A visit to Simpson’s Gap

It’s not always true that the best places are the hardest to get to. After some recent research into the history of Simpson’s Gap, I was keen to visit again.

Simpson’s Gap is less than half an hour’s drive from Alice Springs. One of the important permanent waterholes for the Arrernte people, it became just as valuable to white settlers in the nineteenth and twentieth century, who ran cattle in the area. After World War Two it was run by Bob and Vicki Darken, until eventually taken over by Parks and Wildlife. The border for the station was not far from where the Araluen Cultural Precinct is now, and even then it was a popular spot for locals who would make a day of it when the roads were a lot more demanding than they are now. More of the history of Simpson’s Gap in a later post.

Today it remains one of the most hauntingly peaceful sites in all of the West MacDonnells. It looks beautiful after the rain. I have to confess I was even impressed by the buffell  as it waved in the breeze … but it was fascinating to see how many interesting plants there were further into the gorge, where most of the buffell had been removed. - D.R.