There isn't too much to say about Alice Springs itself. Its just a little town smack bang in the middle of Australia. There's not too much to see or do there. Its mainly used as a base to go and see the 'nearby' sights, like Uluru, The Olga's and King's Canyon.
We had already booked our tour in London. For anyone who's thinking of booking a tour, book it once you're out here - its a lot cheaper! It was an early start the next morning - 05:15. We wouldn't have minded if we'd actually been picked up on time. They kept us waiting nearly an hour in the freezing cold...
After many hours of driving we arrived at King's Canyon - a big crack in the ground. Not as big as the Grand Canyon, although... our guide told us that technically the Grand Canyon isn't a canyon. Its a gorge since the Colorado river runs down the middle. So in terms of true Canyons, King's Canyon was pretty impressive. We went on a short walk around the rim, which started with 'Heart Atttack Hill'! Thankfully no heart attacks in our group.
Our tour guide, Dean, did a really great job on the walk. He knew loads of interesting facts about the rocks, plants and animals. He told us that if we had picked up the above lizard, its heart rate would have risen so much that it would have died within half an hour... very sad :( so we didn't pick it up, of course...
After our walk we headed to our campsite. It was freezing. Lows of 1 degree celcius, highs of 15. We really weren't expecting the weather to be this cold... So we all huddled around the campfire to keep warm!
Dean persuaded us to try out the swags. They're basically like a big body bag. You put your sleeping bag inside and sleep out under the stars. I threw in two sleeping bags, wore five layers of clothes and chucked in my nalgene flask filled with boiling water for good measure. I stopped for a moment to think about all the nasties that could have crawled into my bag during the night, but convinced myself that it would be too cold for them to be out and about at night, so jumped into my swag and enjoyed the view. It was an amazing sight. We could even see the Milky Way. Everytime I'd wake up during the night I'd look up and see that it had rotated through the sky a little bit more. Really cool!
Another early start to catch sunrise at Ayres Rock.
We went for the base walk at sunrise. Apparently the sunrise viewing site is always packed with tourists, so Dean threw us out of the bus at the beginning of the base walk (9.5km). The wind was incredible. It was too blowy to allow anyone to climb the rock so the route was closed. I wasn't going to climb anyway. I had previously intended to, but started to feel bad. Everyone kept going on about how the Aboriginals are highly offended by us waltzing up their sacred rock, so I changed my mind.
The next three photos show the rock as the rising sun start to hit it from top down. The rock really does glow.
We next went for a walk in the Olga's. They're another rock formation nearby, just not as famous.
Our tour ended with the Olga's so we made our way back to Alice Spring's. That night the heaven's opened. It rained all night and all the next day. We were so glad it didn't rain while we were out in our swags! But, I've heard that Ayres Rock looks amazing in the rain as loads of waterfalls are created over it. Oh well... can't have it all!
4 comments:
Alice Springs has nothing to do??!!
The Desert Park, the Telegraph Station, Todd Mall, the Larapinta Trail, the amazing gorges of the East and West MacDonnells, Aboriginal art galleries, cafes, writers' and poetry festivals, the Camel Cup, the Henley-on-Todd, the Rodeo, hanging out at Annie's Place, skanking at Melanka's and Bo's ... I could go on and on.
But thank god you slept in a swag under the stars... as for King's Canyon ascent being hard - get yourself to the gym, girl. It's only 150m long!!!
And by the way, you've spelled "the Olga's" WRONG. It's "the Olgas" - plurals don't have apostrophes
Alright, alright! Steady on... I see you're a fan of Alice Springs.
When we were there, Alice Springs was cold and wet, which really affects my mood. As for stuff to do... Went to the mall - seen better, didn't have money to spend anyways. I saw aborignal art in perth, and I'm not a great fan of it anyways. We stayed at Annie's. Its a nice hostel, but we only stayed there for two nights - one night before the Uluru trip and the night we got back.. so literally all we did was sleep and use the highly overpriced internet.
Did I say that I found the King's Canyon ascent was hard? Where? I've been on much tougher treks, with much longer ascents and at high altitude... but you're right, everyone should do a bit of exercise. Good health promotion on your part. But those that can't afford the gym can just go and walk!
Hey, we're all entitled to our opinions. I have to say that Alice Springs was no comparison to some of the places that I had been to on that trip. So, in my view it was a pretty dull and unexciting place, particularly during the winter, when its raining and when you're on a tight budget. Australia in general is probably one of my least favourite holiday destinations to be honest.
As for punctuation... you're supposed to put a full stop at the end of your sentences. (Look at your last line). Why be pedantic though?! Take it easy mate.
Thanks for your comments parkie!
The huge rock Uluru seemed boring to me when I first saw it but when we got near the rock, it offered a lot of activities and adventure. We spent a night somewhere in it and I have to say that it doesn't look as small as it does in the picture. It is a good big rock with tons of places to explore. Hope to see it more soon.
Amazing pictures, the rock is so pretty when the sunlight hits its red surface.
Mimi
Uluru tours
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