After a stop for breakfast sandwiches and coffee at the resort’s shopping area, we hit the road for the 4.5 hour trip back to Alice, stopping only once at the one turn we had to take for quite possibly the greasiest round of pigs in a blanket on record.
The trip was overly uneventful. Tedious, you might say.
Fortunately I’d booked our hotel room for the night several months in advance, so we were staying at the nicest digs in Alice Springs – the Crowne Plaza. Woohoo! I was feeling pleased with myself as Mom and Mr. Farmer waited in the car while Dad and I went to check in.
So you can imagine my surprise when the receptionist told me that we’d booked for the prior night.
What????
They had plenty of rooms, so the issue wasn’t about whether we would stay there. It was whether we were paying $150 or $250/night (for one room for all of us). I didn’t have my confirmation page printed out, so once they gave us the keycard, we got out stuff into the room and then I had to pay $10 to get online to make sure I wasn’t the one who made the error.
Ha! I was right. Hotels.com was wrong. I went back down to the front desk with my proof. The desk staff kept my confirmation and sorted it out directly.
Meanwhile, Dad meandered around the pool, and Mom nursed a headache in bed.
By 5:00 we were hungry, and after 10 minutes of mamby-pambying around, we decided to make a reservation at Overlanders Steak House, which was recommended to us on our first day in Alice – for an authentic Outback food experience. We were due at 5:30.
When we arrived, there wasn’t a soul in the dining room except our animated waiter, who promptly seated us and explained the extensive menu of exotic meats. He asked us where we were from, then brought back an American flag to display proudly on our table.
The waiter was great. He told us all about the big American population in the area doing satellite surveillance outside of town – like 6,000 people! He told us about the highlights of the region and gave us honest recommendations on the menu.
Mr. Farmer went for a ground kangaroo patty. I went for lamb. Mom had steak, and Dad had ribs.
The kangaroo patty was enormous. Very finely ground and pretty dry.
A good time was had by all.
Galloping The Globe 