Hi everyone, just letting you know - we are in Adelaide, our final destination! We really did survive the last 14 days heat, spiders, snakes, ants, fly attacks, thunder storms, sand sorms, flooding etc etc… It was amazing, I'm so glad I didn't cancel the Adventure Tour. We had so much fun. And I'm really really sad, that we all had to split up again

The last time I wrote a Blog, we had a few days off in Alice Springs, I didn't do anything at all, just being lazy. But I booked a Ballooning Tour for the last day in Alice. They wanted to pick me up around 3:30am. The night before we went out for a few drinks, because of a friends Birthday.Everyone stayed awake, so I could go Ballooning just after Party Around 3am they called me, that the Tour was cancelled, cause of Thunder Storms around Ayers Rock. I actually was very happy, cause I was so tired, but also sad! I mean, Air Ballooning around Ayers Rock, it's just unique! So we just did a Sightseeing Tour through Alice Springs the next day.

Monday, the 3rd of November we continued our Adventure from Alice Springs deep into the remote "Red Centre". We first stopped at Kings Canyon. God, it was awful hot, and thinking about a 10km hike drove us crazy! We checked out the Amphitheatre, Lost City, the lush and ancient Garden of Eden and the sheer outcrops of the North and South Walls. It all looked amazing, but some of us had really difficulties to finish the hike, me included. But we tried not to fall behind. After 3hrs everyone was happy to sit in the Air conditioned bus again… The rest of the day we didn't do much. We made our way towards Uluru, where we stayed overnight. The next morning, we had to get up between 3:30am and 4am so we are not late for the Sunrise at Uluru. It is just magical seeing the colour changing. While our legs were still fresh we walked around Uluru's base, which took us about 2hrs. Before we got back to our camp, we stopped also at Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) to discover the secrets of this ancient landform and their spiritual significance to the Anangu. In the afternoon we had a few hrs to ourselves. The options: Swimming, getting drunk in the pub or just sleeping in one of the tents. I decided to sleep; I was just exhausted from the last couple of days. But soon I changed my mind and spend the rest of the time at the pool. As soon as the sun came out, it was getting boiling inside the tents. Not even the fan could make a difference! In the evening we went back to Uluru to see the Sunset while having a glass or more of Champagne. Ha ha ha, it was a good laugh to see how people slowly got drunk! Back at the camp, it started to rain and a massive Thunder Storm showed up. Everyone was sitting in the Kitchen Tent, hoping that it will stop soon! Our guide told us, that there is a Thunder Storm with heavy rain in this area about 3 times a year… Well, how lucky is that…

The next morning we got away early. We crossed the Northern Territory/South Australia border on the way to Coober Pedy. Time to go underground! We learned about this unique place with a mine tour, including an opal cutting demonstration. Because it is very lucky for people having their Birthday in October, the Lady gave me the opal (which I unfortunately lost a few days later by washing my cloths, still had the opal in my pocket!!!). Not so lucky then… I can't really remember what it was about, something with Opals and the month 'October'. In the evening we went out to a Pizza place - delicious! After dinner we checked out an underground bar, but it was kind of weird, also very expensive. So some of us decided to go back to our underground bunkhouse and drink the GOOOOOOON we bought earlier. We had so much fun, especially with the Shopping Trolley… Sarah and I were sitting inside and Kieran pushed us around. Well, it was fun until the Trolley got stuck and fell over (including us)… We both just had a little problem with our wrist; I got more Bruises as well, as normally - thanks Kieran (don't worry, it's getting better now) Also it's not that bad than the first time, ha ha ha!!!

On Day 12 we kept heading south along Stuart Highway, travelling past the "rocket-launching" town Woomera. That night we spend at "The Mill". Before bedtime we watched "Wolfs Creek", but for some reason a few of us left earlier

The bad weather followed us all the way here and the next day we actually wanted to do a bit of hiking, but it didn't stop raining. So we made ourselves comfortable again in front of the TV. But our guide called us to pack our stuff - time for hiking!!!! We drove to the Flinders Ranges, had some lunch and apart from 5people, the rest of the group got ready to start the walk (it was raining). Afterwards we stopped at Yourambulla Caves, to look at some Aboriginal Painting. It is the largest Cave containing paintings in that region.

On our way back to the Accommodation there was a big surprise waiting for us. Because of the heavy rain, all the water from the mountains came down into the Valley and blocked the road - FLOODING! That was around Boolcunda Creek! The water was about 60cm high! We were waiting there for at least 3hrs. The water was still quiet high, but most of the cars were driving through. Back at the Accommodation it was time again to watch movies all night long or until we fall asleep on the sofa, which happened to most of us!

The last day we were heading to The Dutchman, a Mountain Range. We made our way up to the top, around 900m. The hike was exhausting and took ages, but the views were stunning… That was the last opportunity to enjoy the landscapes, the views and everything around. After lunch back in Quorn, where our Accommodation was, our journey continued through the picturesque Clare Valley, before we arrived in Adelaide in the late afternoon on Saturday 8th November 2008! I won't forget that Adventure Tour - ever!

To finish up we went out for the last time on Saturday night with the whole group. We had dinner in the Woolshed and stayed there the rest of the night, one drink after another! Rob, Kieran and I were the last ones of our group. We left around 4am and made our way back to the Hostel! I went to bed about 5am, nearly dead and completely drunk and exhausted! But I really really enjoyed the last 2 weeks and I'll miss everyone (most of them) very much!!!!!!!!