Up early for a 6am pickup. Peanut butter and instant coffee for the win.

Lovely long desert drive to Uluru. I was having a nap so I missed the kangaroos. Boo!

It was cold today. Somehow in all my planning I failed to pack a proper pair of pants. Also, it’s winter in the desert.

Still had a great day learning all kinds of stuff and looking at cave paintings and other awesome things.

Sunset brought a severe dip in temperatures, that made it a little more difficult to enjoy a champage sunset at a desert wonderland. It was still champagne at sunset…so I soldiered on. Cheers!

Dinner was pretty standard camping fare. They had a decent vegetarian option so that was good.

The stars are ridiculous here. I haven’t seen the milky way in so long I’d forgotten how cool the sky can look.

Good night!

I got a ride to the airport which was convenient…then it all went downhill for a few minutes.

I was horrified to discover that I’d failed to actually buy a plane ticket out of Adelaide. Rookie mistake!

I was exceedingly lucky because:

• There were still seats available
• I’d gotten to the airport early
• The ticket price didn’t cut me

The ticket agent was kind enough to point out that it would been smart to check on this type of detail ahead of time! Thanks, lady lololololol

Anyhoo, it all worked out and I had a nice hour visiting with a gal from Korea who’s on her way to Sydney to be an au pair.

The flight and other transportation was effortless.

The Jump Inn is pretty cool. Lots of long term residents as usual, but everyone behaves themselves. Got to do my laundry which was great.

Looking forward to seeing Uluru tomorrow!

For one hour. I was worried about my plans for world domination, but it all worked out.

I had a little time to kill before my tour, so I went into Town Hall to stay dry and found theres actually something to see. Some art and some historical junk, some cool architecture too. The Beatles once stood on the balcony, guys, and that was something special.

The walking tour was predictably good. The guide was young and had a good sense of what we wanted to hear about. A nice morning.

After a quick spin around the cricket grounds (not much to see really), I had an ok lunch at a burrito place. Not as good as Chipotle. Should have gone to Burp. That’s another Mexican place.

I spent the rest of the day at the art gallery. It’s all mixed up right now because 3 major exhibitions are resetting. Art is just crammed in wherever some floor space is. In the the middle of European oils there’s a giant sculpture of a dead horse, in the design area there’s what could only be described as xrated 3-d paper folded genitalia. I loved it.

The tour guide gave the most unique bits of random art history and Adelaide history and political views and business tips. This gal really knows the local art scene too. It was a pleasure to hear about the town from somebody who’s loved here all her life.

The Adelaide central market and chinatown food courts are open late tonight. That food court, all Asian, is straight legit. I passed on the kangaroo curry. The bun at the vietnamese place was great. Also I had the freshest pork buns ever at the dim sum place. I watched them be made, and ate them within 5 minutes.

Tomorrow I’ll go to Alice springs, and start my hiking trip on Sunday. Yay!!

Weather wise, anyway. The weatherman has been wrong every day; today it was sunny and 70.

Had a nice morning walk along the pedestrian street and arrived at the botanical gardens on time to have a watch of demolition equipment next door. I felt like a kid, watching the crew knock down an old hospital.

The tour was spectacular. This garden in particular had a lot of native plant species, which is good because it was all new to me. I spent several hours there.

After some lunch, another state library. Nothing like the one in Melbourne, but nice in its own way.

At the South Australia museum, finally a good display of aboriginal history and artifacts. The best in Australia it’s been said. I believe it. The curator had taken a lot of time to make the displays easy to understand.

That’s it really. I found the central post office and mailed a card, and bought and cooked a healthy meal.

Tomorrow a free walking tour and the art gallery.

Night!