Hello! I'm in Cairns now. Lovely modern town, but one racist person's comment on a night out with my sis kind of puts a scar on the Ciarns experience for me (which is a big shame cos it really is a lovely towm and the majority of people are very friendly.

I found out a bit more info on the Alice Springs 'wierdness' that I felt - the guide told us that racism is a very big problem in many parts of Australia and Aboriginal people do not get the same job opportunities because of it, adding to the problems they face... See what happened was when white people came to Aboriginal land so long ago, due to the white people building cattle ranches and depleting the areas of water, the Aboriginees started to revolt. They soon realised that their hand weapons were no match for the white people so they ended their retaliation. After, the Aboriginees started working for the cattle farms that white men owned to get money. The white people were happy to have them working for them cos they only paid them half of what they would be expected to pay a white worker. When equal pay laws came out in Australia, the ranch owners realised they couldn't afford to pay aboriginees the same pay. Therefor there were now many jobless aboriginal people. The government started up a welfare to house and support them but because the housing was in Alice Springs town, away from their tribal areas (and also because they kept different tribes in the same housing), the aboriginees gradually became more and more disconnected with the land, their tribes, the teachings of their elders and the ceremonies that they would have attended if they were closer to their villages. Therefore now a load of disconnected jobless (partly due to racism and partly because the small amount of free welfare money from the government presenting no reason to work) aboriginees who just hang around and are bored. Boredom and the state of their living leads many to alcoholism and petrol sniffing. And there we have it - a people who are dependent on the welfare system with no opportunities or initiative to work. Of course there are still many tribes and aboriginees who live as they once did in their own areas and the handing back of land from the government to the Aboriginees has meant that atleast now they have parts (small as they are) of their land back.

A bit about the 3 day trip: It was fab - lots of trekking around beautiful canyons and gorges, as well as seeing the beautiful Uluru (Ayres Rock) made it a great trip. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and showed us the birdsm plants and creatures of the semi arid dessert (with plenty of shrubbery). The soil around Uluru is a bright reddy orange and really makes your eyes go funny because of the contrast between the red sand/soil and the green shrubs and trees. Then when you get a bright blue sky it's even crazier. Ross (our guide) showed us the nest of a bird and when Aboriginees see this nest then they know there is water nearby as this bird cannot go long without water. He showed us the Thorny Tailed dragon and a sand lizard both of which were on the road. No kangaroos or wallabies but atleast me and Maya saw those in the farm in Melbourne so we didn't mind too much. He showed us the tree bark which is very dangerous if you get acratched by it/splinters cos the wound gets infected very quickly. He said that there is a natural antidote and it's amazing the way nature works because the antidote is the plant that is very often found growing next to the dangerous tree! Apparently this happens a lot where the poison and the remedy grow next to eachother- I found that fascinating.

We went on a long trek in Kata Tjuta (meaning 'many heads') the first day - a large rock and canyon with many dome shaped heads. Then the next day we saw Ayres Rock (Uluru is the Aboriginal name - the real name). The next day we did Kings Canyon - it was an amazing place and a tiring 3 hour trek in baking hot sun, but well worth it for the valley views, waterfall and beauty of the many cliff faces and dome shaped rock formations. There are plants growing there from the Jurassic period!!

One camp night everyone sat round the canp fire playing the didgeridoo! That was fun - you have to blow rasberries through your lips to make the sound come out. We also played 'Tight Ass' - where you put a 20 cents coin between your bum cheeks (over clothing ofcourse) and walk 12 steps to a pot on the floor where you have to release the coin. You have to get it in the pot and you get points for the style of your walk!

Got to go - my tummies grumbling! Love Rish xxx