Sunday 5th – Ahh it was such a peaceful night and we slept like logs. Got a sleep in too. We took our time getting going this morning, enjoying not having to rush off. Heading towards Rainbow Valley not far from Alice.
We drove past some more camels, night time driving is not advisable In this area. Wouldn’t want to hit one of them at night.
I’ll take the opportunity to write about Ayers Rock Campground. $41 powered a night for 2 people. We asked for a slab site which was 1/2 a standard slab site, so not all the kitchen and tent area stepped onto slab. Water, sullage and power at each site. It seems camper trailers are normally put onto a different row which was all gravel. There was enough room at each site to park the vehicle on the site. Amenities were clean but old. A mini laundry was inside at the ends of both the male and female toilets, $4 a load. A new thing they have started is a camp fire every night with different activities. The place was better than expected as we had heard it was a dust bowl and other negative comments, maybe a bit run down. Our only gripe was there was no dump point in the park, it’s in the town area of Yulara, and not easy to use. The whole resort area is quite large, with different styles of accommodation to accommodate different budgets. There is a petrol station, supermarket, restaurants and other shops. Of course prices are a bit more expensive. If you are prepared to drive an extra 15-50kms there are areas to pull off for the night.
The road into Rainbow Valley is corrugated and dusty, at least it’s not far off the main road. The beautiful colours of the rocks they call Rainbow Valley can be seen from the day and camping area.
There is another campground a little further away but it’s only a very short walk. It would be worth staying there as it would be quieter and not have to deal with all the day visitors coming in too fast and spreading dust every where. Or have them come in early and talk loud and wake the whole camp up.
