Alice, Alice, who the.......

2 March
Alarm at 6.45am and like normal I slept until 7.30, when someone else started up their car and left. Felt like I’d been run over by a truck, and then reversed back over again. Not hungry I couldn’t even be bothered looking for clothes, grabbing a tank top and shorts that were out. Gone by 7.50 and on my way to Coober Pedy. The 168kms were pretty smooth sailing, although I was glad I didn’t go any further in the dark. Arrived to the Port Adelaide truck entrance so stopped for photos and decided on breakfast aswell. Into town and to the visitors centre for some more paraphernalia and then back in the car, deciding that I wasn’t up to wandering around in the heat today, so would be much better off sitting and driving instead. Filled up, or pretty close to it with a dodgy pump, and on I went, stopping around noon needing a sleep. But once the aircon went off it got warm quick, so my nap was about 2 minutes with my eyes closed instead. Into the roadhouse for a cuppa tea (even though it was stinking hot) and some chips (as the longer I ate the more I’d stay awake) and back to the car for a red bull. Driving on and I seemed to be chewing through the diesel, either that or it was a long way off full, so I drove on another 80kms and stopped for more fuel - $1.54, and the attendant asked which way I was going – North I said – oh, into the wind then. And it dawned on me – not only was it hot, but I was driving straight into probably a Northerly wind, and running the air conditioner at the same time – poor George!!! Checked the tire pressure (I’d done the water and oil not long ago) and with the window down I set off for the border. Out with the tripod for a photo of the last state or territory to do in my Australia trip – awesome! But I tell you what, along with a new state came a thousand flies – they were everywhere! Back in, drinking hot water because it was warming up so much in the front. Next stop was a servo 200kms from Alice for a Frosty Fruit and Poweraide - $7.30 – ouch, but I didn’t care. Even the emu’s looked hot. Onwards, not having a clue about what time it was in the NT, I was due in to Alice just after 7pm (SA time). Made the last turn off, and with 7kms to go the oil light came on. CRAP!!! Pulled over, not sure whether to stop and fill it up or find a servo and do it there, or find accommodation and let poor George cool down a bit. Luckily while I was deliberating the oil light went off, so I slowly drove on, reaching the caravan park and checking in for the night, and lucky George started again when I went back out, with the oil light flicking on and off again. Into a site, power in and food into the camp kitchen fridge (as mine wasn’t coping all that well!). Opened him up for a look in the engine but so stinking hot I left it and went for a swim, in a warm pool – and found out later the air temp was still 37°c at 8.30pm. Back and onto the net (with the bugs) before heating the rest of the chicken stir-fry, having a shower (more bugs) and blogging, listening to us (hopefully) win the first game against the Saffas in the series. Bed at 11pm, with it hot and still, and still feeling very lightheaded, but with a win to our cricketers – onya Mitch!

3 March 2009
So I slept on and off, with the bugs and the drone of the fan until about 7.30am – real time as NT people say. Still not all quite there I sussed out my book and jumped on the net to work out accommodation for the next couple of nights. Dishes (which I had from a few days, and with beetroot juice everywhere), sort out the van and shower (because it was already over 30 degrees, if it happened to get below it last night). Out of the park by 9.30am and up to Anzac Hill for a quick look before heading to the info centre, but stopping at the Women’s Pioneer Museum, situated in the old prison, on the way. She was still opening up so I got a bit of a guided tour before reading all about the missionaries, conflict over whether to demolish or keep the gaol (obviously it was kept) and about the women who pioneered the outback. Very good, although I kinda skimmed through a lot of it. Then down to the Royal Fly Doctors Service, to read about John Flynn and his amazing forethought to set it up, and get a radio communication in operation (albeit using pedal power). We then saw a 10 minute flick and saw the control room for the Alice base, which covers 600km radius. It’s been over 5 years since they had a day without a service having to go out. Into town and checked out the Aboriginal Cultural Centre and got stuck chatting with Damien and Keith about a whole lot of stuff (including the Eagles v Adelaide game that was here on Friday – that the Eagles won!). 2pm and time for lunch so headed back to the caravan park (that was looking after my food in their fridge) and chicken sandwiches before taking off to the Telegraph Station and finding it set up in a whole heap of different buildings, and with lots of walking tracks, so decided to give it a miss. Back through town to the Araluen Arts Centre and a tour of indigenous artwork (including a heap by Albert Namatjira and his children and grandchildren) and a look at the Afghans and their camels, and the massive impact they had on developing the outback (including the mail runs, overland telegraph line and general exploration). Ran out of time (they closed at 4pm) so jumped in the car (phone call from mum – where are you gonna be on Thursday – ummm Uluru – WHAT???) and headed back to pick up my stuff from the caravan park and head to the backpackers. Checked in and time for a SWIM (43 degrees it had at least gotten to today) and got chatting to Simon from Melbourne. Sat by the pool and blogged, listening to a couple of guys on a didgeridoo and bongo drums. Just about to head in for another dip when a massive breeze came through out of nowhere! Showered and headed for dinner at the restaurant/bar at the front of the backpackers. Found myself a table amongst the tour groups and drank my wine. Was in at the bar when a guy found the same table and sat in the spot next to mine, also by himself, so we got chatting. Hans, from Denmark, was doing 4 months of NZ and Aus, and heading north to go barramundi fishing (although he couldn’t remember the name of the fish). So we got drinking (and I got him off the XXXX and onto James Squire) and we chatted until the 10.30pm shuttle bus into town arrived and he left, with me heading for an early night. Just quietly finishing my beer when Simon down at the other end of the table called me over, so I went and drank with him, Eddie, Karl (bar manager), Nick and a couple others. Well, my quiet night then went crazy, deciding to head into Bojangles, only to hear the finishing songs on the radio as we got into Karl’s car, so headed to his place instead. Karl’s housemate was there and couldn’t sleep, so he got up and the 5 of us sat talking and drinking (nice Margaret River red) and listening to music. Karl had some grappa which was bloody potent shit (and that is the only way to describe it!), and all being smokers they smoked inside. He had 4 dogs and a snake, and by the end of the night we had the snake out and around our shoulders – talk about firsts! We were there until about 3am when Simon called a cab and took us home, via the 24 hour servo (an experience in itself) while the cabbie sneezed his guts up (apparently didn’t like my perfume). We arrived home and still didn’t get to bed, chatting some more before Simon headed off about 4am with ‘If you’re up for some loving I’m in room 65’. Classy. I told Nick to knock on his door before I made it into the room.

4 March
8am and I was in no state to be leaving Alice today! Up to make breakfast for 8.30 (it was getting earlier and earlier!). Met Hans in there (did you have a nice early night he asked – pftt!). Laughed at the Swiss girl who decided to sample some chocolate topping (vegemite) and proceeded to spit it straight back up again. Offered Hans a lift to the Desert Wildlife Park, so we got ready and met at 9.30, after paying for an extra night. Were just in time to see the bird show, with everything from magpies (who apparently don’t swoop in the outback) to black breasted buzzards, tawny frogmouths and cockies. Wandered around the park, checking out the birds (beautiful black cockies) and the roo’s, reptiles and amphibians. flora and the mountains. Stopped for a drink and a nibble before going to the midday video. Left just on 1pm, stopping back at the art shop on the way back to book in for an session later. Back to my rooms for a quick check of the e-mail before heading back to the art shop. Keith took us through aboriginal art, the symbols, tribes, history of his people and their love of the land. There were definitely times Hans wasn’t sure what I’d got him into I’m sure! His drawings in the sand were amazing, the way they could imitate animals footprints in different ways. It was then our turn to tell our story, so we grabbed paint and paper and tried to create a story. We took a while to get started but once on a roll we did OK, both having our own unique painting and story, and Hans entertaining us with his questions – ‘how do you draw a boat/fish/drink, what colour should I paint this’. We finished our masterpieces and then took photos before heading back out to the car, well over 2 hours after we arrived and we were both really pleased to have gone. Time for a drive with lots of light still, so we took off out to Emily & Jessie Gap, which had aboriginal artwork. It also had flies, thousands of flies. To see the artwork we had to cross a raging river (hardly) so off with the shoes and we trekked out to take some photos and back into the car, along with about 50 flies. Same at the next stop until finally we decided we’d had enough of that and headed back. Arrived about 5.30 and I headed off for some internet and a shower, heading back to Toddy’s Bar just after 7pm for a drink before Hans arrived and we walked into town, seeing more white than black people to my surprise. Bojangles had a few tables of people eating, but we headed out the back and checked out the menu, both deciding to go with the barramundi, and Hans buying a bottle of Mad Fish as a thanks for driving him around. I got some garlic bread, and the whole lot was bloody delicious, with the fish done with the most amazing coating and cooked in paperbark. Unbelievably good. We finished and headed into the bar area, for some beers , dancing and a snake. Yes, apparently not only can you smoke in NT pubs you can bring your pet snake along too. Creepy, but kinda cool, and after getting some dutch courage last night I was all up for another hold, as creepy as it was. So we drank beer, talked, took photos of the snake and danced to the awesome music that they were playing. 2, no 3 jugs later and expecting the pub to shut around midnight they seemed to be cranking on. Phone call at 12.30 and I thought Simon might be up for coming out – wrong. By the time I made it outside so I could actually hear him I found out that George had been the subject of a break-in. My whole world then came crashing down, as I raced back inside to say goodbye to Hans and caught a taxi back to Toddys. I managed to keep it together for the drive, but on arriving I ran and cried my way through the carpark until I reached him and the open door. I wrenched it open (not a smart move) and the remainder of the glass that was in it fell to the floor. Luckily Simon found me then and I recovered a bit after discovering my laptop was still in the back of the car, and I had fortunately left my backpack with camera in the hostel room. Shaken but ok we went up to Eddie’s room for a relaxing cuppa and chat to calm my nerves. A phone call to the police who were supposedly on their way at 1.30pm and I found them not much later. Went through the events of the evening and what had looked like it had been touch/stolen. Made a statement and signed it, making sure I read the section at the bottom of the form (although for the life of me could not remember what it said afterwards). There were some randoms who had booked a room at Toddys but there was no key for them, so they ended up crashing in my room (with only 1 other person in there.). I moved George (which I probably shouldn’t have) next to the vehicle in the carpark so that no-one could be back in and said goodnight to Simon, who offered to come out if I heard anything else. Opened the window in the room and got on the internet, needing to do something. Chris had sent an e-mail through which was as usual hilarious so I replied to that until I was literally typing with my eyes closed and fell asleep without pushing the send button about 3.30am...

5 march
My alarm was set for 6.45 but on waking up and realising there wasn’t going to be a lot I could do until it got a bit later I drifted back to sleep. Around 8 I headed over to reception to let them know and then breakfast, in no mood for talking I grabbed my toast and cuppa and headed back to start making phone calls. Mum, insurance, mum, insurance, dad, windscreen pretty much filled up my next hour, along with slicing my knee when I tried to get the papers out of the back seat of the car. Finally got sorted, packed up and checked out by 10.30 and set off to have the window fixed. Dropped off George and was taken out to the Telegraph Station to have a look around. Some beautiful old buildings, the first of inland Australia in some cases. Made you appreciate the lengths they had to go to to connect themselves with the rest of Australia and the world! It also has the spring of Alice Springs. Finished just after noon (complete with frog in the dunny!) and called the repairers, but they had all gone to lunch so I had no option but to chill (and get some more rest). Picked up not long after 1pm paid the bill and headed off for an ipod. Kmart, Harvey Norman and Target where I bought a new shuffle, Subway and then Coles for some food. At some point I realised I could actually make headway on the drive tomorrow, and as I really didn’t want to stay in Alice that was what I did – set off at 5pm heading south, via the backpackers for my food and a thanks to Eddie for last night. The FM radio lasted a little bit before it had to go to AM, and thank goodness I hadn’t had to do that all trip! And then, tragedy struck – a little bird on the road decided it was going to play chicken with George, and lost. Only the second death this trip though, which wasn’t too bad. Made it to Erldunda where I booked into the caravan park and got a gorgeous sunset over the land. Finished off the subway and the leftover chicken in the fridge and spent the night trying to sort out my ipod.
6 March
8am I was up and it was time to get moving. Sorted out the ipod over breaky (because any music is better than no music!) and shower and when I was leaving around 9.30am I was the last one to go. Filled up with fuel (even asked another tour bus driver where the cheapest fuel would be on the way to the rock, and apparently it was here). Drive out to King Canyon was pretty uneventful, arriving there just before 1pm. Had some lunch, stocked up on water, packed my backpack and tried to work out how I’d be going for time, considering it was a 3 hour walk, so perhaps I could do it in 2 ½. That being ok I set off. Well the first section was definitely the hardest, where you climb 100m in about 50 m distance. Not for the fainthearted! But the views were quite spectacular, and the further I went the more I was glad I’d done the walk. Really awesome canyon with so many different features. A warm day but certain sections had a really nice cool breeze blowing across. I’d taken far too much water (after running out at Cradle Mountain I wasn’t taking any chances). Natural steps everywhere, beautiful green trees growing through the rock, marks where the water had once flowed (which seemed downright impossible). Really worth the effort, and only took 2 hours. Back to the car and onto Uluru, stopping for fuel and to check the oil – all good! 70kms from the turn off and I came across an accident, with a vehicle on its roof, well sort of, as the roof was actually separated from the van. Two Asians had both walked out of the car, and a family was hanging around to help them. It was an awful sight and they were so lucky to have gotten out, as I never saw a police car before I turned off towards Uluru. So I drove on, cursing the sun for being so low, until I saw it, and it literally took my breath away. So much so I grabbed out the video camera (perhaps while I was still driving...) to shoot it. But it didn’t look like I imagined it to, and it wasn’t until further down the road I realised that was because it wasn’t. Uluru that is, it’s another great big rock sticking out of the ground - I went past the resort and then to the gates of Uluru to find out there is a park entry fee of $25 – what the hell? It did last for 3 days (fat lot of good that was going to do me!) but you just gotta lump it I guess. Paid the fees and saw the rock, and again gasped (still cursing the sun, although I think it had slowed down for me). I found the car park (I certainly wasn’t the only one there) and then a parking spot, grabbed my camera and tripod and went for a trek for the best viewing spot, which turned out to be right near where I’d parked (and very similar to the jigsaw puzzle I had). So I took way too many photos, and messed around with the exposure, and then offered the tripod to someone else to take their photos on. Oh, and somewhere along the line I found my phone, which I had dropped on my walk back from the end of the car park, thanks to a backpacker walking the other way. I tried to get photos of the rock with the stars but no such luck, so sometime after 9pm I headed out to find the campground, stopping to check with the police on the way. Got into the resort and found the petrol station (cheaper than Erldunda, not happy Jan!) and filled up before rolling into the caravan park, which was closed. A slow drive around to the back and I found a nice empty section near the ablution block. Got a message from Wayne about the cricket and found that on ABC radio (bonza) and then spent the next few hours cooking up spag bol, trying to take photos off the starts, having a shower and setting up my swag to sleep outside. It was very cool!

7 March
Awake just before 5.45am it was still pitch black and I decided I could afford to wait until my alarm went off. Unfortunately by 6am it was getting light, so an extra 15 minutes probably would have helped. Up and changed, threw the swag into George and had left by 6.20am. The sunrise was at 6.40am (apparently) so again I was trying to tell the sun to slow down. Through the checkpoint and around to the other side of the rock (which I hadn’t allowed for when considering time) where there were probably 100+ people already waiting, and getting quite light. Found a parking bay (way down the end) and trekked back with my tripod, video and camera. Past all the ‘tourists’ and to a quiet spot without much bush to interfere, just as the sun started poking it’s head up from behind us, casting it’s rays over the rock. Quite impressive, and the change in colour was quite astounding. I was there for quite a while (the second last car in the car park) before realising I could probably get a shot of the sun coming up over the back of the rock, so I hightailed it back to the car and around pas the visitors centre to get a shot just before it peaked it’s head over. Beautiful, best of both worlds! Back to the Visitors centre where I had breakfast and then headed over for a look. Changed my mind on the walk I was going to do and drove around to the Mala car park where the guided walk was taking place, but on overhearing part of it decided that I would be better off just doing the walk. So I set off, up nice and close and careful to avoid the sacred sections where you can’t take photos, which was quite a bit. Reading about the dreamtime stories of the aboriginals you could see in the rock how they can tell their story. Concerned about time I ran a couple of sections (it wasn’t far) and made the 10+ kms in just under 2 hours, which considering the stops for photos was OK. Back to George and off to Kata Tjuta which I figured I could afford a quick look of. About 7kms down the road I came across a broken down Ford and an aboriginal man trying to flag me down. Now for some unknown reason I decided that I should stop. I have never stopped for a broken down car before (car accidents, but not broken down cars) and after my recent run-in with the ‘locals’ I’m still have absolutely no idea what possessed me to slow down George and turn back around. I mean of all the places, the middle of the outback was not a good place for a single female to get out of her vehicle where there was probably no mobile service to help someone out. But I did, and wound down my window to find out what the problem was, thinking it may have overheated. No, flat battery (how do you get a flat battery when you’re driving the car???), although it was pretty broken English, and he wanted a jump start. Not particularly keen but now feeling obliged (was I the only one who had stopped, or come along this road today?) I turned around but realised I wasn’t going to be able to get off the road for him to jump start it, and not particularly wanting to leave George parked across the road I told him the jumper leads wouldn’t reach. Any water he asked, and I gave him a 1 ½ litre bottle of water I wouldn’t have drunk unless I was desperate (it was filled up for the windscreen wipers, and I don’t think it was drinkable) and ‘a sandwich’. I had a quick look, found some Rivita biscuits that had been open for a while and gave them to him (and realised later they could have had the tomatoes too, give them a bit of flavour as I would have to throw them out over the border.) I drove on, and made Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) lookout for some photos and decided against going around for a closer look in an effort to get going south. So out of the national park (with a quick stop to the check point to advise of the broken down car, so I didn’t feel quite so guilty) and refill of petrol in the resort. Thought I’d be smart and take some money out, but the card declined (strange?) so I paid cash. OK – here we come SA and Ceduna. Made a stop at Mt Connor for some photos just as a tour bus was leaving, which was good because I headed up the hill to overlook a salt lake and the real read dirt you expect to see in the outback. Not so good as they had stunk out the toilets though (perhaps they stunk before they got there...)and I realised I was missing yet another thong – probably from when I tried help that bloke out – damb it! Drove on, past the tree with the bottles and back to Erldunda, where I managed to sweet-talk my way into plugging into a power point so I could charge my phone (really to heat up my lunch!). So spag bol and back out I headed. Down the Stuart Highway and a lot of the big animals I’d been spotting were replaced with lizards and mice, although there was still the odd few horses and cows littering the road/countryside. Pulled into Kulger on the NT side of the border for fuel and got $50 worth. Went into pay, and they arse of a cashier (who was on the phone when I arrived and in no hurry to serve me) said their EFTPOS machine wasn’t working and I needed to pay in cash. I had close to the right amount, but I wasn’t going to tell him that (especially as my card had been declined earlier). Turns out the whole thing was his idea of a bad joke, and eventually he put my credit card through. So I left the Northern Territory with a very sour taste in my mouth, and that border couldn’t come quick enough. In fact I was so fuming I wasn’t even paying attention to the quality music that was on. Eventually I let it go, decided to leave it in the NT. That is a beautiful thing about long drives, it gives you a chance go get over feeling stressed/upset/frustrated before you get out of the car. The clouds had started to appear as I was leaving Kata Tjuta, and what had started as Simpson look-alikes were now getting bigger and darker, until eventually you could see the rain falling in the distance. Other than slowing down for toilet stops (and the cows crossing) I drove on until the sunset stopped me (and someone else) and I pulled over for more photos. On I drove again, finding the cricket on ABC and listening to Australia collapse similar to they way they had in the first test when I turned the radio on at Bon Bon. Concerned about roos after dusk I drove fairly carefully, however didn’t see an animal of any description (actually I think there may have been a mouse) until I reached Coober Pedy and found the caravan park at 9.45pm (they closed at 10pm.) What a drive! So I went into reception and decided to sleep underground on one of their ‘sites’. With no fridges I emptied the spag bol and yoghurt into a bag for him to refrigerate. Parking nice and close I headed down the ramp and underground. Cool! The floor was a gravelly substance and quite noisy to walk on, that and it was echoing underground. So I finally found a long corridor and plonked my swag in there. Over to the camp kitchen to cook up some soup, and listen to the backpackers try and decipher different words (what is the difference between a bloke, mate and a guy?) No hot water so I boiled the kettle to wash the dishes and played on the laptop while I ate. Then the rains started, so luckily I was in the middle of the room and only got a fine mist. Finished in there I headed back to George and decided a bit of a clean and sort out would be a good idea, so with port the only drinkable alcohol in the van I had a glass (or 2) of that while I listened to the cricket and cleaned up. It was 1am in the morning and I hadn’t thought to charge my ipod, so I headed to the bathroom for a shower and then my laptop to charge it while I did my legs. It was 2am before I made it into my swag, and listened to the echos of someone snoring before I drifted off to sleep.