Day 22. Uluru to Alice Springs. 2/06/2015

After saying farewell to our campsite neighbours who just happen to be Wendy and John, we left Ayers Rock Resort in bright sunshine which was a very welcome start to the day. The journey ahead was to be 470kms starting on the Lasseter Highway heading back towards the Stuart Highway. We stopped for lunch at Erldunda again and bumped into Rod and Jude's friends from Riversdale Golf Club, George and Julie who are also travelling north (but without caravan).
The road to Alice Springs is much more interesting than the road to Uluru. There were gentle hill climbs through craggy outcrops, some sweeping bends that made it difficult to overtake slow moving vehicles and the vegetation varied greatly. We saw 4 wild camels climbing an escarpment that we first thought were goats until we got closer.
After settling in we drove over the dry Todd River to the city centre and we were surprised at the size of the city. We saw a number of very large and modern buildings including a huge hospital. The population has increased so much in recent years that it has forced such development. The golf course is surrounded by very beautiful and large homes.
The caravan park here, the Big4 MacDonnell Range Holiday Park is the best we have encountered so far.  It is a little distance out of the township but at the foot of the Ranges and we have a lovely grassy site for the first time.  The amenities are excellent, lots of things on offer so we are going to enjoy our stay.

Our site with grass and concrete pad.

Dry bed of the Todd River

No bush camps or cans in sight.