Mount Sonder @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Red Center Way

Black-flanked rock-wallaby (Petrogale lateralis) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Simpsons Gap; Last beam of sunlight, swaying in the summer breeze, silky tail of a rocky buddha.

Black-flanked rock-wallaby (Petrogale lateralis) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Simpsons Gap; As the silhouette of desert dissolves in the twilight, the night symphony of cicadas unveils.

Black-flanked rock-wallaby (Petrogale lateralis) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Simpsons Gap

Last night's desert rain, painted the red center way, fifty shades of green @ NT, West MacDonnell Range

Ghost gum (Corymbia aparrerinja) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge; Ashes of the desert spirit, born from fire, ghost gum.

Spinifex pigeon (Geophaps plumifera) is the No. 1 pigeon @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge; [Campground hospitality] Racing to greet my arrival, a cheerful pigeon, forgot to braid her hair.

Spinifex pigeon (Geophaps plumifera) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge, Ormiston pound walk

Dusky grasswren (Amytornis purnelli), the one and only bird species that is endemic to the rocky ranges of the Red Center @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge, Ormiston pound walk

Dusky grasswren (Amytornis purnelli) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge, Ormiston pound walk

Dusky grasswren (Amytornis purnelli) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge, Ormiston pound walk; Within one hour, over 30 chatty individuals were spotted along a spinifex clad rocky trail - indeed 'party grasswren'!

Dusky grasswren (Amytornis purnelli) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge, Ormiston pound walk

The saddle - spinifex clad rocky slopes, dusky grasswren habitat @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston pound walk

Ormiston pound north wall @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge, Ormiston pound walk

Ormiston pound @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston pound walk

Painted finch (Emblema pictum) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge; Placed in a monotypic genus, painted finch is never far away from water. Thriving in groups among rocky ranges, its elongated beak is adapted to feeding in nooks and crannies.

Painted finch (Emblema pictum) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge

Red cliffs with isolated water pools - Painted finch habitat at Ormiston Gorge @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston pound walk

Ghost gum (Corymbia aparrerinja) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge; Whistling ghost gum, silent red cliff, valley of the wind.

Perentie (Varanus giganteus), a 40 cm juvenile @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge; On the first afternoon at Red Center, I had my first encounter with a Perentie. Dodging the mid-day heat in an air-conditioned 4WD [Hottest hours of a mid-summer day, laid down like a desert lizard, reading Masaoka Shiki], Living casually glanced into the bush. In the clearance next to his tent, a spinifex pigeon stopped feeding and came into high alert. What happened in the next few seconds was a perentie, elegant yet hungry, emerged from the shade [Munching chips while watching pigeons - a young beast, scouted my tent!']

Centralian carpet python (Morelia bredli) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge; Belly swollen and temper calm, this gorgeous ambusher laid down in the exactly same spot for two days, day and night.

Desert death adder (Acanthophis pyrrhus) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge; Similar in appearance to the Northern hemisphere vipers, this highly venomous snake actually is a specialised ambusher in the elapid family - an excellent example of convergent evolution.

Desert death adder (Acanthophis pyrrhus) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge; This desert devil can draw its prey by wiggling its tiny black tail.

Desert death adder (Acanthophis pyrrhus), the devilish 'dragon' head @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge

Desert death adder (Acanthophis pyrrhus) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge; Flashing its golden bands, the desert dickhead puffed up to deter any threats. It won't bite you unless you piss it off!

Long-nosed dragon (Gowidon longirostris), the Pinocchio dragon @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ochre pit

Centralian lashtail dragon (Amphibolurus centralis) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ochre pit

Variable fat-tailed gecko (Diplodactylus conspicillatus) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge

Pale-headed gecko (Heteronotia fasciolata) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge

Inland marbled velvet gecko (Oedura cincta), juvenile @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge

Splendid fairywren (Malurus splendens) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Simpsons Gap

White-plumed honeyeater (Ptilotula penicillata) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Simpsons Gap

A condescending tawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge

Little buttonquail (Turnix velox) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge

Cerambycidae (Microtragus senex) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge

Tenebrionidae (Pterohelaeus sp.) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge

Grass stick insect (Denhama sp.) on spinifex @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge

A crimson dragonfly, landed on a twig, in a land of seemingly no water. @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge, Ormiston pound walk

Sturt's desert rose (Gossypium sturtianum) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge, Ormiston pound walk

Red center way @ NT, West MacDonnell Range

Fink River @ NT, Red Center Way, Namatjira drive

Tnorala (Gosse Bluff), the eroded remnant of an impact crater @ NT, Red Center Way, Namatjira drive

Desert grasstree (Xanthorrhoea thorntonii) @ NT, Red Center Way, Namatjira drive

Perentie (Varanus giganteus) @ NT, Red Center Way, Namatjira drive; Pretending as a dead log among grasses, then sprinting like a whirlwind across the road, followed by deep hissing and powerful tail lashing! This 1.5 meter long beast has demonstrated what means to offend the king of the desert.

Perentie (Varanus giganteus) @ NT, Red Center Way, Namatjira drive; This giant was infested by tiny ticks on its throat.

Perentie (Varanus giganteus) @ NT, Red Center Way, Namatjira drive

Brown falcon (Falco berigora) @ NT, Red Center Way, Mereenie loop road

Wild horses and desert sheoak (Allocasuarina decaisneana) @ NT, Red Center Way, Mereenie loop road; One after another, desert horse shit, scent of spring grasses.

Desert sheoak (Allocasuarina decaisneana) @ NT, Red center way, Namatjira Drive; Drooping leaves of desert she-oaks, lady's long hair flows down, swaying in the wind.

Kings Canyon @ NT, Kings Canyon

Garden of Eden @ NT, Kings Canyon

Grey shrike-thrush (Colluricincla harmonica) @ NT, Kings Canyon

Western bowerbird (Chlamydera guttata) @ NT, Kings Canyon

In the extreme heat, a flock of >200 zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) aggregated near a water pool at the King Canyon discovery resort @ NT, Kings Canyon

Little buttonquail (Turnix velox) @ NT, Kings Canyon; a brief desert storm in the afternoon brought out heaps of activities at night. Here a couple of little button-quails went to the middle of road.

Diamond dove (Geopelia cuneata) @ NT, Kings Canyon

Fat-tailed false antechinus (Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis) @ NT, Kings Canyon

Macdonnell ranges cycad (macrozamia macdonnellii) @ NT, Kings Canyon

Sjöstedt’s graceful stick insect (Tropidoderus gracilifemur) @ NT, Kings Canyon

Attracted by my headlamp, a Xmas beetle (Anoplognathus macleayi) landed on my sunburned hand, a sweaty Xmas eve @ NT, Kings Canyon

Tenebrionidae (Heleini gen. sp.) @ NT, Kings Canyon

Tenebrionidae (Pterohelaeus sp.) @ NT, Kings Canyon

Spiny bark mantis (Gyromantis sp.) @ NT, Kathleen Springs

Scorpion (Urodacus sp.) @ NT, Kings Canyon

Red cliff, ghost gum, and cycad @ NT, Kings Canyon

@ NT, Kings Canyon

Mereenie velvet gecko (Oedura luritja) @ NT, Kings Canyon

Northern spiny-tailed gecko (Strophurus ciliaris) @ NT, Kings Canyon

Moritz's dtella (Gehyra moritzi) @ NT, Kings Canyon

Variable dtella (Gehyra versicolor) @ NT, Kings Canyon

An unexpected storm in the desert @ NT, Kings Canyon

Children's python (Antaresia childreni) @ NT, Kings Canyon

Centralian burrowing frog (Platyplectrum spenceri) @ NT, Kings Canyon

Green fern in the red desert @ NT, Kings Canyon, Kathleen Springs

Kathleen Springs at dusk and Min min light near midnight @ NT, Kings Canyon

Uluru at sunset @ NT, Yulura

Yulura after a light rain @ NT, Yulura

Pink cockatoo (Cacatua leadbeateri) @ NT, Yulura

Black-faced woodswallow (Artamus cinereus) @ NT, Yulura

Crested pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) @ NT, Yulura

Red dunes around Yulura, the epi-center of reptiles @ NT, Yulura

A baby centralian blue-tongue skink (Tiliqua multifasciata) @ NT, Yulura

Centralian blue-tongue skink (Tiliqua multifasciata) @ NT, Yulura

Central netted dragon (Ctenophorus nuchalis) @ NT, Yulura

Pale knob-tailed gecko (Nephrurus laevissimus) @ NT, Yulura

Smooth knob-tailed gecko (Nephrurus levis) @ NT, Yulura

Western beaked gecko (Rhynchoedura ornata) @ NT, Yulura

Desert fat-tailed gecko (Diplodactylus laevis) @ NT, Yulura

Desert fat-tailed gecko (Diplodactylus laevis) in defensive posture @ NT, Yulura

Western sandplain gecko (Lucasium stenodactylus) @ NT, Yulura

Desert fat-tailed gecko (Diplodactylus laevis) @ NT, Yulura

Western hooded scaly-foot (Pygopus nigriceps) @ NT, Yulura

Blindsnake (Anilios sp.) @ NT, Yulura

Red dunes and Uluru @ NT, Yulura

Tenebrionidae (Helea waitei group) @ NT, Yulura

Tenebrionidae (Helea squamosa group) @ NT, Yulura

Tenebrionidae (Nyctozoilus sp.) @ NT, Yulura

Graves of prionine beetles under desert sheoaks @ NT, Yulura

Cerambycidae (Prioninae, Eurynassa sp. female, ID by Roger DeKeyzer ) @ NT, Yulura

Raspy cricket (Hadrogryllacris sp.) @ NT, Yulura

Uluru, the monolith of changing colours, in a red sea of sand dunes @ NT, Yulura

Kata Tjuta (The Olga) @ NT, Kata Tjuta

Central earless dragon (Tympanocryptis centralis) @ NT, Kata Tjuta

Common toadhopper (Buforania crassa) @ NT, Kata Tjuta

Dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) @ NT, Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta (The Olga) @ NT, Kata Tjuta

@ NT, Yulura

Kata Tjuta (The Olga) @ NT, Yulara

Mount Connor @ NT, Red Center Way

Coober Pedy - the opal town @ SA, Coober Pedy

The Kempe road @ SA, Coober Pedy

Moon plain @ SA, Coober Pedy

Gibber - the moon plain. This seemingly lifeless desert surface is in fact the paradise of dragons and geckos @ SA, Coober Pedy

Gibberbird (Ashbyia lovensis) @ SA, Coober Pedy

Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) @ SA, Coober Pedy; In the early morning of a mid-summer day, this elusive snake crossed the Kempe Road that cuts through the gibber plain, hence the scene of the world's most venomous snake in the age of Anthropocene. Unlike its fierce cousin (Coastal taipan), the inland Taipan, in fact, has a shy personality. Alarmed by the car engine, it swiftly slipped down into the cracks of black soil by the roadside. Sometimes, a biased reputation disguises one's true identity.

Curl snake (Suta suta) @ SA, Coober Pedy

Central bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) @ SA, Coober Pedy

Eyrean earless dragon (Tympanocryptis tetraporophora) @ SA, Coober Pedy

Gibber dragon (Ctenophorus gibba) @ SA, Coober Pedy; Had never seen a lizard that runs faster than this fellow when disturbed!

Gibber dragon (Ctenophorus gibba) @ SA, Coober Pedy

Well blended with the environment, a baby sand goanna (Varanus gouldii) sneaked out from its burrow under the rock, it's time for sun bathing @ SA, Coober Pedy

Helmeted gecko (Diplodactylus galeatus) @ SA, Coober Pedy

Giber gecko (Lucasium byrnei) @ SA, Coober Pedy

Bynoe's gecko (Heteronotia binoei) @ SA, Coober Pedy

Tesselated gecko (Diplodactylus tessellatus) @ SA, Coober Pedy

Kanku-Breakaways @ SA, Coober Pedy

Two dogs (Salt & Pepper) rock formations @ SA, Coober Pedy

Hutchinson's memorial at sunset @ SA, Coober Pedy

Gosse bluff lookout @ NT, Red Center way, Namatjira drive

Red-capped robin (Petroica goodenovii) under the blazing heat (45 degree) @ NT, Gosse Bluff

Isolated from its close relatives in the tropics, the Red-cabbage palm (Livistona mariae) is the only palm species naturally occurring in the arid central Australia. They are found exclusively along a creek bed of ~2 km at Palm valley and braced by steep red cliffs on either side @ NT, Palm valley

Red-cabbage palm (Livistona mariae) @ NT, Palm valley

Macdonnell ranges cycad (macrozamia macdonnellii) @ NT, Palm valley

White-faced heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) @ NT, Palm valley; A heron against red cliff, the land of water and fire.

Australian boobook (Ninox boobook) @ NT, Palm valley

Children's python (Antaresia childreni) @ NT, Palm valley

A 30cm baby perentie (Varanus giganteus) @ NT, Palm valley

Perentie (Varanus giganteus) @ NT, Palm valley

Centralian burrowing frog (Platyplectrum spenceri) @ NT, Palm valley

Tenebrionidae (Helea ingens) @ NT, Palm valley

Riverine habitat of Helea ingens @ NT, Palm valley

Tenebrionidae (Boreosaragus sp.) @ NT, Palm valley

Tenebrionidae (Nyctozoilus sp.) @ NT, Palm valley

Buprestidae (Bubastes formosa), ID by Roger DeKeyzer @ NT, Palm valley

Curculionidae (Acantholophus gravicollis) @ NT, Palm valley

Giant slant-face grasshopper (Acrida conica) @ NT, Palm valley

Mating crickets @ NT, Palm valley

Mating antlions @ NT, Palm valley

Right next to the Palm valley campground - creek, reed, and clamorous reed warbler @ NT, Palm valley

Red cliffs and green (red-cabbage) palms @ NT, Palm valley

Inland marbled velvet gecko (Oedura cincta) @ NT, Trephina Gorge

Inland marbled velvet gecko (Oedura cincta) @ NT, Emily Gap

Southern spiny-tailed gecko (Strophurus intermedius) @ NT, Alice Springs

Centralian green tree frog (Ranoidea gilleni) @ NT, Simpsons Gap

Desert tree frog (Litoria rubella) @ NT, Simpsons Gap

Unbanded shovel-nosed snake (Brachyurophis incinctus) @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ellery creek big hole, Dolomite walk

Southern spiny-tailed gecko (Strophurus intermedius) @ SA, Kulgera

Variable fat-tailed gecko (Diplodactylus conspicillatus) @ SA, Kulgera

Spotted predatory katydid (Chlorobalius leucoviridis) @ NT, Erldunda

Case moth (Psychidae) @ NT, Erldunda

Tenebrionidae (Hypaulax sp.) @ NT, Erldunda

Tenebrionidae (Helea sp.) @ NT, Erldunda

Aerial view of the desert @ NT, Alice Springs

Ormiston Gorge @ NT, West MacDonnell Range

Simpsons Gap @ NT, West MacDonnell Range

Ormiston Gorge @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston Gorge

Spinifex dotted valley @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston pound walk

Ormiston pound lookout @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston pound walk

Ormiston pound @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston pound walk

Ormiston creek @ NT, West MacDonnell Range, Ormiston pound walk

Permanent waterhole at Ormiston Gorge @ NT, West MacDonnell Range

Ormiston Gorge at sunset @ NT, West MacDonnell Range

Permanent waterhole at Kathleen Springs @ NT, Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon Rim Walk @ NT, Kings Canyon

Ripples of a distant past @ NT, Kings Canyon

Garden of Eden @ NT, Kings Canyon

Sandstone domes and gorges @ NT, Kings Canyon

Beehive domes @ NT, Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon Rim Walk @ NT, Kings Canyon

Uluru @ NT, Uluru

Goana track @ NT, Yulura

Sand dunes with Uluru in the backdrop @ NT, Yulura

@ NT, Yulura

@ NT, Kata Tjuta

@ NT, Uluru

@ NT, Kata Tjuta

The Kempe road at dusk @ SA, Coober Pedy

The Kempe road meandering through the gibber plain @ SA, Coober Pedy

Gibber plain @ SA, Coober Pedy

The last day of 2025, crossing the border of Northern Territory and South Australia

New year's day, the first and last pub of Northern Territory @ NT, Kulgera

Namatjira drive @ NT, Red Center way, West MacDonnell Range

Spinifex clad rocky ranges @ NT, Red Center way, West MacDonnell Range

Pockets of rain in the desert @ NT, Kings Canyon

Desert storm @ NT, Kings Canyon

Golden lining after the desert storm @ NT, Kings Canyon

When the extreme summer heat spread across the continent, the central desert demonstrated its 'hot-spitality'- the temperature maintained above 35 celsius from dusk to dawn, and rose rapidly to 50 degree upon sun rise. Giving up my tent and desert sauna, life was much better in the tight space of my trusty steed @ NT, Palm valley

Macdonnell ranges cycad (Macrozamia macdonnellii) @ NT, Palm valley

Red-cabbage palm (Livistona mariae) @ NT, Palm valley

Road to the Tanami desert @ NT, Alice Springs, Tanami road