December 20
The bus ride from Uluru to Alice springs was quite comfortable. The bus was new, nicely air conditioned and the drivers gave us all kinds of interesting talks during the ride. We stopped several times, either to switch buses or take breaks and, boy, is it remote out there.
One thing that is absolutely stunning about the Outback is that the sky is just a different shade of blue. It is the most intense blue I have ever seen, and I can only assume it is because there is no air pollution and smog in the area.
Alice Springs is an interesting little town. It is exactly in the middle of Australia. And the other thing we learned from a cab driver later is that it is completely surrounded by mountains, except for one entrance, which is why it was a significant position for the Aboriginals who settled here. It is also one of the hottest towns. Average high in the summer is 36 C/96F but they do get some rain, way more than Uluru as Alice is closer to the wet, tropical North. It actually poured down as our flight was trying to take off the next day. After we got into Alice, we just walked a few blocks to the nearest Steak House (or I should just say the nearest restaurant because Alice doesn't have that many, the town only has 30,000 inhabitants). Our flight was supposed to leave at 11am the next morning, so Alice was really only meant to be quick stop. At the hotel on wi-fi, we realized that Qantas had canceled that flight and moved everyone to a 5pm flight they had created instead. So, suddenly we had an entire day to spend in Alice Springs which we hadn't prepared for. Not the easiest thing to do in a town that small, let me tell you.
December 21
We set out on a small hike up to the ANZAC memorial (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), from which we had a stunning view of the city.
After we got back down, which took all of 5 min, we walked across town to the Reptile Center of Alice Springs to spend some time there. It's a cute little place that features a bunch of native lizards and snakes, and even a crocodile. They also had a short handling show where the keepers give you several animals to hold. Matt always went first and then I did it. They started us out with a blue-tongued Skink, which felt really soft, cold and slippery.
Then they gave Matt a bearded dragon. Those guys are really cute and always look so attentive.
Next up was a good sized olive python. The handler put her around Matt's shoulders where it did just fine.
But when she gave her to me, she ended up wrapped around my neck and started constricting me more than was comfortable. So as I was turning bright red, I asked the handler if she could keep the snake from killing me, which she did by placing her around my shoulder instead of my neck.
This is where it got a bit dicey.
It was a great experience, though, to hold such a large and completely docile snake. After seeing this poster, I was still convinced Australia just wants to kill you.
After our reptile adventure, it was still only like noon and we had another 4h to kill before we'd have to be at the airport, which was only a 15min drive away. So we walked around downtown Alice Springs some more and had lunch at a place called The Rock Bar.
I innocently ordered the burger not realizing this would end up being the most amazing burger I have ever eaten in my entire life.
We took off from Alice Springs airport in the pouring rain....fitting as this was the beginning of our trip to the wet North of Australia.
The bus ride from Uluru to Alice springs was quite comfortable. The bus was new, nicely air conditioned and the drivers gave us all kinds of interesting talks during the ride. We stopped several times, either to switch buses or take breaks and, boy, is it remote out there.
One thing that is absolutely stunning about the Outback is that the sky is just a different shade of blue. It is the most intense blue I have ever seen, and I can only assume it is because there is no air pollution and smog in the area.
Alice Springs is an interesting little town. It is exactly in the middle of Australia. And the other thing we learned from a cab driver later is that it is completely surrounded by mountains, except for one entrance, which is why it was a significant position for the Aboriginals who settled here. It is also one of the hottest towns. Average high in the summer is 36 C/96F but they do get some rain, way more than Uluru as Alice is closer to the wet, tropical North. It actually poured down as our flight was trying to take off the next day. After we got into Alice, we just walked a few blocks to the nearest Steak House (or I should just say the nearest restaurant because Alice doesn't have that many, the town only has 30,000 inhabitants). Our flight was supposed to leave at 11am the next morning, so Alice was really only meant to be quick stop. At the hotel on wi-fi, we realized that Qantas had canceled that flight and moved everyone to a 5pm flight they had created instead. So, suddenly we had an entire day to spend in Alice Springs which we hadn't prepared for. Not the easiest thing to do in a town that small, let me tell you.
December 21
We set out on a small hike up to the ANZAC memorial (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), from which we had a stunning view of the city.
But when she gave her to me, she ended up wrapped around my neck and started constricting me more than was comfortable. So as I was turning bright red, I asked the handler if she could keep the snake from killing me, which she did by placing her around my shoulder instead of my neck.
I innocently ordered the burger not realizing this would end up being the most amazing burger I have ever eaten in my entire life.
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