I’ve only visited Central Australia once and that was way back in the 1980s. We travelled on The Ghan, the train to Alice Springs. In those days it didn’t go as far as Darwin. Then the friend we were with rented a car and we drove for some hours south to see Uluru and Kata Tjuta, aka The Olgas. Most of the road looked like this. It was dry and dusty, on the verges we saw the skulls of dead animals and the remnants of blown tyres. A sobering reminder that if you had a breakdown it might be a while before you got any help. No mobile phones, remember?

I have other photos of the trip as slides and prints on my “Must scan these before I die.” list. If I ever get it done I’ll share. Last year I wrote a post about the closing of the climb to the top of Uluru. You can read it here.

I found the area quite fascinating and would have liked to have spent a little longer. It was hot but if you went out early in the day it was bearable. I was more tolerant of heat back then.

By Mike Young – Own work, CC BY 2.5, Link