Today we plan to take the 10 kilometre odd stroll around the base of the mighty monolith that is Uluṟu. But first we must survive breakfast. I decide I must have dreamed I watched a spectacular Uluṟu sunset last night. We just can’t be out here in the back of beyond of our vast homeland; we’re clearly in some mass tourist resort hotel next to Disneyland - screaming kids, and foreign tourists of every colour and creed fighting over a buffet. As I said yesterday we hardly saw a single person on the hundreds of kilometres of road in here …. unless I dreamt that bit as well … and I know I’ve asked before, but where exactly did all these people come from and how did they get here? Anyway, nothing that a coffee won’t ... read more

Issy’s opted for another day of rest and relaxation on the large deck of our AirBnb, overlooking a small swimming pool, and why not. … well in my case it’s because I struggle with the whole relaxation thing … so I leave her to it and set off to explore the splendours of the West MacDonnell Ranges. First stop is the spectacular Simpsons Gap, where a stream has again managed to erode its way through 100 metres or so depth of the mountain range. It seems this whole area was once part of the sea bed. As the waters receded they found weak points in the rock and progressively eroded them away over the billenia (is that a word?) to form the gaps, chasms and gorges that we can see today. So that explains the sand ... read more

We’re a bit slow off the mark after our nearly 700 kms of driving yesterday, like nearly lunchtime type slow when we finally make our way out the door. I guess we must have needed the rest. We plan to spend what’s left of the day exploring the town. First cab off the rank is Anzac Hill, where we get excellent panoramic views over the town and back towards the MacDonnell Ranges and Heavitree Gap. No surprise it’s called the Red Centre, the colours of the soil and rocks are an unmistakably distinctive dark reddish orange. Next up is the Olive Pink Botanic Garden. I ask Issy what colour olive pink is, and she rolls her eyes. It seems I should have known better; Ms Olive Pink founded the garden back in 1956. We take a ... read more

I get chatting to the motel manager over breakfast. She says that her occupancy rate’s currently well down, which she attributes almost entirely to the well publicised recent civil unrest in Alice Springs. She tells me that lots of bus tours through here have been cancelled, and even some of the scheduled Ghan services haven’t run due to lack of passengers. She says that the situation in The Alice is deplorable; gangs roaming the streets armed with guns and machetes, smashing cars and property, and injuring people. She says that the curfew has helped, as have additional police services, but it’s far from a complete solution. Hmmm. Alice Springs is our next stop, and I’m suddenly feeling relieved that we’ve opted for accommodation a few kilometres outside town. This is all incredibly sad. It seems to ... read more

Issy asks me how I slept. “OK I think“, I reply, “other than getting up in the pitch black in the middle of the night and spending ten minutes trying to find the door handle on what turned out to be a door size wall panel”. My beloved does eventually stop giggling. Such a sympathetic response …. not. And on the subject of the motel’s bathroom, the mirror above the sink‘s so far from the basin that I need a telescope to be able to see myself shaving. Fortunately I seem to survive the ordeal without too many deep wounds. On the upside, the mirror’s only so far back because the proprietors have seen fit to fill the space between the sink and the wall with a wide bench. They’ve thus managed to avoid one of ... read more