We had the best time on our 3 day camping safari to see Ayers Rock, or Uluru as it is now more commonly known. We thought that seeing the gigantic sandstone monolith would be the highlight of the trip and that everything else we saw on the way (Kings Canyon, Mount Connor, the Kata Tjuta formation) would be cool, but not amazing. We were wrong - it was all awesome. This was lucky as it was a 1,500km round trip to Uluru and it would have felt ridiculously long without stop offs at other places along the way, especially as the view from the window was practically the same the whole time - lots of flat orange sandy terrain covered with little shrubs as far as the eye can see. The famously inhospitable Aussie outback: completely alien to our English eyes and therefore very exciting for the first ten minutes but not the most exciting outlook after that.

We spent three days and two nights on the road, camping out in the open under the stars in swags both nights. Swags are a brilliant invention: modern-day ones comprise of a comfy mattress sewn into the bottom of a canvas envelope that you wriggle into and zip up around you. They even have a 'monster flap' that you can put over your head (when you tire of gazing at the stars) to stop insects and animals crawling into bed with you. We slept like babies in them.

Mind you, this may have had something to do with the incredibly early starts (5am, 6am and 4.30am respectively) and the huge amount of walking we did. On our first day we stopped off at the spectacular Kings Canyon where we completed a fairly strenuous climb up to the top before clambering about for the next three hours armed with three litres of water each. The initial climb is known as the 'heart-attack hill' by the tour operators. In summer it can reach up to 56 degrees at the canyon and sometimes the combination of heat and exercise can prove too much for people. We were determined not to collapse as a heli-lift back down to the carpark would have set us back $1500! At the top of the canyon the tour guide pointed out various plants that the indigenous people used for medicine and for energy, and the fossilised remains of tape worms and jellyfish that used to be at the bottom of the sea billions of years ago. Impressive. It was hard to believe that the area was ever under water when we looked out at the semi-arid desert surrounding us.

As we drove past Mount Connor that afternoon everyone got their cameras out and starting clicking away before being told that it was known as 'Fool-uru' and we still had miles to go before we reached the real Uluru. Mount Connor was still an impressive landform - like a large upside down shallow bowl with a completely flat top. It's strange that it's not more famous.

The next day we entered Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and completed a 7.8km hike around the Olgas aka the Kata Tjuta formation. It was much hotter that day and it was hard going but the views were definitely worth it. Afterwards we travelled on to Uluru where we completed the (mercifully short) Mala Walk around part of the base; as we were walking the guide kept showing us aboriginal paintings on the side of the rock and explaining what they meant. We retired to a lookout point to watch the huge rock change from orange to red to purple as the sun went down. Once it was dark our guide pointed out several constellations to us - as well as Venus, Mars and a couple of galaxies that were visible with the naked eye. Apparently central Australia is one of the best places to see stars because there is so little light pollution and because the ground is so flat that the stars reach all the way down to the horizon either side of you. I've certainly never seen stars so dense and bright.

On the third day we were woken up at ridiculous o'clock and taken back to the same lookout spot to watch the sun coming up over Uluru whilst we breakfasted. Afterwards we completed the 10km base walk. We didn't climb up the rock itself as the indigenous people request that visitors refrain from doing so - not only is the climb located on a sacred site but 35 people have died attempting it! I don't think my battered feet and aching limbs could have managed it anyway.

On our way back from Uluru to Alice Springs we stopped off at a camel farm. Jak has ridden a camel before but I hadn't so I purchased a $6 camel ride around the paddock. It's bloody scary when the camel stands up or kneels as it is such a sudden movement, but it's even scarier when the camels run!! Very bumpy! The farm also had red kangaroos, an emu and a dingo for us to coo over.

We got back to Alice Springs around 5pm and practically ran to the showers to scrub the desert off of ourselves. It's meant to be bad luck to take any rock or sand away from Uluru but it's almost impossible to avoid carrying out heaps of sand on the bottom of your trainers, as we discovered when we took them off and turned them upside down. The national park frequently receives letters from individuals who are returning 'souvenirs' they took in the hope that their luck will improve. They keep all these letters in a 'sorry book' that makes for very interesting reading. One 44 year old man who wrote in had taken a piece of rock when he was 9 and blamed it for the misfortune he had suffered ever since, including his divorce and lack of a career! I hope we won't suffer a similar fate...

On the night of our return we headed out for food and drinks with the rest of the people from the tour. Jak ordered kangaroo stew! It tasted a little bit like beef, but stringier and more chewy.

This morning we slept in :-D Happy times. Around midday we got up and ambled into town to watch the Inbetweeners movie (finally - it has only just come out here) before heading back to relax around the pool. It's 5pm and it's still 35 degrees in the shade *pant pant*.