Apr 20-24 Alice Springs, Uluru trip with The *ROYAL* rock Tour - After the exciting Cairns, it was off to Alice Springs - the spring board for ULURU - or Ayer Rock. I took the *adventure* tour which meant after staying in a hostel for one night (they are so OK for inexpensive travel, no matter what the age), we were off early for Swagging!

A note about travelling and taking in such a variety of activities; each time I go to a different place, it is essential repack my luggage so on a tour like this, I take only one bag and leaving what is unnecessary behind. It takes an inordinate amount of time and energy. Now, one could do with less luggage than I however, those folks do not drink wine, dress up to go to restaurants, take in Opera or the like and perhaps dunna care if their clothes are 3-4 days to one week old without washing them. Well, I do, so the burden of luggage is a fact of life. As well, carting the mementos and such that I buy for my family and friends oh, myself!!. Every month or so, I spend an effusive amount of time and money sending these treasures back. I am happy with my lot in luggage as this is a once in a lifetime trip. The goal - spend as little as possible on accommodation and accomplish and see as much as possible!

We left the hostel in a very hot, dry and lack lustre Alice Springs for Uluru and Kings Canyon. Along with our very Irish guide-driver to spend 2 nights in the Outback, sleeping in a swag… (In Australia, a swag is a portable sleeping unit. Before motor transport was common, foot travel over long distances was essential to agriculture in the Australian bush. A modern swag is a waterproof canvas sleeping compartment that is sometimes insect-proof. When rolled up the swag is relatively lightweight and compact, ideal for storage and transport. It is easy to erect and roll up can be done quickly. Swags are still used, by over landers). In the morning, if your swag was not rolled up properly, Irish let everyone know and made you do it over.

Uluru is over 500km from Alice Springs so it is a long drive. Our first stop is noonish at Kings Canyon in Watarrka Park. It's the hottest part of the day at 38d C and if the temperature is 40dC or above, they close the climb. Too many tourists have had major problems at this temperature or less as the hike is somewhat hard, the heat is unbearable as are the flies. We climb up and down the rocks for a 6.5km, 2+ hr stroll - haha. I had a *zimba* moment overlooking the small spring - the water is extremely scarce out here so this little bit of an Oasis is very important.

On the way to our first in *the middle of nowhere* campsite, we stopped to pick up firewood for the cooking and light at the campsite. We are instructed by Irish to knock down a certain size of tree - Mulgi Oak, which is black on the outside, very slow growing and apparently contains bacteria in the very hard inside but it burns hot and for a long time. We are literally knocking over these trees by hand and dragging them to the truck where they are strapped to the roof - so primitive. A filthy, filthy job!

Irish tells us about how the aboriginal people have lived in this area for up to 30,000 years. The Rules for the tribe were extremely strict because if rules were broken, it could put the whole group at risk. For instance, if one was caught stealing or destroying something the tribe needed. One punishment had this outback plant juice put in their eyes which blind them for 3 days (where they would have to find food and water on their own, in the outback) If they survived, they were still treated like an outcast for another 6 months. Another was to have the perpetrator run in front of a line of the men who would throw spears at them. The spear tips were made of Mulgi Oak so if it hit bone, the person would become septic and die. These spears were used to kill Kangaroos and Emus. They had this extra *launch* piece which enabled them to throw much farther and with great accuracy. The best case for this punishment was to only be maimed and not have a limb permanently damaged. Yikes.

Today unfortunately, is a different story. A study was done as to why aboriginals were dying younger than the average - the conclusion was that they are drinking too much water and their bodies are not used to it. When the Australians took over this land, they put aboriginals to work and gave them European type rations; white flour, sugar, tea and dried meat. These people had NEVER had sugar or flour so do not have the physical biochemistry to properly digest this food. Consequently, they are riddled with diabetes, are heavy and have a myriad of other problems including alcoholism. The people in Alice Springs were a sorry lot because they eat candy, drink coke, drink alcohol and have nothing to do. From a people that survived that long in the Australian outback to be reduced to this is tragic. Sounds so familiar with our own issues with Indian - Native Americans - and Canada treated the people way better (although it was not great). New Zealand has outdone us all. The bottom line is that some of these people have skills and knowledge of the land that we should not lose - we will be sorry if we do.

Back to the outback swagging - we slept in a circle around the fire. I woke up, as usual, to pee and heard something rustling by the fire - what did I see? A cat - in the middle of nowhere, gnawing on a Kangaroo tail. Seemed right at home and apparently, there are quite a few of these 'feral cats' wandering around the outback - who'd a thunk! We had to get up at an ungodly hour of 5am in order to get to our next destinations - Valley of the Winds walk and lookouts then Uluru - Ayers Rock.

The valley walk was not as bad as it was morning still when we started our 2.5 hr jaunt.

When you travel with these 'hostel' tours, the average age tends to be young. I could have been everyone's mother on the bus - the next closest in age to me was a 32 year old….keeps you young! Of course you become friends with a few; Amelia from London and Christopher from northern Ireland, living in Edinborough. Christopher had a lovely northern Ireland 'lilt' and had travelled quite a bit in Australia. We came to the same conclusion at the end of our trip - enough of Australia - a funny lot!

After a rather pleasant hike, we were off to the 'Rock'. You will never guess who we bumped into? THE William and Kate, Duke and Duchess who just happened to be visiting Uluru at the same time as us - what a bloody fabulous coincidence. Our driver - Irish - didn't think so as well as some others from France or Germany - but us Commonwealth folk were pretty damned excited!

Uluru is the largest Monolith in the world. The part of the Rock that is showing is only 1/3 of the entire thing which is buried under the ground - lengthwise. For many years, it has been a 'climbing destination' and there is a chain and worn path to the top. However, this is a very sacred place for the aboriginals that live there (there is a small town where no one else is allowed so they can maintain their heritage and culture.) and after some haranguing from Irish and out of respect, none of us climbed. We are told it is an option for tourism reasons, but the climb is 'closed' a lot - like it was today because of the wind. According to Irish, the folks that climb anyway are 1. Australians; 2. German's; 3. Americans. Eventually it will be closed permanently. A few of us got stuck inside the tourist area as William and Kate were leaving so we had a real close encounter. Once we left the compound, we realized Irish had left with the others for a Rock tour so we sat and waited - met the Governor of the Northern Territories!

Irish came back and then off to watch sunset at a viewing point…with a nice glass of Australian Pinot Noir, it was a perfect ending to a great day.

That night was a different story…we were at a tourist camp, still swagging it outside but at least there were bathrooms and showers. I woke up - to pee - except had a large pain on the back of my right ankle. Took an ibuprofen and thought I would look in the morning. Well, I found 2 large, festering sores - on the back of the right ankle and a smaller one of the left outside ankle. No one knew what it was, I thought I had been bit by something...oh oh. I decided to wait til we were back in Alice springs before doing anything with it because I didn't know what it was. On the way back, I skipped the camel ride - these things were getting bigger and really hurt. By the time we were back in A.S. around 5pm, I decided to go to emergency. The English doctor was fairly new to the area and said he saw this a lot - it was a virulent and somewhat drug resistant Staphylococcus that many locals got…what? He gave me antibiotics but also used my infection standby - soaking in salt water 2-3X per day. I was afraid it was flesh eating disease because the sores were so large and so infected. Finally I find out what it was - a bloody couple of scratches from the Mulgi oak we were knocking down with our bare hands and feet. Apparently, I was scratched and because it is so toxic, became infected. This is the stuff the aboriginals used to kill Kangaroos and Emu's - why were we using this---oh yeah, it's Outback Australia! It took 4 weeks for these things to heal and I will have 2 scars for life, to remember my trip by!

Off to Darwin - another place that every living thing is trying to kill you - Geez Louise.