Hey Guys!

What a mindblowing few days we have just experienced! After the peace and tranquility of Adelaide we headed off for the silence of Alice Springs! A lovely 21 hour bus ride took us all the way to Alice, and upon our arrival we realised just how bustling Adelaide is in comparison! The Town is the main gateway into the Northern territory, and the base station for all the tours out to the outback and Uluru, or Ayres Rock as it is now commonly known. We spent our first afternoon casually strolling along the main street and perusing all the souviner shops admiring the Aboriginal artwork and all the boomerangs and digeridoos. We found it odd that they sold digeridoos considering they do not pay it here in the Centre of Australia - but then we realised it was more of a tourist trap anyway! We also felt a little guilty when one guy asked how long we would be there and we told him a gfew days and he moaned to us about how people stay only 1 night and then shoot straight off to the Outback - oops!

That aside Alice really is a small town, and you do occasionally get the feeling that you are definately 'not one of the locals!'

A 6am pick up awaited us the next morning - this was the start of our 3 day 2 night outback adventure with The Rock Tour. After only 16 hours between the last bus journey and this one we were reluctant to get up and on the bus, but we did and we loved it! It took us around 5 hours to reach our first destination - Kings Canyon. We spent about 3 hours walking along the brim of the canyon and admiring the spectacular views we were able to capture from our vantage point.

After the walk, which included a trip up 'heart attack hill' (what a reassuring name) we made our way to camp for the night. Camp was basically a patch of ground in a 1.04 million acre cattle farm! And yes i do mean 1.04 million acre!We soon got a raoring fire blazing away and snuggled round it to try and warm up! After putting on every layer of clothing I had broubht with me, and trying to steal some of Andrews (unsuccessfully!) we settled down into our swags and sleeping bags. Swags are basically big sleeping bags with a little mattress sewn into the botten, allowing for a more comfy sleep. It would have been comfy if we didnt feel like we were going to freeze at any moment!lol But falling asleep while admiring the millions of stars that decorate the night sky is so beautiful and peaceful its unbelievable!

At 6am we awoke to get travelling out to the Olgas, which were about another 3/4 hours away. Apparantly the Olgas are even more sacred than Uluru for the Aboriginal tribes - something we did not know. We assumed that Uluru was the most significant area for them! Any way the Olgas are a series of 36 domes protruding from the ground. We went for a walk to the Valley of the Winds - where even in the arid conditions there were an abundance of trees and plants, and even a little waterhole to swim in! Once moe the views were stunning, you just cant believe that you are walking around such huge natural creations!

A quick lunch and another coach trip later and we arrived at Uluru. We had a quick meander around a short section of the base and amired some of the cave and wall art to be found. We also discovered a few of the sacred sites in and arounf Uluru. We were not permitted to take pictures of these sites, as they are so sacred to the tribes, but just to see them and wonder why the are so sacred was good fun and really inspiring. We also found out why yu are able to climb the rock despite the fact that the tribes do not want you to! Basically when the tribes announce a ceremony the climb the rock to the top and place a pole to announce that a ceremony is to occur. It is part of a verty sacred ritual. However many people want to climb it too, so they have put a small railing up to help people if they choose to climb. We decided not to climb as we wanted to respect the Aboriginals. Even though they do not tell us whjy site are sacred and we are not allowed to photograph areas etc out of respect we did not want to do anything offensive to them.

We soon after settled down to watch the sun set over Uluru. You would not believe the changes in colour that it goes though while the sun sets! Another night under the stars awaited us, but this time I curled up in my sleeping bag and zipped my swag all the way to the top AND put the protective hood over me! I could hardly breathe but i was much warmer!

A wake up time of 5.30am and we were back at the Rock to watch the sun rise! Once again the experience of seeing in the new day dawn over such a significant Aboriginal symbol is difficult to do justice in describing! needless to say it was awesome!Except for when the big bus pulled up in front of us and blocked our rather lovely view! Andrew asked the driver to move, but he wouldn't so Andrew then climbed up the ladder at the back of the bus and took a picture from up there! Heehee!

Anyway after watching the sunrise we moved on to another part of the rock and walked around the base of Uluru itself. It was too windy for anyone to climb so we all wandered around looking at the sacred areas and taking pictures of the parts that interested us for around 2 hours. This part was actually the least interesting for us. We had no guide - its difficult to get lost walking in a circle - which meant we also had no information except for the signs saying 'NO photography or recording'. It really allowed us to grasp just how large it actually is though!

Back in the van and we headed back to Alice Springs for a nice shower! On the way back we stopped at a camel farm and had a quick ride on a camel. Andrew found it hilarious when the camel got up as he nearly fell off, and Emma enjoyed it until the camel started running and Emma almost fell off! Andrew lists it as one of his highlights (the ride, not Emma nearly falling off!)

Overall Alice Springs is a lovely, quiet town that acts as the perfect gateway to the outback. Neither of us realised just how far away everything was, but the tour was really good fun - even sleeping on the ground in the middle of nowhere was fun!

The highlight for Andrew was actually seeing Uluru up close, and not just on TV. For Emma the highlight was learning about all the cultural significance that is placed on areas such as Uluru and The Olgas, even though we got only a teaser of what it was really about! I guess we would both list the continual travelling around in the minibus from one area to another (which we were always assured was just down the road....for about 500km!) But even the travelling was ok in the end once you were familiar with your fellow travellers!

We are now off to Cairns (we are flying this time - we are fed up of coaches!) to explore the Great Barrier Reef and all it has to offer!

Love to all x