The Alice

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Alice Springs, or 'The Alice' as it's called by the locals, is a tiny city in the middle of nowhere. It's claim to fame is that it's the jumping off point for tons of Uluru (Ayers Rock) tours. Most people roll into the Alice on Monday and head to Uluru for a few days and then they roll into Alice again the day before they leave, spending maybe two whole days here. Not me, I'll have been here for 10 days by the time I leave, and Add about 4 more days for my Uluru excursion (which is a must read if I do say so myself).

Even though Alice is a tiny city with nothing around it for at least 500 kms, there's still a ton of cheap and free things to do around here. So far I've climbed to the top of the Anzac Hill and had some pretty wicked views of the city and surrounding mountain ranges. I've also made the 2 hour hike the the telegraph station and climb a few of the rocky outcrops there, again giving me a great view of the mountain ranges and surrounding desert. There are also a ton of mountain biking and off roading tracks just outside the city. But if outdoor stuff isn't your cup of tea then they have a few didgeredoo shows or starlight shows for you to see. I still have to go visit the reptile park, the botanical gardens, desert park, and hopefully I'll have a bit of time left to maybe do a guided bushwalk. And being in the desert Alice is a great place to work on your tan (it's too hot to do anything else between 11 and 4 anyways). Sometimes it's the hottest place in the world!

I guess I should mention that there are some downsides. the liquor stores don't open until 2pm (because of some of the residents having drinking problems). There are some no go areas and walking through the Todd River (it's only full maybe 3 times in someones lifetime) is an absolute no go area. And going out at night is tricky if you don't have your own wheels or don't want to pay for a cab, basically if you don't have a ride then you don't go out.

Oh yeah you may be wondering why I have no pictures of the Alice, well just read my next blog about Uluru and you'll find out.

Bye for now!

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