Hi there all, sorry it has been soooo long but I have been in the outback...literaly. After Sydney I headed over to Melbourne for a few days. This city is realy nice and the more I wondered through its quaint streets the more I love it. Its very boheimian, if that is the right word to use. There are loads of ally ways with realy cool coffee shops and cafe to watch the world go by in. My place is realy nice and just a short stroll from a shopping street with the best clothes shop. Loads of really retro and vintage shops with fabulous things. I just spent most of my time enjoying the city and headed to the cinema one evening to watch Harry Potter. The screen it was played in was fab because it had beenbags instead of seats. I kicked back with my chocolate and dring on the comfy beenbag. After about 2hrs of the film however the movie went off just as we were rounding to the end and we had to call it a day at that point as we were informed of a problem with the projector! I did get my money back and a free pass so I rolled up to the cinema the night after aswell and watched another film for free, so I cant complain too much. The conclusion of Harry Potter will have to wait until I get home (dad can you get the DVD ready for me, he he) So my time in Melbourne ended and I caught a flight to Alice Springs which is the centre of Oz (the desert). I arrived in the morning and headed to my hostel which was ace. It was more like a hotel than a hostel, with a realy nice pool area outside. I chilled out by the pool for the afternoon. Well chilled out is the wrong word as it was boiling, it aint called the desert for nothing.

Ater just one day in Alice springs it was time to start my trip. One day in Alice is enough as it aint much cop and I was picked up at 5am...yes 5am to start my 6 day trip down through Ularu (Ayers rock) along the desert roads heading down to the coast to finish in Adelaid. The first day of the trip was a long drive to arrive at lunch time, and after a hearty lunch we went over to Kings Canyon to do a hike. It was midday and the temperature was reaching into the high 30's. I think it was about 38 deg and we were trecking up this hill, which was named heart attack hill. Thats what was nearly brought on by walking up this bloody hill, we were sweating buckets and my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. After a couple of hours through the Kings canyon range we reached a water hole named the garden of Eden and that what it was. Without hesitation I jump strait in for a much needed cool down, it was bliss. If that water hole wasent there I dont think I could have gone on! Dont get me wrong the Canyon was amazing and the views of the red red rock were stunning, its just the heat was cooking me. They dont call it the red centre for nothing as all around the ground, the rocks, the soil is all red! The red colout of the rock is not actually its colour as our tour guide informs us. The rock is actually white like chalk and the consistacy of sandstone, which you bare in mind when walking close to the edged of the cliff as it could quite easily crumble underfoot. Anyway the red colour comes from the copper containing dust that was blown in from the west and has settled over the centre and over time forms this rust colour...hence the red, so there you go, its a rusty pile of rock. After our hike we head back to the base camp for dinner. Now the itinery said that we would be sleeping in swags (sleeping bags) under the stars which was filling me full of dread as the creatures and creepy crawlies out here are insane, so to my relief I was pleased to see little hut/tents waiting for us when we rolled up. Still the bugs were everywhere, it was like a bugs life on steroids! Enormous cockroaches and locus that were bouncing off the walls all around and even joining you in the shower and toilet block. What can you do though so I just sucked it up and got on with it..(well I did freak out a little though I will admit) The next day was another 5am start as we were heading to Ularu to watch the sunrise. As the sun comes up over this icon you can see it change colour and cast shadows that make it look truly special. Its a strange thing to see as you travel through this desert area which is mile after mile of dust flat land, then all of a sudden you get this rock which just looks like its been picked up from somewhere else and dropped on the land. We did a base walk around it which is a couple of mile treck but over flat land in the coolness of the morning. Me chloe and Amy were lagging behind the rest of the group and were soon separated. We reached the car park to find no-one there, no group no bus. We sat waiting to see if it would appear for about half an hour then looked at the map to realise that we were sat in the wrong car park, how stupid. We rushed on and made it to the other carpark as the bus was pulling away. They wernt going to leave us but were coming to look for us. We climbed on board , very red faced and we remained the butt of the jokes for the rest of the trip. After our walk around Ularu we headed and did another walk to another natural park, through a gordge, this time we kept up with the group. back to bug base camp for another night and yet again another 5am start as we had a long drive ahead of us. We headed out of base camp to drive to Cobber Peddy, which is the Opal mining capital of Austrailia and also were people live underground. The drive is relentlass through miles and miles of dessert and we reach our destination late afternoon. We have a tour of an underground mine and see how they used to mine for opals. Our accomodation is in an underground bunkhouse. In fact the name Cobber Pedy comes from the aboriginal meaning white man living in burrows, as thats exactly what the settelers did when they arrived to avoid the extreame heat of the desert. In fact it works fabulously as its a constant 22deg in summer and the cooler wintertime. We had a few drinks in the pub that night and to bed. The next morning was a more respectable start at 7am, and we headed out to do some noodeling. Yes noodeling. Its when you sieve through the piles of rubble they have mined through on the hunt for opals. I tried to make my millions by finding some however failed so gave up on the expidition after a half an hour. We headed out of cobber pedy to drive yet another million miles through the desert to get to our next port of call further south. We arrive at a real hostel which is realy nice and coo up a BBQ of Kangaroo steak, Ostrich sausage and buffalo burgers. After a good nights sleep we head out to explore the flinders ranges and hike up to one of the peaks. It was another hot one and could see across the mountain ranges. Another night in the hostel and some bears, pizza and games of Uno. We headed out for another hike the next day and onwards to Adelaide for the end of the trip. We had a night out that night with the group and the remaining few of us headed to a club to round it off nicely. It was a good trip and fab to see the 'real' outback austrailia. Its just amazing how big this land is and how you can drive trough the desert for miles and miles with literaly nothingness.