A 3,200km Journey! - Part I

The Melbourne boys in Singapore (JK, YY, Pream and I) had a crazy idea. To visit the rest in Melbourne and also to set off on an adventure to the middle of Australia. What came as a crazy suggestion did came through as weeks of planning and coordination finally paid off.

Goodbye Singapore!

First stop, we flew from Singapore to Perth on Jetstar. Pretty straight forward flight that took us there at about 2300h. We decided not to check into a hotel to save money, so we slept at the airport itself as our next morning flight is at about 1100h. So off we flew again for 2.5 hours to Alice Springs!

The Melbourne gang from Singapore!

Our personal inflight entertainment!

My first meal in Perth, together with my favourite NesTea Lemon Lime!

With the Everest wannabe at Perth International Airport!

Our breakfast at Dome before our flight to Alice Springs!

We were immediately greeted by the outback scenery around us as well as the Aborigine arts at the airport. We took a cab which costs us $30 for a 15 minute ride. I can't actually blame them as I think that is one of the very few sources of incomes for the taxi drivers. We reached Alice in the Territories, a very decent hotel. The reception staff is very friendly and made sure we know our way in and out of the place. Our room is very spacious and very affordable. $110/night for the entire room that can sleep maybe 4-5 people! So each of us ended up paying only about $50 for 2 nights of stay, even cheaper than staying in a dormitory! We ventured into the city area and for food and also to await the rest of the Melbourne gang to meet us up tomorrow morning.

Arrived at Alice Springs Airport!

The Aborigine carpet

Alice in the Territories! Highly recommended!

The rest of the Melbourne gang (ZQ, Leonard and Arfann) came in the morning! It was an exciting time to see them all again! After the day in Alice Springs city, we ended the night with a trip to the local casino. I played my first round of casino game there and won $26 at the digital roulette! Not bad!

Really happy to see them!

The Melbourne gang from Melbourne!

First cuppuccino! Camera and coffee are always a good match! 

The Aborigines we see quite frequently in town. They're very friendly people! 

Playing a fool...

The next morning, we walked almost 7km to the Apollo Campervan Hire station to collect our 6-berth campervan! Totally excited about it! I mean, I haven't had the chance to drive and stay in a campervan before, so this will be really fun! However, things weren't that rosy. After we collected the campervan and were on our way back to the hotel to pick up all our baggages, we found that the interior was leaking! Water was coming from nowhere and slowly flooded the floor area in the campervan. After collecting our baggages and checking out of the hotel, we headed back to Apollo to see if they can fix the problem or replace a new van for us.

 Our accommodation and travel partner for the next few days!

 All the food and water we need for the next few days! Mainly junk food!

The boss at Apollo went on to bring our his tools and began to repair whatever was causing the problem. Within 30 minutes, he told us that the leak was done. We were soon on our way towards Erldunda where we will be turning right into Lasseter Highway (State Route 4). No GPS was needed as the route is very straight forward. The trip is about 475km (roughly about 7 hours drive). We stop en route to re-fuel as well as take a break.

Usual pastime in the campervan...

At Erldunda stop

*To be continued in Part II