Page 291 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Australia

THE RED CENTRE  289

the popular Finke Gorge
National Park, home to Palm
Valley, an unusual tropical oasis
in the dry heart of the country
with rare, ancient palm species.
On the other side of Alice
Springs, the East MacDonnell
Ranges boast some beautiful
sites accessible via the Ross
Highway. Close to town is Emily
Gap, one of the most significant Mining building at Battery Hill, Tennant Creek
Aranda sites in Australia. Further E Battery Hill Mining Centre
east, Corroboree Rock, a strangely 6Tennant Creek Battery Hill, Peko Rd. Tel (08) 8962
shaped outcrop, has a crevice * 3,500. ~ @ n Battery Hill 1281. Open daily. Closed Good Fri;
once used to store sacred Mining Complex, Peko Rd 7, 8 & 25 Dec. & 7 8
Aranda objects. Trephina Gorge (08) 8962 1281. E Tennant Creek
is the most spectacular of the Telegraph Station
East MacDonnell sights, with Tennant Creek was chosen as Stuart Highway. Tel (08) 8962 4599.
quartzite cliffs and red river gums. the site of a telegraph station on
the Overland Telegraph Line in
E Hermannsburg 1872. The town grew after gold 7Kings Canyon
Historic Precinct was discovered in the area in £ Alice Springs. @ Alice Springs,
Larapinta Drive. Tel (08) 8956 7402. 1932. The Battery Hill Mining
Open daily. Closed Good Fri, 25 Dec. Centre has two museums and Yulara. n Alice Springs (08) 8951
& 7 ∑ hermannsburg.com.au an underground mine. The 8250. ∑ nt.gov.au
Y Finke Gorge National Park complex also houses the Tennant The spectacular sandstone
Tel (08) 8951 8250. £ @ Alice Creek Visitor Information Centre. gorge of Kings Canyon, set
Springs. ∑ nt.gov.au Tennant Creek today is the within Watarrka National Park,
second-largest town has walls more than 100 m
in the Red Centre. (330 ft) high that have been
Nearly 500 km (310 formed by millions of years
miles) north of Alice of erosion. They contain the
Springs, it is also fossilized tracks of ancient
a major stopover marine creatures, and even
along the Stuart ripplemarks of an ancient sea
Highway, between are visible. Several walking tracks
Darwin and South take visitors around the rim of
Australia. Other local the gorge where there are some
Spherical boulders of the Devil’s Marbles attractions include stunning views of the valley
the recreational Lake below. Watarrka National Park
5Karlu Karlu/ Mary Ann, 5 km (3 miles) out of has many waterholes and areas
Devil’s Marbles town and ideal for sailing and of lush vegetation that contain
Conservation swimming. The remote Tennant more than 600 plant species.
Creek Telegraph Station, 12 km
The park also provides a habitat
Reserve (8 miles) north of the town, built for more than 100 bird species
in 1874, is now a museum. and 60 species of reptiles.
Tel (08) 8951 8250, Tennant Creek
Office (08) 8962 4599. @ from Tennant
Creek Tourist Information. 7 8
Approximately 104 km (65 miles)
south of Tennant Creek, this
reserve features a series of huge,
spherical, red-granite boulders,
scattered across a shallow
valley in the Davenport Ranges.
The result of geological activity
from 1,700 million years ago,
the boulders were created
when molten lava was
compressed to create huge
domes just below the earth’s
surface. Subsequent erosion
of the overlying rock exposed
the marbles. Rich vegetation deep in the sandstone gorge of Kings Canyon