Well I have reached 'Alice Springs'. I took a flight from 'Brisbane' at 7.10am Wednesday morning, and travelled via 'Adelade', getting into 'Alice Springs' at lunchtime. I then met my "Red Centre" tour at the airport and we set off on our way. Wednesday - I met the group when I got on our minibus at the airport. In my group were Mutchi (Dutch), Alice and Andy(English), Johnny and Rob (Welsh), Mike (Canadian), Jin (Korean), Eve+Melanie+Dani+ Judith+Nadine+Andres+Jenny (German) and 3 Japanese (one girl, two guys - I cant spell their names). Our driver and quality tour guide was Jas! We left the airport and headed to 'Yulara', the base camp over 300km from 'Alice Springs'. On the journey to the base camp through the red sand dune country we managed to catch the sunset - my first outback sunset! The camp was really nice; it had a great kitchen area, the washing facilities were quality and each site had a good amount of land to camp on. After a tasty self-prepared dinner we all went and got out our "swags" - canvas sleeping bags - which we would be sleeping under the stars in! In the evening we all sat round the campfire drinking wine and beer and telling stories of our trips so far. Thursday - We all were up at 4.45am to shower and eat before driving to catch the sunrise over 'Kata Tjuta' (The Olgas) and 'Uluru', it was cold but georgeous eventhough we were quite far away. At 8am we set off to hike "The Valley of the Winds" at 'Kata Tjuda'. It was a really good walk with some stunning scenery; we hiked through vibrant red rock faces, gum tree laden valleys and up very steep rocky hills. The view over the outback and through the "Valley of the Winds" when we reached the "Karingana lookout' was brilliant! The only problem was that after sunrise quite a large number of flies appeared and you spent most of the rest of the walk swotting them away!! After the walk we drove back to camp for a hearty lunch. In the afternoon we left to visit the 'Uluru Cultural Centre' which was really informative providing videos, interviews, pictures and descriptions on the history and beliefs of the Aboriginal Anangu tribe and the stories connected to 'Uluru'. To finish the afternoon we drove to 'Uluru' itself and did an hour walk near the base of the rock. We passed the sacred "Mutitjula" waterhole and a cave within the rock that the Anangu had used as a kitchen. We then picked up our camping seats from the campsite and went to watch the most amazing sunset right near 'Uluru'! It was spectacular, casting deep reds and purples through the sky! In the evening we went back to camp at 'Yulara' had a superb BBQ and spent a second night in our swags under the stars. Friday - Up at 4.30 today to catch the sunrise over 'Uluru'. We were so close, and the sun seemed just to appear from behind the great rock in no time. It provided some georgeous colours from behind 'Uluru'. After the sunrise we drove right to the base of the rock to begin the 9km "Mala" walk. Some of the group decided to climb the rock - although this is frowned upon by the Anangu - the rest of us walked along the base. As you walk around the rock you notice all the holes, crevices and craggy caves that do not appear on the postcards and pictures that you see of 'Uluru'. But the colour of the rock is so true - such a deep red - this is due to the 1% of Iron Ore that is contained within the rock. Another thing that you notice are the sedimentary fault lines running horizontally across the rock. After this amazing walk we headed back for lunch and to clean up camp as we were leaving 'Yulara' for 'Kings Creek Station'. We drove a fair distance passing "Mount Connor" and 'Lake Armedius" on the way. Once we reached 'Kings Creek Station' we had the whole afternoon to ourselves before going to catch sunset, at a distance, over 'Kings Canyon'. My final night in a swag! Saturday - Today the whole group was up at 4.15am to have breakfast and pack up camp before heading out on our last day on the "Red Centre Tour". We drove to 'Kings Canyon' and began our 3 hour climb at 6.45am. It was superb as we caught sunrise on the way up. The beginning of the rim walk was nicknamed "Heatattack Hill" as it was really really steep, and you were we climbing up a rockface! The sheer cliff top lookout points provided great views over the Canyon with the sun lighting up the dark red sandstone and the fault lines. Halfway into the walk we reached the sandstone domes of the "Lost City" and the tropical "Garden of Eden" - although it was lacking in water. The hike was really hard going but I really enjoyed the challenge. At 10am we had a tea break before driving 2 1/2 hours to "Mount Ebenezor", were we stopped at a station to have lunch. Then we drove a further 2 hours to 'Rainbow Valley' (and in the process broke down as we ran out of fuel - it was ok though because luckily we were only 1km away from petrol!). To get to 'Rainbow Valley' we had to go down a 20km dirt road track - this was a real outback adventure! We walked around the valley appreciating the craggy colourful rock formations and sheer faces of the cliffs. After the walk it was back onto the coach for the remaining 2 hour journey back to 'Alice Springs'. In the evening the whole group met up at "Toddys hostel" for a BBQ and then we all went out drinking and dancing at "Bojangles" and "Melanka Bar". I then stayed the night at Melanka hostel. Sunday - I left the hostel in 'Alice Springs' at lunchtime and headed to the airport to catch my flight back to Brisbane, arriving late evening. Well this adventure was the one of the most amazing things that I have done on my trip so far. Just the sheer scale of 'Uluru', the red landscape of the outback, the beautiful sunrises and sunsets that I experienced were unbelievable! When you are faced with 'Uluru' you just cant take your eyes off of it, in reality it is just a rock in the middle of a red desert but when you are there it just holds your attention. The people that I met on the tour also made it so enjoyable, I made a good friend in Alice in a short space of time. If you ever get the chance to do this tour you will see some awsome things!