Alice Springs to Adelaide

Friday 6 April 2007
Since Sunday I've been on a six day trip to arrive here in Adelaide. The latest tour group of thirteen comprised 3 German blokes, 2 dutch( one of each) , two Korean guys and one girl (not together) one Swiss bloke , 1 Canadian girl, two English girls, the Kiwi tour guide, known as Kiwi, and me. This time I was the oldest by quite a few years, (even decades) but I managed to keep up even if i go to bed earlier. After the last two weeks getting up at 6am now seems a luxury. We've varied between 4am and 7am but that latter was the exception. And admittedly I am pretty good at falling asleep on the bus.
From Alice springs we travelled south and west to Kings Canyon, Uluru (aka Ayers Rock) and a small mountain range known as the Olgas where we did some brilliant hiking. Uluru is no doubt the best known in Australia and to some extent suffers from tourist overload. The popular spots are the sunrise and sunset car parks where cars, coaches and trailers converge to watch the changing colours of the rock. It is allowed to climb the rock but the Aborigines , who own the land, prefer you not to, so I opted for the 9km base walk. I personally found the walk around the Olga more interesting due to the change of vista from a canyon into a view of mountains and then into a massive open plain. It gave me the greatest sense of an outback experience so far. May be because we also did it with out Kiwi leading.


After this section of the tour we moved further south to the strange tow of Coober Pedy, the opal capital of the Australia, if not the world. What makes Coober Pedy peculiar is that 70% of the people live under ground. Homes are carved out of the rock. the population is very diverse with 53 different nationalities trying their luck at making a fortune digging for opals. The temperatures can reach 50C although when we were there it was mere 29C. Our bunk house accommodation was also built under ground.

Talking of accommodation I've spent 3 nights sleeping outside in a swag. (That's a roll up canvas bag with a mattress sewn in, into which you put your own sleeping bag.) Even on the one or two quite cool nights I felt very warm and cosy while looking up into the moon and stars.

On the way down we stopped at a salt lake where they carry out explosive tests and the town of Woomera which used to be the UK/Australian missile and rocket testing base. Its still controlled by the military but much reduced in population from its hey day in the 60's.

In the latter part of the trip we went on various walks in the Flinders Range. the most impressive sight being the Mount Ohlsen Bagge, on the rim of the crater known as the Wilpenda Pound, approximately 500sq kms.
We've also seen more wild life since leaving Alice; wild camels, poisonous snakes, eagles, emus and of course, kangaroos.

Last night we stayed in a town called Parachilna, with a permanent population of 6, but popular with weekenders from Adelaide. The main features are the railway line which is used daily by a coal train, purported to be the longest in the world - a massive 186 trucks and 2.8kms long, which takes 3-4 minutes to pass by.

The other feature is the hotel bar where I had another enjoyable session chatting to some Aussie tourists, Kiwi and the rest of the group. And as the hotel sign says camel, emu and kangaroo are on the menu! Australia, the only country that eats its flag.

This afternoon we've arrived in Adelaide. I have the luxury of a ensuite bathroom for two nights before I fly to Cairns on Sunday to start another episode. Tomorrow I have to decide whether to watch the international rugby sevens at the Adelaide Oval , or look around the city. I'll let you know what I do.

Finally, thanks for all the comments I'm receiving. Keep them coming.