Arriving at Uluru

The first sight of Uluru is always a awesome experience in the true sense of the word. This time was no different and despite our long drive we went straight to it to take it in. SV was a bit less thrilled than the rest of us, but she did manage to have some fun. The clouds provided some dramatic photographs for us and we had the entire car park to ourselves, well almost, there were lots of flies some of which made it into the photographs. Eventually we went and found our accommodation and got out of the heat to relax a bit. SV really liked her room and kept playing the close the door game.

Kings Canyon hike

We woke up quite early for a hike around Kings Canyon which is a spectacular cliff formation. Of course this meant getting up before the sun to not only see the sunrise but also (mainly) to beat the heat. By the time we got to the canyon it was already over 32C at 6am and by the time we finished the hike at 8:30am it was already getting close to 38C on it's way to a nice warm 43C. On days when the temperature is over 35C the rangers close the walk after 9am because of potential health risk. KT and SV started the hike but SV was too uncomfortable on the very steep ascent. She and KT ended up doing a less harrowing but no less spectacular hike through the centre of the canyon. TV and Richie continued the hike and manage to take in the views although the waterhole in the middle was a bit too dirty for a swim which was a bit disappointing.

After the hike we all met up and made a quick dash to the hotel for a shower before making the 305km trip to Uluru. SV didn't mind another long drive too terribly because she got to watch some of her shows while riding in the air conditioned car. For lunch we stopped at a rest stop owned by a real Northern Territory character and SV got to see a goanna of some sort. We had 'hamburgers' which tasted suspiciously like camel, but they were tasty so we didn't mind.

Camels on the way

Departing Alice Springs we had a short 470km drive to Kings Canyon, but luckily there were a couple of fun stops along the way. Although it was still quite a long day in the car. We did stop at the camel farm so that we could look at, ride and eat a camel. Pretty much all in the span of 20 minutes. SV liked the camels and the galahs. The camels scared her a little bit though. Eventually we made it to Kings Canyon just in time to unpack and have a look at a spectacular sunset before heading off to bed.

The pool and casino

In the late afternoon we finally left the air conditioned house to go have a dip in the rather warm pool which had a swim up bar. We had a great time having a drink and splashing around. Inevitably though the clash of the titans happened between the Giant Squid and King Prawn. For dinner we went to Lasseter Casino since we had never been there before on our previous visits. SV enjoyed it because she had lots to do, and she generally seems to like sitting in booths when eating.

Alice Springs getaway

We decided to finish the year off in the same way as we brought it in, which is to say travelling. We have been lucky to take as many trips as we had this year, it has been fantastic. SV has been able to do so much in the past year, and really in her two short years.

Back to Alice Springs, our friend Mat lives there so we started out by going to see him but then we decided since Richie hasn't been in the Red Centre before we should go and see Kings Canyon, Uluru and Kata Tjuta (stay tuned for more on this). We spent the first couple of days in Alice with Mat when he wasn't working including this fine morning walk to the cafe. We had a very eventful day on the Todd Mall as can only happen in the Northern Territory. SV managed to find a couple of plastic animals to play with including a horse showing off cowboy gear and a bunch of kangaroos pulling Santa's sleigh (again only in the Northern Territory). SV also wanted to go to the playground but it was so hot (43C or 109.4F in the shade) that the equipment was too hot to play on for the most part. She did manage for a while though.

Anna, Simon and Baby Kate

We had a chance to catch up with our good friends Anna, Simon and their new baby Kate. Anna and Simon moved to Hong Kong from Sydney a few years ago and we just missed them when we did our around the world trip with SV last time. So it was very good to finally catch up with them, and to introduce the two little people. SV was quite interested in Kate and was really good with her. Although her meal was almost as important, especially the babycino.