The Red Centre

So after some ummming and agghhhinng we decide to go for it, we would take Froanne to the outback and visit the Australian Red Centre.

The good news is we made it, and had an absolute blast doing it. We started our road trip in Cairns where we picked up a friend shell, she was in our group for Fraser Island and it seemed a good idea to have someone else in the for the company on the long drive as well as split the fuel cost with.

We decided the first day would be a long one and it was, we started driving at 6am and finished at 6pm having ticked 956km of the 2456km total. During the day we worked our way back down the Coast before turning inland and heading for the centre. It soon became pretty clear that inbetween towns it was going to be pretty empty, and extremely isolated. To the point that you wave and say hello to every car, camper, and truck that comes the opposite way. We camped in a carpark on the side off the road where there were met our first few 'grey Nomads'. Ok so a grey nomad is an old (grey haired couple) who are traveling around Australia in a camper/caravan for years on end.

The second day was another early start, up at 6am and underway by 6:15am, there really is not that much to tell you. We drove, and then we drove some more, there wasn't even much to see except vast expanses of nothingness. We were a little disappointed that we hadn't seen many live kangaroos, they also seemed to be roadkill. The highlights have to be the road having a bend in it, and treating oursleves to a campsite that night.

So two long days done, we can begin to cruise and start to enjoy oursleves, and the best things about today is we have something of significance to see at the end. We came to the Devils Marbles which we had been recommended by some Grey Wanderers for not only having a reasonable campsite but also an amazing landscape. So there is not really a way to describe the Devils Marbles except that they are big red round rocks scattered around, check out the pictures.

So after our first taste of the Red Centre we were keen to get on to Uluru (Ayers Rock), with a quick trip trough Alice Springs to drop Shell off. Our quick trip through the outback town off Alice Springs couldn't be complete with a trip to McDonalds could it, no not for a big mac but for the free internet, some parts aren't as outback as we expected. We set oursleves up for another hot sticky night in the van (not in the rude sense) but we had a little shock store, in the 400km we had driven that day the temperature at night now plumeted, with it being 26 degrees in the day and 4 degrees at night.

We turned to the main highway and head for the Rock (Uluru), after driving for 100km we got our first glimpse, which is crazy when we still have 150km to go..... After taking some photos and driving some more we realised the road seemed to be going past it... have we missed a turn? are we on the wrong road?... Nope and Nope... It wasn't even Uluru it was Mount Conell... haha losers!

So yes we are finally there, and it is pretty out of this world, a big red piece of granite stuck in the floor standing at 865 meters above sea level. We started by doing the 10km base walk to get ourselves in the mood for the immense climb up to the top. So after our 3hr walk we started the climb. 5 minutes later we had a break this seemed to be the pattern for the section that is called Heart Attack Hill. During this section you are literally walking/ crawling/ pulling yourself up on a chain to try and get to the top. I dont think we can describe how steep it actually was (hopefully the pictures will tell you) 36 people have died due to either falling or attempting to climb Uluru. The top levelled out, but still left us with a 30min walk across what seemed to be the surface of Mars to the top. The views were spectacular, I don't think i have ever seen so much nothingness in my life. We did the walk just before sunset so that we could watch the sunset over the Olgas (Alex, another sunset just for you).

The Olgas was our next venture and was a 45 minute drive from Uluru. We did the famous Valley of the Winds walk which was pretty spectacular but a step down from Uluru (maybe we should of done them the other way round) and then headed for Kings Canyon.

We did the 3.5 hour walk at the Canyon early to beat the heat and also the crowds, this really was a highlight. More rugged and extreme than Uluru, big cliff edges and dramatic views. The walk was tough going but really interesting, we didn't want it to end. (just for the record mothers and karen should skip the photos)

Next stop the underground town for some underground camping.. yes you guessed it we are going to Coober Pedy!