Day 1- After an emotional goodbye to Fuller at 5.30am...yes we got up to say bye to him as he was off to work, not the other way round! Headed back to bed for a bit then it was time to finish off the final touches , each time you pack the less room you have and your case gets heavier without having put anything extra in...hhmmm Australian air must weigh alot! We were dropped off at Perth airport by the lovely Daphne and we checked in and labelled our bags ourselves as here they seemed to have got rid of staff and replaced with machines. So me and Scott were praying that our bags didn't go off to timbutoo as it was us who weighed and put them on the conveyor belt. We would just have to wait and see. Looking out of the window when flying, all we could see (apart from loads of blooming clouds!) was bushland and redness down below. Literally the outback was isolated. As we came into land all we could still see was outback and not alot else. The airport was eeny weeny, and I really did feel like I was going to do an episode of I'm a celebrity get me out of here! We found our transfer bus and they took us to our hostel. There are minimal road signs here, one to Alice Springs and a sign to Darwin which is over 1500km away! So surreal! Unfortunatly my aeroplane drugs had only just started kicking in once landed so super cool zombie Laura took over normal me for the night...but we did celebrate the arrival of our bags which we ourselves had managed to send to the correct place! Wahoo! We decided it was too late to wander into Alice Springs Centre as it was in the outback and zombie Laura was walking at 1mph in Laura land. So we stayed local and headed up to the room where the questionable air con had done a naff job keeping our room cool. So cold showed number 2 of the evening was required just to stay sane!

Day 2- After our amazing complimentary breakfast consisting of 2 slices of toast each, peanut butter and a cuppa, Scott wanted to know where the rest was! (surprise surprise) We then hiked 15mins downt he road into Alice Springs. Laura was a little uncomfortable ta being totally surrounded by aborigionies and aborigional amenities but soon got used to it. The aborigional art shops here are amazing. The artwork is so colourful and different. The lady in the shop gave us information about local tribal art and what the paintings meant. They don't draw direct pictures, rather footprints and marks left of iteams in the sand. They also draw akot of maps and waterholes and dreams in their artwork aswell as bodyart on canvas. Its strange the way here how australians own the shops and the aborigionies just hang around outside or sit in the street in groups. Apart from the town the surrounding area is just outback. To get a btetter look we hiked up anzac hill which had a monument of lives lost in wars and conflicts but also a view of Alice Springs. We bought rolls, ham and a watermelon for lunch and headed back to Toddy's hostel via the flying doctors service which is apparently famous...well as scottnav said! After a chilled afternoon, we had our cheap dinner of spag bol-bargain at $5! And spent the evening trying to fit 3days of clothes in one backpack for our trip (easy job) And then to put the remained of the stuff in the other backpack, that proved a struggle in itself. Laura gave up and left scott to it. The air con in the room was so pathetic, you needed another 2 cold showers in the eve so you wern't dripping hot in bed! We finished the eve with a good old game of snap, which made Laura jump everytime we said snap. Nevertheless Laura one hands down ont he reactions! Wahoo! Thankgoodness I'm the sprinter!

Day 3- After waking up a million times in the night and dragging scott to the loo, the 5am start wasn't too enjoyable! Any breakfast wasn't much better. Scott moaned about Laura putting butter on the toast before the peanut butter! Well make it yourself next time Scotty! Anyway it wasnt too long before we were picked up on the adventure tour bus! There we were to head to central australia! Once all 10 of us were on, Me, Scott, a finish girl, 2 germans (don't mention the war!), 2 english and 2 south koreans, we had to do an introductory game...where you say where your definatly not from...the south koreans are definatly not from north korea...that made us laugh! First stop after an hours drive was a camel farm where scott cracked a hilaruious joke...not! Those camels look a bit grumpy Laura...whys that scott...they've got the hump! Hahaha! Thankfully none of the camels spat at scott this time! Australian creatures must be warming to him at last! On with the journey and an hour later we are officially in the centre of australia. one positive Tristan the guide said was that we are closer than anyone else in Australia to all the beaches- score! Back on the road for another hour to the cattle station services. This place got repeated al;l throughout the trip as for some reason we all went wahoo when he said it. Scott decided he couldn't wait for lunch so we shared a toasted sandwich and chrisps to tide us over until lunch. 2 hours later we arrived at camp for lunch...well I say camp, this place took our camping experiences to a new level! It had a shelter, a small kitchen and a little shelter for the barbe, and swags for us to sleep in under the stars. No tents or anything! Scott got straight on the barbe and cooked everyones lunch whilst the rest prepared salad, plates, tables and chairs etc! All 11 of us sat down to lunch where Laura ate way too much and felt rather ill! We were all told to eat lots as it was so ridiculously hot and we needed all the salt and energy we could get. Despite this I still blamed scotts cooking for me feeling ill! haha! After we all washed up, put away and cleaned camp and went off to the cultural visitors centre to learn all about aborigionies. Unfortunatly because there was so much writing after 1 slide Laura couldn't face anymore (too much heat and no aircon + ill Laura) so we sat in the shade and poured water all over ourselves as we were baking. We were never so happy to see rain after suffering from overheating all morning. It must have been 45 degrees so our afternoon walk was nice and refreshing. We went to the olgas (kata Tjuta) which included walks to th valley of the winds. The trip was exhausting as lots of walking up and down hills of moving rocks and was made slippery from all the rain. Laura looked super sexy as scott made her where his sexy green hat to protect her from the sun...he still insisted on this even though it was cloudy and full of rain! (I looked like a lesbian) On the plus side we had a unique experience as it never rains and we had downpours which created waterfalls off the rocks. It was pretty cool man. After taking forever on the walk...(the south koreans walked very slowly) we had just one hour to drive to Uluru (Ayers Rock), get parked and find a lovely picturesque angle to get a photo of a lovely sunset. Despite having no time Tristan still thought we had time to drive to a viewing platform. So he parked up and told us we had a 300m walk up the hill to the platform. We had to run there as we only had 5minutes. Unfortunaly due to intense heat (the fact Laura is only a sprinter) after sprinting the first 100m uphill in intense heat...I died and got overtaken by the jogger- Scott who got to the top first to his delight...but to my disgust he forgot to take my bloody camera with him...so he just stood there on his own waiting for everyone else. A few snaps later, it was back on the bus and we sprinted to Ayers Rock. Well I say sprint...the bus was fixed so that it couldn't go over the speed limit. So we got there when we did.! Luckily we arrived in time...but probably last of the tourists to arrive. So it was crowded looking over to Ayers Rock, they were all sitting down sipping champagne. Us being on the cheap tour we didn't get that...only tap water that tasted hideous! So we stood right in front of everyone else to get the best view! Well they should have sat at the front hey! So we didn't get to see the sun go down as it was thundering and lightening but the view was still lovely. So now it was pitch black, dinner time called- steak, kangaroo steak and camel sausages. Scott had seconds and thirds-standard! After dinner we got our swags out...and prepared for bed...well I say beds, our swags under the stars. On the floor surrounded by the australian wildlife, still being so hot we couldn't sleep on top of our swags as we feared we would be eaten alive, so we frazzled. After an hour of getting confy and a million loo stops for Laura, we were just getting to sleep. Then it started pouring with rain and thunderstormed. Our only shelter wsa the kitchen and table which were open to the elements. So all 10 of us moved to cover, either around the table, on top of the table, or under the table! Cosy! In the morning we all awoke to the delights of wet swags, soggyness! And scotts shorts he was going to wear for the day got soaked too- lovely! So at 4am we had little sleep, we were all alittle grumpy and zombie like. Coco pops and warm long life for breakfast-yummy! Plus numerous pieces of toast as we have to eat lots so we survive! Bus back to Ayers Rock to watch sunrise. Once again busy and it was far harder to find a happy snapper spot. We were then shown the ancient aborigional art on the rocks and shown where the aborigionies lived. But we wern't allowed to take photos of where the women lived incase the aboriginal men got hold of our cameras and saw our photos. hahahaha. We were then sent on a 9.5k walk around the bloody rock looking for its best angle, whilst our lovely guide had a nap int he air conditioned bus. Being so hot we had to drink a minimum of 1.5litres of water an hour so 10minutes into the walk, the girls were on the hunt for toilets...well bushes! The walk didn't get any better when we found out there was only 1 water stop half way round, we were covered by 10million flies the entire way round and later followed by dingos for the latter half of the walk. To think the guide wanted us to stop and read every information sign was one step too far. After that traumatic experience our only replenishment was bloody fruitcake which is not our favourite, but scott still had 4helpings. I starved. Thankfully we then went to camp in the airconditioned bus and had lunch which we had to make- they don't give this tour to us easily do they! Next was to thoroughly clean the camp, put soggy clothes and bags on the bus. 4hours to the next camp stop with numerous bush toilet stops on the way with all the water we were drinking. As if the last camp wasn't basic enough, this took camping to a new level of basicness surrounded by bush and dirt tracks! For dinner scott was thrilled to hear he was having spag bol for the 3rd time in 4days. But this time it was accompanied by veg and mash! We then went into the other camp and did dares. (cas we're 12!) Hannah had to go first of all and go into one camp pretending to be a chicken, do a dance whilst a group of foreigners ate dinner! Unlike us for some reason they didn't find it as funny as us. We then went into another camp and pretended they wern't there whilst they ate dinner, and took some bits whilst they just sat there...it was one of those you had to be there moments. Bed time around the campfire which was nice but it added to the 30 degree heat. Blame that on the ants nest which was in our origional sleeping area. This time we didn't sleep surrounded by rain rather mice and howling dingos, and under the stars where everything is back to front including the moon. Yet another early start the next day, this time to go to Kings Canyon. We started our what was supposed to be our 3 and a half hour walk up the steps to kings canyon itself and walk round it. The views up the top were amazing, and more scenic than walking round Ayers Rock! Half way around it was the garden of eden where you had the optional swim if you hadn't suncreamed yourself of oversprayed wqith insect repellant! It was here that drama number 1 occurred when the south korean choked on some water and nearly drowned. Thankfully my quick reactions notified Tristan and he jumped in fully clothed and saved him. Everyone was a little shaken!

To be continued very soon, keep viewing