Red Centre Pilgrimage

Day 1 – Tue 7 Sep 2021 – Begin Alice Springs
Meet your group leader and get to know your fellow travellers as we come together to share our first group dinner.

Alice Springs Overnight (D)

Day 2 – Wed 8 Sep – Alice Springs Day

• Mass – Our Lady Of The Sacred Heart Catholic Church
• Alice Springs City tour – a morning tour beginning with panoramic views from Anzac Hill overlooking the rugged West MacDonnell Ranges, visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service, School of the Air and the Telegraph Station. Wander through the Museum of Central Australia which tells the story of the region’s unique natural history. See also the Strehlow Research Centre, one of Australia’s most important collections of film, sound, archival records and museum objects relating to Indigenous ceremonial life.
• Alice Springs Desert Park experience
• Outback Bush BBQ Dinner & Show

Alice Springs Overnight (BD)

Day 3 – Thu 9 Sep – Santa Teresa Mission Day

• Santa Teresa Mission. Established as a Catholic Mission in the 1950’s by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Santa Teresa is today an Indigenous Catholic Community of over 500 residents with a strong Christian faith with the church being a focal point of the community. Visit the Spirituality Centre for morning tea. Spend time at the famous Keringke Arts Centre where you have the opportunity to meet the artists. On the way back to Alice Springs we will visit the Ewaninga Rock Carvings.
• Celebrate Mass at the Santa Teresa Parish Church

Alice Springs Overnight (BD)

Day 4 – Fri 10 Sep – Alice Springs to Kings Canyon via Hermannsberg

• Walk into Standley Chasm – Known traditionally as Angkerle Atwatye, meaning “Gap of Water”, Standley Chasm is a 3-metre-wide, 80-metre-high gorge in the West MacDonnell Ranges. The walking trail to the Chasm and those in its surrounds offer chance encounters with a variety of inhabitants, including diverse bird species, lizards, wallabies, as well as native flowering plants and ancient cycad palms. Here we will hold an outdoor Mass.
• Visit Ellery Creek Big Hole – a spectacular waterhole fed by the West MacDonnell Ranges (Tjoritja) and surrounded by tall red cliffs and the sandy Ellery Creek.
• Stop in Hermannsberg – the fully restored Historic Precinct of Hermannsberg was established in 1870 as a Lutheran Mission and is the birthplace of Albert Namatjira the renowned Indigenous Artist.
• Arrive at Kings Canyon – a majestic destination featuring 300 metre high sandstone walls, palm-filled crevices, and views that stretch across the desert.

Kings Canyon Overnight (BD)

Day 5 – Sat 11 Sep – Kings Canyon

• This morning you may wish to walk the Kings Canyon hike – a gentle 2.6 kilometre walk that follows a trail between the two soaring canyon walls. As you arrive at the lookout point, you will be welcomed by spectacular views of the sheer cliff face at the far end of the canyon. The more athletic may want to explore the iconic Kings Canyon Rim Walk – a six-kilometre circuit that will take you down into the Garden of Eden, a beautiful rockhole surrounded by rare plants, before ascending to 360 degree panoramic views over the red sand dunes.
• This afternoon we will visit the Karrke Indigenous Experience for a one-of-a-kind authentic Aboriginal cultural experience. The tour is a short walk and talk on areas of importance in local cultural knowledge on bush tucker and bush medicines, as used by the Luritja and Pertame (Southern Aranda) people.
• Mass at Kings Canyon with sunset viewing

Kings Canyon Overnight (BD)

Day 6 – Sun 12 Sep – Kings Canyon to Uluru via Curtain Springs

• Visit Curtin Springs Station – a working cattle station – where you will learn about the legacy of the Severin family and their outback heritage. Relax and enjoy a true Aussie-style barbecue lunch
• Arrive Uluru – afternoon at leisure.
• Uluru Sunset & Fields of Light Experience (includes pre-dinner Mass) – Experience the changing colours of Uluru as the sun sets, followed by the world renowned “Field of Lights” installation featuring 50,000 slender stems topped with radiant frosted glass spheres spread over an area of seven football fields in the foreground of Uluru

Uluru Overnight (BLD)

Day 7 – Mon 13 Sep – Uluru Discovery

• Guided walk around the base of Uluru (Mala Walk)
• Visit Kata Tjuta National Park (also known as the Olgas) recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Area for both its natural and cultural values. to experience the Olgas along the Valley of the Winds Walk
• Celebrate an outdoor Mass in Kata Tjuta (The Olgas)
• Remainder of afternoon at leisure

Uluru Overnight (BD)

Day 8 – Tue 14 September – Depart Uluru
Mass at the Yulara Community Shed. Depart Uluru Airport (B)

Meal Code: (B) = Breakfast, (L) = Lunch, (D) = Dinner