After three years of sitting at home brooding over the fact that I wasn't in Alice Springs for the Tatt's Finke Desert Race for the Queen's Birthday long weekend in June, it was time to get back to the Red Centre. This year, for the first time, the Finke was run over the King's Birthday long weekend, and I was back trackside. There's no other place I would rather be. The official name for the long weekend may have changed but for us Aussie desert disciples, the Royal weekend is all about Finke.
The days of me racing Finke are long gone and if I am truly honest, I'm perfectly okay with that, but being there for the action is something that never reaches a used-by date. The attraction of Finke is varied and no doubt there are different reasons for different people but the magnet that draws us all to the center of Australia sure is powerful. The drive to Alice Springs from my house in Victoria is just shy of 2400km. Yeah, I drove.
Flights are expensive and with no direct flight
