Alice Springs: The First Visit

Dear Adventurous Reader,

Today we made it to Alice Springs. For the distance we have covered and how the car has been I am glad to be here, even if we did drive past Uluru for now.

Toward Alice

Wind blew in little "wind devils", moving across the highway, it was not working against us. The car forged onwards, now without the vibrations that made the baby sing yesterday. We stopped at the border for a break and some photos, the heat was present but not oppressive.

After the mucking about at Marla we all decided it would be best with the heat to get the car checked out at Alice Springs. Making our way across the desert with the heat before us and an uncertain car was not something we wanted to do.

We stopped for lunch at a roadside diner. Some of us enjoyed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, some of us tuna on rice cakes. We reluctantly got back in the car to resume the journey after lunch; our lunch stops have been getting longer.

Arrival at Alice

The mountains grew from the flatlands a few kilometres from Alice. We wound through the red rocks on the highway. Excitement was growing, we were arriving at a big town and to get out of the car. Eventually signs of civilisation grew amongst the rocks and we drove to the intersection that turned directly into Alice Springs.

We stopped the car and took a picture. We had driven all the way to Alice Springs. The car had made it. We had made it and hadn't injured many people. We could get the car looked at but it hasn't overheated today.

Camping in a Park

The rocks burnt red with the sun setting behind us. The gum leaves on the trees, which looked grey in the sun, took on a green tint as the sun went down to sleep.

The boys took delight in feeding the rock wallabies. Adeline enjoyed it too, until one made a small movement to sniff her and she got scared, and cried, and wanted her Mumma.

Meanwhile, Tony and I drove around Alice springs looking for a mechanic. We found a radiator shop but they had closed. We found a mechanic where the office clerk diagnosed a blown head gasket. I phone booked in a radiator check the next day.

We returned to camp with nothing but a little hope of a fixed car.

We stayed up a little that night. Swapping stories of previous adventures as the night deepened. The stars seemed to shine brightly as the city lights are further away in the outback and the clouds had blown away with the wind.