After our camping trip to Uluru we had 3 days to explore Alice Springs. On the first day we moved to another hostel around the corner from our first one, and we're so glad we did! It advertised itself as a 'no party' hostel, and it's so quiet and peaceful! Hardly any noise at all, which is such a welcome change from other places we have stayed. We got there too early to check in, so we left our luggage there and went to the Todd Mall, the main shopping area in Alice Springs, for coffee - we got coffee and a muffin for $6.50, absolute bargain! After we'd bought some food, we went back to the hostel and checked into our room, which was weirdly decorated like a forest cabin, but was very nice all the same. We had a load of washing to do, but as the temperature is still in the mid 30s it dried really quickly, and we then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool - bliss! After a really good sleep and a well deserved lie in, the next day we headed into town and climbed to the top of Anzac Hill, which had really great views over Alice Springs, the MacDonnell Ranges (the mountains around the town) and off into the outback. We then walked over to the Olive Pink Botanic Gardens, where we saw 3 kangaroos sleeping under some trees, and then cooled down at the cafe. Unfortunately the waitress spilt Joel's drink all over his shorts, so he had to have a quick wash (!), but the smoothies were really good. By that point the temperature was rising again, so we went back to the hostel to cool down in the pool again. On our last day we started off with a slow walk into town for coffee and cake, and then visited the Mbantua Gallery where we bought an aboriginal painting - the gallery was full of some really amazing artwork! In the afternoon we relaxed at the hostel before being picked up for our tour of the Kangaroo Sanctuary that featured in the BBC series 'Kangaroo Dundee'. When we arrived we were met by Brolga, the founder, and his baby kangaroo Bob, who we all got to hold during the tour! He was so cute, very soft and cuddly, and kept giving us kisses - I really wanted to keep him! During the tour we learnt a bit about traditional aboriginal hunting methods of kangaroos, lots about kangaroos in general, and we then went on a tour of the sanctuary. First stop was at a smaller compound within the sanctuary to meet Roger, the alpha male kangaroo in the group - he was well over 6 foot! Luckily he was behind a fence, even though it was really tiny, so we were slightly protected from him, but he looked extremely powerful. Out on the the walk we only came face to face with female and baby kangaroos, luckily, but they came right up to us and we got to stroke them which was really cool. As we walked around we also got to see a spectacular outback sunset, the colours were really beautiful. A perfect way to end our time in the Outback!