The red centre - Alice and Uluru

Alice Springs is situated pretty much in the centre of Australia, surrounded by mountains and deserts. Flying there from Adelaide and then back to Sydney, you see vast areas of red nothingness crossed by the occasional track and creek. However, we were in for a surprise when we landed as "the red centre" had turned green! Alice Springs has been experiencing a series of rainstorms, the first rain for 2 years, causing the rivers to flood and everything to spring into life. It was amazing to see the speed at which things can grow and the variety of flowering plants, desperate to produce seed while they have the chance.

Alice was built originally as a telegraph station linking Adelaide to the far north, but has grown into a sizeable town. It is the first place we have been since Cairns where the Aboriginal people have been so apparent around the town and though the two communities seem to live parallel lives, we saw several signs of cooperation. Among other things, a lot of the art work produced by local indigenous communities is sold in Alice Springs in cooperatives as well as in more upmarket galleries. We spent our first day wandering round town looking at the art work, booking a trip to Uluru and then wading back through the river to our motel.

Next morning it was up early to start our trip. Having limited time and with unpredictable weather and road conditions we ended up with a two day tour, which was not what we would have chosen, but can't complain! We drove the first 250 km in a coach before transferring to a minibus with six other people and a very enthusiastic tour guide who drove us a further 200 km to King's Canyon in the George Gill range. There we spent the rest of the day walking the 6 km round the rim of the canyon. The temperature was in the low 30s and a clear blue sky, so it was hot climbing over the rocks.
However, the views were beautiful and we saw various lizards and loads of flowering plants, such as the desert tomato and the chocolate acacia.

We spent that night at a roadhouse owned by the Aborigines but run by white Australians. It was the only building for miles, but had all we needed - most importantly a hot shower to wash off the dust!

We were picked up next morning by the coach which was chauffered by two extremely knowledgeable and amusing guides. We were taken first to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), four humps pushed up out of the ground millions of years ago, and then on to Uluru (Ayer's rock). Both places are sacred to the local Aborigine tribes and the national park is run by a group of indigenous and non-indigenous people. Uluru means meeting place and the caves and waterholes around the base provided food and shelter and a place where they could come together and celebrate.
It is a place that has its own mystique and significance for all who come there, though I have to admit that it was lessened for me by having to trail after 40 other people and having it portioned out by someone else. We ended up at the sunset viewing place where our guides provided us with champagne and a barbecue. There we sat together with hundreds of other people waiting for the setting sun to shine on the Rock - how bizarre? However, the champagne helped us to see the funny side, particularly as there was no sunset - the sky was covered in clouds! After a 5 hour coach trip back to Alice we sank gratefully into bed.

Our last day in Alice we spent at the desert park, which shows the fauna and flora living and growing in desert sands, desert river and woodland areas - very interesting. Afterwards we happened on a posthumous exhibition of a well-known aboriginal painter who started painting in his 80s and lived to be 100 years old. His family, friends and art critics were gathered there to celebrate his work.

We are now back in Sydney for our last couple of days in Australia. We are staying with Kirstin, who has finished her masters with distinction. We've had a great time here, travelled over 18,000 km, seen lots of amazing things and met so many interesting people. I hope one day we can come back. Tomorrow we take the plane to Bangkok and then on to Hanoi and a new adventure!