Lights Over The Centre

Your Red Centre experience begins with a flight from your homeport to Alice Springs. On arrival, enjoy an afternoon at leisure to explore the town.

❱ Hotel stay: Crowne Plaza Alice Springs Lasseters (3 nights)

Enjoy some time at leisure before meeting your Red Centre Journey Director and group of fellow travellers. Visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service to see how this facility provides vital medical assistance to outback inhabitants. Nearby, call into the School of the Air, a crucial service providing education to children living in remote Australian communities. This evening, join your Alice Springs family hosts for a Local Dining Experience barbecue dinner around a cosy campfire, as the Milky Way lights up the sky.

Visit the historic Overland Telegraph Station, site of the first European settlement in Alice Springs. Then the stunning landscapes of the West MacDonnell Ranges take centre stage, as you embark on a walk through Simpsons Gap and dramatic Angkerle (Standley Chasm). The deep red sandstone formation contrasts with the lush green ferns and gum trees on the valley floor.

En route to Kings Canyon you’ll travel off-road along the 4WD Mereenie Loop Road passing Tylers Lookout and Gosses Bluff. Another unique Local Dining Experience, Under a Desert Moon, awaits you this evening. The flickering glow of the fire is the perfect accompaniment to sparkling wine and canapés followed by dinner, prepared from fresh produce and ingredients unique to the Australian outback.

❱ Hotel stay: Kings Canyon Resort – Deluxe Spa Rooms (1 night)

Gaze across the deep chasm at the edge of Kings Canyon as you embark on a six-kilometre rim walk past the domed ‘Lost City’ and the luscious ‘Garden of Eden’. Now you’re bound for Uluru. On the way visit Curtin Springs Station, home to the Severin family since 1956. Kick back in true Aussie-style at a barbecue lunch while hearing from one of the locals about the Severin’s and gain an insight into the cattle rearing heritage. Afterwards, enter Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and experience the magnificence of the 36 red conglomerate rock domes that form Kata Tjuta, and joining your Journey Director for a guided walk through the immense Walpa Gorge. Later, witness the changing colours as the sun sets over Uluru, then join your Journey Director for a Celebration Dinner at Ilkari Restaurant.

❱ Hotel stay: Sails in the Desert Hotel (2 nights)

Experience a majestic sunrise over Kata Tjuta and Uluru from the sunrise viewing area. From here it’s off to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre for an insight into the history of the local Anangu people. At the base of Uluru hear timeless stories, view spectacular rock art, and visit the culturally-significant Mutitjulu Waterhole.

This evening, you will be picked up to travel to enjoy a wonderful BBQ dinner under the stars near Uluru itself! Sip a complimentary glass of wine of beer as you watch the sun set over Uluru, followed by an Aussie-style BBQ dinner. Snap photos of the spectacular hues reflected on the iconic monolith, located in Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park in Australia’s Red Centre. Feast on mouthwatering dishes as you watch a myriad of stars light up the night sky. After dinner, your central desert outback experience is enhanced with a star tour.

This morning, explore Internationally acclaimed artist Bruce Munro’s Field of Light, inspired by a trip to Uluru 25 years ago. It is the largest Field of Light installation to date, with Munro and his team installing more than 50,000 slender stems crowned with radiant frosted glass spheres.

Your Driver Guide will provide insights and background into this emotive and unique desert art installation. Under the cover of darkness, you’re invited to wander through the pathways that encompass the 50,000 spheres of light in the desert, before making your way up the hill to the Dune Top viewing area. Watch the amazing transformation of colours and life as the Red Centre awakens, while enjoying tea, coffee or hot chocolate. Then as the first rays of sunlight creep across the desert sky, gaze in awe as the sun rises in the distance behind Uluru, flooding the landscape, including Kata Tjuta behind you, with light.

You’ll have an incredible view through stunning desert landscape as the sun rises over the Red Centre. As the natural light brightens the landscape, the Field of Light will dim for the day. Capture some amazing photos from this unique raised location, which allows you to view both Uluru and Kata Tjuta in all their natural glory.

Later this morning, you will be transferred to Uluru Airport in time for your flight home.