Now the Kakadu family was down to just two - John and I were the only two remaining from the start of the trip, with some of the others choosing just a three day trip around the red centre and others travelling on down to Adelaide in the south. But it wasn't all bad as we actually had to leave on our trip to the red centre a day earlier than planned because the one we were originally booked on was cancelled. No real dramas there, it just meant an extra day in Alice Springs at the end of it all...but little did we realise what we'd let ourselves in for by agreeing to this...once on the bus we found out that some of the other people had booked a more exclusive trip known as Safari in Style, which basically means that you get to sleep in proper tents with beds and fans and lights, plus someone cooks all your meals for you! Now after roughing it for a week in the outback with a bare mattress on a bench inside a hut (if you were lucky) this was pure luxury and we made the most of every minute!

But back to the real reason for the trip...and we were off to Ayers Rock, or Uluru as is it's proper name. We stopped at a camal farm for breakfast and for anyone who fancied riding one of these bizarre creatures. I declined the offer and settled instead for a coffee and the largest cookie I have ever seen in my life, it was as round as a dinner plate! There were a few more rest stops along the way, a detour to some salt lakes which unusually had some water in them and it was also the sighting of our first wild camal, although this one was a bit of a feeble specimen hobbling around on just three legs(!), but we finally arrived at the Yulara resort at Uluru just before lunchtime. We took a quick stroll up to a lookout point but unfortunately we managed to be some of the only people to see Ayers Rock in the rain I think. It wasn't so much red as grey with a dull sky around it - not exactly what I'd imagained, so I was yet to be impressed...

The afternoon was spent not at Ayers Rock however, but at the Olgas in Kata Tjuta national park, one of the more forgotten sites as everyone immediately thinks of the big red rock when you talk about the outback, but the Olgas themselves are pretty spectacular. They're a different type of rock to Uluru which gives them a different texture and colour but we did a 7km walk through the Valley of the Winds to see them from all sides and they are certainly not something you should miss if you ever get to this part of the world.

Running a bit late we sped off to our viewpoint for sunset over Uluru. Unfortunately as the weather hadn't been too great during the day sunset wasn't one of the most memorable, but it was made up for with our complementary champagne and nibbles - again thanks to our friends and their Safari in Style! And then back to our luxurious camp for dinner, including dessert and free wine...

Next morning we were up before dawn to get to Uluru for sunrise. On the way we were played a song called Raining on the Rock, by a guy called John Williamson, which then became our song of the trip - it had to be played at least once a day from then on! Quote ironic seeing as it had been raining the day before, and in fact all night, but thankfully it had stopped in the morning and we saw a great sunrise, although the colours on the rock weren't as spectaular as I'd expected. But at 7.30am we set off on our base walk around the rock. I was debating in my own mind whether I wanted to actually climb the rock; the aborigines ask you not too, but so many people do and there's an ongoing battle over who actually owns the land...but I needn't have worried as the climb as closed on the day we were there. It seems they don't need much of an excuse to close it - rain expected within the next three hours, too hot, too windy etc etc. So it was a base walk for us, but this was where I felt I really bonded with the big red rock. The day was prefect, clear blue sky, bright sun, and with my fly net beautifully adorned it was a peaceful sereal experience. As you stroll around the rock takes on so many different appearances, I thought it was quite smooth, but actually the surface is very undulating and lumpy. There's even a small waterhole at the bottom of one section - I never realised there was any water anywhere nearby. We'd finished the walk by just after 9am, so it was on to the cultural centre to read a bit more about Uluru and escape from the now baking sun for a while. There was then one final walk, this one guided - the Mala walk before we went back to camp for lunch and then a four hour drive over to Kings Canyon.

Our campsite here had a pool, so after quite a few hours in our 4x4 truck we were all glad of a chance to cool off before dinner. As the day had been so clear the night sky was equally as impressive, as we all sat out under the stars. A dingo wandered into the camp at one stage but he didn't seem too interested in us and our star gazing, he just passed through and left us to again enjoy the delights of our free wine!

But it wasn't a late night for anyone as we were all more than fully aware of the fact that we had to get up the next morning at our earliest hour yet - 4.30am! We were going to watch the sun rise over Kings Canyon but in order to do so we actually had to climb the canyon first - yes in the dark..! So bleary eyed we all got in the truck for the short drive to the canyon and then prepared ourselves for the thirty minute climb in the pitch black up the side of a canyon?! But it was worth it as we found ourselves a nice seat on a rock and waited for the sun to peak over the ridge. Then we spent the next 3 hours or so walking around the canyon rim, stopping briefly at a swimming hole for a well earned rest. The canyon was pretty impressive and you had great views of the outback all around, but somehow when you've seen the Grand Canyon nothing really compares. And for Siobhan's benefit, no I didn't fall up this one and remained free of red dust throughout...although I did sport my rather fetching fly net for most of the walk.

Back at the campsite we said farewell to our friends who had so kindly let us share in their luxury experience as they left to go back to Alice Springs but our journey continued further into the red centre for one more day. We were also surprisingly and somewhat emotionally reunited briefly with the rest of the Kakadu family as they randomly appeared at the campsite just as we were leaving. After another quick kodak moment, and a quick gloat over the splendid accommodation we'd enjoyed for the last three days, we waved a final goodbye and prepared ourselves for an afternoon of proper 4wd on unmade roads as we made our way towards Glen Helen gorge. The secret to travelling along unmade roads is apparently to drive fast as you then kind of skim over the surface rather than feeling every bumps and hole...and all was going well until we came across a larger than expected hole much too quickly. As the front of the truck lurched down we all grabbed anyone or anything we could and tried to prevent our teeth being knocked out on the seat in front. But unfortunately we did incur our first casualty of the trip - one of the side windows didn't much like being slammed against the air pipe in front of it and smashed, but luckily not inside. The window was cracked but hadn't actually come out, so after a bit of seat reallocation we continued on - although Jason our guide was now clearly thinking how he was going to explain this little accident when he got back! But spirits weren't dampened, in fact quite the opposite as we all requested more heart stopping action along the way. Probably the only other noteworthy action of the day however was the sighting of a group of wild camels that we endeavered to get close to, but they got the hump and just walked away - ha ha!!!

There was time for a quick swim in Ormiston gorge, where we spotted a rock wallaby and a joey, funnily enough on the rock surrounding the gorge, and then it was on to our camp for the night, just in time for happy hour at the bar. The campsite itself overlooking stunning cliffs, which became even more spectacular in the dark with lighting from the bar and restuarant projected onto them, and this also became the spot for the sighting of our second dingo of the trip.

Tonight's accomodation was back to a basic tent with a wooden bunk and mattress, but we had a real camp fire to all sit around and share random stories of our travels and life...how profound. But one thing I did learn was that if you throw flour onto a fire it ignites and blows up into an inferno! How did I find this out you may ask...well we'd cooked some damper over the fire for dinner (kind of tasted like a big scone - a sort of bready cake filled with raisons) and had some flour left over so someone in their infinite wisdom decided it would be a great idea to throw the leftover flour on the fire before washing up...and so the discovery was made.

The night however, turned windy and stormy so we went back to the bar to shelter for a while. They had a guy playing guitar in there who was actually pretty good, even if he did look a little odd. Apparently he's due to play at Reading festival this year; find it a little hard to believe, but for anyone who might be thinking of going look out for Chris Armisten...and remember where you heard the name first.

Our final day and it was another early start as we had a lot to fit in. It was still rainy and windy as we got up but it eventually started to clear as we did our first bit of proper off road 4wd, down an old riverbed to Roma gorge. Here we did a short walk to some aboriginal rock carvings. No-one really seems to know why they left carvings here rather than paintings like we'd seen further up north in Kakadu national park, but they were pretty impressive regardless.

Then plenty bumps as we made our way to Gosse Bluff, a huge crater created by a comot a few million years ago. You can actually drive right into the middle of the crater and walk all around, although it's pretty big so it would take you a while to walk round it all. We passed half an hour or so dingo spotting as we could hear them howling somewhere nearby but just couldn't see them. (It's the howling that defines dingos as a relative of the wolf rather than dogs.)

By now the early mornings were definitely starting to take their toll now and despite the fantastic scenery I just couldn't keep my eyes open. In fact I amazed everyone in the truck by managed to sleep while we were travelling over some of the bumpiest terrain we'd had all trip - after five months travelling on all kinds of transport I have now perfected the art of sleeping just about anywhere, anytime!. But I awoke to find we'd arrived in a town called Hermansberg...I actually thought I was having some sort of bad dream. It was the wierdest place I've ever been to, only seeming to be inhabited by a handful of aborigines, who were greatly outnumbered by all the dogs wandering around. The one shop there sold some of the bizarrest food I've ever seen, so much so that I'd swear the dogs must be their main customers, cos no one else would dare to eat it! And it was also a Lutheran town so there were signs everywhere banning the consumption of alcohol.

Thankfully our stop here was brief and we were soon at Palm Valley to see the red cabbage palm trees. We went for a walk through the valley to get a better look at the palms which are a very strange phenomenon, just growing in the middle of the desert and there are reportedly no other palm trees to be found within 1000km of these.

But the trip was coming to an end and all that was left to do was sit back and relax as we drove back to Alice Springs. Or so we all thought, but there was one last bit of drama to come as we somehow managed to get directly in the line of flight of a falcon who ended up smack in the middle of the windscreen with an almighty thud...unfortunately the falcon didn't survive the encounter and we ended up with another smashed window, only this time no-one could move seats out of the way as it was the windscreen that had suffered the blow and was now cracked from top to bottom and most of the way across - so now we had two cracked windows to explain!!!

Once safely back in Alice everyone checked into their hostels and then went out for a final dinner, all for the bargain price of $5 - now that's my kind of night out!