Alice

So I've made it to Alice Springs. I flew in yesterday from cold, wet Sydney at around 1pm.

I was kinda freaking out being is Alice. On Sunday morning I was in Canberra, on Sunday night I was in Sydney by Monday arvo I was in Central Australia in Alice Springs. Planes are strange things. I have no idea how far I flew yesterday, but how I managed to get from Sydney to the middle of the Australian in desert in four hours has kinda baffled me.

On arrival Mum, Andrew and Hannah took me to Glen Helen which is a place with tall cliffs and a rock pool. This part of the world, I have discovered, has the most spectacular scenery. Lots of huge red cliffs, red dirt and dull green scrubbary. It's amazing to travel around, and even more fun to drive around in a big, powerful Land Cruiser called Mayhem. The Uncle and Aunt have lent us their 4WD for the trip and it's big and fun, I got to drive it a little.

Last night I slept outside in a swag. Everyone had been telling me that I should do it because they had their most comfortable night's sleep ever in a swag. So feeling a little jolly and lot like a man, I carried my swag out to Keith and Stella's backyard to sleep under the stars. The great thing about this part of the world is there is no dew, it doesn't rain and the stars are brilliant. Plus, I've been told that Keith and Stella's property is at the foot of the oldest mountain range in the world* and that the mountains used to be higher than Everest. Which is kinda like the geological equivalent of living next door to Ringo Starr.

Anyway, the sleep wasn't the most comfortable I'd ever had. It wasn't bad, just not amazing. I was a bit cold, and I got woken up by some stray cows at one point. But still, now I can say I've slept out under the stars at the feet of Mt Ringo. And not many people in the world can say that.

Tomorrow we're off on a three day trip to see Uluru (Ayers Rock for those who don't know) which, I have heard, has been the most debated and contentious issue of this whole road trip. But we're planned now and there are three of us going and I'm excited. Many hours in Mayhem and a big rock that's world famous, what more could you want?


*Wikipedia tells me the the oldest mountain range in the world is the Urals in Russia. So either the Urals stretch all the way to Alice Springs or someone has their facts wrong.