*The map should show now the entire trip so far, but doesn't seem to save much location information as we thought while out of Telstra reception. As a result there are gaps missing from our route, but hopefully you'll get most of the key points.
Also, not many photos until I can get a better internet connection*
Only Rod, and maybe Frog, was properly equipped for the 6 degree Celsius temperatures during the night and this morning. I wasn't too bad, it was both too cold and not cold enough for me to get up and try some warmer pants from my bag in the truck, so I compromised and lay there awake for a while before getting up anyway to have a hot shower.
Rod and Frog had a coffee after we all packed up camp and then we drove down the road towards Alice Springs with the plan to stop and have breakfast at Stuarts Well Roadhouse.
Shiny road train stopped at Stuarts Well Roadhouse
The closer we got to Alice the hotter the sun became. We saw lots of eagles in the sky and a few on the ground crouched over a kill (possibly roadkill, but that's still a kill I guess). We stopped at the Cannonball Memorial, where someone in the inaugural Cannonball Rally went too fast, lost control and ended up killing themselves and two event officials.
The next stop was more cheerful, at the welcome sign for Alice Springs, where we met some people who wanted to hear all about what we were doing and where we had come so far.
After that it was into Alice Springs, to the information centre to find out where accommodation would be, and then we found a motel. It was still to early to check in, so we walked around town to see what there was to see and have lunch in a food court in town.
While walking after lunch I was hanging back 5 to 10 steps, just to see if I could get any good footage or photos of a walk through Alice Springs. Someone on the footpath saw me with a camera following 3 blokes he hadn't seen before and made a beeline to Frog to ask him "who are you? Are you famous?" Frog just said, "nah, nah" and kept walking, so the guy on the footpath asked me "is he famous? What's the camera for?" So I told him what we were doing, he seemed pretty disappointed that Frog was telling the truth when he said he wasn't famous!
The moment an eagle-eyed citizen saw the paparazzi (me) following someone famous
Later on in the afternoon we went for a drive around Alice Springs and found Anzac Hill, a war memorial and lookout over the city, and also went to the train station to check out the Ghan that was stopped at the station. I don't know how many carriages were on that train (the internet could probably tell me), but I couldn't get either end of the train in my photos and my photos would definitely not do it justice.
View over Alice Springs from Anzac Hill
After that it was just back to the hotel for a beer, some dinner, and time for bed.
We'll stay in Alice tomorrow for a rest day.
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For more information about the trip, head to https://www.facebook.com/RideAroundAustraliaforDisability/. There you will find more photos, and links to more pages including way to donate.