DATELINE: Alice Springs, Australia                                                    

(Click map for more useful detail)

Author: Nick

Cheap WiFi in the desert! ($5 for 2 hours) Yay!

There are a TON of Japanese tourists here (and Coober Pedy, Yulara, and at most places we stopped in between...) Most of them have extremely large digital SLR's slung around their neck. Some standards stay true.

We saw a nifty Truck and Transport useum when we got into town. It had 79 trailers, 1588 wheels, was 1018.2 meters long and weighed 1072.3 tonnes. It was pulled by a Kenworth C501T Cab (600HP Cummins Signature Engine), owned by Gould Transport and driven by Steve "Stag" Matthews. Fuck.

Tonight the plan is to get a feast (called the Drover's Blowout) of steak, kangaroo, crocodile, camel, and emu at Overlander's Steakhouse, then drinks at Bojengal's (looks like the Cowboy Bar in Jackson, WY but without all the antlers...) and finally clubbing at Melanka ("the most popular nightclub in Alice" - I think it might be the ONLY nightclub in Alice...)

We were promised a Singing Dingo by the ads for Stuart's Well in the tourist brochure... No dingo. All I got was a really crappy burger. Apparently "the Dingo doesn't sing on Friday's." They did have emus in the front yard. Bastards.

I'm uploading the last of the pictures now. Our flight back to Sydney is at 12:45PM tomorrow. We have a 24 hour layover, and will be spending the evening in Sydney's lovely Kings Cross neighborhood. So this will probably be the last entry for me until I get home.

The trip has been fantstic, fun filled, and without incident. The pictures tell half the story, and I'll be happy to tell you the other half over a beer sometime. Just give me call or drop me n e-mail...