27 Feb: Kings Canyon (NT) --> Alice Springs (NT).

Very recent fire damage in Kings Canyon

We had an early morning wake-up call so we could hike the rim of Kings Canyon. When we opened the door and looked outside (it was dark), we saw and heard that it was raining pretty hard. Quick evaluation: 3 hour hike in the rain or take the 1 hour version a couple of hours later? Chose the latter but went down to the bus driver to tell him so he wouldn't be waiting for us.

We fell back asleep somehow and then almost missed the 1 hour walk. It was good to see it and the rain lightened up a little. Still... a bit of a bummer not to have any sunshine on this part of the trip for stargazing, sunset or sunrise viewing. Guess the upside was that we didn't have 45C temps.

Jill trying a camelburger - verdict: undistinctive

The day was spent waiting and sitting on a bus. The tour company does a great job of churning people in and out via multiple tour groups of the area, but it is pretty boring for the passengers. We grabbed lunch at a shack that had camels, cows, and other animals. I actually had a camel burger that wasn't super distinctive. Ah well, part of the true "outback" experience, I suppose.

We finally got to our hotel in Alice Springs at around 715pm. Marc and I passed the time on the bus going through our 2000+ pics so far and choosing candidates for the "Best of" album. Once we checked into the hotel, we decided that it wasn't, errrrr, particularly scenic in a good way, so we picked up a bottle of wine and some takeaway Chinese food for dinner to eat in the room. That was worth a few laughs.

Living the high life in Alice Springs: Wine bottle from Wooly's and takeout Chinese

Wouldn't say the most productive touring day of our trip, but still better than being at the office. We definitely needed to do a tour, as Marc said yesterday, but I would definitely choose a different operator if I was to recommend going to Uluru to someone. Probably my first "swing and miss" of all of the planning that took place. Can't win them all, right?

Many thanks for tuning in. We are having a great time and are looking forward to returning to Sydney and seeing some friends. Oh, and a nice shower too. :-)