Well the past few days have been eventful to say the least but i better work up to the exciting stuff...

I ended up getting a lift with a Canadian called Ben who had a 26 year old Volvo called 'Sally Forth'. The other passengers were a French girl called Sandrine and a German called Dennis, luckily we all got along as the first ride in the car was about 10 hours long! We arrived in Coober Pedy which is one of the oddest places iv seen because a lot of the population live underground to escape the heat of the outback. It was actualy quite fun to sleep 6 meteres underground but a bit odd. The town has also been used for a few Sci-Fi films (Mad Max 3 and Pitch Black) as it looks like its from another world. We got going the next day and were all taken back by the sheer dullness of the outback...it really is all the same with THOUSANDS of flies. For the night we pitched the tent in a rest area by the road, this is when the car troubles began. We tried to star the car at night but it wouldn't even make a sound so we decided to leave it until the morning and have a party with another car full of Germans instead.

The party turned out to be a wise choice as Sally roared into life with no problem in the morning although we were slightly concerned so took her to the nearest mechanic...100km away. Once there the garage bassicly gave us a list of problems but that the only major one was the starter motor but that it should hold out for a while longer. With this boost of confidence we set out to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and The Olgas but it was still quite a long way away so ended up staying in a near by camp site called Curtain Springs. That night we decided it would be great to see Uluru at sunrise so set the alarms for 4am! However we did end up staying up a bit londger than expected as we met the Germans again.

We all awoke feeling a bit drowsy but pilled into the car to begin one of the most memorable days of my travels. Got to the National Park and dutifuly paid the $25 each! Again we met the Germans at the foot of Uluru and had a few great (and a few disturbing...) photos at sunrise followed by a glass or two of boxed wine. Next we took Sally to The Olgas which, in my opinion, were just as impressive as Ayers Rock but not nearly as touristy, which in some ways was nice. Before we left we had a quick look in the cultural center, a tour of Uluru and a walk in the bush where we discovered the Australian flies have strong desires to go for your eyes, nostriles, ears and mouth. We left the National Park and headed for Curtain Springs again to refuel after a great morning of sight-seeing.

Afetr filling up we tried to start the car but Sally was being a bit difficult and so we had to stay there for an hour or two. At about 3pm we tried again and she chugged into life suprisingly, with fingers crossed we decided to try and limp to Alice Springs (400km away). About 50km down the road there was an odd coughing sound from the engine and we slowly came to a stop by the side of the road. We tried to get her going again but there was no chance she was going anywhere. It was at this point we all noticed that the sun was going down and that we were all stuck in the middle of the outback...Not the best position to be in. However there were not too many options so we set up camp below the road embankment in the middle of no-where. I forgot to say before that it was Sandrine's birthday, proberly wasnt what she wasexpecting but memerable all the same. We got a nice fire going and decided to make the best out of the situation by eating a huge amount of food. This however caused more problems. Dennis decided to heat a full can of Baked Beansbeside the fire which turned out not to be the best idea as about 45 seconds later the can exploded and showered me which steaming beans and Hienz sauce. Absolutly hilarious but a bit scary when we found the metal top of the can not to far from where i was lying down and a baked bean shapped burn right the way through my sleeping mat...

Afetr a cold nights sleep (it turns out my sleeping bag is not the best) we had a fly infested breakfast and then all pilled in the car in a hope that Sally would work. She didnt. After a few curses we all got out and had a talk about what to do, half an hour later Sally was gutted of everything of value and we were standing by the road with backpacks trying to hitch a lift. We decided that we would all meet in a hostel in Alice Springs and so Sandrine got a liftwith some elderly Germans and me and Dennis got a lift with a kind Ozy couple. It turned out that 2 hours later Ben got the car t work and had made his way slowly to Alice Springs but 10km out of town broke down again. We arehoping to hear from him tonight some time.

All is good though as we are all alive and healthy,and me, Sandrine and Dennis have booked a campervan for tomorrow going to Darwin but that is yet to be confirmed. All in all a very exciting couple of days that i wont forget and all is good as im on course for getting to Darwin in time for my flight. Just hope the campervan works out...