Another option is to sign up with World Expeditions’ Larapinta Trail in Comfort, a six-day guided itinerary featuring safari tents, sipping single malt whisky under the stars, enjoying hot solar showers and noshing on grilled lamb chops. Hosted in three semi-permanent bush camps, “in comfort” means that anyone in modest physical shape can experience the sheer joy of bush walking and appreciate an untamed beauty that permeates the Northern Territory.

We begin at the Old Telegraph Station in Alice Springs, where the town’s namesake waters more accurately resemble a barren sand bed. I am joined by a dozen other hikers, and judging by the volume of wine and beer procured in town for the week ahead, I discern I am in fine company. “In comfort” means we will also be hiking with only a daypack, as our luggage will be transferred ahead to the evening’s bush camp. Completed in 2002, the Larapinta was designed with off-road access points for this convenience, allowing each day’s hike to conclude with hot gourmet meals and chilled wine around the campfire.

We join a narrow trail of red earth lined by invasive buffelgrass. Dingoes howl in the distance. A large wallaroo (a lesser-known marsupial, sized between a kangaroo and a wallaby) leaps across the trail ahead. We cross beneath the Geoff Moss Bridge, who I’m excitedly told is the father of Ian Moss, who is from an iconic Australian band called Cold Chisel, who, being Canadian, I’ve never heard of. There’s going to be a lot to learn this week.

After a long, gentle ascent, we trek along a high ridge to a spot called Counts Point, offering endless views of the tallest mountains in the Northern Territory. Water, so rare in the parched interior, somehow pools beneath towering red canyons that overlook ancient acacias and red gums. We breakfast in a dry creek, and I notice my tired muscles are loosening up, my knees and joints creaking less. The physical benefits of the hike are becoming evident, as I feel invigorated and healthy. We pop over to the Glen Helen Homestead Lodge, where I strip down for a swim in the surprisingly ice-cold waters of the Finke River. It’s all an easier day of walking to prepare us for the pinnacle of our trek, a tough 16-kilometre return hike up Mount Sonder to catch the sunrise. 

We awake at 2 a.m., layer up, and grab headlamps to help illuminate the trail with the bright moonlight. Novice hikers should prepare for a challenging climb up the slope of the NT’s fourth-tallest mountain. Depending on which direction you’re travelling in, Mount Sonder is the official start or finish of the Larapinta Trail. Walking beneath the stars, the moon slowly disappears beneath a dark lavender horizon. Several times, I stop, turn off my lamp, and breathe in the refreshingly cool early morning breeze. When it comes to outdoor adventure, the effort always matches the reward.

I reach the breezy summit in time for a well-earned sunrise, relishing an astounding view in all directions. The return trek to camp is both steep and long; the darkness of our early departure had shielded us from the intimidating visual of the ascent, which my group of inexperienced hikers agreed might have broken our resolve. We deserve that extra glass of Barossa Valley Shiraz tonight, and hell, a bottle of champagne too.