Where in the World?

Question: Where in the world is this scenic gap, home to black-footed wallabies and—once upon a time, according to the local Aboriginals—a group of giant reptiles?

Answer: Simpsons Gap, Australia

Known as Rungutjirpa (Rrung-GAH-chip-uh—trill the double ‘r’ as in Spanish) to the Arrernte Aboriginal people of the Australian Outback, Simpsons Gap is a sacred site that their people believe was once the mythological home of a group of giant goannas (a type of lizard). To the rest of the world, this crag has been known as Simpsons Gap since 1939, when Dr. C. T. Madigan named it after A. A. Simpson, a man who had helped finance and organize an expedition Madigan took that year across the desert.

Located in the Australian outback, in West MacDonnell National Park, Simpsons Gap is a short 10-mile drive from of the nearby town of Alice Springs. While several scenic gaps pierce the West MacDonnell Ranges, Simpsons Gap is by far one of the most prominent ones. It’s also just one of many awe-inspiring, sacred landmarks in Australia’s "Red Center," an extraordinary landscape of desert plains, mountain ranges, and rocky gorges located in the southern part of Australia’s Northern Territory. In fact, the Red Center is considered by the Aboriginal people to be the spiritual heart of Australia.

Here, towering red cliffs surrender to an open waterhole, and rust-hued walking paths lead explorers through large stands of mulga trees and witchetty bushes. At dawn or dusk you may spot the endangered black-footed rock wallaby along the walking track or near the water (which, unfortunately, you can’t swim in). The locals find this to be a great place to hang out on a hot day, as the narrow gorge is shady and cool. And thanks to this waterhole, Simpsons Gap is also home to several species of arid land frogs. During the right conditions, one can witness frogs such as the Desert Tree Frog, Spencer’s Burrowing Frog, Main’s Frog (also known as the Sheep Frog), and the Centralian Tree Frog.

Another notable landmark and sacred indigenous site in Australia’s Red Center is Uluru, or Ayers Rock, the centerpiece of Kata Tjuta National Park. Here, in a place one might freely describe as "the middle of nowhere," you can find a variety of life prospering thanks to this massive hunk of sandstone. For that reason and more, Uluru has great spiritual significance for the local Aṉangu people, who consider the formation to be a literal giver of life as it attracts animals in abundance to its waterhole and provides shelter and firewood to visitors. It’s easy to see why this rock is given a magical connotation, as it changes colors depending on the hour as daylight paints the massive monolith of Uluru into a kaleidoscope of colors with a red-orange hue.

One can also find the sacred King’s Canyon in Australia’s Red Center, an impressive natural formation of towering sandstone walls as high as 800 feet and 440 million years in the making, matched with a palm-filled oasis and impressive views. Located within Watarrka National Park, this area was home to an Aboriginal people, the Luritja, for more than 20,000 years—Watarrka was their name for the land. For the Luritja, Kings Canyon was a shady refuge from the sweltering desert heat and a place to hold their sacred ceremonies; the watering holes and lush vegetation at the bottom of the canyon made it a lifeline for survival. Today, their paintings and engravings can still be spotted along the walls.

5 Fun Facts About Australia’s Red Center:

• The distinct and recognizable red glow of the Red Center comes from oxidized iron within its soil.


• The Arrernte people have lived in the Red Center for more than 30,000 years, making them one of the oldest surviving cultures on Earth.


• Many believe that Uluru is the largest single chunk of rock on the planet, but that's a misconception: Mount Augustus in Western Australia is the world’s largest monolith.


• Most of Uluru’s mass is underground, much like an iceberg: More than 1.5 miles of the rock is believed to lie beneath the ever-eroding earth, though no one knows for certain how far it goes.


• You can visit Uluru virtually, thanks to Google: Ayers Rock has been put on Google Street View, where people can wander about virtually and explore what the site has to offer.

Venture into the Australian Outback and spend time at Simpsons Gap during our A South Pacific Odyssey: Australia, the Outback & New Zealand adventure.