Between the camping tour and our Larapinta trail walk in the second week, we had two days in Alice Springs. The second was a shopping and rest day. We also said goodbye to Nada and Ryan, and hello to Loretta's sister and brother in law, Marie and Mick. The first day was a big day of action - camel riding and quad biking! Two things I had never done before.
My camel was called Sahleh and was a beautiful blonde boy.
For three hours we meandered through mallee scrub and spinifex, covering about 13km. The camels were tethered together in a line and followed the lead camel ridden by the guide, James. It was pretty easy as all we had to do was relax and enjoy the ride. And it was very relaxing. The camel's stride is a bit like a horse taking extra long steps, a bit like a rocking horse. It is quite comfortable, but when they go downhill the rhythm becomes faster and less comfortable. Apparently, when they run it gets very uncomfortable, but we only walked. And there was no spitting and very little grunting and groaning. I think these camels at Pyndan Camel Farm (http://www.cameltracks.com/) are pretty happy and contented camels.
We were told that Sahleh did not like being patted. However, Ryan kept breaking off branches and feeding him throughout the walk. By the end Sahleh thought Ryan was very nice and was quite happy for Ryan to pat him.
We stopped for morning tea and dismounted. The camels eyes all lit up when they realised we had apples. They LOVE apples.
As James was helping us all to remount our camels, Loretta's stood up too quickly before she managed to get her leg over his back. This left her hanging precariously off his side and laughing away out loud. James was also laughing as he had his hands on her bum to hold her up so she didn't fall as he told the camel to lie down again. It was all very funny!
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