Back in Alice after our 3 day camping tour around the Red Centre. Very tired and dusty!

We were up at 5am on Monday for our 6am start from the hostel. Our tour guide was Azza (Aaron) who was probably the best looking tour guide in Australia. Just an observation. He also turned out to be very knowledgable and relaxed and fun - perfect package for 3 days! Explaining the Aussie way of shortening names to 'zza' on the end, I worked out before the introductions we had to do that I would be 'Louzza'. As in Loser. So I asked everyone NOT to call me that.

Once we were all on board (6 Brits, 2 Floridians, a couple of Germans and Swiss, 2 Japs, 2 Koreans, an Italian and a few others maybe - no Canadian in sight....) we drove the long journey towards Uluru, stopping at Stuart's well Kings station and Curtin Springs stops for rests. We had lunch at the campsite (surprised that the site was really good and 2 to a tent - fab!) and then drove to the Aboriginal Culture Centre which was quite interesting. A lot was said in there and by Aaron about not taking anything from the Uluru sight (bad luck and a National Park of course) and not climbing the rock (already had decided not to). We then went to the Olgas. The valley of the winds walk was closed (they close certain things when it's above 36 degrees) so we did the shorter walk of 1 hour (well, it was an hour with Aaron talking about things on the way). After that, we drove to a sight near the Olgas to watch sunset with a glass of bubbly. I was a bit disappointed as Uluru was quite far away but we learnt the next day that although sunset and sunrise at such a special place is so special, the colours aren't intense at this time of year or in this weather. Boo. Back at camp it was all a chip in to make dinner and then grab some sleep as we were to be up at 4.30am for sunrise at Uluru, aarrggh! Chris and I chose not to sleep outside in a swag. Azza was adamant that there would be more creepy crawlies in the tents, but no-one had a little snake it their tents whereas someone did in their swag....

So after a few and suprisingly good few hours kip, we were away at 5.30am for the sunrise. It was so special and I was a little emotional with it hitting me again about where we were, why we were here and at what point I am in my life. We then taken to do the base walk around Uluru which was amazing but also extra amazing as I started it wanting a pee, so 2 hours later and at the finish, that bladder emptying was truly satisfactory. A big AAAAHHHH. There's a lot of sites and parts of the rock that you can't even photograph as they are so sacred to the Aborigines. We met with Azza who then accompanied us on a Ranger guided walk which went into a part where he explained and showed us parts of the rock, what ceremonies were held there, what other parts were used for, culture and stories etc. Then, we went to a view point and had a little geology lesson. A well earned lunch later (although it felt like tea time!) we were off to the Kings Canyon campsite, stopping for a dip in a resort pool on the way. This campsite was a lot smaller and much more isolated, being used on by adventure tours and a dingo came to visit during dinner to have a nose at what we were up to. The bad news was broken during our spaghetti meal - another 4.30am wake up!!

So today we climbed Kings Canyon. We got up the first part ('Heart attack Hill') before sunrise and watched the sun come up which was spectucular. We then continued our walk around the one rim, down into the Garden of Eden and back up and down to the car park. It took around 3 hours total and the sights were gorgeous. Bit wiped out by noon though when we stopped for lunch! So a long drive back and I managed to doze in the bus, getting back to Alice around 5pm. We're all meeting up for drinks later tonight at another hostel and I'm looking forward to a beer but I can hear my bed calling too. At least we'll have a lie-in tomorrow - 7am! We fly to Perth mid morning.

And the unusual bits? Spending 3 days with 2 people who worked in Disneyland in Florida and Japan. Their stories and energy and creativity were absorbing. God bless Betsy and Scott! Even more unusual... I made the decision before leaving the hostel to LEAVE MY STRAIGHTENERS BEHIND!! Yes, the cord has been cut (not literally). Or my hair has grown enough for it to be washed and brushed and left and look half decent. Woo hoo!

Thinking of the fire victims. Going to catch up on the news....

xxx