The Big Trip

We arrived in Alice Springs to 40 degree heat - apparently it had 'cooled off' a bit compared to the previous two weeks! For some reason, I thought we'd be able see Uluru from Alice with it being the closest town - I forgot we were in Australia though so it turns out it's over 600kms away. Oh well, better book a tour then!

The first morning we were pleased to hear that the days activities would only involve a short walk, 5 kms, around King's Canyon - what we didn't realise was that it started at midday and within 10 minutes the drinking water was too hot to swallow without retching! Mmmm. Luckily we survived the appropriately named 'heart-attack hill' and stopped midway at a waterhole to cool off. Post walk, we headed straight to camp, a barren patch in the middle of a million-acre cattle station - we unravelled the swags, cracked open a few tinnies and watched the sun go down on the red centre.

King's Canyon

First camp

The next day we started early again and headed to The Olgas (Kata Tjuta) a group of weird lookking rocks in Uluru National Park. Our task was to complete the 7kms, without passing out, and before 11am when they close the walk due to 'extreme temperatures'. I have to mention that this was the first outing of our mosquito headnets which look completely ridiculous but kept the flys from constantly landing on your face - well worth the $5 spend in Woolies!

The Olgas

A god-send on the second afternoon, a real campsite with cold showers and a pool - a Powerade and a swim later and we were feeling tip-top. We drove the short distance to see Uluru up close and personal for the first time and pitched our spot ready for sunset which we watched with a bowl full of thai chicken curry and a can of Toohey's.

Ready for another night in the bush!

We also managed to catch sunrise over brekkie the following day, before a 10km stroll around the base.

Sunrise at Uluru

Enjoying a brew

Long drive home

We had a couple of days before heading over to Darwin so took full advantage of the in-hostel bar that also served up a mean camel burger. Alice was pretty quite in itself but saw a few gems ...

This one's for you Gilly!

Only had a couple of days in Darwin but were there long enough to appreciate how humid it is - something I suppose we have to get used to for our time in Asia! Spent a day at Litchfield National Park chasing saltwater crocs with raw meat and swimming in waterholes after being reassured there are 'no salties in this bit of water ... I think'.

One armed (or is it a leg?) croc

Giant termite mound

Time to cool down!

Really enjoyed the short time we had in Oz - time to move on though, next stop Bali. Tough 'ey!