We had an early start today and needed to be down at breakfast by 6am as we are heading to Uluru. We were all packed and ready to go and the kids got one last hot chocolate from their favorite server.

The drive from Alice to Uluru is about 450 kms with only one turn along the way. You get to realise the vast expanse of the Australian outback. It’s red, flat and goes on for ages. The Stuart Highway that links Darwin to Adelaide, which is what we traveled on, used to not have any speed limits, and people would travel down with their super cars and race along the desert. After an accident a few years ago that killed 4 people, a speed limit was introduced but set to 130 kms/hour, which is still higher than anywhere in Australia.

Our first stop was at a rest house owned by “Spud”, with an eclectic collection of signs, collectibles and smurfs. A LOT of smurfs.

Each stop had something unique about it. Our next stop had emus that you could feed. We got a bag of emu food and wandered over to their enclosure. Thomas and Emily were very scared of the emus pecking their hands, so Matthew showed them how to do it. It’s amazing how gentle they actually are. While their head bobs down at great force, at the actual point of intact their beaks hardly touch your hands.

Our final stop was at Curtin Springs where we grabbed a couple of sandwiches and drinks. Along the way we also saw Mount Connor which people confuse for Ayers Rock. Our driver on the bus regaled us with stories about the history and culture of the region.

We arrived at the resort after 1 and check in was quite easy. We went for a walk around the township and grabbed a bite to eat. Ben finally made it on his solo trip from Canberra, inspite of Qantas trying really hard to disrupt his plans. Both his flight to Sydney and the one to Uluru were cancelled and he was put on alternate flights but eventually made it.