Hot - hotter - sauna - Alice Springs

After the West Coast it was time to fly to Alice Springs, in the heart of Australia. The views from the plane consisted of deserts and a few bushes, it really felt like we are flying into the great unknown. And boy is it hot in here!

Alice stands in the middle of the desert and serves as a logical place to make trips over to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta National Park, though the distance is nearly 500 kilometres. We decided to rent a nice, small and fairly cheap Toyota Yaris and hit the road by ourselves. And since we were convinced of our camper spirit by this time, we also decided that we will sleep in the car. What's one night in a Toyota Yaris to a couple of campers like us?

Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park was impressive. First we went to see Kata Tjuta and Mount Olga, after which was Uluru's turn. No matter how many times you have seen it in pictures, it is still quite incredible to get close to the world's largest monolith. It is huge and it is so red. The National park area is aboriginal land, and it is requested not to climb Uluru, so we didn't. It is already impressive enought without getting all Edmund Hillary-ish and climbing the thing in that heat.

Yes, the heat. I used to say in Finland that you never quite understand how many nosehairs you have until you experience the Finnish January freeze. Well, Alice Springs has given insight on the heat. It is nearly unbearable. In order to step our of the air-conditioned car you just have to splash a bottle of water on your clothes and preferrably repeat this action every 10 minutes. You drink about 5 litres of water a day, and you pee once, that's how bad it gets.

After Uluru sunset, we headed to camping ground for a shower and a sleep in our Toyota. 8 hours later we evaluated the situation: Libor had kicked the horn twice during the night, which was fine by me as I was awake the whole night anyway. I spent my time observing rabbits and insects that were occupying the parking lot, falling asleep at 5 a.m.

The following morning we drove back to Alice and spent some nice days in town. We visited the reptile center, the desert park, Anzec lookout and even took a 30 minute free lesson on playing didgeridoo!

Alice Springs and Uluru have also offered some great information about aboriginal culture. Aboriginals have been treated in a terrible way and the signs of the abuse can be seen in the streets today. However, Uluru and Alice Springs broadened the picture to a positive direction and showed positive aspects of the rich culture.