Four bucket list adventures in the Red Centre

By Mark Daffey

Dine under the stars

You won’t know where to look – up at the stars or down at your plate – as you embark on a gastronomic adventure at Tali Wiru, where every dish is infused with native herbs and spices and carefully paired with premium Australian wine against the stunning evening backdrop of Uluru.  

Dining Under A Desert Moon. Tourism NT/Shaana McNaught. 

Scenic helicopter flight

How about witnessing the contours, shadows and colours of the Red Centre from above during a scenic helicopter flight? See Uluru as you fly over Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Watch shadows dance across the desert dunes on a sunset flight over Kata Tjuta. View Kings Canyon, the George Gill Range and Watarrka National Park from the air. Or soar above Alice Springs and the MacDonnell Ranges in a helicopter or for the more adventurous try gliding when in town.

Couple viewing Kata Tjuta on a scenic helicopter flight. Tourism NT/Shaana McNaught.

Outback sleeping experiences

Like the idea of camping but prefer to do without the hassle? Alice Springs Expeditions specialises in arranging camping tours where you get to sleep beneath the stars in a comfy bushman’s swag. Multi-day trips explore the Simpson Desert, Finke Gorge or East MacDonnell Ranges. Alternatively, you can create your own adventure with a customised itinerary that they’ll help map out and organise with you.

World Expeditions / Great Walks of Australia

Art classes

Around 900 artists make up the collective that is Maruku, a not-for-profit and craft cooperative that has been owned and operated by the Anangu people from the Western and Central Deserts for more than 30 years. And now visitors can feel inspired by the ancient ways of the desert during twice-daily organic dot painting workshops conducted by local artists and interpreters. Learn all about ancient symbols and teachings used in Anangu art then create, keep and share your own story.

Maruku dot-painting workshop. Tourism NT/The Salty Travellers.