I am now in Darwin, relaxing at the pool, doing my laundry which is really necessary. I nearly ran out of clothes and they are all slightly reddish-brown.
Adelaide to Alice Springs
My first tour started early in the morning at 6.30 and I better got used to it as this or even earlier was the normal starting time. Thist first part of the trip to the Red centre was basically a bus drive to get from one place to the other with some stops on the way. The bus was quite ok and our tour guide a real blast. A typical Aussie guy that was really passionate about the
outback and passed his enthusiasm to us. It was really amazing to see the changes of the scenery, where on the way less and less vegetation could be seen and the trees and grass gave way bit by bit to the characteristic red sand. One of our first stops was at the shore of a dried out salt lake that have been created when the ocean still reached way land inward. It was amazing to see the contrast of colours of the white of the dried out lake that streched out as fas as the blue horizon and was surrounded by red sand with view green spots of tough plants that resit the hard living conditions of the semi desert.
outback and passed his enthusiasm to us. It was really amazing to see the changes of the scenery, where on the way less and less vegetation could be seen and the trees and grass gave way bit by bit to the characteristic red sand. One of our first stops was at the shore of a dried out salt lake that have been created when the ocean still reached way land inward. It was amazing to see the contrast of colours of the white of the dried out lake that streched out as fas as the blue horizon and was surrounded by red sand with view green spots of tough plants that resit the hard living conditions of the semi desert. We spend the night in Coober Pedy, the Opal Capital of the World. After having visited the Opal mine, we passed the night in an underground hostal that was digged into the mountain. Most of the housing is done this way in this mining city as it provides natural shade during the heat of the day and warmth at night. Apart from his mining history and the strange accumulation of nationalities (47 different onces) and adventurers that bought 50 sqm land to dig for Opals there was not much to see.
The next morning we started again early and hit the road, another 800 km to do. Our route drove us by the longest man made structure which sound quite amazing, but is in fact only a Dingo fence, very long though but not as impressive as for example the Great Wall of China (sorry Aussies). We passed by interesting rock formation as for example one that is called the "two dingos" and really looks a bit like two dogs sitting cl0se together. And then there was of course the red sand, and more rocks and more sand wherever you looked. The street that we followed was so straight that it seemed endless and fused with the desert beside it. The cars we crosse could be counted in 1 hand and each of them was greated by our guide as a friend. By the way this seems to be the normal thing to do here in Australia to wave to every car you cross. I won't be trying this in Madrid or I will have a sore hand after less then 5 minutes.
We arrived in Alice Springs after having done 1580km in 2 days and only reached the middle of this enormous country.
There is not much to tell about Alice Springs. It is a city in the middle of nowhere with aprox. 20.000 inhabitants and with an Aboriginal population of 60%. It has a mall, some bars and caffees and is home to the "Royal Flying Doctors". All in all, I rather found it a bit depressing, must have been the heat that I have longed for so long and now came as wave over me. I will need some time to adapt.
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