The Outback!

Me and Chloe woke up at stupid o'clock to catch the boomerang us to Alice Springs; we were going solo for a few days while Sarah and Caz went back to Sydney! W e must have driven for around 11hours in the blistering heat through literally nowhere! There were gas stations every few miles but apart from that just a vast landscape, which luckily for us was green and not red like we expected! There had been huge down pours in the outback which was really unheard of and meant that many of the roads we were on were flooded, making the journey much longer!

We stopped over in Coober Pedy which was the strangest place I have ever seen! It was a mining townin the middle of nowhere and the people who lived there did so in houses underground, where the temperature stayed around 23degreesall year round-keeping them shaded from the summer temperatures which can reach up to 60degrees! The whole town looked like a scene from a horror film; we couldn't believe that people actually chose to live there, the nearest town being a good 9 hour away!

That night we had dinner in this pizza place and got talking to our driver. He was brought up in the outback and told us stories of how he had been educated at home over a radio as his classmates all lived miles away from each other. He worked on the cattle farms and loved living in the wilderness and the only time he got to play with other children was on the school trip which happened every 12 months! It seemed crazy to us just how different his way of life had been! He told us that people still live the same way, yet nowadays the internet is used and the classmates are able to see each other over webcams!

That night we slept under ground in a place which I can only describe as a world war one hospital! It was a tunnel with beds on either side separated by curtains and flickering with electric lights! It was so dingy but we had the best nights sleep we had in along time!

The next morning we made ourselves breakfast, had a tour of the mines and the people homes underground, and then got back on the road for another long drive!

When we arrived in Alice Springs I no sooner had put my bag down when I got electrocuted! I bent down to unpack my bag and got a burning sensation through my arm- turned out that I had scarred my arm from alive wire hanging down from the ceiling.I was just lucky to have been wearing rubber soles! We met up with our group again for dinner in the bar and then got some sleep ready for another early start!

After waking up at 5am we got on another bus with another group and headed for the Kings Canyon! Luckily it was only around 30 degrees because when we reached there we had to hike for a few hours and one particularly steep cliff wascalled 'heart attack hill'; the name giving everything away! It was really amazing but hard to explain as the landscape just seemed to go on and on forever! It is just so hard to comprehend how such huge rocks and canyons are made naturally! After hiking for a few hours we stopped for a swim in a rock pool called 'The Garden of Eden'. It was beautiful, and definitely a different Australia than what we had already seen!

After a long day of hiking and driving we set up our swags (waterproofsleeping sacks) under the stars and made a camp fire and sat waiting eagerly for Mark who was cooking us all dinner! We had chilli round the camp fire and all loved it, however the next day we found out it was not your ordinary chilli, it was chilli-con-camel! Yes I had eaten camel, and it was absolutely lovely, I would definitely recommend it!

We all sat round the fire and stared at the sky. I saw two shooting stars and then fell asleep to the sound of the dying fire.

The next day was spent hiking again in 'The Valley of The Winds'. This was by far my favourite place! It was like something out of The Lord of the Rings. The landscape was unbelievable, and the fact that it was green made it even more special! Mark told us we were very lucky to see the outback in such a beautiful state as it is usually red, dry baron land. We were also lucky that our group was so nice. I spent the whole walk talking to a girl I met from the Netherlands and a guy from Israel. It was really nice to chat to people from such different places.

That evening we went to Uluru and saw Ayers Rock at sunset which was breathtaking!We also walked part the way round and were shown a cave where Aboriginal people left their children for days telling them to wait there! Apparently it was used to teach them the most important attribute of their community, patience, as this is key to their survival off the land.We were also shown a birthing cave and visited the museum to learn more about the Aboriginal people. It was so interesting!We learnt that after someone has died in the Aboriginal culture you are no longer allowed to say their name again or see photos of them, or hear their voices. Many of those voices recorded in the museum and photos of those who had contributed to the museum had been blacked out and covered over to respect the laws of the aboriginal people, which were made in order to let those who die have an easier passing to their next life. Visiting the red centre has definitely made me interested in learning about these amazing people!

On our way back to camp we al sang Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of our voices in the bus and Mark was flashing the light on and off. I don't know where it came from but it was so funny and definitely a change from the other sleeping buses we had been on. We slept under the starts again and I was a littlegutted that we only had one more night left in such an amazing place!

We were woken up at 4 to see the sunrise over Ayers Rock which was again hard to put into words it was so amazing! I think you just have to see it for yourself to appreciate it. We then had breakfast and went on another 11km walk, this time around the rock!

After three amazing days, and possibly one of my favourite experiences so far, we headed back to Alice. We all had a meal together, drank and laughed till the early hours of the morning before saying our goodbyes! I am so glad I took timeout to see the true Australia, and to experience such a different way of life. I just wish I could go back!