For anyone planning to visit Uluru - the Mala Walk ranger-guided tour at 10am each morning (8am in summer) is a must! It should be compulsory for anyone considering climbing Uluru. We had a guide called Tim! We learned about the significance of Uluru as the water catchment area for the local animals and the Anangu. Hard to credit that people leave batteries and nappies at the top of Uluru.

Again for intending visitors - there is a new area called Talinguru Nyakuntjaku with a Men's walk and a Women's walk. More bird life here than Uluru. I doubled the number of new birds seen locally by adding 4 new birds here.

I would also recommend doing the walks in Kata-Tjuta as a priority over Uluru - much more scenic.

It's now Saturday (according to my daily diary - I have actually totally lost track of days) and we are on our way to Alice. Long, long day yesterday - left Uluru at around 2pm then drove nearly 400km. I was totally exhausted when we stopped at the Finke River 24hr rest stop. Tim and Austen set up camp and heated soup for tea. Almost too tired to eat! Obviously not tired enough though. I think we found that proverbial 'rock and a hard place' and my bed was on it. Dawn was a long time coming…

For those who thought my spiders awful - I made the mistake of looking up in one of the roadside petrol station toilets - the spiders there were humungous! One very quick pit stop!!!

We have had a rest day here in Alice - ie. I did two loads of washing, then we shopped. One cannot buy Stone's Green Ginger Wine here before 6pm and the pharmacies close at 1pm, as do the book stores :(

Bedtime (8.50pm). We have a noisy group behind us, a couple with a baby next to us, and we're beside the main road and the police seem to be targetting speeders tonight! Looks like another peaceful night - NOT! Hope you all sleep better than I do!

We're heading north tomorrow - not sure when we'll have internet access again. Love to all - keep those comments coming!

Message for Kat - How is Dog?

(Oh Fiona - re House For Sale - we have a policeman watching for suspicious real estate activity!!)