We are sitting in the little airport lounge waiting for our flight to Perth and reflecting on our stay in the outback of central Australia. We are so pleased we came here to experience the more remote areas and get a glimpse of what it was/is like to live in such an extreme environment. A few facts I wanted to get down before I forget. Last night we had a dinner in the desert starting with fizz and canapés (our first taste of crocodile!) whist watching the sun...

When the alarm goes off at 4.15am your first thought is to wonder why you signed up for the "Uluru at Dawn" tour especially when night time desert temperatures are pretty close to zero degrees. At 6am when we arrived at the viewing platforms in the dark, wearing all the clothes we had brought with us we were possibly still thinking the same. Gradually however as our eyes could focus on what was before us we knew it had been the right thing to do. Uluru gradually ...

Following our visit yesterday to the Pioneering Women's Museum I decided to get a taste of the pioneering spirit and opted to travel the 300 miles from Alice to Uluru by camel (see photo). David on the other hand said those women did it all in the name of progress and we should respect that and go by luxury air conditioned coach. Whilst Miranda the camel was very sweet, I have to say after a 200 meter trot around the paddock I was joining David and the others in...

In just 2 hours by plane we have arrived in the Red Centre of Australia. From the plane we could pretty much see land all the way and most of it was desert. This is a big country. On disembarking from the plane the heat hit us with a great whoosh and immediately we felt over dressed. A minibus took us the 12k through Heavitree Gap into downtown Alice and our motel on the bank of the river Todd. Well I say river, just a dusty gully with the odd Red Gum Tree dotte...