Wombat came out from his bath singing his brand new rap song: Im a water bottle, Im a water bottle, you can shake me because Im not cola fanta sprite, Im a water bottle hahaha inspired by water bottle #Clever ball.
Because the start time of our Alice Springs / Uluru tour didn’t really line up conveniently with the flights, we decided to fly into Alice Springs a day early. I have to say, the airport really has character, very unique! Just a quick tip for anyone traveling here: if it’s only two of you, better take shuttle bus, which costs 23 AUD per person. We assumed a taxi would be cheaper since it will be to a destination, they don’t care how many passengers are inside #Not true! It cost us 56 AUD, not to mention we actually had to call them. Since both of us only had eSIMs, we had to ask our Good Samarita: Joe.
Made it to Greet Hotel Alice Springs (formerly known as the Diplomat Hotel), headed straight to Coles to buy four 1.5L bottles of water after being convinced by our receptionist, Rishma. She said we needed to drink 3L a day. The air is so dry, you don’t actually feel thirsty, which is why she often sees tourists fainting on the side of the road. We don’t want to be that tourist, do we? After that, we popped into Kmart to buy a backpack for Dom, then I had a massive lunch at an Indonesian restaurant #We are everywhere!
Later that evening, while walking toward the main road, we suddenly heard someone shout, “Dominik!” There was no one else around us, they must meant my Wombat. We turned toward the voice, it was Joe & his gang! What a nice gesture he still remembered us 🙂
- You made it to the hotel! said him
- Ah yeah, the guy from the airport! followed his friends ~ whom I later learned were named Reese and Oliver
- I replied: Thanks to you Joe, for being right there when we needed you! 🙂
We chatted for a bit. They were visiting from Brisbane for a work trip. When I told him what our evening plans were, he immediately advised against it: “No, kids, don’t walk around here. It’s better if you just eat and sleep.” #Message received.
Day 1 – Ryan from Adventure Tours picked us up at 06:20AM
The day kicked off with solely one pickups after the other, followed by a 6.5-hour drive toward Ayers Rock Airport. We made a few stops, but nothing major since we’ll see them again on the last day. Curtin Springs was a hit for anyone wanting alcohol, though I was way more excited to see “Fuluru” (#Fake Uluru) before we headed to the campsite for lunch.
With some free time before reaching final pick up at the airport, we strolled over to Ewing Lookout ~ are we back to Dom’s old apartment? haha
While we were there, a Polish couple approached us and asked, “Guys, is it possible that you were having lunch yesterday at Indonesian restaurant because I heard you guys speaking German to each other but then you spoke Indonesian to the waiter?” Turns out, they were there too, sitting at the very next table! What are the odds? #Big, as the options for eating in Alice Spring wasn’t that much 😀
Our first stop after picking everyone up from the Ayers Rock Airport was heading to a lookout at Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). Mind you, there were many flies flying straight to our face.
For our last stop of the day, we enjoyed some snacks while watching the sunset many meters away “in front of” Ayers Rock.
Afterward, we drove back to the campsite for dinner and set up our sleeping arrangements. I chose a swag because it was the cheaper option and when I googled it beforehand, it didn’t look that bad since it had a built-in net. In reality, it really wasn’t like the pictures!!! It was basically just a rolled-up mattress on the ground. We all had sleeping bags, but the swag got so dusty due to we were literally sleeping directly on the 地上
We found a clear spot on the ground and all slept next to each other. In total, we had 12 people sleeping out whereas 12 people in.
I actually managed to sleep soundly until 3:00 AM, when I was suddenly woken up by the freezing cold! Dom, on the other hand, had had enough, he decided to upgrade himself to “Business Class”
The one of lifetime Erfahrung continues…..
Link for our Tour: Uluru Tour with Kata Tjuta & Kings Canyon (Swag) | Adventure Tours Australia