G'day!

So we left you just as we were about to head off on our outback journey. Well we survived!!!

We had 6 days of adventure starting in Darwin at 5.45am. Carl our crazy guide picked us up and we boarded our bus with 22 other people. First stop was to sample some local bush tucker... wild passion fruit which wasn't great as it tasted nothing like the passion fruit we would normally eat! After a short drive we arrived at Charlies Bar where we had some brekkie. Mike was excited to hear that the Bar was named after a rather large stuffed buffalo who sat proudly on the bar, apparently he was the water buffalo in Crocodile Dundee!

The highlight of our first day was canoeing along Catherine Gorge, although after our sea Kayaking in Thailand this seemed rather tame! We did get to see some waterfalls though and Mike took it upon himself to enter us in a race, with our fellow travellers.

After an afternoon canoeing we headed back to camp where we played silly drinking games which caused Hayley to suffer an injury. The first night in camp was a little scary, in fact Hayley was ready to leave and head back to a city within about 10 minutes especially after she ventured into the shower block! We camped in tents which were like saunas which wasn't very pleasant!

Day 2:

Another 5am start we headed to Malaranka hot springs to bathe our aching muscles after yesterdays canoeing and silly games, We're not entirely sure how they could be called hot springs as they were more luke warm!

Next stop was Daly waters where the population of the town fluctuates between 7 and 19 during the peak season and we are almost certain the whole town is related! The Town itself consists of a pub (the oldest in the northern Territory) where we sampled the local beer, a bowling alley (which was infact 10 pins randomly placed in the road and a couple of bowling balls!) a petrol pump and a set of traffic lights which were permantly on red so you can never leave!

Our camp for the night was horse farm where Hayley and her friend Sarah made dinner for the whole camp. After a fabulous dinner Hayley was horrified to discover that the whole camp had to decided to sleep under the stars around a camp fire instaed of in the tents. Mike spent the next 3 hours convincing Hayley that snakes and spiders can't get into sleeping bags and if everyone else was out there thre we would be fine! Hayley actually enjoyed herself, the stars were beautiful, although was quite relieved when the experience was cut short by a storm and there was a mass stampede back to the tents!

Day 3:

A late start 6.45am where after a quick breakfast we headed straight to Devils Marbles which were spectacular, It was here that we participated in a morning of rock climbing.

Next we went to the strangest place on earth, the UFO Centre of Australia! This actually was a service station, with alien statues and a tin "spaceship" along with several newspaper cuttings explaining various UFO sightings! It was all very convincing!! It seems that every sevice station in NT needs to put on a show to make sure people stop!

Then it was onto Barrow Creek which was one of the original overland telegraph stations and more recently the location of the 2002 murder of a British back packer. Scary stuff! We carried on to Alice Springs, the town with the highest stab rate per km in the world, beautiful place i wish we could have stayed longer!

Day 4

Began with a change of guide. We were greeted at 6am by a guide who resembeled Brian Harvey from East 17 and was both a former Ballet Dancer and member of the Australian Army!

Our first stop was a camel farm which was a pointless stop in our opinion. We then drove for hours until we reached our camp site where hayley managed to locate the home of Australias most dangerous snake, very reassuring!

After lunch we braved a 1 hour walk in 43degree heat through Kata Tjuta National Park where we saw some amazing views over the desert. Just as we reached the bus and began to moan about the outrageous temperature the rain began to fall and this excited our driver as he raced frantically to reach Uluru (Ayers Rock) so that we could witness waterfalls cascading off the sides of the rock, which until the last couple of months was a sight not seen for years. However the day ended spectacularly as we watched the sun set over Ayers Rock while enjoying a glass of champagne. As travellers we were made to sip champagne from plastic beakers much to Hayleys disgust however this didn't stop her drinking it and she was soon off wandering with bottle in hand.

Day 5

3:45am start so that we could view the sun rising at Ayers Rock and again this was extremely impressive. We then donned our hiking boots and embarked on a 9km trek around the base of Uluru in temperatures that reached near 46degrees, we lost a few good men that day! The Aboriginal cultural centre was our next stop where we had a 20 minute talk from a "real Aboriginee" and his Australian translator. This was very disappointing as it appeared very false and we were convinced that our Aboriginal host was pissed.

We reached camp quite early that evening and instantly cracked open the tinnies and got the bbq going. This was the most action packed night of our lives! Dingo's kicked off the night by stalking us as we sat around our camp fire waiting for us to sleep. Hayley then showered with a massive hairy spider and amazingly didnt run out screaming!

Next it was the turn of our Brian Harvey style guide to test natures wrath as he antagonised a baby lizard that savaged his index finger with its razor sharp teeth, very funny! However Mike's highlight didn't arrive until night fall when with a point to prove our guide felt it necessary to take on Australias most dangerous snake. So with beer and fag in hand he teased the snake repeatedly while his co-guide gave us a Steve Irwin style commentary. After all of this drama we all decided to sleep outside where we were treated to natures strobe lighting with constant sheets of lightening.

Day 6

The 3hour walk through Kings Canyon was todays activity which started with a hike up Heart Attack Hill. Again the scenery was breathtaking as the pictures can testify. Mike enjoyed a swim in the Garden of Eden before setting off on the 5 hour drive back to Alice Springs. Whilst en route to Alice we got caught in the middle of a sand storm which was a bit special.

That night we partied with the guys from the trip and a few too many glasses of wine were consumed. With sore heads we flew a short 2 hours to Cairns the following afternoon.

We'll update you again soon.

Much love xxxxxxx