Simpsons Gap | |
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![]() Simpsons Gap in the West MacDonnell Ranges | |
Location | Burt Plain, Northern Territory [1] |
Range | MacDonnell Ranges |
Coordinates | 23°40′32″S133°43′07″E / 23.675655°S 133.718561°E Coordinates: 23°40′32″S133°43′07″E / 23.675655°S 133.718561°E [1] |
Simpsons Gap (Arrernte: Rungutjirpa) is one of the gaps in the West MacDonnell Ranges in Australia's Northern Territory. It is located 18 kilometres west from Alice Springs, on the Larapinta Trail. [2]
The gap is home to various plants and wildlife, including the black-footed rock-wallaby. It is the site of a permanent waterhole.
Rungutjirpa is an important spiritual place for the Arrernte people, who have inhabited the Arrernte area since before European discovery. It was later visited by surveyor Gilbert Rotherdale McMinn in 1871 while he was searching for a better route for the Overland Telegraph Line. [3]
Section 1 of the Larapinta Trail begins at Alice Springs Telegraph Station and ends at the waterhole at Rungutjirpa. [4]
Tjoritja /West MacDonnell is a national park in the Northern Territory (Australia) due west of Alice Springs and 1234 km south of Darwin. It extends along the MacDonnell Ranges west of Alice Springs.
Alice Springs is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd, wife of the telegraph pioneer Sir Charles Todd. Known colloquially as The Alice or simply Alice, the town is situated roughly in Australia's geographic centre. It is nearly equidistant from Adelaide and Darwin.
The Finke River, or Larapinta (Arrernte), is a river in central Australia, one of four main rivers of the Lake Eyre Basin and thought to be the oldest riverbed in the world. It flows for only a few days a year and when this happens, its water usually disappears into the sands of the Simpson Desert, rarely if ever reaching Lake Eyre.
Oodnadatta is a small, remote outback town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia, located about 873 kilometres (542 mi) north of the state capital of Adelaide and 112 m above sea level.
The Todd River is an ephemeral river in the southern Northern Territory, central Australia. The origins of the Todd River are in the MacDonnell Ranges, where it flows past the Telegraph Station, almost through the centre of Alice Springs, through Heavitree Gap at the southern end of Alice Springs and continuing on for some distance, passing through the western part of the Simpson Desert, as it becomes a tributary of the Hale River, and eventually flowing into Lake Eyre in South Australia.
The MacDonnell Ranges, or Tjoritja in Arrernte, is a mountain range and an interim Australian bioregion located in southern Northern Territory and has an area of 3,929,444 hectares. The range is a 644 km (400 mi) long series of mountains in central Australia, consisting of parallel ridges running to the east and west of Alice Springs. The mountain range contains many spectacular gaps and gorges as well as areas of Aboriginal significance.
The Henley-on-Todd Regatta is a "boat" race held annually in the typically dry sandy bed of the Todd River in Alice Springs, Australia.
The Larapinta Trail is an extended walking track in the Northern Territory of Australia. Its total length covers 223 kilometres (139 mi) from east to west, with the eastern end at Alice Springs and the western end at Mount Sonder, one of the territory's highest mountains. It follows the West MacDonnell Ranges, sometimes along the ridge line, other times on the plain below, in the West MacDonnell National Park.
The Ochre Pits are a popular tourist destination in Australia's Northern Territory, approximately 100 kilometres west of Alice Springs along the Larapinta Trail.
Ormiston Pound is a ring of mountains in the Northern Territory of Australia punctuating the MacDonnell Ranges, in the West MacDonnell National Park, approximately 135 kilometres (84 mi) west of Alice Springs. It lies at roughly the halfway point in the Larapinta Trail and has views from its circumference of Mount Sonder, Gosses Bluff crater and the surrounding range.
The Heavitree Gap, or Ntaripe in the Arrernte language, is a water gap in the Northern Territory of Australia in the MacDonnell Ranges. It is the southern entrance to the city of Alice Springs and in addition to the Todd River it carries the main road and rail access to the south.
Serpentine Gorge is one of the gorges in the West MacDonnell Ranges in Australia's Northern Territory. It is located approximately 100 kilometres west of Alice Springs along the Larapinta Trail.
Areyonga is a small town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located about 220 km (140 mi) west of Alice Springs. It has a population of about 195, most of whom are Aboriginal. The people are mostly Pitjantjatjara, with some Arrernte and Walpiri families. The town is governed by Areyonga Aboriginal Community.
Hann Range is a mountain range in the Northern Territory of Australia located in central Australia approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) north of Alice Springs.
The Alice Springs Telegraph Station is located within the Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve, four kilometres north of the Alice Springs town centre in the Northern Territory of Australia. Established in 1872 to relay messages between Darwin and Adelaide, it is the original site of the first European settlement in central Australia. It was one of twelve stations along the Overland Telegraph Line.
William Whitfield Mills, usually referred to as "W. Whitfield Mills" or "W. W. Mills", was an English surveyor of the Australian Overland Telegraph Line who is best known for naming a waterhole in Central Australia Alice Spring, from which the town of Alice Springs now takes its name. He also named Heavitree Gap as a tribute to his old school in Devon, England.
The Charles River, which is often called Charles Creek is an ephemeral river in the southern Northern Territory. It is a tributary of the Todd River and, like the Todd River, its naming is associated with Charles Todd; a senior civil servant involved with the Overland Telegraph Line.
Honeymoon Gap is a small gap south of Larapinta Drive, opposite Simpsons Gap, 20 km west of Alice Springs. It is located on Roe Creek.
John Flynn's Grave Historical Reserve, more commonly referred to as Flynn's Grave is the grave site of John Flynn who was an Australian Presbyterian minister who founded the Australian Inland Mission (AIM) and founding the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The grave, which is now a historical reserve, is located at the base of Mount Gillen on Larapinta Drive in the Alice Springs suburb of Flynn.
Burt Plain is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 1,249 kilometres (776 mi) south of the territory capital of Darwin.