Dead Smack in the Centre of Oz!

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I arrived mid-day in Alice Springs via the Ghan train. I really had no idea in what to expect for central Australia. But, you think living that far away from everyone else would be a tough existence. Yet, 27,000 people are out here - surviving the heat (often above 40 degrees) and the isolation. From what I can gather the majority of the town survives on tourism - and about 500,000 people come here every year - so that is a lot. I was fortunate enough to meet Kirsty on my Contiki trip who is a resident of Alice Springs. Sweet. Kirsty gave me the quick tour of town - which included a few supermarkets, a theatre, a K-mart, an outdoor mall, some random stores, and the Todd River (which is flowing for the first time in 10 years due to the recent rain!). The town itself is pretty simple, but quite spread out. We did go to her friend's birthday party on the night I arrived and I met some pretty faithful locals that obviously love the town as they will return once they finish university (which I think says a lot about the town!).

At the desert park - these are mounds that termites build.
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I had one day to explore Alice - and I hit up the Desert Park. Basically I got to walk through various terrains that you would find in the desert, as well as learn about vegetation and various species that inhabit the land. A really cool part was checking out the nocturnal house - which housed tons of nocturnal animals and reptiles. I didn't like seeing the snakes. But, there are tons of cute furry animals unique to the outback - and some are endangered due to the introduction of the rabbit and fox with European settlement.

Pretty much in the middle of nowhere!

Pretty flower in the desert.
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BUT, my favourite part of the park was visiting the kangaroos. There was basically a natural area walkway that you could enter that allowed you to be up, close, and personal with them without a fence in between. I loved it. And, the park was pretty quiet so I had lots of time to just watch them chill out in the shade. One did hop right towards me and sniff my leg. I kept envisioning getting kicked over with their huge feet - but they seemed pretty harmless and tame. And, yes another cheesy tourist moment - but they are so cute how could I not take a billion photos of them?!

I watched a film at the desert park about how the red centre was formed - including a mountain range. The best part of the movie was when it ended on a shot of a particular mountain range - then the screen lowered and you were looking at the exact same piece in real life.
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During my stay in Alice I booked a 2 day tour to go visit Uluru (Ayers Rock), the Olgas, and Kings Canyon...can't wait! And, the weather is perfect - no clouds - just how I imagined the outback.