So it was down to just two of us now in Alice Springs and after a nice lie in, John and I decided to hire some bikes and explore a bit further out of town. We'd heard reports of all sorts of dramas going off in this rather strange little town so we were prepared for anything, but after cycling along the Todd River to the famous telegraph station we found a peaceful little oasis, not at all like we'd been told to expect. At the telegraph station you can walk up Trig Hill for a great view over the area - well a great view of miles of nothing because that's all you can see! There's just nothing around Alice Springs other than arid desert.

So then it was back on the bikes and over to the other side of town to the Desert Park. We weren't too sure about what exactly this was, but today was the park's 10th birthday so it was free entry for everyone, which made it worth a look at least. It was about a 40 minute cycle out of town and nice as it was to pass the afternoon there seeing the different habitats and environments found in the northern territory, I'm glad I didn't have to pay $20 for the privilege! Probably the best part was the birds of prey show where several different birds flew alarmingly close to the audience while they swooped and gathered the food being offered to them.

That night we met up with three of the others from out Uluru trip for a final goodbye as they were all leaving the next day. We ended up in a bizarre restaurant, which was essentially a steakhouse but the staff were very odd, extremely enthusiastic about their menu, and the walls were adorned with all sorts of animal hides and apparatus - not for the faint hearted vegetarian this one!

The next day was John's 30th birthday, so while he got up at 4.30am to go hot air ballooning, I took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep. He was back before I'd even got up, but promptly fell straight back to sleep, so I took to the streets alone, first stop being the Royal Flying Doctors Service. It was a really interesting place, finding out all about how it was set up and how their service across Australia has diversified greatly from the original medical services to people in the outback. Their planes and staff are now utilised even in the urban areas, for transferring patients between hospitals for example.

By lunchtime my travel partner had finally awoken so we went for a wander up Anzac Hill to get a good view of the town and then over to the Reptile Park where I bravely held some lizards! Still haven't worked myself up to the snake option yet, but lizards are pretty scary too you know..! Then we wandered over to the railway station to catch a glimpse of the famous Ghan train, as we'd seen it pull into the station earlier when we wereup the hill. It's a pretty impressive vehicle - I reckon it had at least 30 coaches.

The next morning there was time for one more bit of fun before I flew back to Sydney. Right next to our hostel there was a kangaroo rescue centre where you could go in and cuddle the baby kangaroos that have been rescused from their mother's pouches after road accidents etc. I was left in charge of Les, an 8-month old joey who was surprisingly heavy for his size but absolutely adorable. It was probably a good thing that I only had half an hour before I had to leave for the airport otherwise I think I'd have been in there all day!  

And then our time in Alice Springs was over. We'd seen no street brawls, no spearings, in fact no signs of any violence at all. Either the others were trying to scare us with their stories or we had a very lucky escape..!