Day 18: Back to Alice Springs

Yesterday, we watched the sun rise on Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), and set on Uluru. So this morning, we set out to see the sun rise with Uluru as our main view. But it was cold! At approximately 6 degrees and with the wind blowing, it was not the nicest place to be at 06:30. The sun rising was really nice, and Uluru got a nice extra reddish colour from it, but we have been cold four hours after that.

We have to leave Yulara today to head back to Alice Springs, as we fly out to Darwin tomorrow. We also have to hand in our car at the airport, so gas has to be put in. This Toyota FJ Cruiser has not one but two fuel tanks, for a grand total of around 160 litres. And it needs it all, as the gas mileage is not great. One might even say it is bad. The 4 litre V6 is burning through the stuff at a staggering rate. Today, I got half a tank of gas for $160 AU! For those keeping count, that is well over €110. I did put in around 75 litres, but still.

The drive back from Yulara is awesome! Clocking in at about 450kms, it takes you through an arid desert with great variance in colours and vegetation. It also is much greener and much denser in growth that you’d expect. With the great West MacDonnell Ranges as its backdrop, it is breathtaking views all around. And you still have to focus on driving on the wrong side of the road at 130km/h on a narrow two lane road where the other lane has oncoming traffic!

The weather has been great today, albeit a little cold. We hit a high of 16 degrees today. Just as a reminder: in a few months it’ll regularly be over 40 degrees, so it is quite chilly out right now. After arriving at Alice Springs, we went for a stroll in the nearby Old Telegraph Station Reserve in the hopes of spotting some wildlife. And we did! Back in the resort we determined we saw Euros, a kind of Wallaroo. This is an animal similar to a Kangaroo and a Wallaby, but in height just between them. The Euro is the most common of them. But they are a joy to watch. 🙂