Red Center
The Red Center is the characteristic semi-desert with red sand in the center of the Australian continent in the outback of the Northern Territory . It extends over an area of approximately one million km² roughly along the border lines between the territories of Western Australia , South Australia and Queensland , in the north-east to a height of Tennant Creek and in the north-west to the Tanami Desert.
Typical for the sandy deserts of Australia are the mostly overgrown sand dunes, which run parallel over several kilometers at intervals of 30 to 500 m. These are 5 to 15 m high and often more than 10 km long. In between there are also large plains that are sparsely overgrown with prickly head grasses (Triodia).
Geologically, the landscape is over 800 million years old. Sediments from a prehistoric inland lake form the basis of the large monoliths, rock domes and boulders.
The Alice Springs Desert Park provides information about the abundant wildlife in desert wadis and sand dunes . The nocturnal shy animals rarely show themselves to the visitor in the wild.
The Aborigines , to whom large parts of the Red Center were returned by the Australian government in 1985, maintain their traditions on reservations. But many are also active in the tourism industry, work as rangers in the national parks, tour guides for groups and go to the interested public in Aboriginal cultural centers. Her art, known to us as cave painting from prehistoric times , is consciously restored using traditional techniques and is available as paintings and handicrafts in numerous galleries in the tourist centers.
Infrastructure
- The Red Center's urban transport hub is Alice Springs ; the Alice Springs airport (but not international) served by all other airports in Australia. Another national airport is located near the Ayers Rock Resort hotel complex .
- The Ghan railway line from Adelaide used to end in Alice Springs ; since 2004 it has been built up to Darwin .
- The Stuart Highway from Port Augusta via Alice Springs to Darwin is the main south-north connecting route through the Red Center.
- Another paved trunk road ( Lasseter Highway and Luritja Drive) connects the national parks, and a third connects to the Great Northern Highway to the northwest across the Tanami Desert .
- Branch lines are usually only accessible with all-wheel drive; large parts of the outback outside the national parks are inaccessible.
The Stuart Highway now has bridges, e.g. B. on the Finke River , so that it is continuously navigable even during floods. All other roads and paths cross the mostly dry river valleys directly. After rains they can stand meters high under water and become impassable.
Tourist destinations
From Alice Springs are preferred visited:
- The Ulu r u-Kata-Tju t a National Park with the Ulu r u and the Kata Tju t a ;
- The Watarrka National Park with its spectacular sandstone gorge of Kings Canyon ;
- The West MacDonnell National Park with steep ravines, permanent waterholes and rare animals;
- Karlu Karlu , an area with gigantic red granite blocks about 100 km south of Tennant Creek.
Travel literature
- Louise Boston Lang: Australia. Vis à vis . Dorling Kindersley Reise, Ostfildern 2005, ISBN 3-928044-21-4 .
- Roland Dusik: Australia Outback. DuMont Travel correctly . 2nd Edition. Dumont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2005, ISBN 3-7701-4898-3 .