Uluru

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A portion of Uluru viewed from the base walk

A portion of Uluru viewed from the base walk

Of course the main draw of central Australia is Uluru – one of the largest bornhardt formations in the world and a sacred site for the local aboriginal people. I decided to do a 10-day group tour from Alice Springs to visit Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon, Devils Marbles, Katherine Gorge, Mary River, Kakadu NP, and Litchfield NP, finally ending in Darwin in plenty of time to begin my new job. While I would have loved to do this trip on my own as a massive road trip, after adding up all the costs I just couldn’t justify it – it would have been nearly triple the price to do it alone. Of course there are benefits to the tour – being able to sleep during long drives, not worrying about getting lost or finding an appropriate place to sleep, etc., but I definitely realized that my personality and travel style does not lend itself well to being in such close quarters with so many strangers for such a long time. It was a massive relief to be done with the tour and back in a private bedroom, despite how beautiful and exciting everything I saw was.

Anyway, the first stop on this 10-day tour was the magnificent Uluru. We did a little bit of walking around the base (of course we did not climb up it) and heard creation stories about different features on the rock.

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Olive Pink Botanic Gardens

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White Flowers on Meyers Hill at Olive Pink Botanic Garden in Alice Springs

White Flowers on Meyers Hill at Olive Pink Botanic Garden in Alice Springs

After my amazing two months traveling and working in Queensland, I flew to Alice Springs – nearly in the dead center of Australia. The dry weather and dusty environment almost instantly started to bother my skin and respiratory system, but I bucked up and did a bit of sightseeing around town. One of the best things I saw was the Olive Pink Botanic Gardens – a surprisingly colorful spot despite the arid desert setting.

There are loads of bright birds, including galahs, babblers, grey shrike-thrush, willy wagtails, and ringnecks. Of course, there are tons of flowers and trees as well! It’s well worth an hour or two to walk around, but make sure you wear good shoes! The pathways are not flip-flop friendly, as I learned the hard way.

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