We arrived in Alice Springs to 40oC heat in the shade. Ridiculous temperatures, we were nearly melting as soon as we stepped off the plane (it actually isn't as bad as it sounds as the humidity is really low so its loads easier to cope with than you'd think!). We went to our hostel and had a quick look around Alice; since it was a bank holiday nothing was open, we found some hats and fly nets before heading back to the hostel - only a quick foray out into the burning heat! We had a relatively early night, we were being picked up at 5:45am the next morning to head to Uluru.

The morning was with us before we knew it, onto the bus and headed out for the 500kms or so to Uluru (Ayres Rock). We immediately made friends with another English Couple Lara and Coops, we also had a boys Vs girls quiz on the way too, as expected the boys won meaning the girls had to cook and clean up lunch that day! On the way we stopped at a camel farm and Sarah and I had a ride, it was pretty good fun until I got cramp! They are smelly too, did you know that there are about between 500,000 and a million wild camels roaming free throughout the Outback, conditions here are perfect for them.After this we were back into the bus for another few hours drive to the Ayers Rock lookout - it appears so different from so far away, it also showed how flat and relatively uninteresting the land in this area is too! We had a quick lunch at our campsite before we went out into the National Park. But instead of going to Uluru we went to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) for a 2km walk. It was now about 2pm, the hottest part of the day. The weather forecast predicted 40oC heat, our guide (Dermot)told us that this was the temperature in the shade and that when he put a thermometer on the ground it topped out at 59oC and he said that it was easily mid-50's today. Even though it was only 2km the walk took a lot out of you because of the heat! We went back to the campsite for a well deserved swim before a BBQ for dinner. There were some clouds and it was raining under some of them, enough to make a rainbow, but as the ground and air is so hot the rain never makes it to the ground a crazy phenomenon to watch. Just prior to dinner we went up to a viewing area to see the sunset over Uluru with a glass of champagne, it was lovely, a really nice way to watch the sun go down.

When we got back Dermi had managed to catch a Goanna (Sand Monitor, a lizard) in the eating area, it had wandered in because of the smell of food! We had the BBQ and a few beers before settling down in our Swags ( like canvas sleeping bags with a mattress) and looking at the stars before going to sleep. It was still really warm, mid-20's and the ground was hot to touch still, really bizarre.

Again we were up a stupid 'o' clock to go to the rock for sunrise. It is crazy it changes from just a dark shadow to red and then when the sun pops up over the horizon it looks as though the rock has been illuminated by hundreds of spotlights all put on at once before it dulls a little back to it's normal colour. A fantastic thing to watch. We toyed with the idea of climbing it but the Aboriginal people really don't want you to and they closed the rock off today to climbers due to high winds on top, so we decided against it in favour of a 10km walk around the base of the rock! It was still really early, we started the walk at 7am, so we were going to be finished well before the heat of the day really kicked in. It was a great walk, lots to see, although most of the things you are not allowed to take photos of because they are sacred places to the Aboriginal people. The rock is crazy and the sediment lines appear to go the wrong way, it has clearly been moved/made by geological movements. Also it is meant to extend much deeper underground and spread out all around but nobody knows really how far it does! We nipped back to the campsite to grab a bite to eat before packing up and heading off towards Kings Canyon and our campsite for tonight.

After another 400km drive we arrived and were glad to see quite a large swimming pool where we could cool off and have a nice swim after such a long drive. We then went along a dirt track to get to our campsite. There were a few dingoes about, but they're relatively harmless! After some dinner and a couple more beers we settled down in our swags again ready for yet another early start. It was pretty windy and cloudy that night so most people slept inside as they were worried about the rain coming, I had a fantastic nights sleep, the wind had a fabulous cooling effect!

After a quick coffee and bite to eat we went to Kings Canyon for another 6km walk. We left so early as to keep out the heat of the sun, it was hot enough already and we knew it was going to be quite a sweaty walk, the first 500m was quite steeply uphill! When we reached the top of the gorge the beauty became apparent, huge 100m high cliffs, loads of overhangs and beautiful rock formations all around. In some places you could even see the ripples that were on the sand when the rock had formed. It was a good walk with some great photo opportunities, especially close to the edges! We walked through a water hole called the garden of Eden, quite apt as there was loads of ferns and trees in that area, in the middle of a semi-arid area it does appear as a beautiful place. We finished the walk and headed back to the bus ready for the 500km journey home.

We arranged to meet up later that evening with the group for a meal and some drinks,it was nice to catch up with everybody again in more relaxed surroundings. Many drinking games were played with many new multinational friends. We had been so lucky that we had a really good group, everybody helped out and it made for such a better time for everybody. So many times this doesn't happen and a few people end up doing everything! What a great few days we had, fantastic sights and great fun.

Its raining in Alice today - I thought it never rained here!! Off to Darwin tomorrow 1500km in a 3day tour, bring it on!

Much Love,Andrew and Sarah xxx