I took the day and night bus from Darwin to Alice. The ride took 22 hours through the outback. I enjoyed the ride and the first 1500 km were taken from my bus pass I purchased in Germany. This was a good idea because Greyhound Australia is really over-priced when you buy the tickets here. Well, that was good because the bus was close to empty and thus I could lie over four seats at night, giving me a good sleep. We arrived early in the morning in Alice and suddenly I felt like being in South East Asia again, not because of the looks but because some guy waited at the bus station trying to make me check-in in his guest house offering a free ride too. I thought that was quite nice and so I did that which was once again a right decision. Darwin and Alice Springs as cities do not have to offer too much so you do not wanna spend to much time there. All it has is some local attractions, Australians getting drunk at noon (not joking...these Australians cannot handle the consumption of alcohol), and tons of aboriginies that were not able to adjust to the Western life-style and became alcoholics and homeless. AgainI asked myself: Why the heck is everybody wanting to go to Australia?! In the hostel I met this German guy Oli and we decided to rent 
a car because that was the cheapest way to get to the Ayers Rock, Kings Canyon, and back. We rented the smallest car available and asked those to French ladies to join us so we could devide the costs by four. They turned out to be rather boring, so it was them and us. Once again we were lucky though, because they did not have a small car and so they gave us this big looking, air conditioned, cruise controlled Hyundai. Nobody would buy that car in Europe, but hey, Hyundai makes good cars! I smiled because the car was my tent and I knew, I would have a big bed. It took us four hours through the Outback to get to the campground near the Rock itself. We booked into the campground and as we found out that they would not check whether you did or not, we stayed the last night for free. After putting up the tent for the others we went to the sunset spot where dozens of cars parked to watch the Ayers Rock changing its red tones every few seconds during the sunset. It sure is an amazing show and for the second time, after them dangerous crocodiles, I was happy to be in Australia. The following day, after not having slept well because it was freakin' cold that night (1 degree celsius, 34 degress fahrenheit) we made our way to the sunrise area looking the same as the sunset area. The only difference was that you had to get out of the car and walk a little to see the sunrise. Good idea, still being an ice pickle from the night and having to get out of the car again into the cold...It was also nice but not even close to the sunset. After that we went to the cultural center where I ran into two girls which I met in Darwin. I sat down with them and ordered an over-priced coffee still hoping to warm up. After that Oli and I went around the Ayers Rock and for the first kilometer we joined a tour (free of charge - wow!) and learnt about the history of the Rock and the aborignie culture. And again I feld bad...I really do not understand their culture as it sounds more like a ferry tale to me and others. I really feld bad because I want to respect their culture but after having met all those drunks and now learnt about all that it is really difficult. The "real" aboriginies distance themselves from foreigners and you have to purchase permits to travel into their territories. So it is almost not possible to get "the real" picture of them. The rest around the Rock we walked by ourselves, some 10 kilometers. On whether or not we climbed the Rock I do not comment at this stage. It is an ever discussed issue and everybody needs to decide for him/herself whether to climb it or not. On the third day we went to the Olgas, some 36 smaller mountains forming almost one and being as red as the Ayers Rock. We did a four hour trek there and because that was not enough another one hour trek. The scenery was really nice and the sunset their an experience because it was full moon (the night before at the Ayers Rock) and that gave an awesome picture. The moon ascending from the horizon beeing orange and changing its colour the higher it gets to a bright yellow. In front of that the red mountains...exciting. Hope to get this picture stuff managed soon *g*. On the forth day we travelled to the Kings Canyon, Uli said also a must. 
Mmh...after climbing the canyon, again for some 4 hours I started to question myself...Yes it was nice but going there when it is not on your way...mmh, I do not know. From there we went back to Alice, 700 kilometers, me being the only one who could drive. When it got dark we really had to watch out for kanguroos and other stock. And hey, I saw two being alive and ten being dead...This four day excursion was very nice and I was happy to move on from Alice to Adelaide...
a car because that was the cheapest way to get to the Ayers Rock, Kings Canyon, and back. We rented the smallest car available and asked those to French ladies to join us so we could devide the costs by four. They turned out to be rather boring, so it was them and us. Once again we were lucky though, because they did not have a small car and so they gave us this big looking, air conditioned, cruise controlled Hyundai. Nobody would buy that car in Europe, but hey, Hyundai makes good cars! I smiled because the car was my tent and I knew, I would have a big bed. It took us four hours through the Outback to get to the campground near the Rock itself. We booked into the campground and as we found out that they would not check whether you did or not, we stayed the last night for free. After putting up the tent for the others we went to the sunset spot where dozens of cars parked to watch the Ayers Rock changing its red tones every few seconds during the sunset. It sure is an amazing show and for the second time, after them dangerous crocodiles, I was happy to be in Australia. The following day, after not having slept well because it was freakin' cold that night (1 degree celsius, 34 degress fahrenheit) we made our way to the sunrise area looking the same as the sunset area. The only difference was that you had to get out of the car and walk a little to see the sunrise. Good idea, still being an ice pickle from the night and having to get out of the car again into the cold...It was also nice but not even close to the sunset. After that we went to the cultural center where I ran into two girls which I met in Darwin. I sat down with them and ordered an over-priced coffee still hoping to warm up. After that Oli and I went around the Ayers Rock and for the first kilometer we joined a tour (free of charge - wow!) and learnt about the history of the Rock and the aborignie culture. And again I feld bad...I really do not understand their culture as it sounds more like a ferry tale to me and others. I really feld bad because I want to respect their culture but after having met all those drunks and now learnt about all that it is really difficult. The "real" aboriginies distance themselves from foreigners and you have to purchase permits to travel into their territories. So it is almost not possible to get "the real" picture of them. The rest around the Rock we walked by ourselves, some 10 kilometers. On whether or not we climbed the Rock I do not comment at this stage. It is an ever discussed issue and everybody needs to decide for him/herself whether to climb it or not. On the third day we went to the Olgas, some 36 smaller mountains forming almost one and being as red as the Ayers Rock. We did a four hour trek there and because that was not enough another one hour trek. The scenery was really nice and the sunset their an experience because it was full moon (the night before at the Ayers Rock) and that gave an awesome picture. The moon ascending from the horizon beeing orange and changing its colour the higher it gets to a bright yellow. In front of that the red mountains...exciting. Hope to get this picture stuff managed soon *g*. On the forth day we travelled to the Kings Canyon, Uli said also a must. 
Mmh...after climbing the canyon, again for some 4 hours I started to question myself...Yes it was nice but going there when it is not on your way...mmh, I do not know. From there we went back to Alice, 700 kilometers, me being the only one who could drive. When it got dark we really had to watch out for kanguroos and other stock. And hey, I saw two being alive and ten being dead...This four day excursion was very nice and I was happy to move on from Alice to Adelaide...
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