As previously mentioned, we had a couple of days to kill in Alice Springs before we headed down on the first leg of the trip to Adelaide. Now, to me the name Alice Springs makes me think of a lush desert oasis plopped right in the middle of the Red Centre… I was wrong… like the rest of the area it was hot and dusty… oh well! I guess it being so close to the geographical centre of Australia should have been a bit of a giveaway! After an evening of settling in to the YHA and partaking in a few drinks at a bed-bug ridden hostel we managed to escape, nice work Amy, we turned in for a well earned lie in!
Now, for the past 6 days or so we’d been living off cereal and sandwiches, so as you can imagine we were ready for some decent tucker and a good coffee! So in that spirit we decided to spend the day not as backpackers, but as flashpackers! So the next morning we sat ourselves down for breakfast at the best looking eatery we could find, and indulged in Eggs Benedict with smoked Salmon, fresh orange juice and one of the most gratefully received cappuccinos I’ve had in a long time! We relaxed chatted and gossiped for a good couple of hours before having a wander around the bustling (!!) centre of Alice Springs. We trawled every Didgeridoo shop we could find in the hope that Kat could find… the one… we failed. We browsed in a place that was not for browsing (You had to be there!), and I spent money I couldn’t really afford on a hat I’m not likely to wear again until I’m next in a desert… or perhaps on a ranch! It was an enjoyable stroll none the less, and along the way we got to learn a bit about the Opal industry that this part of Australia is so well known for.
4 of us had decided that we had to find a way of seeing the landscape around Alice Springs at its best, so naturally the sensible answer was to go on an hour long tour on the back of an animal that actually looks a bit out of place here, but is the best mode of desert transport… a Camel! So we spent the last hour of sunlight being carried across desert and scrub by our lumbering beast, it offered some pretty stunning views as the sun descended over the horizon (Pictures to be uploaded one day!). It was then time to slope back to the hostel to tidy ourselves up for one last knees up as sadly we were not all on the same tours out of Alice, and not all of us would venture on to Day 9 of the Adventure Tours Bus. We had a great meal out, and then went for a boogie that sadly ended prematurely, and without the tune that had become a bit of an anthem.
After getting up early to say goodbye to those that were leaving us… and after our rapid return to our beds after we’d said goodbye… we had a quiet day, with another wander around Alice and a conversation that led me to ask the rather poignant question… what about Kat though? (Again… you had to be there!). We caught up on a bit of laundry and checked our emails, before turning in for an early start. I don’t think Alice is somewhere that’ll stick in my mind, just the people I was with. It’s a bit of a ghost town that is really only a gateway to the Red Centre and the attractions, both natural and manmade, that you find there.
Well, I think that’s it for now… more catching-up will appear very soon, and you never know this might be up to date by the time I come home!!!
Now, for the past 6 days or so we’d been living off cereal and sandwiches, so as you can imagine we were ready for some decent tucker and a good coffee! So in that spirit we decided to spend the day not as backpackers, but as flashpackers! So the next morning we sat ourselves down for breakfast at the best looking eatery we could find, and indulged in Eggs Benedict with smoked Salmon, fresh orange juice and one of the most gratefully received cappuccinos I’ve had in a long time! We relaxed chatted and gossiped for a good couple of hours before having a wander around the bustling (!!) centre of Alice Springs. We trawled every Didgeridoo shop we could find in the hope that Kat could find… the one… we failed. We browsed in a place that was not for browsing (You had to be there!), and I spent money I couldn’t really afford on a hat I’m not likely to wear again until I’m next in a desert… or perhaps on a ranch! It was an enjoyable stroll none the less, and along the way we got to learn a bit about the Opal industry that this part of Australia is so well known for.
4 of us had decided that we had to find a way of seeing the landscape around Alice Springs at its best, so naturally the sensible answer was to go on an hour long tour on the back of an animal that actually looks a bit out of place here, but is the best mode of desert transport… a Camel! So we spent the last hour of sunlight being carried across desert and scrub by our lumbering beast, it offered some pretty stunning views as the sun descended over the horizon (Pictures to be uploaded one day!). It was then time to slope back to the hostel to tidy ourselves up for one last knees up as sadly we were not all on the same tours out of Alice, and not all of us would venture on to Day 9 of the Adventure Tours Bus. We had a great meal out, and then went for a boogie that sadly ended prematurely, and without the tune that had become a bit of an anthem.
After getting up early to say goodbye to those that were leaving us… and after our rapid return to our beds after we’d said goodbye… we had a quiet day, with another wander around Alice and a conversation that led me to ask the rather poignant question… what about Kat though? (Again… you had to be there!). We caught up on a bit of laundry and checked our emails, before turning in for an early start. I don’t think Alice is somewhere that’ll stick in my mind, just the people I was with. It’s a bit of a ghost town that is really only a gateway to the Red Centre and the attractions, both natural and manmade, that you find there.
Well, I think that’s it for now… more catching-up will appear very soon, and you never know this might be up to date by the time I come home!!!
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