Tuesday May 7th, it was quite an early start, finalizing our packing and stuff before getting the airport shuttle at the end of the street. We arrived at the airport just after 7am and then we made our way thru security in domestic terminal, towards the gate. We boarded the Qantas 737-800 series plane and departed at approx 8.45 am. The flight was smooth, with on board food and entertainment. When we arrived, we got the free shuttle to our accommodation, Alice Lodge backpackers however, we got upgraded to their sister accommodation, the Alice Motor Inn. Once we got checked-in and settled, we went off exploring around Alice Springs before getting the local bus out towards Araleun Cultural Precinct. Once in the precinct, we made our way to the Aviation Museum, which is housed in the old Connellan Airways hanger. The museum is a memorial to the pioneers in aviation in Northern Territory, started by EJ Connellan. The museum was quite interesting and full of information. Right next to the museum, is the Memorial Cemetery which EJ, and members of his family are buried.
After here, we went exploring the rest of Alice Springs, seeing sights such as the Royal Australian Flying Doctors, Olive Pink Botanic Gardens, Adelaide House - first hospital in Central Australia, and Lasseters casino where parts of Priscilla Queen of the Desert was filmed. As recommended by reception at our accommodation, the best views of the city were at sunset from ANZAC hill.
As it was a 6 am pick up for our Adventure tour of the red centre, it was an early enough night. After a few formalities at the tour office, we got on our way towards to Kings Canyon. Our first port of call was Stuart's Well, an outback camel farm, 90km south of Alice Springs. Continuing along Stuart's Highway until the interaction with Lasseter's Highway, we stopped for breakfast break at Erldunda, which is 200 km south of Alice. After this pitstop, we continued along Lasster's Highway until we stopped for a toilet break at King's Creek Station, where there were baby camels, calves, kangaroo and horses. We finally made the remaining 50 km to Kings Canyon resort for lunch. During lunch we decided to do a helicopter flight over Kings Canyon. Before the flight, we did the creek walk around Kings Canyon.
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After here, we went exploring the rest of Alice Springs, seeing sights such as the Royal Australian Flying Doctors, Olive Pink Botanic Gardens, Adelaide House - first hospital in Central Australia, and Lasseters casino where parts of Priscilla Queen of the Desert was filmed. As recommended by reception at our accommodation, the best views of the city were at sunset from ANZAC hill.
As it was a 6 am pick up for our Adventure tour of the red centre, it was an early enough night. After a few formalities at the tour office, we got on our way towards to Kings Canyon. Our first port of call was Stuart's Well, an outback camel farm, 90km south of Alice Springs. Continuing along Stuart's Highway until the interaction with Lasseter's Highway, we stopped for breakfast break at Erldunda, which is 200 km south of Alice. After this pitstop, we continued along Lasster's Highway until we stopped for a toilet break at King's Creek Station, where there were baby camels, calves, kangaroo and horses. We finally made the remaining 50 km to Kings Canyon resort for lunch. During lunch we decided to do a helicopter flight over Kings Canyon. Before the flight, we did the creek walk around Kings Canyon.
The duration of the flight was approx 30 mins around Kings Canyon, garden of Eden, domes of the Lost City, Kings creek, Carmichael Crag, George Gill Range to Kathleen Springs over to Peterman Pound. Also during the flight, the pilot showed us where scenes from Priscilla Queen of the Desert were filmed. This flight helped me get over my fear of flying in small air crafts. After this, we meet up with rest of the tour and got some provisions for camp that night. We all bonded over Dinner and games. We slept in a swag under the stars.
The following morning, it was a 6 am start, we all had breakfast, packed up the camp and got on our way. The first picture stop of the day was at Mount Conner, a non sacred site to the aboriginals. After this we made a quick pitstop at Curtin Springs, last port of call before we got to Ayers Rock resort. We made camp, had lunch before entering Uluru - Kata Tjuna National park. We did the base walk around Uluru, which entailed over a 8.5 km walk, encountering several sacred sites to aboriginals. After visiting the culture centre, we made our way to the sunset viewing dunes, where we can the sun set at about 6.30pm. I was informed later by a mate who works in the longitude resort, that it was the best sunset for days. For dinner we had Aussie BBQ, beef, kangaroo steak and camel sausages whereas Liam had variety of stuffed peppers and salads. After dinner, we all relaxed by a campfire, roasting marshmallows, talking. Like the previous night, we slept under the stars.
It was a 5am start, the next morning, as we were getting ready for the sunrise, we made the short bus journey and got ready. The sunrise over Uluru was truly spectacular. From here, we made the 20 min journey to Kata Tjuna (Olgas). Where we all did the 6 km walk around Kata Tjuna which took approximately 2.5 hrs. After the walk, we went back to camp for lunch, before getting on our way. Kate our tour guide, who had been amazing and such a great laugh, dropped me and Liam off at our accommodation in Uluru, the Outback Pioneer Lodge. We spent the day resting and exploring the town centre. That night, I had an Aussie burger, which consisted of a big slab of beef, bacon and cheese, while Liam had a veggie wrap.
After a short sleep-in, we packed up and waited for the shuttle to take us to Connellan Airport, where we boarded our qantas flight to Sydney.
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