Alice Springs

If I'm honest, there's really quite a bit not to like about Alice Springs. The weather sucks (too hot or too cold) and you can't buy a decent coffee. Worst of all, despite driving around all four of the town's newsagencies, I can't find a copy of the latest Gasoline magazine, featuring our Ironbark Raceway article. It's out today, for those of you in civilisation, so go grab a copy now!

Even given these massive faults, there's plenty of good points to Alice Springs - Deep down, it's a car town, and I like that. Plus you can always get a cold beer, and there's a restaurant around the corner from my hotel where you can buy a 2kg rump steak.

So on the eve of my departure, I thought I'd share a pic of the wheels I traded the Pajero on earlier this week.

Pretty sweet, hey? It's a couple of year models old, but still revs like the day it was made. It's a floor-shift manual and handles great, although I've found the pedals are a bit small for heel-toe on the downchanges. I love the colour too.

Pale green was always a classic for the Hyundai Getz.

The 'stang is actually the property of a crew-cut young American working out at Pine Gap who parked next to me on my McDonalds coffee stop this morning - The US Army apparently pays to ship your personal cars out for the duration of your tour, and the NT's relaxed import rules allow you full LHD registration even for new cars.

Fair enough to bring your Mustang fastback out to blast around the big, empty highways, but some of these service personnel are taking the piss - I've seen left-hook Dodge minivans, little compact Chevy hatchbacks, even a few newish Japanese sportsbikes with an NT plate screwed over the California original. 

That's one thing about this town - It'll always surprise you.