There are plenty of ways to see Central Australia: you can drive it, hike it, photograph it or gaze through a coach window as another extraordinary red escarpment rolls past.
Anna Dakin would rather you sat down for a while, and preferably with a paintbrush in your hand.
The founder of Art Tours of Australia takes visitors into the landscapes surrounding Alice Springs to paint, explore Aboriginal art and culture, and experience a part of Australia she believes rewards those prepared to slow down.
And don’t worry if your last artistic triumph involved a primary school paint set.
“Literally yesterday I had someone in a class who hadn’t picked up a paintbrush in 70 years,” Anna says.
“The main thing I emphasise is that we’re painting outdoors for the experience of being in the place.
“A few things are happening at once: yes, you’re painting, but we also take the pressure off what you think is ‘good’. Often, when you aim to be ‘bad’ and just play, your painting actually ends up better. Removing that pressure is really helpful.”
Anna’s journey to Central Australia began a long way from Alice Springs. Before studying at London’s Royal College of Art, she completed a painting degree at Wimbledon College of Art and towards the end of that degree she came to Central Australia and hiked the Larapinta Trail with a backpack full of paints.
“The work I made while hiking – these paintings of the landscape – was my way of helping other people understand what it’s like to be immersed in an ancient desert landscape like Central Australia,” she says.
“The feeling I got from spending time here was so powerful and profound. But over time I realised I was asking more of my paintings than a painting can really do. What I actually wanted was to take people to these places so they could have experiences like the ones I’d had.”
Anna returned to Britain and began running hiking, camping and outdoor art trips before eventually deciding there was only one place she really wanted to do it.
Central Australia.
“So I moved here to start running these tours.”
Today, Anna’s experiences include outdoor watercolour painting, visits to Aboriginal art centres and journeys into the country surrounding Alice Springs.
At Simpsons Gap in Tjoritja / West MacDonnell National Park, about 18 kilometres from Alice Springs, visitors can settle in with watercolours as the afternoon light changes across the ranges.
But the finished painting is only part of the point.
Anna remembers a recent class when two smaller herons and one “absolutely massive” heron flew past, while a cormorant dived into the water beside them.
“If we hadn’t been sitting still, paying attention, we would have missed that theatre of life happening right in front of us,” she says.
“Even if your painting is just an excuse to sit quietly and observe, it’s worth it.”
Visitors can arrive in Alice Springs, spend a night, race through a handful of landmarks and leave believing they have seen Central Australia. Anna thinks they’ve barely scratched the surface.
“There’s the spiritual and cultural side, which you only really access by slowing down,” she says. “But there are also amazing characters in town, and the more time you spend here, the more people you meet.”
Anna points to bush foods experts, small galleries, Aboriginal art centres and places many visitors would never discover on a quick itinerary.
Her three-hour Art Centre Tour begins with an introduction to the relationship between Country, culture and art before guests visit art centres and galleries. It came from something Anna noticed among visitors: many were fascinated by Aboriginal art but felt uncomfortable asking questions because they knew so little about the culture behind it.
“A lot of people come to Central Australia knowing Aboriginal art is something they can see or buy here, but they also have very basic questions they feel embarrassed to ask,” she says.
“So I designed a three-hour Art Centre Tour that starts with a briefing on the relationship between Country, culture and art. That way, when people visit art centres and galleries, they have a foundation for understanding what they’re looking at.
“That basic background knowledge also empowers them to ask deeper questions. It’s less intimidating when you’re not starting from zero, and it sets a more respectful base for learning.”
For Starts at 60 travellers, Anna sees another advantage in Central Australia: you can choose your own level of adventure.
“Sixty is a funny age because some people at 60 are extremely fit and could comfortably walk the entire Larapinta Trail, while others might prefer shorter, gentler walks,” she says.
“The West Macs cater to both – a few hundred metres from the car park and you can still feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere.”
She nominates Ormiston Gorge as a must-see, while those wanting to venture further can explore the East MacDonnell Ranges and places such as Trephina Gorge. Uluru and Kings Canyon are inevitably on many Red Centre itineraries, but Anna encourages visitors to seek out Indigenous operators and cultural experiences along the way.
Near Kings Canyon, she points to Karrke Aboriginal Cultural Experience, run by members of the local Wanmarra community, as one experience she considers unmissable.
For Anna, though, some of the journeys that stay with her have little to do with how many landmarks were crossed off an itinerary.
Several years ago, Anna was leading a hike with a group of friends.
Around the third day, they told her why they were really there. One of them was carrying the ashes of a friend who had died. The three had originally met while hiking the same trail and his friends had returned to Central Australia carrying him with them.
It is a story Anna has never forgotten.
“Central Australia is a landscape a lot of people come to when they have heavy things to digest,” she says.
“There’s something about the ancient landscapes and the vast stars at night that helps people process grief and big existential questions.”
When Anna first came to the region to paint, she readily admits she knew very little about Aboriginal culture. Years of guiding and living in Central Australia changed her understanding of the place.
“I now understand that the incredible energy you can tap into here is deeply tied to the cultural history of the place,” she says.
“Helping people slow down, spend more time here, and really tune into the landscape is also connected to that investigation of culture, landscape, what it means to be human, and our interconnectivity.
“It’s very much a soul-connection kind of place for lots of people.”
So what happens if you turn up tomorrow having barely touched a paintbrush in your life? Anna isn’t expecting a masterpiece.
“I’d hope you’d bring home some really good memories and a really good feeling – and, ideally, a painting that’s at least fridge-worthy, if not frame-worthy,” she says.
For all the talk of watercolours, that seems to be the point.
The painting gives you a reason to stop, and spend longer beside a waterhole or beneath a red escarpment and notice the birds and changing light you might otherwise have walked straight past.
And if the finished product makes it onto the fridge when you get home, Anna will happily take that as a win.
More information Art Tours of Australia
For all your travel needs contact the team at Travel at 60, who can arrange your flights, accommodation and cruising/travel packages, so all you have to do is arrive and start unwinding.
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