Alice Springs, Uluru, Kata Tjuta & Kings Canyon

Flew from Cairns to Alice Springs where it was a toasty 37c! From Cairns to Alice Springs there's a half hour time difference which was a bit weird! The taxi driver from the airport in Alice Springs was of Scottish descent but asked us whereabouts in England we were from!! As it cooled down we took a walk up Anzac Hill in the centre of Alice Springs to see a view of the town and watch the sunset. The deep blue desert skies were amazing and the photos don't do it justice. Next day we sheltered from the baking hot sun until 3pm when we took a 3km walk along the river (bone dry!) to an old Telegraph Station that the town was named after. It felt like we were walking in the outback, there was not a soul about and we were thankful for the few bits of shade that we came across. Had a walk around the station and discovered how Alice Springs and Australia got connected to the rest of world from 1872! The following day we picked up a small campervan. (Steven, Allen & Niall - I paid to hire this one and didn't just thumb a lift and put my bike on the back, honest!!!) Drove to Erldunda which is 2.5 hours south of Alice Springs. It's just a small roadhouse in the middle of nowhere with fuel, shop, cafe and camping facilities. The campervan was superb and came equipped with sink, fridge, gas rings and even a microwave. We couldn't get the tap or the lights to work at first but eventually tracked the fault to a dodgy battery connection which we managed to fix. The hire company still gave us $40 compensation! We were numpties and left the lights on and doors open as we cooked so lots of insects invaded our van! JP was not amused!! The van was a good size but the bed wasn't really designed for anyone over 6ft tall! G had a dodgy stomach that night and was still feeling rough the next morning but we decided to drive on to Yulara (aka Ayers Rock Resort) anyway. Yulara is a purpose built resort outside the National Park to cater for visitors to Uluru so that tourism doesn't spoil the World Heritage Site. From a viewpoint in the campsite we watched the sun set behind Kata Tjuta (a series of massive rounded rocks near Uluru). It was stunning! Next day most campers were up and away early (from 5am) to watch the sun rise around Uluru. We, however, left the campsite at 11am! Expect to pay quite a bit more for food and fuel in Yulara than you would pay elsewhere in Australia so we were self catering all week after having stocked up in Alice Springs. One problem with campervans is that they can quickly become infested with ants! They managed to eat through sealed plastic bags and made a nest in the crumpets that Jen had been looking forward to!! Next time we'd know to bring more plastic containers to store food in! We went to the Visitors Centre in Yulara which is much better and more informative than the Centre in the National Park. In the afternoon we went for a short walk (Mala Walk) round the base of Uluru which was really good as you're really close to the immense red beast. As you walk, you pass waterholes and can see caves formed in the base of the rock with aboriginal drawings on the walls. Went to the sunset viewing car park and watched the rock change colour as the sun set. We suspect that a lot of the sunset photos of Uluru that you can buy in the shops have been photoshopped! Considering how hot it was during the day it was amazing how cold it gets at night. Next day we drove back into the National Park and got up close to Kata Tjuta. It's well worth visiting the dune viewing area though expect to be pestered by lots of flies in the summer! Did the first part of the Valley of The Winds walk where you end up at a nice viewpoint of the expansive red rock. It was a nice quiet peaceful place until a coach load of Japanese tourists arrived! On the way back down the path we saw a European tourist throwing a large rock to the ground to try and scare a kangaroo into moving so that they could get a good picture or movie! Unbelievable! Thankfully the kangaroo was a wise old thing and didn't budge! Jen was close to picking the rock back up and making the tourist jump! Drove from Yulara to Kings Canyon where we just managed to do the rim walk before it got dark! It's a stunning walk which climbs steeply to the top of the canyon with great views looking down 270m to the bottom and there's stunning rock formations all around. Bad advice in the Rough Guide as the walk takes more than 2 hours. It was more like 2.5 hours with limited stops. We wouldn't advise doing the walk in the heat of the day as it's baking hot even near sunset! There's another good campsite at Kings Canyon resort with good facilities. Headed north back to Alice Springs. Had hoped to go to the MacDonnell Ranges but ran out of time (and money as fuel is expensive in the Outback and the campervan drank loads of it!). Next day we visited Alice Springs School of The Air. It's a fantastic setup giving a primary education to 167 kids who live in the Outback up to 1300km away from Alice Springs. Lessons used to be done over the radio but now they're held over the internet. It makes it possible for the teachers and the kids to see each other and their work through cameras, scanners and emails. The public are able to observe lessons and when we were there the weekly assembly was taking place followed by a PE lesson! Next we visted the Royal Flying Doctors Service of Australia. It brought back memories of Jen's favourite TV show as a kid! Watched a video, saw the control room then had a wee walk round the small museum. The service is still very much in need especially with the increase in tourism in remote areas. Said goodbye to our campervan though wish we'd had it for another night as the kitchen in the Alice Springs YHA is minging and not at all up to the usual YHA standard! There's lots of Aborigines in Alice Springs hanging about in large groups being extremely loud which can be a wee bit intimidating. We heard that 2 German girls were attacked by Aborigines around the time we were there but one of them was a black belt in Karate so was able to defend herself!! Although we didn't see any violence it's maybe worth sticking to the main streets after dark. Flew back to Sydney via Melbourne (50 min stop!) to complete our jolly of Australia! We were back in Sydney while the Melbourne Cup was on (Australia's equivalent to the Grand National) and the whole city seemed to take the day off work to dress up, eat, drink and watch the race! Was a really good atmosphere in the city and thankfully it was a bit warmer than the last time we visited and there were no dust storms! Have had a great time in Australia but 7 weeks wasn't long enough! The people are friendly with a great sense of humour and it's so easy to get around. Next stop Singapore!

---

---