Day 6 Tennant Creek to Alice Springs Monday 4th September 2017:

This morning after a goodnight sleep we made our way to the restaurant at 6:45 am for our included breakfast.

After breakfast we boarded the coach at 7:15 am and made our way towards Alice Springs.

As we made our way towards our first stop of the day, our Trip Manager Mark explained our itinerary for the day which included: Visiting Devils Marbles Conservation Site, Visiting Wycliffe Well,Visiting Simpsons Gap, Visiting Anzac Hill, Visiting Alice Springs Reptile Centre and purchasing supplies for our night camping under the stars in Kings Creek Station,before making our way to our accommodation in Alice Springs.

We arrived at our first stop this morning Karlu Karlu / Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve at 8:30am

The Devils Marbles are a collection of massive granite boulders strewn across a valley south of Tennant Creek.

Standing at up to 6 metres high and formed over millions of years, they continue to crack and change.

These formations are truly spectacular with the famous red colouring the outback is famous for.

The rising sun provides an amazing effect on the rock formations making an incredible photo opportunity with the great panoramic view of the outback.

After taking many photos of the Devils Marbles, we made our way onto the coach at 10 am heading towards our next stop of the day.

We arrived at our next stop of the day Wycliffe Well at 10:30 am.

Wycliffe Well is known as Australia’s UFO Capital!

This is quite a unique Australian icon with a green coloured alien statue entrance making for a great photo!

Inside Wycliffe Well there is a huge range of alien inspired gifts and souvenirs.

Wycliffe Well also has a section of published newspaper reports of alien encounters and tourists claiming to be abducted by aliens!

It is a great Australian icon for Australians and international visitors.

After exploring Wycliffe Well, we made boarded the coach at 11 am and made our way towards our next stop of the day.

After a 2 hour drive we arrived at our lunch stop at Alice Springs Desert Park at 1 pm.

We purchased some lunch at Latitude 23 Art and Food Co.

After lunch we departed Alice Springs Desert Park at 1:45pm and made our way to our next stop of the day West Macdonnell National Park.

We arrived at West Macdonnell National Park at 2:15 pm.

As we explored West Macdonnell National Park we walked the walking trail to Simpsons Gap.

Simpsons Gap is a gorge carved out of the West Macdonnell Ranges by Roe Creek, where water flows through a small gap in the range.

This is such an amazing sight with the red sand of the desert with Simpsons Gap and the outback sun beaming down creates an amazing outback panoramic photo!

After taking many amazing photos at Simpsons Gap we boarded the coach at 3:30 pm and made our way towards our next stop of the day.

We arrived at our next stop Anzac Hill Monument at 4 pm.

Anzac Hill Monument is a monument built to honour Australian Military Service people who have given their lives so that we can live the way we do today.

After visiting Anzac Hill, we made our way back on the coach and made our way towards our next stop of the day.

We arrived at our next stop of the day Alice Springs Reptile Centre at 4:30 pm.

As we made our way inside our guide gave us a presentation about the reptiles common to the Northern Territory such as the Eastern Blue Tongue Lizard and the Bearded Dragon.

We were then given the opportunity to hold these reptiles which made for some great photo and video opportunities.

We then learned about the snakes common to the Northern Territory, how to prevent being bitten by snakes and what first aid measure to take if you are bitten by a snake in Australia.

We then learned about a non-venomous snake that lives in the Northern Territory the Olive Python. After learning about Olive Pythons, we were given the opportunity to hold an Olive Python which made for great photo and video opportunities!

After our Alice Springs Reptile Experience had concluded we made our way back on the coach at 5:30 pm and headed into Alice Springs for an opportunity to purchase supplies for the next day in Kings Creek Station as we were sleeping under the stars in swags.

We were given the opportunity to do a 6-kilometre hike through Kings Canyon while staying at Kings Creek Station.

Mark explained that as Kings Canyon is a National Park, there is a National Park Policy that you must have a minimum of 6 litres of water or electrolytes.

You must have 2 Litres for each hour you plan on hiking and if you don’t you are not allowed to hike the trail for your own safety.

When we had all finished purchasing supplies for the next 2 days we made our way back onto the coach and made our way to our accommodation in Alice Springs.

After a short drive we arrived at our accommodation for the night in Alice Springs at Ibis Styles Alice Springs at 6 pm.

After checking into our rooms, we made our way to the restaurant for our included dinner at 7pm.

After dinner most of the group had a few rounds of drinks at the bar.

The 4 of us doing the optional Hot Air Ballooning excursion decided to have an early night so we would be rested and ready for our Hot Air Ballooning trip over Alice Springs at 5:15am.

Safe Travels!

Campbell 🙂