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What does luxury really mean to you? Is it beautiful linen in a king-size bed? An overwater bungalow? Or is it having plenty of free time to spend close to nature?
I d love to be heading off to admire crocs and Aboriginal rock art in Kakadu in a couple of months. Same goes for cruising the Kimberley coast, bracketed by a few days in Broome and Darwin. Ditto Lord Howe Island in October when the red-tailed tropicbirds are breeding along the cliffs. Governments of all stripes are egging me on and subsidising my travels by way of half-price airfares – but I just can t afford it.
Don t get me wrong, I can do cheap. There s plenty to love about Australia that doesn t involve a deep dive into the piggy bank. A hike in the Blue Mountains with the earth spiralling away at my feet and waterfalls spurting from the escarpment above costs next to nothing. Victoria s Black Spur Drive with a spot of wine tasting in the Yarra Valley – fantastic! I have a covert fascination for cheap motels which is regrettably not shared by my partner but Australia s iconic experiences - the ones that are going to stick in your memory forever – are scaldingly expensive.
Take a look at the Red Centre s full waterholes in the gallery above.
Half a dozen green-winged budgerigars chitter as they flit between the branches of tall gum trees. A kite wheels silently, high overhead. But the sight that stops me in my tracks is a pair of ducks – not a particularly exotic bird, except when you are in the middle of the desert. How did these two come to be bobbing along happily in a waterhole outside of Alice Springs?
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The Alice is famously dry. The Todd River that runs through town is usually a dry riverbed. The air itself is so dry that fleets of international aircraft are currently parked in deep storage at the airport. In short, the Alice is not an obvious swim spot.
Yet the MacDonnell Ranges that flank the town are riddled with gorges that – given enough rainfall – function as waterholes. Some dry up quickly; others, like Ellery Creek and Glen Helen Gorge, have at least some water in them throughout the year. Right now, however, recent rains have turned the desert green and filled the waterholes to the brim.
Daniel Tran/Tourism NT
Ellery Creek. The MacDonnell Ranges that flank Alice Springs are riddled with gorges that, given enough rainfall, function as waterholes. We have had some really good rain events earlier this year – only two big ones, but that s enough. Water levels rise very quickly here, says Scott Pullyblank, curator at the Alice Springs Desert Park.