So after a few days in Alice Springs it was time to head to Uluru. I couldn’t decide whether or not to take a tour, the price was putting me off. Eventually I just decided just to spend a few days at the Ayers Rock Resort, for a quite time taking some photos. At least that was the plan…

On the first evening there i’d booked on a shuttle bus to take me out to the sunset viewing point. While there I met a couple of random people, Tash and Simon, who were having a laugh and I got chatting to them. This led to a drunken session in the bar that night and when that closed a late night swim in the resort pool. Thankfully security weren’t around that night! Got to bed at around 2:30 and head to get up again at 4:30 to catch the Kata Tuja shuttle for the Valley of the Winds Walk.

On hot days, and all the time I was there it was higher than 40c the walk closes at 11am so you have to do it early. Great when hung over and tired! The walk was impressive, and included seeing a number of geckos and other wildlife. It also included a muppet who had booked on the shuttle that morning and arranged the time with the driver for pickup. He then met on the walk some people he knew and went off with them and later decided to go back to the resort with them without telling anyone! Something you just don’t do in the desert… This meant we waited at the pickup point for an hour for him, after the agreed time before the shuttle driver had a search round nearby car parks for him before heading back to advise the resort he was missing. Thankfully just as we got back to the resort he’d decided to contact the shuttle company to say he’d got back with friends. A little longer and searches would have started!

Another couple of nights in the bar followed as well a few more trips to the rock for sunrise, sunset and the base walk. A great 3 hour walk round the entire rock. Some of the shapes in the rocks are incredibly like those of Australian animals its a little creepy. Snakes, Crocodiles and even Kangaroos seem to be there…

Oh, I was sharing a room with the muppet mentioned above. Well two rooms, the resort had to move us as he broke the aircon one night when playing with it… He also broke it in the second room we had, but not to the same extent as the first. Thankfully he left a day earlier than he’d planned before he could do anything else. Word had got round the resort about him making his own way back and it was amusing to hear the drivers and tour guides slagging him off.

So after two and a half months in Sydney i’ve escaped! And now find myself back in my old second home of Alice Springs. Nice and hot after the weird summer Sydney’s been having, a few things have changed since last time I was here – May 2004 but mostly it seems the same old place.

The plan for the rest of the day… sit by the pool!