Gapview Resort Alice Springs

... 4 hostels and one campsite, but they are all run by the same company, so they can basiclly chage stupid amounts of money for rooms etc!!!<br>I stayed in the cheapest, which is linked to the YHA! So I spent the night there before being picked up by my tour on the Wedensday!!!<br><br>So there I was waiting on the Tour on Weds morning, all excited trying to imagine what fun to be had hiking various rock formations and canions in 40 degree heat when a rickety old bus pull up ...

... 2 &#8211; 3 hours. We ended up opening up the back door of our camper van and laid in bed watching the lightning strikes until the rain started &#8211; it was spectacular. <br> <br>On November 3rd, we didn't get to see the Melbourne Cup live, but did watch it on TV at Erldunda &#8211; a roadhouse at the junction of the Stuart and Lasseter highways. The next morning we were up early to travel to Uluru (Ayers Rock). As we drove along the road we could see the ochre ...

... Every Australian that heard me talk, called me a Yankee! I had to explain to them that I'm from California- not NY! It didn't make much difference to them! Finally the night came to a close...on my way out, this Irish girls mother told me that I "restored her faith in Americans". I thought that was pretty cool. Considering the world thinks we are loud and ignorant, I thought that was a nice compliment! She hugged me repeatedly too. Very sweet. Next day...fly to Brisbane to see Mandy!!

So away I flew to Alice Springs for the weekend- where I successfully managed to totally detox from alcohol and coffee for the weekend!<br>Alice Springs is a pretty cool place, but very small! I had a lot of fun playing with lizards at the reptile centre and going for a walk 'up the road' to the cultural precint. 5 hours later I was back at the hostel passed out!<br>There's lots and lots of aboriginal culture ...

... of sleeping, a bit of fun introducing ourselves to the rest of the group and we were at our first destination King's Canyon. The first hike through the sandstone cliffs and rocks and rugged terrain of the Lost City was absolutely beautiful and a good start for the group to somehow get to know each other. Before getting to Curtain Springs and setting up camp for the night in the middle of the bush, we stopped and all collected firewood for the night. At ...

... last night anyway was an elderly lady two rows up who snored so loudly she kept us all counting sheep well past lights out. How she managed not to inhale her blanket with all that loud racket is beyond any scientific explanation. A stationary train for five hours means no soothing clickety clack background noise to mute the snoring and the constant banging of the restroom doors. <br><br>Then around 4am some elderly French couple's travel alarm ...

Ursprünglich hatte ich vorgesehen, dass ich während acht Tagen durchs Outback zurück nach Adelaide reise. Leider wurde diese Tour um zwei Tage gekürzt und so hatte ich etwas Zeit in Alice Springs. Am ersten Tag nahm ich's eher ruhig, d.h. ganz wenig Sightseeing, die gemütlichen, kleinen Kaffees in Todd Mall geniessen und dabei etwas Routenplanung machen. Am Abend besuchte ich eine gute Didgeridoo-Show. <br><br>In meinem letzten Mail habe ich geschrieben es sei rund 30°C. Wie ...

... and a group sang happy birthday to me over the canyon which was great. I have met some great people from all over the world and now have plans to visit them. Not much happened up to darwin but stopped off at famous pubs and landmarks. It was real hot and slept under the stars most nights of the trip. Its so claer and you can see the milky way on real clear nights. <br><br>Kakadu was brilliant played the ...

... to swirl......see.... "Nope not at all my dear but you keep on...its obviously pains you as much as us...so lets continue in this pointless demonstration just for the hell of it" The secret booth behind the cinema screen deserved nothing less then our full pointless attention. <br><br>We then have a 'tour' of the mine. <br>We are ushered room to room of awful decor (showing the ways the mines converted int homes) and the occasional manikin with a ...

... We did 2 climbs today. The short climb was the Kalarranga Lookout. The long climb was to the &#8220;top&#8221; of Palm Valley which was obviously amazing. Although both of the climbs definitely required effort, neither was extremely tiring, but it was still exercise.<br><br> I&#8217;m not sure about tonight (I think good US TV) or tomorrow (maybe half ...