DAY 1 from Alice Springs 06:30 to Alice Springs 15:30
Departing at 6.30am, the MacDonnell's are full of enchanting gorges, leafy rivers, Spinifex slopes and rare fauna. These desert mountains are the wettest parts of the central Australian deserts, harbouring oases of animals and plants alike. We will visit Gosse Bluff (Tnorala) a 130 million year old comet crater and a complex sacred site to the Arrente people, Ormiston Gorge and Ellery Creek with their stunning display of geological history and the Ochre pits where a rare rainbow of coloured ochre is exposed in a small creek bed. Includes lunch, accommodation in Alice Springs
DAY 2 from Alice Springs 06:30 to Kings Canyon via Hermannsburg
Today visit Hermannsburg Historical Precinct – the first Aboriginal Mission in the Northern Territory established by the Lutheran Church. Here we stop for Hermannsburg's well known art display, to view and hear how Albert Namatjira went from handyman to world famous watercolourist. We make our way on 4 w/d tracks to beautiful Palm Valley in Finke Gorge National Park. We will wonder through sands of the graceful, relict palm Livistona mariae which occurs nowhere else in the world. We journey onwards towards the George Gill Range and Watarrka National Park, featuring the spectacular Kings Canyon. With over 600 species of plant, Kings Canyon is botanically the richest region in all of arid Australia. (note: our ability to visit Palm Valley is dependant on weather and road conditions. The itinerary may be changed at short notice when access is not possible) Includes lunch (overnight Kings Canyon)
DAY 3 from Kings Canyon to Ayers Rock (Uluru) via Kings Creek Station
At sunrise, undertake the Rim Walk through the beehive like domes and oases of vegetation to explore the many unusual features of the Watarrka National Park. Departing mid morning, we head for Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park and an afternoon tour to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). If you have chosen the option of attending the renowned Sounds Of Silence dinner (additional cost), then you will return to Ayers Rock Resort in time to change before your pick up. Else, remain at Kata Tjuta to witness the spectacular colour change on the domes of Kata Tjuta at sunset, with complimentary champagne before returning to your accommodation at Ayers Rock Resort
DAY 4 from Ayers Rock (Uluru) to Ayers Rock (Uluru)
This morning you will walk one of the oldest walking tracks on earth as you follow the Tjukurpa of the ancestral beings around the base of Uluru on the famous Uluru Walk (can be substituted with the Spirit of Uluru with notice). After the sunrise transforms Uluru into a shimmering red, relax at the base of this majestic monolith with your picnic breakfast and absorb the solitude. As you follow the Ancestral stories of the creation theories of Uluru, you will also experience the incredible ecology that this rock hosts. Combine this with a 900 million year geological origin and you start to learn why this National Park is World Heritage listed. Includes breakfast. Depart on your early afternoon flight from Ayers Rock Resort OR Optional return to Alice Springs (transfer at additional cost)