Blogs from Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania

Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Alice Springs July 14th 2022

Yes, this morning was extra “fresh”, -2oC felt like -5.8oC. A little replenishment of supplies, a drive-up Anzac Hill for views over Alice Springs, into town to view the sales of magnificent Aboriginal art and back to the XTRK to rest for the remainder of the day. That was day 36.... read more

Australian, Northern Territory and Aboriginal Flags atop Anzac Hill

Two years in the making......

Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Alice Springs October 11th 2021

Airline travel just aint what it used to be

Bugle Boy and Lips

Remember a time, long, long ago, in far, far away lands when we were allowed to do a thing called "travel"? When state/territory borders were merely a welcome-sign photo opp and quarantine was something we only heard of watching Border Patrol on the TV? To be honest, it's a little creepy to re-read the final words of our last blog in July 2019..... "I know, this blog is a long one, thanks for reading it, and at the very least we hope the pics inspire you to explore your own back yard and beyond - it's a magical country out there." It's like some weird prediction of things to come..... Guess what bloggers - HOLIDAY HERE THIS YEAR IS ON!! (well, unless you live in Vic or NSW, that is). Sending our love to all those ... read more

The Red Centre of Australia

Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Alice Springs July 25th 2021

Welcome to Alice Springs

The Walking Man Down Under

With Australia's International travel ban still in place, my recovery from foot surgery now almost complete, I needed to get out and about again. So I headed off to a place, which I have visited on many occassions, lived there for a short time and always seems to draw me back, the Red Centre of Australia and Alice Springs. Having flown into Alice Springs, I headed into town and was greeted by their great town sign, the red dust and Northern Territory flag, just sets it up for me. Next morning, I headed off and picked up my home for the next week, a Britz High Top camper van. I had never driven one of these before and after stocking up on food at a local supermarket, I headed off on the open road to Yulara, ... read more

Larapinta Trail End To End - Alice Springs to Brinkley Bluff

Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Alice Springs June 25th 2021

Larapinta Trail

gillg

Larapinta Trail 21 (>225km) Part 1- Pre-departure to Alice Springs to Brinkley Bluff The Larapinta Trek exceeded any expectations, not sure what I actually expected beyond it being wide and vast and a “moderate-difficult” graded trail, but it was that and so much more. I finished on the 6th July, it has kept me feeling very high for the last week or so of travelling around the Red Centre. Now that I am back home here is how it all went down.... As usual I was very well prepared on the logistics, not so much on the training. Excellent spreadsheet. Flew into Alice Springs for 2 nights pre-trek to get my resupply boxes and a few fresh food items as well as having a look around. Stayed at a functional, budget, but well located, motel. The ... read more

Australia's iconic red centre

Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Alice Springs April 23rd 2021

Uluru

Tom Rooney

The Kimberley region in the far north of Western Australia is rugged, beautiful, and stunningly remote. The population is sparse and the distances are vast, but there is an option to explore the East Kimberley region from a gorgeous little base, and that is the town of Kununurra. For most of my adult life I have been intrigued by this remote town close to the border of Northern Territory, and it's great to have the chance to revisit after a long absence of 20 years. Travellers in Katherine are able to reach the town of 5,000 residents by jumping on the greyhound west across the border on the Savannah Highway, a three thousand kilometrre adventure journey across the top of Australia from Cairns in North Queensland to Broome in Northwest WA. The bus trip is under ... read more

Larapinta Trail, Northern Territory, Australia

Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Alice Springs March 28th 2020

The start of the Larapinta Trail

The Walking Man Down Under

When I lived and worked in Alice Springs, my wife and I would most evenings head off to the Telegraph Station and hike the trails there. I would also to the Telegraph Station on my own and many times set off on the first leg of the Larapinta Trail to Simpsons Gap. Having loved living in the Alice, I decided to go back and finally go on with the trail all the way to its end at the top of Mount Sonder, a distance of 234kms. So having booked my trip with World Expeditions, in August 2017, I set off for a 14 day trek through the glorious Red Centre of the Northern Territory. The first two days to Simpson Gap and on to Jay Creek were quite long days at 23 and 24 kms respectively. ... read more

Troop Carrier, kitchen and everything in between

Alice Springs, NT (Friday to Sunday)

Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Alice Springs August 17th 2019

MickP

We arrived in Alice Springs today. An interesting drive down from the Mount Doreen ruins, which appeared to be an old mining operation. First stop was at Yuandemu (incorrect spelling no doubt) for some fuel. $2.15 a litre. Ooooof. It was a funny setup in this community - prepay in the store and when there were enough people wanting fuel a fella came out (Swiss backpacker) who tried to organise the chaos. There was one set of pumps that only went to one side (locked in a cage) and cars coming in from both directions. Took ages to get to us but gave me a chance to chat to the people in line. The carnival that we found out about yesterday had been held here and it was a massive event. Home team won the footy ... read more

No town like Alice

Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Alice Springs June 25th 2019

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raesholidays

We arrived into Alice Springs under the cover of darkness and through the 'Gap' I later learnt the gap was the southern entry into Alice springs via a gap between the Western and Eastern MacDonnell Ranges. The Todd River along with the railway and main road run through this gap. There's not a lot of room and I'm looking forward to travelling along it via the Ghan in a few weeks. Our first day in Alice started with brunch in a lovely cafe downtown ... shockingly this was the first chance we've had to do Eggs Beni. After brunch we decided to check out the Alice Springs Reptile Centre. We were just in time for the talk and got to hold a couple of lizards and a Python. They have a huge range of reptiles including ... read more

The Alice

Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Alice Springs June 16th 2019

Fletcher in the Botanic Gardens

MrsMac

We set out from Uluru about 8-30am, and headed back to the Stuart Highway so we could proceed to Alice Springs. We checked our predicted petrol range on the car dashboard and decided we could make it to Erldunda, or if not, there was the Mount Ebenezeer Roadhouse marked on our map. It was a beautiful sunny day and listening to You only Live Twice, we sped along, finding the going easy. We passed the Curtin Springs roadhouse, still confident, but as we neared Mt Ebenezeer, we noticed that the fuel consumption was more than we had expected. We decided we would need to fill up there. However, when we reached this spot we found a derelict roadhouse and no fuel pumps.We stopped and looked around. Fletcher spoke to a fellow traveller in a motor home ... read more

Fletcher, Ken, Edna and me at Alice Spring

Melbourne and on to Alice Springs

Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Alice Springs November 15th 2018

Clock ringer in Melbourne

bobstacytrips

So, we got up and went to the aquarium. It was very nice. It had a long tunnel that was made of polycarbonate that you could look at the fish thru as you walked thru it. We then hopped on the free tram and headed toward downtown. We found the tour boat dock and got our tickets. We boarded the boat and took a 1 hour tour of Melbourne from the Yarra River. We booked back to our hotel for the 3:00 pm meet and greet with our tour director and the other tour guests. We met them again later for dinner and drinks. The next morning we boarded our bus and headed out for a tour of Melbourne. We stopped and took a 1 hour walk thru some of old Melbourne's side streets and alleys. ... read more

Brief history of Australia

Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name...more history

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