On my last venture out of Sydney I managed a short trip to the Nothern Territory. Alice Springs, located in the southern part of the state, is about 3 1/2 hours away from Sydney by plane and is one of the strangest places i’ve ever been to. It’s in the middle of nowhere, absolutely tiny and doesn’t really offer anything. It’s incredibly expensive as shops there can charge what they want because there’s just no competition. Bojangles saloon is a decent place for a beer and some food. The northern territory does have the biggest beer bottles i have ever come across, the 2 litre NT draught just has to be seen. We wanted to watch the Utd v Arsenal game and i had kinda given up hope of getting to see it as the place is as far removed from civilisation as possible. But we got to see it out at the casino, about 5 minutes outside town. Even though there was no commentary, the game was enjoyable. A point was a fair result but i was gutted at leaving in a last minute goal like that.
At 6am on Sunday morning we got the bus to Ayers Rock. Uluru is 5 hours drive from the Alice so you have to leave early. It was actually freezing cold and drizzling rain, something one doesn’t associate with central Australia. Ayers Rock itself is great and really interesting to learn about its hisory and meaning to the aboriginal people. The locals dont like people climbing it but i reckon i was gonna give it a shot. The wind and rain meant the climb was closed though. A sunset view on the rock is certainly amazing and i’m glad i got that in.
2 days in the Alice and Uluru is enough in my opinion. Its probably more fun in Darwin and Kakadu so I’ll definitely head back to NT. Now, off to the Melbourne Cup for some serious gambling!!