The Red Centre’s Larapinta Trail has become a little more accessible with the establishment of two well-equipped camps along its challenging 223-kilometre trekking route.
Story By Terri Cowley
The West MacDonnell Ranges are a wondrous surprise to many of the people who visit the Red Centre and not just because of their jagged beauty. Even those who come to trek the 223-kilometre Larapinta Trail that winds its way through the heart of the ‘Macs’, as the locals call them, find that they have underestimated how difficult this region is to traverse. World Expeditions operations manager Mark Bennic says almost no one expects the area to be so mountainous. “They think it is flat and desert,” Mark says. “Also, it is not easy walking. Even the fittest walkers think it will be easier but it does not have that ‘give’ underfoot that you get in wetter areas.”
That’s where his employer comes in. In cooperation with the Territory’s Parks and Wildlife and traditional owners, World Expeditions has set up two architect-designed, eco-friendly camps in the ranges that allow trekkers to use a proper toilet, have a warm shower, sleep in set-up tents and enjoy a good meal and a few drinks at the end of the day.
This story excerpt is from Issue #91
Outback Magazine: Oct/Nov 2013
