Of Didgeridoos, Flying Doctors, and Dingoes

Alice Springs is a very strange place. I couldn't imagine living there. It's so far from everything; a plane or train ride is not cheap, and a car journey would take ages. It was definitely warmer there, and Dad took advantage of being in the desert so that he could where his special hat. He fit right in! The town of Alice Springs has a 'Mall' mostly made up of souvenir shops and restaurants with the odd pharmacy as well. We rode in on our hotel's shuttle (seeing as the Heavitree Gap is not actually in the town itself it provides a free one) and had coffee with an older Australian couple who were also on the bus. Older Australian couples are very friendly, I had some of my nicest conversations with them. Perhaps it was because I was a single traveller, or perhaps it was because I didn't try hard enough, or maybe it wasn't even me but them, but I found it incredibly hard to make any conversation with anyone my age on the trip.

Anyway, despite Dad suffering from food poisoning (crazy, he never gets ill) we managed to have a really good day. We climbed up Anzac Hill (I almost had to carry Dad up there) so that we could look at the view over Alice Springs (see picture above) and catch a bit of a breeze because it really was rather warm. We also had a good walk through the 'Mall' so that I could find some souvenirs (I got some really good ones) and have a look inside the Didgeridoo Outback shop where you could buy a didgeridoo and also have a free lesson! It was really interesting and the teacher was really good. in the evening they also had a didgeridoo show which we didn't attend seeing as we only had one day in Alice Springs. To be honest, unless you were into hiking and trailing (which we're not) a day is all you need in Alice Springs to see and do everything. A really interesting must-do is the Royal Flying Doctor Service where you can watch a short movie and look around the museum. We were unfortunately too late to see the movie but because of that they let us look around the museum for free. The RFDS is vital to a place like Alice Springs, and you really get a sense of that from being there, because the town itself is small, and the ranches spread out over vast planes of land which can take a long time to get to.

For dinner we went to The Rock Bar Shop of Todd Street, which I totally recommend. I especially recommend the lasagna. I thought I had the best lasagna at Circular Quay is Sydney, but I was very wrong. This place does the best lasagna ever. It even beats my Mum's (don't tell my Mum.... or if you're reading this Mum, I swear you still do the best spaghetti bolognaise!). Bojangles, which is a restaurant right next door, is also somewhere that a lot of people recommend and it definitely looks like an interesting place. Especially as it appears to be themed as a saloon.

So after dinner we went back to the hotel for a good night's rest as we had to be up and ready to go for 7am the next day when the shuttle came to pick us up to take us to Ayers Rock. It's a long way, and we made 3 stops so the trip took us approximately 5 hours. Here is the link to the shuttle:

http://www.partner.viator.com/en/2178/tours/Alice-Springs/Alice-Springs-to-Uluru-Ayers-Rock-One-Way-Shuttle/d358-2230A21

The reason I am providing the link is because it was a fantastic shuttle (although expensive, but all of them are, trust me. If you haven't got your own car, this is the way to go). 

The first stop was at a camel farm, believe it or not, where you can ride a camel for an extra cost (I'm not certain whether they 'farm' them, so to speak, I didn't ask), look at the animals penned outside which is free, or go inside to have a coffee or hot chocolate and plant yourself beside the indoor fire, which is what most of us did because in July the mornings are bloody cold! We stopped again further along at a service station for the loo and something to eat. It was where I found this beauty, which I now wish I'd bought -->



Along the way the driver provided some commentary about the landscape, the history, the animals and more. It was a really good talk, really interesting, and at one point he even showed us a documentary on the TV screens about an explorer who was searching for gold in the area. The driver would also point out anything interesting he would see, and what really made this couch trip better than the rest, is that he slowed down when there was anything interesting so that we could have a proper look, and even take a picture, which is how I got my picture of a wild dingo which I'm super proud of. The dingo had been eating a dead kangaroo at the side of the road. Funny thing to be proud of, but I am. The driver also slowed down so that we could see wild camels and eagles. He told us how the area had seen more rainfall lately than they'd seen in a long time which meant that instead of being bone dry and sandy red, the area was incredibly green (as you can see in the photo).

On the hunt

Our last stops before we reached our destination was to view Mount Connor, which believe it or not actually belongs to a rancher because it's on his land. A lot of people thought it was Ayers Rock at first. It was almost as spectacular though, really impressive. One of the viewing spots had a hill which everyone climbed on top of. To one side was Mount Connor, and to the other was a dry salt lake. Personally, all the green shrubbery around us meant that whenever there was a patch of red sand, it made the sand even more impressive, it was so vibrantly red in contrast. The sand also got absolutely everywhere. I was wearing my lovely new black, blue and white Vans trainers and the white went very very red. So maybe that should be a warning to you. Don't wear white.

Climbing up the hill to the viewing point for Mount Connor

Dad and the salt lake

Mount Connor in the distance

When we jumped back on the coach, we were finally on our last leg of the journey and it wasn't long before we could see the fantastic rock that we came to see in the distance. I'm pretty sure Dad had tears in his eyes. I was more concerned with my shoes.

Next time: Ayres Rock

TTFN!