Independent Glen Helen

"Escape the Heat at Ormiston Gorge If you find yourself sweating bullets driving or hiking through the MacDonnell Ranges west of Alice Springs, cool down in one of the many rock pools that grace the canyon walls. Ormiston Gorge, which you'll pass before reaching the Glen Helen Homestead, is a picturesque swimming spot set beneath red rocks and ghost gum trees, best enjoyed in the afternoon sun before the cliffs shade the pool."

"Dinner Fit for Albert Namatjira Inside the historic Glen Helen Homestead, an old cattle station set along the Finke River—possibly the oldest river in the world—is a restaurant dedicated to Albert Namatjira, the late Aboriginal landscape painter who grew up nearby. Namatjira Gallery Restaurant serves such outback fare as crocodile spring rolls, barramundi with apples and potatoes, and pepper steak in a dining room covered in Namatjira’s windswept masterpieces."