The Ghan was such an experience, we obviously could not afford a sleeper carriage so had to spend 24 hours in a chair but it was still really good fun and its great seeing the out back by train, trying to spot some wild kangaroo and horses was good fun. The train has a diner in it so we were not stuck to our seats and could go and have a meal at a table and just wander around, its so much better than flying. A far cry from the India train we went on. On the way there we stopped off at Katherine for four hours and could go out and do some expensive activities but we just took the shuttle service into the town and spent the four hours bored out of our brains, it was so hot for one and secondly it was really in the out back, the town consisted of one tiny road with a few shops and a bar full of drunk aboriginals. It was good to see though as it was what I expected Darwin to be like. When we got to Alice Springs we booked into our hostel and had to stay in Dorms again as its so much more expensive for anything the further you go into the centre of Australia, so anyway we booked in and went for a walk around town, it was bigger than Katherine by a little but had allot more going for it, and some very sweet little shops and a new mall, In Darwin you don't see many Aboriginals but they were all over Alice Springs and most of them just sat under trees in the town.

We were up early the next day for our Uluru tour and I woke up feeling so bad, I had flu and my body was achy and I felt really s***, and I knew there was a three hour walk to come.
Our group had 21 people and we were around the same age so was a great group, our tour guide Jake was so funny he really made the trip what it was. We did not know at the start but we had another five hour bus drive to Uluru as Alice is the closest town to it, its just unbelievable how big this country is, it takes three days by train to get from Sydney to Perth, its crazy. So after a long drive and awkward silence from the group as everyone was yet to get to know each other, our first stop was Kings Canyon which is where the three hour walk came into it, it was so beautiful though and well worth it, and Jake gave us some interesting bush talk. As it was so hot I actually think I sweated whatever bug was in me as I felt a little better that evening.
The first night we slept in the bush with no toilets or showers and were under the stars in swags which are great. We had a few drinks and Jake cooked us some great food, it was so fun and after a long day it was perfect just chilling by the fire and chatting. Although at some god forsaken hour I had to get up for a wee but was too scared to go out so woke Darren up to go with, it was so dark, and it was freezing and I got stage fright so my bum was turning into an ice block and I could just imagine dingo's or snakes coming and biting me.

We woke up early for the second day and headed to Uluru, on the way there we were told some interesting stuff about the aboriginals, and I feel so bad for what happened, obviously back in the day the aboriginals were treated so badly and their whole culture was ripped apart, in the 1920-40s the Australians took the babies away from the aboriginal people and put them in homes to teach them 'western ways', a lot of them were abused, they call them the lost generation, the most awful thing I learnt which is so disturbing is until 1961 it was legal to shoot and kill an aboriginal as they were not seen as human, but were classed as flora and fauna, I mean can you actually believe that this is real, in the 60's too, I cant believe the ignorance of it. They were forced to wear clothes and live in houses and follow western ways, so the government gave them all allowances (doll) so they could maintain their houses, and they were introduced to alcohol which is highly more addictive to them, but allot of aboriginal communities ban alcohol so if a family member abuses alcohol they are banished from the community until they sort themselves out and that is why you see so many of them in town and bars. Obviously this is second hand, but now days the Australian government is trying to rectify the problem and I hear they are giving land back to them and most are deciding that they are going to live how their ancestors lived. It is very sad, and I felt that what was done was disgusting. When I mentioned that the aboriginals sat under trees in Alice, that is what they do because they feel more comfortable outdoors so for them sitting under the tree is like us sitting in our living room.

We first visited Kata Tjuta which is a group of domed rocks that cluster together that look like heads and have valleys and gorges, we went for another three hour walk around these and they are just as amazing. After that we went to a cultural centre and read some interesting stories about the aboriginals and the rock and some history. There is a book there called the 'sorry book' which is letter from people that have visited Uluru and taken pieces of rock as souvenirs and sent them back claiming that they have had bad luck ever since and are very sorry, honestly some of the letters were so funny and people actually believed they were cursed for taking a piece of rock. A Japanese person took a 26kg rock and actually posted it back saying he has had bad luck, no one knows how the hell he took it out of the country in the first place and how much it must of cost to post it.
We then went for a walk around the base of Uluru and learnt some more interesting stories about the rock and how the aboriginals used it, people were climbing it but the government is trying to stop it as 35 people have died doing it and also when they get to the top there is no toilet so the just do there business up there, and leave there rubbish thrown around its so disrespectful as its a very sacred rock to the aboriginals so its sad people don't respect it, especially as there are signs all over the place asking people not to do it.
Ayers rock is a very sacred rock to the aboriginals and its called Uluru because the family that used to live in it was called 'Uluru' and when the first western person to find it, asked the people living in it was it was called, but obviously neither could speak each others language so when he pointed to it but actually pointing to the cave in the rock, the aboriginal just said 'Uluru', so it stuck. The rock we see is actually just the tip of it as many many million years ago, this rock was on the surface and was 6km long but something happened and a force pushed most of it under ground and what we see is the tip of it, can you imagine a rock that size. What we see is huge enough and it is so stunning, we went to see it over sun set, and had a few drinks and dinner, it is truly stunning, and to think a rock can get that much attention its crazy, but just being there and seeing it is just amazing. At different times of the day and also depending on weather the rock changes colour most times it's deep red colour but it can be a light yellow or grey or pinkish.

The second night we were in camp grounds and had a much needed shower after having red dust blown all over us, we were under the stars again and because we got to know the group better it was really fun and played some games. It was a 4.30am wake up as we were going to see the sun rise over Uluru so we were all grumpy and freezing, and Darren and I had no winter clothes so we walked around with our sleeping bags wrapped around us.
After that we had a choice to walk a nine mile walk around Uluru or sleep in the van obviously we and our two new friends Sara-Jane and Joyce SLEPT! Why would you want to walk nine miles around a rock at 6am in the morning. Our last stop was a five minute camel ride which was fun, they are racing camels so half way around they would run to the finish line, not the most graceful animals in the world I can tell you now. The farmer also had some cute kangaroo's, and I just don't know how people could eat them they are so cute, and he also had a dingo that they rescued as a baby. Talking about animals, camels are obviously not native to Australia so they have become a nuisance and people catch the wild ones and sell them to the Arabs for $3000 for one, I think I am in the wrong business, but it cant be easy to catch them especially when they are in the out back, apparently some people use helicopters and all sorts.

Our last night in Alice Springs we went out as a group for dinner and then went to a very old style Saloon, which were full of cowboys, it was good laugh and we had really good fun, we are travelling back to Darwin on the train again with Joyce and have to be up at 3am to get our flight to cairns where we will pick up our van and travel down the coast to Sydney.
I learnt so much this week and had such a great time and met some awesome people, it has been a great experience and one I wont forget.