In May-June this year I had the good fortune of spending two months living, working and playing in the NT whilst working in our branch in Alice Springs. As soon as I arrived I felt right at home with the small town vibe, country-style living, 4WD’s, utes, red dirt, dust, 31 degree heat and flies!  

My passion for The Alice and surrounds continued to grow as I constantly found myself high atop a moutain range gazing out at the arid vastness of the semi-desert region with seemingly endless blue skies with some of the friendliest folk I’ve ever encountered.

Whilst I saw and did alot in two months, the highlight would undoubtedly be the weekend spent hiking Mount Zeil, the highest mountain in the NT and the highest point west of the Great Dividing Range. In a hired 4WD from a local operator we ventured north west of Alice along the infamous Tanami Track. Cooking equipment and a borrowed swag were easy to come by when the expedition party consists of four tour guides, two ex guides and myself (aka the blow-in!) The night was spent bush camping under the stars in the Aussie outback. After a solid nine hours hiking with an hour’s reprieve for lunch, we had successfully scaled Zeil, hiking an estimated 18-21 k’s!

What a wonderful experience living in The Alice - a remote, rugged outpost that is the heart of Central Australia!

Julie Salway
BWT, Cairns QLD

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 at 5:33 am and is filed under The Northern Territory, NT Campaign. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.