This is going to be added to the blog whenever I can get access to the internet again. Since we left Perth that has been a problem, but things will improve no doubt. We are at Kings Canyon now, and here are a few notes from the last few days.
Took the car back to the airport with no problems. Checked in for our flight with the help of a lovely lady from Qantas. She took us through the usual routine with our bags and sent us on our way through Security. Spent the next couple of hours in the departure lounge, and we all know how exciting they can be.......
Uneventful flight, check in and hire car collection too, must be our lucky day.
Heavytree Lodge was a disappointment. If any of you ever visit Alice Springs I would advise you to find another hotel. Very basic room in "Prisoner Cell Block H" style buildings. Whole complex encircled by high mesh fences topped with barbed wire did nothing to alter that impression either! Looks as though the fences are there to keep the Aborigines out, but they gather just outside as dusk falls and start shouting at the inmates, sorry guests, anyway.
Staff on reception were lovely however, and did inform us of the special Fish and Chip dinner in the Tavern, plus a free glass of vino each. Sounded good to us, so after we showered and changed, off we went. What a letdown. It looked a bit like the Social Clubs you get on a caravan site in Rhyll. Plastic chairs and metal tables, kids running amok, men nursing their pints in corners and a third rate singer guitarist on the stage doing a poor Rolf Harris impersonation. We ought to have known better and turned away, but the thought of the Fish and Chips had got to us, so we went to the bar and ordered. We were told it would be a half hour wait, so we asked for our glass of wine and sat down. Only words I can think of to describe the wine are Paint Stripper in a glass. No wonder they gave it away, they would be charged under Trade Descriptions if they sold it!
Things went downhill from there. The singer took a break, for which we were extremely thankful, but then he came back. We waited for our food. The singer mangled some songs we had never heard of. Folk who had eaten left. We waited for our food. I gave up on the paint stripper and got a glass of (passable) Merlot, for $6 (about £4). Still we waited.
It took two hours for the food to appear, by which time I was ready to murder the singer. It wasn't that good either! Ho hum, thank God we were only there the one night....
We left early the next morning, glad to escape. We were so eager to go that we didn't even drive through Alice, that will have to wait for another trip (if ever). We headed south into the desert, heading for Kings Canyon and our next hotel.
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