Red Hot
Alice Springs, now what's in a name? Spring for me conjures up images of the season after winter (cool and bright) or a source of water... quite why anyone chose to rename Stuart as Alice Springs defeats me, its the hottest, dustiest, water-less place I've ever been. As it happens they had freak weather, but 45 degrees in the shade, 55 if you couldn't find any, is a bit much. I've fed back to the tourist office "Alice Furnace" might have been more appropriate. Guess by now I'm not getting any sympathy from anyone back home.

Joined a 4 day trip from Alice F to Uluru and surrounding national parks. The 500 km drive took us through miles and miles and miles of red sand and impossibly green shrubs. Passed various flatpack creatures before arriving at Ayres Rock / Uluru for sunset. There's something odd about Uluru, the nearer you get the smaller it appears - I'm not sure why - and the stuff you read about it changing colour at sunset and sunrise, hmmm... looked pretty rust red the whole time to me. That aside, for a rock, it was amasing.

Following morning we were up at 4am to catch the sunrise, up close the rock is peppered with erosion, pits and craters. According to the Aboriginal owners a giant mole made these when it was being pursued by a giant devil dog, or it might be centuries of erosion - you decide. After Sunrise we walked the base of the rock - 9 km - in temperatures of about 45 degrees in the shade, so half of the walk was bearable, the other half on the sunny side less so. Surprising amount of wildlife, birds and lots of flies.

Now, political correctness and pleasing the natives is something I at least attempt. The aborigines ask you not to climb their 'church' so I didn't. (Susie said she couldn't - there is a difference). What did annoy me slightly was the way these local people were happy to charge you to see their geographical feature, but didn't actually want to tell you about it. Their culture means they don't even tell each other, let alone a pale faced idiot dressed up like Indiana Jones, which annoyed me.

2 choices;

(1) let me in, charge me, welcome me and tell me what it is.
(2) keep you rocks to yourself and don't tempt me across 500km of desert.

Uluru did have a visitor centre, so it wasn't too bad, but another place we visited called the Kata Tutas / Olgas was a bit odd. Suggestions of 'initiations into manhood' and 'tribal punishment' going on here, I suspect the Government turns a blind eye - not the sort of thing you'd imagine going on here at all. After Ayres rock and the Olgas we visited Kings Canyon, another breathtaking experience similar to the grand canyon - third early start and third day of 45 degree temperatures. All in all a brilliant trip. (Top tip - don't visit in summer, sunrise is early and the days are so hot they nearly kill you!).

We're now in Melbourne, turns out there is a Kylie exhibition, so things are looking promising.

- posted by Adrian @ 1:22:00 PM