​Wallace Rockhole: 4 Star jewel in the Western MacDonnell Ranges

This Tuesday 21 April, Keep Australia Beautiful NT is hosting a celebration for the Wallace Rockhole community to launch the new Territory Tidy Town initiative promoting both clean accessible towns and best practice cultural tourism operations.

At the Territory Tidy Town awards in Darwin last year, the 4 Gold Star Tourism Award rating system was unveiled when Wallace Rockhole was announced the inaugural Northern Territory winner. While the award was accepted on the night by MacDonnell Regional Council’s President Sid Anderson, this Tuesday will be an opportunity for Heimo Schober, Keep Australia Beautiful NT’s CEO, to present the award directly to residents of the community.

MacDonnell Regional Council and Keep Australia Beautiful NT will join the Wallace Rockhole community in celebrating the long standing efforts of the residents that contributed to this inaugural tourism award. The Tidy Town Gold Star rating system reflects the pride residents of Wallace Rockhole show in both the presentation of their community and their tourist infrastructure and services. Gaining or increasing the Gold Star rating provides a further challenge to others across the Northern Territory to present their communities with the same respect and pride shown through their tourism operations.

Wallace Rockhole has a long established history as a friendly tidy town and has been running its community owned tourism operations for several decades.

The Tidy Town Gold Star Tourism Award rating system offers a qualification for tourists looking to gain cultural experiences by visiting communities. Wallace Rockhole created and initiated the Gold Star rating concept and leads the way for other Northern Territory communities to follow their lead by consistently maximising efforts to shine as an outstanding community to visit.

Within Wallace Rockhole community, accommodation is available as either self-contained cabins or in the serviced campgrounds. Visitors enjoy using the community as a base while they take day trips looking around the West MacDonnell Ranges, Palm Valley and Hermannsburg or exploring more locally through the many tours Wallace Rockhole Tourist Park offers.

Wallace Rockhole is about 120km west of Alice Springs along Larapinta Drive. The Tourist Park is located in the community and welcomes visitors to come and experience their culture, learn about bush tucker and bush medicine, see ancient rock art, breathtaking scenery and native animals through the tours they offer:

Guided Rock Art Tours – showing ancient Aboriginal petroglyphs and hand stencil rock art, demonstrations of bush medicine and bush tucker, and local history told by the Aranda people

Dot Painting Experience Tours – helping people to have a better understanding of Aboriginal art and culture as it dates back thousands of years

The Wallace Rockhole community also runs an art centre featuring a pottery studio and a small general store offering souvenirs, food and refreshments. For more information, pricing and booking details, please visit: www.wallacerockholetours.com.au

Services provided in Wallace Rockhole by the MacDonnell Regional Council include, rubbish collection and tip maintenance, internal community road maintenance, cemetery maintenance, parks and open spaces and sporting grounds. MacDonnell Regional Council is also contracted by Power Water Corporation to maintain water supply facilities, by Australia Post to provide postal delivery services and by Centrelink to provide its services through an agency in its Council office.

Wallace Rockhole became the first Northern Territory community to be awarded the Tidy Town 4 Gold Star Tourism Award at a presentation ceremony dinner in October last year in Darwin.

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