Thursday morning we packed up, checked out and had a couple of hours to fill in before we caught the coach to Alice Springs. We walked up to the Town Square and brought a few souvenirs, then went up to Sails in the Desert to walk around the Gardens there, had some lunch there before heading back to Desert Gardens and just chilled out for a bit and read our books till the coach arrived. It was only half full, so we had a seat each, and with the big windows it was lovely being driven through the desert. It was a 6 hour trip, around 470km, so quite a distance. We had a stop at Curtin Springs- a Station about an hour from Uluru, we could see Mt Connor- which does look a bit look Uluru from the distance but has a flat top. Then it was 2 hours to the Stuart Highway where we stopped at the Erldunda Road House ( stopping off beforehand to meet the King Canyon coach which took some of our passengers). Then it was another 2 hours to Alice Springs, all with a commentary some of the way with a character of a bus driver. So by 7:30pm we were in our rooms at the Mercure Hotel in Alice Springs.
The print in our room
Time for a few last photos before heading to Alice Springs
The lovely ghost gums at Sails in the Desert
Curtin Springs- on route to Alice Springs
The sunset from the bus in the desert
Friday morning it was a chilly 2 degrees in the morning but clear and sunny and warmed up to around 21 degrees so was rather pleasant. We had a room each here which was nice. After breakfast at the hotel, I walked across the Todd River- the dry river beds throughout the area were amazing- and picked up our hire car for the next few days. We went to the visitors centre, got our bearings and had a little walk around then headed out to the Alice Springs Desert Park about 8km out of Alice. It had various areas of different vegetation, animals, aviaries, birds and a bird show. We watched and introductory film and then headed out into the park. They had electric scooters you could hire for a $10 donation, so convinced mum to hire one. She hadn't used one before but took to it like a duck to water! Made it a lot less tiring for her and we were able to get around the whole park.
The Todd River
Mum on her electric scooter- she loved it!
Love the red sand and blue skies
A splendid fairy wren
The stunning back drop of the Macdonnell Ranges
Salt Pan
One of many dry river beds
The Desert Park Bird Show
On the way back to Alice Springs we went up to the ANZAC Lookout which gave great views of Alice Springs.
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