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.