I first travelled to Alice Springs on Sunday 3rd November 1955, arriving on TAA flight TN576 which left Adelaide at 6.40pm on the Saturday, with stops at Leigh Creek and Oodnadatta.
I arrived 12.20am and slept the remainder of the night at the residence of Mrs Jenkins at the corner of Parsons Street and Railway Terrace opposite the Post Office.
I awoke at sunrise and from my window witnessed the wonderful colourful effect that the rays of the sun had on the MacDonnell Ranges including the majestic Mount Gillen.
I was instantly affected by the beauty of the area.
Keith Castle, now aged 93, was one of the most influential figures in The Centre’s budding tourism industry. Editor ERWIN CHLANDA picked some gems from his 164 page memoir that is full of detail, dates, commercial information, but especially about the stories of people who devoted their lives to developing the region’s visitor industry.
They are only a handful of men and women but they all had skin in the game, big time, building accommodation, sometimes with their own hands, starting coach firms and developing tours: Stan Cawood, Bert and Kate Gardiner, Doug and Gil Green, Jack and Jim Cotterill, Bryan Bowman, Ian Conway, Harry and Joy Taylor, Bernie Kilgariff, Daisy and son Ly Underdown, Barry Bucholtz, Geoff Beames, just to mention some.
They turned Ross River, King’s Canyon, Ayers Rock, Simpson’s Gap, Palm Valley, Glen Helen into destinations.
Snippets from Mr Castle’s account illustrate the tenacity and resourcefulness of the industry’s founders.
The word government is hardly ever mentioned in his account, and promotion wasn’t in the hands of Darwin-based bureaucrats who, from current experience, are incapable of keeping the industry from freefall.
Instead, early operators parleyed TAA, one of Australia’s major domestic airlines from its inception in 1946 until its merger with QANTAS in 1992, into giving them a few free seats to take their pitch to the state capitals.
From June 21 into July 1962, [my wife] Shirley and I undertook tours with the Central Australian Tours Association (CATA): Seven days Ayers Rock and Kings Canyon staying at Ayers Rock Chalet and Wallara Ranch. Four days Western MacDonnell Ranges staying at Glen Helen Chalet. Four day Ross River Tour staying at Ross River Homestead. The day tours of Alice Springs town and Standley Chasm / Simpsons Gap.
We experienced what the operators had to deal with in this vast area with poor roads, in chalets where they had to provide their own water supplies, sewer and drainage facilities and electricity.
Late 1950s: Initially it was a group of four tour operators who provided chalet style accommodation “out bush” from Alice Springs and a hotel and a guest house in Alice Springs.
They commenced this enterprise as an unofficial loose group that became an incorporated body in January 1961 as CATA and then a Limited Company in late 1962.
The new company then decided to operate tours to Ayers Rock in the summer of 1957/1958. Several galvanised tin sheds which had been used for staff accommodation at the back of the Hotel Alice Springs were taken to Ayers Rock.
Lance Rust with several workers constructed from those sheds what was to become the Ayers Rock Chalet.
1958: Shortly after the first Rock tours started heavy rains washed away the road through Mount Quinn homestead and the route was changed to travel via Erldunda.
The first tour of each week was by road to Ayers Rock and returning by air and the second tour each week being by air to Ayers Rock and returning by road.
Connellan Airways, the local airline, provided the air travel for both those tours, flying by the “scenic route” along the MacDonnell Ranges over Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm, Ellery Creek Gorge, Ormiston Gorge, Glen Helen Gorge, Finke River, Hermannsburg Mission, Lake Amadeus then to Ayers Rock.
The first manager of the Ayers Rock Chalet was Howard Rust. In1960 the shareholding in the company changed, when Jack and Elsie Cotterill decided to commence operating a tour to King’s Canyon. They sold their shareholding in Alice Springs Tours to Stanley Walter (Stan) Cawood.
Stan was the owner of Cawood Transport, which carried goods from the rail head at Alice Springs to Tennant Creek, Mt Isa, Katherine and Darwin.
1959: Harry Bloomfield the owner of Loves Creek cattle station invited the two Green brothers to use the abandoned homestead for their base.
Recognising the beauty of the area and its potential as a tourist destination they built timber cabins next to the remains of the Old Loves Creek homestead. They had a timber mill, used earlier for rail sleepers sold to the Commonwealth.
They built the first cabins from red gum timber of the area, and also rebuilt and renovated the old homestead providing a dining room, kitchen, bar and lounge areas.
A swimming pool was to be provided for their guests using a squatter’s tank near the homestead. Initially five cabins were built, including two single beds with en-suite shower and toilet facilities in each.
Standley Chasm
Very soon it was necessary to increase the number of cabins from five to ten in 1960. Members of the cattle industry fraternity were approached to assist with the new tourist venture as the availability of finance from banks and other sources was very limited.
Firstly the Clough family assisted them. When credit tightened in the cattle industry they had to reclaim their investments and Bryan Bowman of Coniston cattle station came to the rescue and assisted them to expand their tours. Bowman had already become involved in the tourist industry by assisting Bert Gardiner start Trailway Tours.
At the same time Harry Bloomfield agreed to relinquish his lease on the Loves Creek Cattle Station for the purpose of allowing the Green Brothers to apply for a 40 acre Special Purpose Lease to build a tourist resort – now Ross River – within the Loves Creek Cattle station.
In the early 50s Trailway Tours was formed by Bert and Kate Gardiner. They had arrived in Alice Springs and set up the Legion Taxi service and like many others could see the potential of a tour operation in the area.
Bert showed interest in the Western MacDonnell Ranges and particularly Glen Helen Gorge, and started tours to that area in 1954.
An approach was made to Bowman with the idea of renovating the deserted Glen Helen homestead to provide rooms for passengers, plus kitchen and lounge facilities. Bowman agreed and so became involved in that tourist venture, becoming a great supporter in the early formation and operation CATA.
Bert Gardiner started operating tours to the area on a four day basis. The first day was travelling to Glen Helen calling at Ellery Creek Big Hole, Serpentine George, and the Ochre Pit.
1980 Albion Denning
The second day’s activities began with viewing sunrise on nearby Mount Sonder in the west, then later a full day trip to Ormiston George and Ormiston Pound.
The third day was exploring Glen Helen Gorge and nearby gorges in the area including Redbank. Around 1960 or 1961 a road was constructed through Glen Helen Gorge alongside the Finke River, but the old river had other ideas, and the road was washed away in the next flood.