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Well ok - Up early this morning for what would be two long 'Road' days. The first day was the long drive down to Katherine Gorge. We stopped along the way at Edith Falls - another waterhole suitable to swim in as long as you don't mind sharing the water with the freshwater crocs! Also at the Devils Marbles (incredible rock formations of rounded granite boulders perched precariously atop one another). I loved the Marbles - it felt such a powerful place and really enjoyed the too few minutes we had here!
After that we hit Katherine itself and visited Nitmuluk Gorge (another exciting place for Aboriginals!). The temp, humidity and constant attempts by flies to penetrate my ear meant for a trying cruise - but the perseverance paid and we were treated to some magnificent sights!
The next day also was a long day on the road as we headed down to Tennants Creek stopping at the thermal springs along the way. We decided against swimming and instead took a small loop walk in the national park. Great decision as not too far into the walk we found a mother Wallaby with a yearling Joey out of the pouch. She seemed pretty relaxed and allowed me to get within a few meters of her. The Joey itself showed no signs of stress as it calmly lay down and started suckling from its mum!
For lunch we stopped in at Daly waters Pub. A random pub in the middle of nowhere. Literally there is the Pub a few storage building and nothing else for 100's KM! Great tucker here and the decoration on the walls was pretty fun!
Finally after 2 days on the hop we pulled into Alice Springs and back to civilization (well….of a sorts anyway). To be honest - much like Darwin, Alice was remarkably boring and thanks to the local crazies - not a very safe place to hang out. Fortunately we were just there for the afternoon as the next morning we made the short trip to the Watarrka national park - home to the incredible Kings Canyon.
To many people the 100m high - sheer cliffs of the canyon are the most beautiful scenes of the Red Centre. To my eye the place looked like a movie set (I just couldn't get my head around to the idea this was a NATURAL formation). We opted to do the 3 hr rim walk along the top of the canyon (in 38deg heat not an easy walk by any stretch) but again once at the top the desert plains around afford some of the most spectacular views I have ever seen. Exhausting though the walk was when we finally got back to the coach I wanted to go again. That night we pulled into Kings Creek station for a camp fire and a night sleeping in swags under the stars! (Something I wouldn't really recommend - but hey its an Oz tradition!)
After a sleepless night the next morning we headed on to Yalara (the closest town to Uluru).
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