The Red Centre

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Internet and phone reception can be a bit iffy here in the centre of Australia, so its been a little while since my last blog.
Our second day at Uluru, Nathan planned to climb the rock in the morning but when we got there it was closed due to high winds at the summit. Disspointed we drove out to the Olgas which are in the same national park about 40k from the rock. The Olgas are huge rocks all bunched together in one area, sticking out in the mostly flat landscape. We did a few walks around there and had lunch then decided to head back to the caravan park to wait for sunset to take pics at Ayres Rock. On the way back we looked through the binoculars just to make sure the climb was still closed but Nathan thought he could see people climbing, so off we went back to the rock again. It was open and Nathan started his climb (he was already had it from the walk around Ayres rock the day before and then 2 walks at the Olgas earlier). He made it all the way to the top and was extremely glad he had done it even though he was exhausted and very sore that night. The rock is around 340 metres high. We then headed to the sunset carpark and set up our chairs, made a cuppa and watched/took photos of the sun setting on the rock. It went from orange to dark red and was really beautiful. We shared the moment with hundreds of other people, as this has become a huge touristy thing to do here.

The next morning we left for Kings Canyon which we only heard about after arriving in Northern Territory. It is another resort but less commercialised than Uluru. After setting up we went for a short walk through the bottom of the canyan along a dry creek called Kings creek. That afternoon we could see dingos skulking around the camping area looking for food (there are signs everywhere saying not to feed them).
The next morning we packed up the van and then headed back to the canyon. We walked the 6k rim walk, which is a climb up 270 metres to the top of the canyon via rock stairs cut into the side of the canyon. Once at the top we walked up and down over rocks along the side/rim of the canyon and then back down another set of stairs back to the carpark. It was a challenging walking up all the stairs but once up top the views were awesome. My calves definitely felt it though the next morning lol.

After the rim walk and lunch we headed back out towards the Stuart highway. Nathan decided to take a shortcut along a dirtroad called Ernie Giles Track. He had asked around but he found no one else who had traveled on it, so he decided to give it a go as it would cut 147k from our trip. We started on the very dusty red road but the corrigation was soooo bad we turned back after only 8k. We then found out later that the first about 10k was bad and then it got alot smoother, oh well lol. That night we stayed at a free camping spot along the Stuart with about 10 other vans. The Camps Australia book has well and truely paid for itself!!

The next day we arrived in Alice Springs. The town is nearly surrounded by small rocky mountains giving it a very different look to anywhere else we have been.
Today we looked around at some of the main tourist attractions. We looked at the first outback hospital built in Australia. The small building was designed by John Flynn who started the inland Flying doctors service and hospitals in central Australia. We took some photos from up top of Anzac Hill and then after lunch went to the Transport Hall of Fame museums which included the Ghan museum, transport museum and Kenworth trucks museum. There was alot of different vehicles to look at.
We have now just got back from the old telegraph station that was built in the 1800's and was the first in Australia. This station connected Adelaide to Darwin and allowed inland Australia to have contact with the world.

Tomorrow we are going to get up early and head hopefully to past Tennant Creek and along the road to Mt isa. We are now on the homeward stretch but plan to visit friends along the way in Mt Isa, Longreach and Emerald.

Till next time.....

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