Wanda, so many people think Central Australia is just Ayers Rock, the Olgas, and maybe Kings Canyon and miss out on all the other places. We were limited this time on getting in to many places as we had a dog with us but we've each, at different times in our work, spent time working around there. The Eastern MacDonnells are also worth visiting. I actually met my wife in Alice as we both worked for the same Company and were doing a stint there from different parts of the Company. This was our first joint holiday visit there in our 32 years. We will be returning later for more extensive touring.
With other work people and friends I've been to a few spots for camping and really enjoyed Ruby Gorge, Chambers Pillar, Palm Valley, Kings Canyon and many other day trip to other sites. Some have deteriorated from those times of 33 years ago though and camping and where you can go have been limited around the Olgas and Kings Canyon in particular. There's a section of the Finke from the Rangers Station at Palm Valley down to Junction Waterhole on the Ellery Ck that was a great camping and 4x4 trek but the Ranger's got tired of having to drag out bogged tourists so they closed off that section. Some spots are really like quick sand. I never got to do the next section but from what I've heard it's supposedly just as good. Chambers Pillar is apparently a lot easier to get in to these days so I guess that it gets a bit crowded now. Camping there on a full moon night right next to the Pillar was brilliant, literally. Not long ago I tried looking at some of the slides I took then and couldn't pick which were the day and night shots. One work mate used up a whole roll of film on night time lapse shots, only to discover the next morning as we were about to leave that the film had never moved on from the start. Way back then there were numerous, unrestricted, walks that you could do through the Olgas so if what I've read about the restrictions these days is true then I doubt that I would bother going back.
I did climb "The Rock" once, a few weeks before Azaria was taken, and was actually dissappointed that the view from the top wasn't that much better than at the top of the guide rope. We did think before the climb to take something to drink, unlike many tourists, and did wear proper footwear, unlike some tourists in thongs. At the top we unwrapped the drinks from many layers of paper and cracked the VB cans. We got looks of both disgust and envy from many other climbers. Someone asked where we got them and we told them that there was a drink stand just over the next rise. We left before they discovered there wasn't one.
The whole region has so many places to see and camp at that it should be a holiday destination by itself.
Phil