Melbourne to Alice Springs

For our last day in Melbourne we had decided that we had to do the incredibly 'english backpacker' thing of going on the 'Neighbours' tour. We didnt really know what to expect but thought it would probably be quite tacky. We were not mistaken, it was very cheesy and the most horribly touristy thing we've done so far on the trip! We aren't complaining though as it was actually quite fun. First off we went to 'Erinsborough High School' (otherwise known as Blackburn English Language School) which neither of us actually recognised at all. We then went on to 'Ramsay Street' (Pin Oak Court in real life) which was a lot smaller looking in real life! This is a real street with real people living in all the houses (most of the have been there since the start) and because of this there is a security guard posted there 24/7 to keep tourists off their private property. The official tour takes 35,000 people there every year and an estimated 10,000 or more people visit on their own too!
The final part of the tour was going to the studios and meeting a star. Unfortunately they were filming so we didn't get to see around the studios which could have been interesting. Instead we met Jackie Woodburne who plays Susan Kennedy, in the car park . . . . . . classy! After a short while taking photos and signing autographs it was the end of the tour. Quite a fun, but very cheesy afternoon and finish to our stay in Melbourne.

Today we got up nice and early and got to the airport for our 2,500 km journey into the centre of the country (almost exactly), Alice Springs. Only one piece of drama at the airport . . . . . . Megan got caught trying to smuggle a knife onto the plane! She had accidentally left a butter knife in the front pouch of her bag from the picnic we had way back in the Blue Mountains!! It was the first time she has taken that bag on a plane since Dubai so hadn't needed to check it for things like that before, unlucky!

After checking into the 'Heavitree Gap Outback Lodge' we went into town and had a look around. For a town with a population of almost 30,000 it still has a very small town feel and that is definitely a good thing. There is just one main mall here which doesn't take long to walk up, we spent most of our time in the traditional aboriginal art galleries (that's the art that is traditional, not the galleries!!) and even bought 3 original pieces.

Alice Springs sits surrounded by the Macdonnell Ranges and our hostel is right at the bottom of the ranges in the only gap through them (you guessed it, the 'Heavitree' Gap) with a great rocky outlook. One of the local animals is the Black-Footed Rock Wallaby and lots of these come out in the evening into the hostel car park. We bought a bag of wallaby food and went down and hand fed them. None of them were shy and within seconds we were surrounded by wallabies all trying to get the food! It was a really weird experience as they'd grab your hand and pull it towards them to get food. We also saw a few wallabies with Joey's sticking their little heads (and occasionally arms too!) out of the pouches. That was really cool to see and a good start to our few short days in the outback!