The red centre of Australia, Alice Springs, and thereafter Adelaide

Alice Springs and the surrounding 'red' desert met most of my expectations of high desert temperatures, and arid landscapes. A total of 11 days in the area, with a 3 day a tour to Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kings Canyon and Kata Tjuta (the Olga's) which involved 7-10kms of hiking a day at each of these spectacular sites. Camping for the 2 nights in swag bags was a new experience giving me a rare opportunity to see the night sky, thankfully unimpeded by light pollution. The tour also included visiting Uluru at sunrise and sunset, equally unforgettable experiences. Before returning to Alice Springs we had the opportunity to have a camel ride, not to be missed and very entertaining in itself with much laughter and jesting from the others!
A further 3 nights in Alice at the YHA was a chance to catch up on much lost sleep, swim in the towns surprisingly good olympic size pool and visit local places of interest, including the local control centre of the Flying Doctor Service. A short bus ride out of town to the Alice Springs Desert Park was a worthwhile visit especially the nocturnal animal house which contained many rare and endangered species of desert animals.
Alice Springs had many close links with the surrounding aborigine communities and many galleries selling their artwork, however many of the community members were homeless on the streets of Alice and a good proportion of this group had drink problems. Many of the street homeless aborigines had been rejected for many and varied reasons by their own communities out in the bush and Alice was a magnet to them.
I decided to travel to Adelaide 'the Ghan' train, a journey of 25 hours, but lightened by the fact that a couple of people from the Uluru tour were also travelling, the food was OK and we wiled away the time in the buffet car, though sleep in a recliner seat was decidedly elusive.
Stayed at the YHA in Adelaide, pretty comfortable but unfortunately next door to some of the Adelaide nightlife! Able to ring the bells at 3 out of 4 of the towers, even ringing for a wedding on the Saturday at the catholic cathedral. The ringers were a welcoming group of people who were short in number that weekend and therefore pleased for me to help out, even to the extent of chauffering me around the city to the different churches. I rang a total of 5 times over the long weekend in Adelaide and finished by ringing for a concert at St Cuthberts where I met Peter, probably the oldest ringer in the world at 100. The concert by a quartet of clarinetists from the South Australian Police Band was of a high standard and entertaining and a fitting end to my stay in Adelaide. Managed to squeeze in a trip to the Adelaide Botanical Gardens in between ringing, even taking a guided tour of the gardens with their Spring blooming.
I left for Brisbane on the earlybird flight at 06 15 on the 21st September, back to Yandina for a few days relaxation including a further visit to the observatory to view the sun, this time, before taking the train to Brisbane. Again staying at the YHA for 3 nights and the opportunity to buy some last minute things for South America, followed by an overnight stay in Sydney before flying out to South America.
Photo 1. The Flying Doctor Control Centre in Alice Springs.
Photo 2. Termite nests in the Alice Springs Desert Park.
Photo 3. A brief stop before tackling the rocky climb to the rim of Kings Canyon.
Photo 4. The dome rock formations of Kata Tjuta.
Photo 5. The 'crew' of the Rock Tour
Photo 6. Campfires and swag bag.
Photo 7. Uluru at sunrise, followed by breakfast from the 'kitchen' trailer.
Photo 8. The 'Rock Tour'bus. NB swag bags on the trailer.
Photo 9. Camel ride.
Photo 10. Post tour dinner with Isabella (Peruvian) and Tim (Netherlands) alongside the rest of the crew.
Photo 11. The excellent pool at Alice Springs.
Photo 12. The desert viewed from 'the Ghan'.
Photo 13. Midday and ready to leave for Adelaide.
Photo 14. Bluebells in the Adelaide Botanical Gardens.
Photo 15. The newly restored palm house in the gardens.
Photo 16. St Francis Xavier Catholic Cathedral, Adelaide. Rang the bells for a wedding here.
Photo 17. The separate bell tower at St Cuthberts church. Centenarian Fred on the left, with Graham, one of my chauffeurs.
Photo 18. St Peters Anglican Cathedral, Adelaide