Alice Springs and Ayers Rock

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Even though getting to the Red Centre isn't cheap am really glad we included it in our trip as I really felt was getting to see a different side to Australia away from the beaches and big cities. Alice Springs is the sort of place that as everyone says 'captures the imagination' and  having loved the book 'A Town Like Alice' I was really interested to see exactly what the famous outback town was like. We arrived on a sunday and to be honest I have to admit my initial impression was that the place was somewhat eerie as it seemed deserted. That was everywhere other than our hotel pool and bar which was rammed full of local people....obviously where everyone hung out on their day off! We only had a couple of days in Alice Springs but even by the time we'd left I had seen it in a different light as the place seemed to spring to life (if you excuse the cheesy pun!). We filled our time there seeing some of the local sights like Anzac Hill and The Royal Flying Doctors visitor centre and also visited the excellent Desert Park which is probably the chief visitor attraction there. The visit to the Flying Doctors was probably the highlight for me as it gave great insight into the role they play in outback communities across Australia. Desert Park was fantastic but also made me aware that the whole fly problem was worse than I had expected and couldn't be ignored! Yes I had to get one of those lovely fly nets at Ayers Rock or otherwise would never have even seen the Rock with all the jumping up and down in vain trying to escape the swarm of flies! yes...it was that bad...apparantly this was the worse time of year for them.

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We stayed in nice Apartments on the Ayers Resort and although it is very expensive it was nice to be near all the shops and not having to camp in the heat! We visited Uluru at both sunrise and sunset and enjoyed the latter more although both Sam and I were dissapointed not to get that perfect picture as contrary to what we expected at the main viewing points you don't see the sun rise or set behind the Rock but instead its behind you and you are meant to be wowed by the changing light on Uluru etc...yes that is nice but i wanted a postcard worthy picture!!! No don't get me wrong it was still a great experience and was very glad to have visited there as it is a special place, somewhere I would definitely like to visit again....maybe next time not in fly season though! We also visited Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) for sunset and both of us couldn't fathom how we had heard so little about it as they are even larger than Uluru and I would argue just as impressive if not more so and its lack of fame compared to Uluru has to be put down to being one of life's mysteries. During our time at the Resort we also went to the 'Night Sky Show' at the Ayers Rock Observatory where were very lucky to have a very clear evening to see the stars. I hadn't realised how many more stars you could see in the Southern hemisphere in addition to the fact that the sky there is not dulled by the lights of any big cities or anything being so far from anything. Both Alice Spring and the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park were unlike any other of the places I visited on my trip and was very glad to have seen them as it without doubt greatly added to my Australian experience!