Hello Everyone, Well we left Cape Tribulation and set about on an adventure to get to the centre of Australia and the popular Ayres Rock. In order to get there we needed to do a lot of driving. We started out on a normal road heading due south away from Cape Tribulation, then we headed in land for a dirt road - using the 4 wheel drive to full effect. We worked out this would be a much quicker route and meant we didn't have to double back over anything we had already driven. We got to a petrol station at the end of a bumpy sealed road, we filled up (last one for over 300klm) and checked out Australia's smallest bar, really it was just a counter for people to buy beer from - most likely the farmers as there wasn't many other folks about! After our rest we headed out on our first unsealed, dirt road which consisted of sand and rocks and nothing else. We passed 2 other cars during the day and these were all greeted with the outback wave - index finger lifted in a skyward direction from the steering wheel and a nod (we read how to do it in the book). I found the wave quite addictive and longed for people to pass in order to use it. When people did pass and they didn't reciprocate the wave I took this to heart and was a little disappointed. Kate pointed out some changes I could make - mainly so I wasn't too eager and since then people have been waving a lot more (maybe we look less like tourists now!). The days were all pretty much the same, long straight roads lined by desert, burnt trees and livestock. Thankfully the roads improved after the first day as we got onto the main road to the west. We traveled a lot of distance in a day as it was essential just to get to the small towns dotted in-between. Map reading was needed more so we knew when the next petrol station was rather than for directions. Some towns we went through and stayed in were literally a petrol station at the front and behind that there was a campsite (population 10!). As the roads didn't bend and there wasn't a need to turn at all for days at a time I thought it was an idea to let Kate try and drive. This meant I could get a rest and also meant Kate could have a go at driving a manual. Kate did great, admittedly there wasn't a lot that could go wrong and I took over before we got into the towns so we now could cover a better distance during the day and meant some of the small towns got passed by in favor of us wanting to get somewhere that might be of more interest. Internet and mobile phones were nowhere to be seen and even the radio couldn't find anything, so we relied on counting road kill at the side of the road and our IPODs for entertainment. I don't think we would have made it if we didn't have the IPODs to break the silence. As we were in the desert the heat got high, each day being about 98F, thankfully the air con kept us cool and I think we adjusted to the heat as the days passed by. We stayed at a few towns, some quite big (3000 population) others much smaller (less than 100 people), we found it hard to imagine what it would be like to have been born in such a small community and even now I don't think I would want to live somewhere like them. The days passed by and the kilometers ticked on as we drove, it was a relief when we saw signs for Alice Springs as this is the biggest town around and it would be nice to be finally be around people and in civilization. Alice Springs wasn't big but it had everything we liked and expected in a town. We went to the shops and went out for a meal at night - I ate Kangaroo which was tough and surprisingly didn't taste like Chicken!. We also took a bit of time to sit by the pool and relax, thankful that we didn't have to do any driving for a day. It was a good rest and one we needed as we knew we were soon off again to visit Ayres Rock and the attractions of that area. We hope your all keeping well and thank you for your messages. Speak to you soon, Love ROB and KATE