Arrived in Alice Springs on Sunday and so all a bit quiet! Also it was absolutely bucketing down with rain! Met 2 other travellers from england, Helen and Robbie, staying in the same hostel and so we mainly spent the day walking around the town and sampling the local drinking holes. The next morning we thought more might be happening in Alice but sadly a bank holiday and so still quiet! However luckily for us the annual Finke Desert race was happening and so after a few fun and games trying to catch the bus to the finish line, about 25km outside Alice, we made it in time to see the motorbikes coming back in. An eye opener to aussie life in the outback. Hitching a ride back because we missed the bus. On the way back to the hostel visited the flying doctors museum which really made you realise how remote some people live in outback australia. Brought home the fact ayers rock is about 500km from Alice springs and so no getting of the plane expecting to see it! We went for a nice roast dinner and early night due to 5am start the following day. 5am start the next day was painful! Went up to Anzac Hill to catch a view of Alice and then on into the desert. After hours of driving made to first view of the rock. Can understand now what people say about the feel of the place and after a visit to the cultural centre I decided not to climb it (have you seen how steap it is!!) Walked all the way around though and bumped into Helen going the other way so got to discuss our freudian views on the place! Robbie did do the climb so able to see his photos and looked like Mars on the surface from the top. We then went back to the camp site to see the sunset. Amazing and the rock went a fantastic red. After dinner and a few stories around the camp fire spent the night in my swag. It was freezing and woke up to a layer of frost! The next morning we had another early start to go and see the sunrise. So cold before the sun came up and then could straight away feel the heat. Then we drove to the Olgas to have a walk around. Felt very different to Ayers Rock, with its own magic and stories to tell. We then drove to a campsite in the west. In the morning we got up early to walk around Kings Canyon. After making it up the first section called Heart Attack hill the views were amazing. The rest of the walk took you around the rim of the canyon and so looking down was not for the faint hearted! A drive back along a dirt road back sure we had a brief taste of outback driving, potholes and all. We all met up later in the evening for a night on the town which was very good fun as after a few nights camping, appreciated that bed!