We are planning to visit Alice/Uluru at the end of January/beginning of Feb for a couple of days and are interested in camping out. Has anyone done this as part of an organised trip, would they recommend doing it and at this time of year? Is it worth carrying a sleeping bag all over Oz for?!

We haven't done this with an organized tour group, but we have camped throughout the Red Centre ourselves. The Ayers Rock Campground at Yulara is quite large and well-appointed. There are other nice campgrounds outside of Alice (we stayed at Heavitree Gap), at Watarrka Natnl Park, and the McDonnel Range (we stayed at Standley Chasm).<BR><BR>January and February are going to be hot as H*ll, with daytime temperatures commonly exceeding 100 degrees F. If you like hot weather, it is doable, but if you wilt in the heat, then it would be a bad idea. <BR><BR>A compromise would be to rent a cabin at the Ayers Rock campground. They are quite nice, with air conditioning, but they cost about Au $120 per night.<BR><BR>You can rent camping equipment in Yulara if you don't want to carry a sleeping bag. <BR><BR>Here is a self-guided tour route: http://www.ntexplore.com/TourismDriv...ives.asp?iID=2

Hi Natalie,<BR><BR>In my opinion if your only thinking of camping out in Alice for a couple of days then no it is not worth lugging a swag around the rest of Oz.<BR><BR>I would have to say that the time of year you are thinking of for camping is the worst time for doing it here, besides the extremely high temps you will have to put up with the damn flies and they are enough to drive anyone to insanity.<BR><BR>Do yourself a favour and spend a little money here on accommodation and get something with airconditioning. To give you an example of temps, today at my house in Alice Springs the temp reached 41.5 degrees celsius that is 106.7 degrees fahrenheit.<BR><BR>Cheers<BR><BR>Paul S

Thank you both for your help - looks like that new sleeping bag I bought might be staying at home!

can i suggest a movie you might like? it's called &quot;rabbit proof fence&quot; and its about australia!