Hi folks! Can't believe it has been so long since I updated, I am officially a slacker! So we have been in Sydney for several weeks now. After leaving Alice Springs and our newest room mate, we headed on the long journey back to the city. Fuz was offered a job with the company he had been working for previously, and as we were seriously skint it was an offer we couldn't refuse. The drive through the bush was much the same as on the way, except it was hotter, we drove for longer and we were covered in red dust/ muck until we got to our destination. We drove through some little towns and stopped in a place called Coober Pedy, which has to have been the strangest place I have ever been to (others call it unique, which it definitley is!). It is in the middle of the bush, it is seriously roasting with absolutely no shelter from the sun. In fact, it is so hot, people have built their homes underground! People live there because it is an opal mining town and there has been a serious amount of money made, there are over 45 nationalities living there with only around 3,500 population. We did a tour round an opal mine and an underground house, which was lovely and cool and very retro. It was actually somebody's home, but they allow tourists to view it. Whilst in coober pedy we visited an undergorund home belonging to an old character called 'Crocodile Harry'. He has great write ups in tour guides etc and is a bit of a legend in that he claims to have been a crocodile hunter prior to moving to Coober Pedy to mine for Opals. The site his home is on was featured in Mad Max and it really does look like something from a futuristic film, as does all of the area in fact. After a bit of a drive to the area, over unsealed roads (van does not like unsealed!), lots of red dust and millions of pot holes/ rocks in the road we arrived at Crocodile Harry's. The site was something else, with trash (I mean stuff made from metal rubbish) art work attached to the building. We entered Harry's home and felt quite uneasy as we walked in. It is still a 'tourist spot', but not what we were expecting. Harry is a very old, frail man who was sitting at the 'desk' of the entrance. He welcomed us with a smile and offered us into the sights of his home and the history of his life by moving his arm towards his memorabillia. There was lots of pictures of a young Harry with dead crocs (very impressive) and many beautiful young women (part of his 'legend' is that he was a bit of a ladies man in his day), cut outs from newsapaper articles and copious amounts of ladies underwear, usually with writing on (hopefully clean) pinned to the walls. This was all in an underground dug out with a few rooms and small corridors. It was quite a strange experience and to be honest, because Harry looked so ill and frail, the whole thing felt really intrusive. I can see why maybe a few years ago it would have been really interesting, and imagine Harry would have charmed people with his stories of days gone by, but we left feeling a bit uneasy. Anyway, still a very interesting person, just wish we had caught up with him a few years ago. So after Coober Pedy, we headed off again more seemingly endless roads, and kipping in the van in rest stops. The scenery changed a bit on the last leg of the journey, turning much greener, hillier and one or two more vehicles and towns on the way. we drove through lots of wine country in SA and lots of those areas have really beautiful scenery, but the driving became a bit more difficult because we actually had to steer, change gear, oh and stay awake! It got to the point on the journey that Fuz actually started driving really early and I stayed in the back sleeping and then at night I drove on really late and Fuz climbed into bed and slept so we could cover more ground. We arrived safe and sound in Sydney (Manly to be more specific) on the Friday and Fuz started work again the following Monday. Back to reality! The outback experience was absolutely amazing, including all of the driving and seemingly endless roads, red dust and dead roos! We On't leave it so long until the next update, but nothing so exciting has been happening unfortunately. Have also added some more photos and have more to come (honestly!). Good to hear from everyone on the messages, thanks for keeping the site going whilst I have been slacking off! Take care, Em and FuzXXXXXXXXX