G'day everyone and greetings from Sydney :) I warn you all I have a lot to report so before you take on this blog entry you might want to get a cup of tea and make yourself comfy haha.

Last time I blogged I was just about to begin my final day in Melbourne...and our final day with Reena :( During the day Reena and I headed into the city where we boarded the city tram which took us around all the main sights of the city centre. We then did a spot of shopping and met the other two for lunch before they headed off on the Neighbours tour. In the afternoon the sun was shining so we headed back to St Kilda beach, had a paddle and walked along the pier where we spotted some penguins! (For those of you who know me well enough you can imagine how happy this made me haha!). That evening we splashed out on a really nice dinner...the last supper boo hoo before saying our farewells to Reena as she headed back to her Aunt's house to catch the plane back to London the next day. It was SO sad waving goodbye after such an amazing time together :( So then there were three...

The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn to catch our flight to Ayers Rock for our three day safari in the outback. When we arrived the heat was unbelievable and the flies...oh my god there were billions! ...(hence why we are all sporting sexy headwear in the photos lol!) We got picked up from the Ayers Rock resort around lunch time for the first day of our safari. We headed into the National Park to catch our first glimpse of the big red rock and then onto the cultural centre to learn more about the Aboriginal culture which was really interesting. We took a walk along Kata Tjutu and the Valley of the Winds....which was in fact VERY windy surprisingly, and then we headed onto the sunset viewing point where we had champagne and nibbles while watching the colour changes of the rock as the sun went down...AMAZING! After sunset we drove to the campsite where the reality of roughing it in the outback really hit me! I found the first night quite hard... a combination of doing everything by torchlight/sleeping in tents/showering with moths and spiders/snakes..but I did it with only a teeny weeny bit of moaning and that makes me proud of myself haha. Anyway, that night we had a BBQ of Roo burgers (!)...although I didn't know until after i'd gobbled it all up...tasted good to me though! After dinner the drama began when a snake was found on the campsite and some of the tents had to be evacuated. I was pretty scared at this point to say the least...I think I got about an hours sleep that night! Anyway, the next morning we found out that one of the guides had been bitten in the night...possibly by the snake and taken to hospital...pretty scary stuff! We were woken up at 4.30 to head to the sunrise viewing point. Unfortunately the weather was quite disappointing with lots of cloud so we didn't get the best views of the rock...still pretty cool though. After sunrise we completed the 8km base walk around the rock...during which we were very grateful for the clouds. At the beginning the guides told us a lot about the rock and it's formation and also about the aborignal history and culture which was really cool...they really knew their stuff! After the walk we headed back to the campsite for lunch...beef fajitas cooked by yours truly...it seems i might be a pro on the BBQ afterall haha. We then had a long drive to Kings Canyon, stopping off on the way to collect firewood for the evening. Spotted some camels along the way too which was cool. That night we arrived at the campsite before sunset and got the fire going on which we cooked a delicious chicken casserole with veg and potatoes. It was so cool to sit around the fire after dark. I was a lot more relaxed on the second night...despite feeling a little anxious about meeting a dingo on the way to the toilet block! On the third and final morning of the tour we were up at 5.00am and headed to Kings Canyon to do a 6km hike which took us all round the top of the canyon and down into the Garden of Eden. This walk was a lot more physically challenging than the walk we did at Uluru...the first part consisted of a 400 step climb known as Heart Attack hill lol...but it was also my fave part of the safari. The views were spectacular and the weather was perfect for hiking...I reckon trekking in the heat we experienced on th first day would have been very tough. After the walk we drove to a picnic sight for lunch and then continued onto Alice Springs. Saw some kanagaroos bouncing along the side of the road on the way back which was awesome :) And so the tour was complete and I made it back all in one piece yay! I never thought I would feel so much joy to see a bunk bed and a washing machine as I did that day when we got to the hostel haha. Overall the safari was a great experience and I am so glad that we did it...despite the traumas along the way haha.

That evening we went out for dinner with the other people off our tour which was really fun and then had a much needed early night!

The next day we headed to the airport to fly to Sydney which brings me to my current location. We've been here for two days now and have two more to go before we start our adventures up the East coast. I absolutely LOVE Sydney! The atmosphere is fantastic and the sights are awesome! It was so exciting on the plane catching a first glimpse of the opera house and the harbour bridge,,,and even more exciting to see them up close. Tomorrow we're off on a day trip to the Blue Mountains which should be good.

Anyway, i'll wait till my adventures in Sydney are complete before I start going into detail hehe! Hope you're all still awake after that...and if you're not...HOW RUDE ;)

Take care everyone xxx