As we were leaving Alice Springs, we made a stop to ANZAC Hill. ANZAC is short for Australian New Zealand Army Core, and the hill is a War memorial created for those who fought in WWI. It has since been expanded to include all wars, and its location on top of a hill provides great 360-degree views of Alice Springs.

Next stop was to the Yubu Napa Art Gallery where aboriginal artists create and display their work. A close up of the paintings shows the painstaking intricate detail involved. Then, we traveled to Simpson’s Gap which is part of the West MacDonnell National Park, outside of Alice Springs. The Gaps is a sort of rock cut where a river runs through.  Most of the rivers we saw were no more than dry lake beds. Here we saw a black footed wallaby.

Then we headed to The Bush which included an over two-hour high-speed ride on a washboard dirt road “short cut” after which we arrived in Kings Creek Station.  Station refers to a “very” large ranch, like 850 square miles. Along the way we saw camels and free-roaming feral horses called Brumbies.

There are over 1,000,000 feral camels in Australia, and they are a problem. Camels were introduced to Australia in the 1800’s to transport people and goods across the desert. However, the camel industry declined in the 1930’s with the introduction of motorized transport, and thousands of camels were released into the wild. Camels are known to 1) compete with stock and native herbivores for food, particularly during drought; 2) destroy stock fences, and other forms of infrastructure, including the South Australian Dog Fence; 3) foul waterholes; and 4) damage ceremonial art and other cultural sites that are of concern to indigenous communities.

Six hours outside of Alice Springs, in Australia’s Northern Territory we were officially in the Bush or aka the Outback. Here we camped for the night in a rustic camp with tents and two outhouses, but with electricity and broad band internet!

We learned how to throw boomerangs before dinner. Then enjoyed appetizers with campfire stories and jokes. We were treated to dinner by our French chef who was brought along with us from Alice Springs. Our amazing dinner included camel, crocodile and kangaroo! Then it was lights out, stars out, with amazing views.