIt\u2019s always been here\u00a0but visitor numbers are definitely growing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Lynne\u2019s daughter Sophie takes us on a tour of the\u00a0property, to the retro caravan \u2013 part of a package deal when they bought a backhoe \u2013 where her son, David, does his School of the Air lessons. Curious guests can pay a gold-coin donation to sit and watch as he dials in each morning from his private\u00a0classroom.<\/p>\n\n
The cottage and homestead on the property date\u00a0to the early 1900s, with renovations from the \u201950s and \u201960s perfectly maintained. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit like stepping back in time,\u201d says Sophie as I admire the retro kitchen in the cottage, which originally served as stockmen\u2019s quarters.<\/p>\n
The rock art of the East Macs marks the importance of the place to the Arrernte people<\/p><\/div>\n
What is even older than the gold-rush history of\u00a0the East Macs, of course, is the history of the Arrernte people and the rock art found at several sites nearby. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some time \u2013 I want to take you somewhere special,\u201d Filippo tells me as we wave goodbye to Lynne and Sophie and start to head for N’Dhala Gorge Nature Park.<\/p>\n
N’Dhala Gorge Nature Park<\/h3>\n
A short walk takes us into the narrow gorge where 6000 individual petroglyphs, or rock carvings \u2013 some as old as 10,000 years \u2013 decorate the red rock walls. This is the story of the Caterpillar Dreaming, with intricate circles and lines showing caterpillars transforming to butterflies. Many were done by pecking: holding a\u00a0sharp stone against the rock and striking it with another, heavier stone.<\/p>\n
Filippo leads the way into N\u2019Dhala Gorge<\/p><\/div>\n
The Caterpillar Dreaming is also told at Emily Gap \u2013 a small chasm in the Heavitree Range \u2013 where we stop on our way back into Alice. This site is part of the storyline for the Three Caterpillars, Yeperenye, Ntyarlke and Utnerrengatye, which are the ancestral beings for the Alice Springs area.<\/p>\n\n
Vivid lines of ochre mark the walls of this open-air gallery, in the spot where Intwailuka, an ancestral hero, is said to have cooked and eaten caterpillars on his Dreamtime journey.<\/p>\n\n
The sun is close to setting as we drive back into\u00a0Alice, at the crossroads of the East and West Macs. Tomorrow I\u2019ll set out with a group to hike for five days along the Larapinta Trail in the West\u00a0MacDonnell Ranges, which is sure to be an unforgettable experience. But with little exertion and\u00a0gourmet coffee to boot, the East Macs have already provided a microcosm of the Red Centre in\u00a0just one day.<\/p>\n