Another post long overdue from my two-week holiday in Northern Terrritory back in July/August. I have really left this one late. Have been rather busy working and working out and riding my bike at weekeends on long rides and then just haven't had the motivation to pile up my long distant memories from this awesome holiday. Actually, I've already been to another short one to Sunshine Coast a week ago.
I had initially planned to take a train from Darwin to Alice Springs and then bus from Alice to Ayers Rock Resort (near Uluru) where I had booked a couple of nights stay. To my surprise there were no buses between Alice and Uluru, or if there were it would cost just as much as flying and would take six hours, so I decided to pick the easy option of a 40 minute flight. Plus the benefit would be to see Uluru from high above. I specifically picked a seat on the plane where I thought I would be able to see the rock. After a few google hits I figured left hand side window would be my best shot and I wasn't wrong!
I had pre-booked my tour to Uluru and accommodation on Ayers Rock Resort at the Pioneer Hostel. This is the biggest dorm I have ever stayed in, with about 20 bunk beds but it felt very cosy because there were walls in between each two bunks, so it made the room look more intimate. Worked for me! I was pretty damn tired after my long 24 hours train ride, so I went straight to bed and had a good few hours of sleep. I can't remember if I wrote much about the train "The Ghan" but it was pretty damn expensive for the quality of service offered. I would expect at least a pillow and a blanket for the night (something along the lines of an airline service). The aircon was full on and it was freezing in the carriage throughout the night. The food on the train was average and you couldn't get you wanted - had to wait until they started "serving dinner". Plus the bar/cafe closed at 10pm while were the only customers trying to most likely drink all the beers available at the cafe. At least we had fun. I ended up sitting next to a Dutch girl I had met on the bus before boarding the train. She had a Canadian friend who had apparently hiked the MacDonnell Ranges around Alice Springs ALONE which is like 200km and takes around two weeks. He said it was the best thing he had ever done. Crazy and scary! He was a bit of a hippie anyway!
Back to the train ride - after departing Darwin we had a stop at Katherine (around three hours train ride away) for three hours, so we got a chance to check out Katherine gorge. The weather was scorching 30+ degrees and following our short hike up the mountain we thought the best idea would be to go for a dip in the gorge. The only problem was that we didn't have our swimmers with us, so we jumped in in our shorts and bras. Wendy's looked like a black bikini top but mine was clearly NOT! Leopard print bra.... got them old men staring for sure haha. Our dip in the gorge was somewhat nervous because there were not supposed to be any crocs in there as they get removed by the rangers, however, they can never guarantee that there would be absolutely none in there. Didn't think swimming for long was a good idea, so we headed back to the bus which would take us to the train again. Nevertheless, great experience!
Ayers Rock Resort is a great place to stay when exploring Uluru and Kata-Tjuta. I think 3 days is just enough to see everything. There is probably no need to take a separate tour to Uluru as the resort has buses running to Uluru all day allowing people to go and explore the rock on their own. I had a tour booked though - I just didn't think the rock was that close to the resort. The tour itself started from Alice Springs and they picked me up at the resort and from there it was maybe a half and hour drive. We had an overnight campsite set up nearby as well - it's a great experience if you haven't slept in a swag before but I had already done it, so I could have just done Uluru exploring myself and then gone back to the hostel for the night. The weather was clear but temperatures dropped to zero overnight and these are the coldest conditions I have ever slept in outside. I was pretty well prepared, so I had a good night sleep while others were freezing in their tents. I told them swag would be a better option but for some rich German / French tourists it seemed to be unacceptable to "sleep outside". Their loss. The second day started around 6 am when we headed to watch the sunrise at Uluru. Absolutely freezing but beautiful at the same time. From there onwards we proceeded to Kata Tjuta and commenced an 8km walk through the National Park. It was magnificent and a total surprise, something not to be missed!! It was a real surprise to me how amazing it was to walk the tracks along the 36 dome of Kata Tjuta. The tour company I used was Wayoutback - same as for Kakadu & Litchfield. The tour itself was "Overnight Dingo Dreaming Red Centre Safari" - cost 325AUD - probably not worth the money but you won't find out until you try I guess. Well at least in the situation when you're staying at Ayers Rock Resort.
That was my last tour in NT and it was time to head back to Sydney to find another job and start replenishing my cash supplies!
I had initially planned to take a train from Darwin to Alice Springs and then bus from Alice to Ayers Rock Resort (near Uluru) where I had booked a couple of nights stay. To my surprise there were no buses between Alice and Uluru, or if there were it would cost just as much as flying and would take six hours, so I decided to pick the easy option of a 40 minute flight. Plus the benefit would be to see Uluru from high above. I specifically picked a seat on the plane where I thought I would be able to see the rock. After a few google hits I figured left hand side window would be my best shot and I wasn't wrong!
I had pre-booked my tour to Uluru and accommodation on Ayers Rock Resort at the Pioneer Hostel. This is the biggest dorm I have ever stayed in, with about 20 bunk beds but it felt very cosy because there were walls in between each two bunks, so it made the room look more intimate. Worked for me! I was pretty damn tired after my long 24 hours train ride, so I went straight to bed and had a good few hours of sleep. I can't remember if I wrote much about the train "The Ghan" but it was pretty damn expensive for the quality of service offered. I would expect at least a pillow and a blanket for the night (something along the lines of an airline service). The aircon was full on and it was freezing in the carriage throughout the night. The food on the train was average and you couldn't get you wanted - had to wait until they started "serving dinner". Plus the bar/cafe closed at 10pm while were the only customers trying to most likely drink all the beers available at the cafe. At least we had fun. I ended up sitting next to a Dutch girl I had met on the bus before boarding the train. She had a Canadian friend who had apparently hiked the MacDonnell Ranges around Alice Springs ALONE which is like 200km and takes around two weeks. He said it was the best thing he had ever done. Crazy and scary! He was a bit of a hippie anyway!
Back to the train ride - after departing Darwin we had a stop at Katherine (around three hours train ride away) for three hours, so we got a chance to check out Katherine gorge. The weather was scorching 30+ degrees and following our short hike up the mountain we thought the best idea would be to go for a dip in the gorge. The only problem was that we didn't have our swimmers with us, so we jumped in in our shorts and bras. Wendy's looked like a black bikini top but mine was clearly NOT! Leopard print bra.... got them old men staring for sure haha. Our dip in the gorge was somewhat nervous because there were not supposed to be any crocs in there as they get removed by the rangers, however, they can never guarantee that there would be absolutely none in there. Didn't think swimming for long was a good idea, so we headed back to the bus which would take us to the train again. Nevertheless, great experience!
Ayers Rock Resort is a great place to stay when exploring Uluru and Kata-Tjuta. I think 3 days is just enough to see everything. There is probably no need to take a separate tour to Uluru as the resort has buses running to Uluru all day allowing people to go and explore the rock on their own. I had a tour booked though - I just didn't think the rock was that close to the resort. The tour itself started from Alice Springs and they picked me up at the resort and from there it was maybe a half and hour drive. We had an overnight campsite set up nearby as well - it's a great experience if you haven't slept in a swag before but I had already done it, so I could have just done Uluru exploring myself and then gone back to the hostel for the night. The weather was clear but temperatures dropped to zero overnight and these are the coldest conditions I have ever slept in outside. I was pretty well prepared, so I had a good night sleep while others were freezing in their tents. I told them swag would be a better option but for some rich German / French tourists it seemed to be unacceptable to "sleep outside". Their loss. The second day started around 6 am when we headed to watch the sunrise at Uluru. Absolutely freezing but beautiful at the same time. From there onwards we proceeded to Kata Tjuta and commenced an 8km walk through the National Park. It was magnificent and a total surprise, something not to be missed!! It was a real surprise to me how amazing it was to walk the tracks along the 36 dome of Kata Tjuta. The tour company I used was Wayoutback - same as for Kakadu & Litchfield. The tour itself was "Overnight Dingo Dreaming Red Centre Safari" - cost 325AUD - probably not worth the money but you won't find out until you try I guess. Well at least in the situation when you're staying at Ayers Rock Resort.
That was my last tour in NT and it was time to head back to Sydney to find another job and start replenishing my cash supplies!
