Got to Alice in the afternoon, was able to see a lot from the plane, everything was pretty red from what I could see with the odd tree here and there. Just had quick look about the town when I got there and had an early night as it was a 6am start for the tour the next day. Tour started with a 5 hour drive to Uluru. Got to the resort and checked out the visitor centre and had a look at some aboriginal art. Then it was off to see the rock, it has lots of bumps and hollows up close so it was different to what I expected. Decided not to climb but did a lap around it which took nearly 3 hours.
Then we drove to a lookout to watch the sunset and eat our dinner with a nice cold beer. Set up camp back at the resort and sat around the fire for a bit before heading to sleep.
An early start the next day for a drive to see the sunrise over Uluru, pretty cool to see it so it was worth getting out of bed early.
Did another 3 hour walk of Kata Tjuta which was a bit more challenging than the previous day but we did it early in the morning to avoid the heat. Went to another campsite called Kings Creek where we settled down for the evening, was even able to get a decent coffee at the shop. Cooked kangaroo tail on the campfire, got to taste it and it wasn't half bad.
The last day of the trip was a walk about Kings Canyon, once we climbed Heart attack hill the trek got a bit easier and had fab views of the garden of eden and the rock pools. Bumped into my Aunt Brigid on the walk by chance and we both recognised each other after 8 years. After the walk we made our way back to Alice with a quick stop at a Camel farm where a Dublin guy was training the camels and doing camel rides. We got back a few hours before dinner time so had a rest before heading to Toddys for food and watched a didgereedoo band. We then went onto another funky bar called Bo-jangles that had all sorts of crazy stuff on the walls.
Last day in Alice springs was spent catching up with my aunt and her friend before taking the train to Darwin. i was really impressed with the Ghan, pretty comfy seats for economy, hot showers and a restaurant.
A few of us got together and played cards for a while, we played poker using salt and pepper sachets instead of real money
Slept most of the night and then next morning there was a few hours stop over in Katherine. Went for a quick walk but cut it short as it was about 37 degrees and only 9am. Sat in the shade to cool down for a while with some cold drink before getting back on the train again. Got to darwin late in the evening so just took it easy for the night.
