Getting up at 6am was like luxury!!We went down to Palm Valley first of all, for a nice morning walk.Palm Valley is the only place where the Red Cabbage Palm grows.Why they called it a Red Cabbage palm is anyones guess because it's as green as a palm should be and it doesn't resemble any sort of cabbage at all let alone a red one!!Apparently early english people named things that reminded them of home, but at least they could have called it a green cabbage palm!!In any case, it was very pretty there and it was a nice change to see green things instead of a lot of red rock!As beautiful as the red rock was, it did start to become a bit like all you could see!After that, we went to Ellery Creek where we could have a little swim if we wanted.However, I hadn't brought a bikini or costume with me and in any case, I don't think I would have swum in that water anyways because it was as brown as the Thames!!It wasn't dirty or anything, but apparently there is natural tannin in the water, which made it the tea colour that it looked!I know I want to work on my tan, but I'd rather the sun colour me rather than get stained by tannin!Simpsons Gap was next and that was gorgeous as well!A hunk of rock with a gap in the middle doesn't sound much, but it was just very stunning as I think we went there just at the right time of day.It was almost a shame to head back to Alice Springs and leave my tour family behind, but I was so looking forward to having a long shower, get into some clean clothes (without red rock dust all over them!!) and just pass out on my bed!!To my absolute enjoyment as well, when I got to the other hostel that I was booked into, I had my own room!I hadn't even remembered that I'd booked my own room but I was so glad I had as I actually had space to pass out in in my pyjamas without having to think about anyone else - yay!!I'm so glad that I booked the tour, even though it was hard going for me, but I've now seen Uluru from all angles and lights and so on, I've seen Kata Tjuta, and I've even camped out which is something that I generally don't do as quite a few of you well know!!:DWalking in the desert in 40-odd degree heat, with flies ever-present is not something I would do again, but at least I could get some good photos without having a billion other tourists in the way!!Also, the desert doesn't get cold at nights like it does in the winter time, so I didn't have to bring fleeces and all of that kind of thing with me!All in all, I think I would recommend going in Summer but perhaps go late summer so that it isn't quite so exhausting having to walk around in the middle of the day in relentless heat!If animals aren't around during the hottest part of the day, then what on earth are we doing wandering around in it??I know who's got better brains there :DThe second hostel I'd booked into was also much nicer than the first, especially as it was actually in the town centre rather than being on the other side.I could actually walk into town - hurrah!!