Hi Guys!

On 1st May, after a super smooth flight from Cairns, we touched down in Alice Springs, to blazing sunshine and 34 degree heat. We soon arrived at CRAPPY Melanka Backpackers, and after being shifted around 4 different rooms, we finally unpacked and went to have a look around Alice. Alice is a very small town, with a very strange atmosphere. The next day was almost entirely spent booking accommodation and buses for the West Coast.

CLOUD 9 TOUR - PART 1 - THE RED CENTRE.

Thursday, we were up at 4:45am, checked out of the hostel and onto our tour by 6am. Still half asleep, we met 2 guys from Cheltenham, Sam & Ash, who we would be spending the next 9 days with, as everyone else was only doing a 3 day tour.?Jonnie (female) our tour guide soon arrived and we set off to our first stop, an outback camel farm. It is currently believed that there are upto 1 million wild camels roaming the Australian Outback. After a few toilet stops, and nearly running over a wild emu, we arrived at our camp in Yulara for lunch.

After lunch we set off to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). Litterally translated Kata Tjuta means "heads many", it is a formation made up of 36 rock domes. Here we took a 2 hour hike into The Olgas, through the Valley of the Winds. We got some brilliant views of The Olgas and the surrounding landscape, before heading back to the bus and making our way back to Uluru (Ayers Rock) for sunset.

We walked up a sand track to a lookout where we enjoyed champagne and crackers, as the sun set behind the distant Olgas, and Ayers Rock changed colour in front of us.

We returned to our camp where we made a campfire and enjoyed a couple of beers. A few of us decided to brave the great outdoors, and sleep under the stars in swags. (A swag is basically a matress wrapped in canvass).

The?next day we were up at 5am, and off to see Uluru at sunrise.?We stopped at a lookout on the way for a brilliant silohette view of the rock, and then continued on to see it change colours once more; as the sun rose at our backs and the moon dropped out of the sky infront of us.

We dropped Sam and a few others off, to completely disrespect all Aboriginal beliefs, and climb the rock - along with half the population of Japan (Only joking guys). We then set off a 9.5km base walk of Uluru. We saw some fantastic views?as the huge red rock stood bright against the clear blue sky. We also saw some Aboriginal rock art, and a "waterfall" - well a trickle of water from a recent rain fall, into a small pool.

Next stop was the Cultural Centre. This was rather poor, as we've been to better we found it boring. We returned to camp for lunch, where we spotted a secret lookout high above the camp. Right in the middle of Uluru and Kata Tjuta - Amazing.

We then made our way towards Kings Canyon, stopping along the way for?firewood and?views of a salt lake and Mt Connor. We arrived at our camp after dark, and had showers with red back spiders. Despite this and the fact that dingoes roam the camp at night, we slept out in swags once more.

Up at 4am, we left camp and made our way to Kings Canyon for a 2hr?steep trek?up the canyon and into the Garden of Eden. After a short rest we made our own way back down to the bus.

Our afternoon was spent on the bus, stopping for ice cream and coffee, and spotting wild horses and camels as we returned to Alice Springs. That night we all met up for a few farewell drinks.

Love Lee & Emma

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