To the Editor,
Recently my wife and I (Dot and Les Pfeiffer) were blessed to enjoy a nine day trip through Central Australia. We flew to Darwin and hired a vehicle and travelled south on the Sturt Highway. During the next nine days we travelled to Uluru.
Some of the highlights of the trip were; a visit to the war cemetry at Adelaide River this is a very well kept area and contains lots of history about the Second World War.
Adelaide River had lots of troops there and a one hundred bed hospital during the Japanese attack on Darwin. There were 64 bombing raids killing 230 persons and sinking 8 ships in the Darwin Harbour.
We enjoyed a cruise on Katherine Gorge with it’s beautiful coloured rock faces. A visit to the Devils Marbles was interesting with it’s huge rocks. We also visited a big watermelon farm. Great to see Simpsons Gap, near Alice Springs travelling on we could see Mt Connor in the distance.
Then Uluru and the Olgas came into view. Visiting the rock to see the colour change at sunset was an experience. It looked a lot steeper than when we climbed it in 1984.
Next came a visit to Kings Canyon, an amazing place. Tourism is a big industry at Uluru with hundreds of tourists coming and going. We were pleased to see the cooperation between white people and the indigenous people. In most towns there are Acadamy Cafes where young indigenous people are being trained in hospitiality. Just an example of joint businesses.
Les Pfeiffer