The Kata Tjuta glowing in the last rays of the day.

The iconic kangaroo crossing sign with the Kata Tjuta formations in the distance as the morning sun above the Australian Red Centre outback.

The south-eastern face of Uluru at dawn as seen from the Talinguru Nyakunytjaku lookout. The Kata-Tjuta’s are also visible in the distance.

The actual shape of Uluru was far from my expectations from what the postcards show. Doing the 10.6km base walk around the rock showed amazingly diverse geological features of the monolith such as this view of part of the north-western face of Uluru.

Armed with just a pair of street sneakers, I tackled the amazing 6km, 4-hour Rim Walk loop featuring steep climbs and adrenalin-pumping cliff-side threads. And boy was it rewarding. The views at every turn and climb was an award-winning photo waiting to be taken; the deep-red rocky terrain graced by fine desert bushes and the occasional tree is one of the most breathtaking landscapes I’ve ever walked on.

One of the first lookout points that greets you after the steep initial climb on the King’s Canyon Rim Walk.

One of the first lookout points that greets you after the steep initial climb on the King’s Canyon Rim Walk.

Alice Springs was much more established than I thought, its town centre seen here from ANZAC Hill with the Heavitree Gap in the distance: a majestic, naturally-occuring gap in the MacDonnell ranges where my train travelled through earlier. Reminiscent of a gate within city walls, the gap links Alice Springs with civilisation south of the bustling town.

Graceful interiors of the St Francis Xavier’s right in the heart of Adelaide.

Huge wind turbines of the Snowtown wind farm loom in the distance as we sped past rolling hills of northern South Australia en route to Alice Springs on one of Australia’s legendary train rides, The Ghan.

The greener pastures of the South Australian countryside seen through windows from our carriage, a few hours before reaching into Adelaide on The Overland.