West of the desert town of Alice Springs, at the dead centre of Australia, the West MacDonnell National Park is home to the Larapinta Trail, one of Australia's best, and  newest, long-distance walking tracks, opened in 2002.
Host Zoe Palmer follows in the footsteps of intrepid 19th century explorers as she treks across this remote and inhospitable desert. In particular, she retraces part of the route pioneered by John McDouall Stuart, who in 1862 was the first European to cross the continent and return alive to tell the tale.
Home to around 25,000 people, Alice Springs is the largest town for well over 1,000 kilometres in any direction. It was named Alice Springs only in 1933 – up until then, it was called Stuart, after the explorer who first crossed the region.
Starting out along the Larapinta Trail from Alice Springs, Zoe discovers how, prior to the arrival of the first European explorers, the local aboriginal people managed to survive in this harsh land for thousands of years - finding water underground, and sustenance in the most surprising of places.
Hiking amongst dramatic rock formations and through spectacular gorges, whilst trying to cope with the fierce desert heat, Zoe's adventure takes her past Standley Chasm and Brinkley Bluff, first climbed by John McDouall Stuart, before she reaches Stuart's Pass, where Stuart finally found his way through the MacDonnell Mountains on his way from the south to the north coast of Australia.
Heading past the historic Ochre Pits where - for thousands of years - the local aboriginal people obtained pigment for body decoration and religious ceremonies, Zoe's trek concludes  with a climb up to the summit of Mount Sonder - the end of the Larapinta Trail. The mountain offers stunning views over the surrounding desert landscape.
For Zoe, trekking through Central Australia has been a tough but truly magical experience. The landscape here really gets under your skin, she completely understands why the local aboriginal people hold it in such a sacred way, and why early explorers like McDouall Stuart risked their lives to open it up to the world.
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