Alice Springs 4WD Roadtrip - Britz

Six nights in a loop from Alice Springs in a 4WD camper, taking in the gorges west of town, the Mereenie Loop and Uluru.

Simpson Gap, Standley Chasm, Ellery Creek and Ormiston Gorge come first in the West MacDonnells, a line of ranges running a couple of hundred kilometres west of Alice where the rock has been split into gaps and chasms by rivers that flow a few days a year, and where the waterholes hold cold water all year round. Glen Ellen follows.

The Mereenie Loop is next, and it is why this route needs a 4WD: a gravel road through Aboriginal land requiring a permit, which links the MacDonnells to Kings Canyon without the long detour south. Kings Canyon follows, where the walls rise a hundred metres above the creek and the rim walk takes most of a morning.

Uluru and Kata Tjuta come next, the monolith and the domes, both on Anangu land and both better at dawn than at any other hour, and the Henbury meteorite craters close the loop on the way back to Alice. Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan; and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Seven days is brisk for this much ground, and the Mereenie permit is worth sorting out before setting off rather than at the roadhouse. A camper also solves the accommodation problem at Yulara, where hotel rooms are both limited and expensive, and it allows an early start for sunrise without a pre-dawn drive.