ALICE SPRINGS

After another half day on the train, today, we finally arrived in Alice Springs, the famous Outback town. However, we were so exhausted from the whole journey, that we could no longer see the city. So we stayed at our hotel for the rest of the day.

Today, on the second day, we finally went to see the city. Although Alice Springs is in the middle of the desert and quite far away from other metropolises, the city - especially the inner city - seems very lively and is surprisingly green for the Outback. In the afternoon we went to the Alice Springs School of the Air Visitor Centre. It is one of the most famous sights you can experience right in the city. And it is interesting to hear the stories of the children who live here in the Outback. In the past, the School of the Air was much harder to get into and the children from the Outback were very uneducated. When the school of the air was introduced, it was only on the radio at first, but of course it's much more modern now. The School of the Air is like a huge classroom in which students are spread over 1.3 million square kilometers.

After we hardly did anything yesterday and we only looked around a bit in the city, we decided to do a very exciting tour to the famous Uluru today. We were picked up early in the morning and then had breakfast with our tour group in Erldunda. Around noon we arrived in the Uluru-kata-Tjuta-national park. During the walk in this national park, you could already see the Uluru and the whole tour group started to take photos - like us. When we finally got to the base of Uluru, we took part in a guided walk. it was very interesting because, for example, we passed parts of the mountain where there were rock paintings. After a dinner with the traveling group, we drove back to Alice springs in the dark.

After the one-day tour to Uluru yesterday, we were so exhausted today that we just hung out at the hotel.
Today we used the day to observe two sun spectacles: in the morning we got up before sunrise and did the so-called Outback Ballooning. We could watch the sunrise and animals like kangaroos, hippos and camels from the air at the same time. That was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life. And in the evening, we rode on such camels in the middle of the sunset. That was so cool. Only we had a few problems getting on the camel at first because we always fell off when the camel went up. Nevertheless it’s a great experience, you have to do it if you go to Alice Springs.

Today, on our last day in Alice Springs, we went camping to finish this place of stay. but not just anywhere: we camped in rainbow valley. This was honestly a great farewell, because at sunset it is a beautiful spectacle of colors.

RAINBOW VALLEY

We decided to spend a few more days at rainbow valley. It's too beautiful here and unlike Alice Springs, it's right in the desert. We spent the day hiking around the mountain today. In the evening we had a kind of picnic and a unique view of the night sky.

There are two walks in Rainbow Valley, the one kilometer Mushroom Rock Walk and the one mile Claypan Walk. The Mushroom Rock Walk leads to a rock of Aboriginal significance and features rock art. It is a relaxed and short walk.

Today was the second day in the rainbow valley. We slept in long and decided to to the Mushroom Rock Walk after our breakfast. In the afternoon we prepared a campfire, which we made in the evening.

Today, on the last day in the outback, we got up before sunrise to get a glimpse of the rainbow rocks during the claypan walk. Unfortunately it was very cloudy, so we neither saw the sunset nor had much play of colors during the sunrise. The path was nice anyway, because it leads along a dried-up lake. After we ate dinner with a beautiful view of the stars, we packed our bags.

This Morning, we ate breakfast before leaving the campsite to go to Alice Springs Airport.


-Luise