Sticking to our plan of quickly heading up north we decided to try and drive as close to Uluru as possible. Philip was also in a hurry as he wanted to get up to Darwin within the next 3 days to meet up with his girlfriend who was flying up from Adelaide. As we travelled north we started to notice changes in the landscape. White, grey and orange dust and shrubs were replaced with some greenery and small trees as well as red soil. We also noticed an uptick in humidity – a sign of things to come. Temperatures over the next few days remained mid to high 30s but nights were still nice, cool and comfortable.

Having crossed the border to the Northern Territory with no issues at the checkpoint we pushed on further all the way to Curtin Springs Station.

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First thing the next morning we drove out towards Uluru. Having arrived there we were simply mesmerised by it. We did expect to see a rock but the sheer size of it, shape and colours blew us away. You cannot help but feel connected to it as well. We felt very special by being here as we explored the area for few hours.

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This is where we said bye to Phil who headed up towards Darwin on his own while we decided to take in some other sites. After lunch he drove around 40 km to Kata Tjuta (Mt Olga). Another beautiful site which we enjoyed by completing a 1.5 hr hike in very hot weather. Afterwards we headed back to Curtin Springs where we stayed another night and in the morning headed for Alice Springs. This was a quick stop in a nice but busy caravan park where we enjoyed the first swimming pool of the trip. Next day in the morning we visited the Alice Springs Wildlife Park where we enjoyed the birds show and learned about desert animals. After the Park we drove further north. About 70 km north of Alice Springs we left the main road and turned right onto Plenty Hwy. On a friend’s recommendation (thanks Brett) we decided to stay at the Gemtree Road House and Caravan Park which is in the gemfield capital of Central Australia. They have number of claims they work and do tours on. The next day the father and son team decided to try their luck at garnet fossicking.

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It was hard work in dust and 37 degree heat but it was also super enjoyable. Top day for Seb on the trip so far. Being the last group of miners to return to the accomodation we had our garnets appraised. Again, thanks to Seb’s growing mining skills (perhaps a future career?) we had both the biggest find as well as most amount of quality garnets which classified as worthy polishing from all the groups on the day. Hard work pays off!! Not sure though it’s enough to retire on. We organised for some to be turned into jewellery; cannot wait to see how they end up. After a hard day of fossicking we enjoyed a swim in the freezing pool. While it was refreshing we were told pools up north do not get this cold which would explain why we had it to ourselves – all the other guests were heading down south as temperatures in the top end were quickly increasing. We are the crazy Victorians heading up.

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