It certainly has been an interesting end to year 2005!!! We spent new years @ Alice Springs!! But we didn't exactly stay up because it was hmn... how should we say it... rather a small town? haha Not diggin' small towns but it just didn't really have the same flair as Perth =P I mean, Perth compared to Sydney or Melbourne must be small too, but still.. hehe ANYWHO, so our first stop was Ayers Rock, now known as Uluru (official Aborigine name). The land that Ayers Rock resides on was handed back to the Aboriginal people (the tribe is Anagu) and it is now on lease to the NT government for 99 years. I wonder what will happen after 99 years??
The town Yalru is quite small... our hotel was RIGHT next to the shopping centre and the shopping centre consisted of Post Office, ANZ ATM, 2 sourvenir shops, newsagency, photo shop, tourist information centre and last but not least, their version of Woolworths. My sister and I were so bored (because our first night's dinner was cancelled due to bad weather) we actually went into every shop at least 3 times *sigh* It was such a shame that our dinner was cancelled. It was supposed to be dining under the stars!! How great would that be?!?! Instead we just ate at the Gecko's Cafe. It was HELL expensive I tell you!!!!! Every meal we've had during the trip, never costed less than $50.
So next day we went to see Ayers Rock sunrise (we had to wake up at 4am!!!!) and visited The Olgas. We learnt a lot about the NT Aboriginal people, their culture and their 'law'. VERY interesting and new found respect for them!! Didn't try the bush tucker though haha Don't think I'd be able to handle it! =P
Then we travelled to King's Canyon. All these were once under water (Ayers Rock was as well!). Interesting huh?? Unfortunately we didn't hear our alarm and we missed the walk around King's Canyon =( So our compensation was to take the helicopter ride... and that was TOTALLY AWESOME. I felt a bit nauseous but Judy was loving it. She said she wanted one of her own... rigghttttttiooo!! G'luck in getting one girl =P
Being tourists, had to take funny photos. So here are a select few from the trip =P Cick on the picture to see 'larger' version. Some explanations below
Picture A - We took a helicopter ride over King's Canyon. It was SUCH a great experience! Definitely worth the buck! Annnnd, bonus was the pilot was cute.. hubba hubba
Picture B - This is in Palm Valley in Alice Springs. Guess what I'm standing on?? River bed!!! When the rainfalls is heavy, this WHOLE thing flows!! Amazing!
Picture C - Haha.. had to do this. Me "eating" Ayers Rock
Picture D - Lotsa wild camels in central Australia. This one was 'domesticated'. It was soo cute, the big eyes with long eyelashes... so I had to "kiss" it. We DID see some wild camels actually!!! In Alice Springs, it was such an amazing sight. Apparently, back in the 1870s, when the European explorers came, they brought camels over. And once they finished exploring they released the camels into the wild. And they've thrived in the Central Australian desert! More than 600,000 in the wild apparently!! There were wild horses too!!! We saw a fowl!!!
Picture E - Palm Valley again. We were on a hill top looking down the valley. This is the only place in ALL of Australia that has this species of Palm Trees. Red Cabbage or something... The big ones that's in the background, at least 300 years old!! Central Australia used to be tropical weather and when it dried out, everything tropical died except for these!! Quite amazing. And it felt SOO jurassic park when we were walking in the valley! Just amazing...
Picture F - Me and Ayers Rock at sunset..
Anyway, arrived home 1 January 2006. What a great way to end the year 2005!! Ahhh, it's always good to be home!!!! =) Happy New Year everybody!!! May all your new year resolutions come true (with will power and resilience they shall come true!) and the year of 2006 be a blast!!!!
As usual, if you want to see more photos... go to my photo blog!!
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